Climbing while Pregnant

When I was pregnant with my first, we were living in Garmisch, Germany. My doctor over here said it was fine for me to keep climbing, as long as I didn't go to an altitude too high and felt comfortable doing it. I was still so scared that somehow I could hurt the baby and googled to find anything on the subject! Hardly any info out there!

Once I found out I was pregnant (around 9 weeks), I quit leading and only top roped.  I purchased a Petzl Body Harness online and started using it at about 6 months. Until then, I was using my husband's harness so it would be big enough to fit over my growing belly. I quit climbing at about 7 months, after only using the body harness a few times because I was just getting too scared because it was my first, and I kept banging my belly on the strange limestone we just were getting introduced to. Perhaps if I had been used to the climbs, it wouldn't have been so intimidating.

Then, my second came along. This time, everything was different. I already had my body harness and started using it early on (I grew huge must faster the second time around). And know what? I climbed all the way to the 9th month just fine and listened to my body. If small contractions starting coming, I stopped and just played with my son at the crag. I only did climbs I didn't have to worry about falling on for the most part. Top Roped 5.12s until my seventh month, then only did climbs under 5.10 for the last 2 months. It was great. It felt so good to keep climbing and not worry and just enjoy myself.

Eight months pregnant belaying my son in Arco

Climbing 6 months pregnant at Gorge Du Tarn

Climbing in Frankenjura with Kids

The Frankenjura is our home crag, so we climb here more than any other place in Europe and know quite a bit about the area.

Why - Germany is a very American friendly, clean, beautiful country with tons of castles, nice cities, and delicious beer. The Frankenjura is also the birthplace of sport climbing, where "red points" were created and there are more sport routes here than any other place I have ever been. Thousands and thousands of quality world class limestone routes just waiting for you (over 8000 sport routes and 1000 crags). 

Where - The Frankenjura covers a large portion of north eastern Bavaria. If I were coming for a road trip, I would station myself close to Pottenstein, Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz, or if you want to be in a larger city, perhaps Bayreuth. You'll be 30 minutes or an hour from Nuremburg and about 2 hours north of Munich. For flights, NUE is the closest (1 hour), then MUC (2 hours), then FRA (3 hours). You will need a car. The cliffs are all scattered pretty far apart from each other.

Accommodations - Since we live here, I can't really recommend hotels. Frankenjura.com has a wealth of information though on the climbing here and even accommodations. Guesthouses can be as cheap as 30 euros a night around here and are quite nice. There are campgrounds, but if you have kids, since guesthouses are so cheap, it might be more economical to just do a guesthouse.

Food - Every town in the Frankenjura has great restaurants with pretty cheap food and beer. They tend to open at 1700 for dinner. Not as many places are open for breakfast and lunch, but you will find a few cafes and lots of bakeries. Every town has a bakery. A great restaurant in Neuhaus I recommend is the castle on the top of the hill, Veldenstein Castle. The castle is also a hotel and is really great for kids. They have a playground below the outdoor beer garden and amazing views/exploring all around the grounds (for free in the evenings). Get the Knights Plate. You won't regret it.

Crags - Wow. This is a hard area to cover because it really depends on where you decide to stay. There are SO many wonderful crags. As for going with the kids, these are some of the places we find to be the easiest:

1) Weissenstein (roadside crag) right by Neuhaus
2) Kuhloh
3) Maxmillian Forest (lots of great crags in these woods)
4) Breitenstein

I could probably list about 20 more that you can even bring strollers to, but check out the guidebooks. They show which ones are kid friendly.

When - Germany has pretty mild summers. I would say anywhere from May to October would be the best time for climbing in the Frankenjura. Spring can be pretty wet, and fall can be pretty cold, so summers are really ideal. Plenty of the crags are shady for the rare hot weather we do get.

What to do in the Area: Go to the Frankische Wunderland with the kiddos! My son loves it, and I do too! It is located right by Plech (a climbing town).  Super fun amusement park that is real old fashioned. Go to an indoor/outdoor pool! There are nice ones in almost every decent sized town. The one in Hersbruck is particularly nice and right in the middle of a ton of climbing areas. Visit the big cities (Munich and Nuremberg).

If you need any more info about the area, shoot be a comment and I'll see what I can do to help you.

Tscheuss!

Fontainebleau with Kids

The easiest, and best place by far to take babies/toddlers climbing must be Fontainebleau, France.  Although we have only done it once, it truly is the perfect location.

Why - Fontainebleau first of all, has the most amazing bouldering I have ever done. It is HUGE with so many bouldering areas it would take you at least half a year to see all the boulders. The boulders have some of the most famous amazing lines and slopers in the world. The landings are sandy. Did you hear that? SANDY! So, your kids can play with shovels and buckets and cars and be occupied for at least 6 hours simply playing in the sand. The boulders are also in a magical forest of entertainment for the little ones, with plenty of small sized boulders for them to run and jump and hide and imagine around. And lastly, it is only 30 minutes from Paris! That leads me to the "where" information.

Where - Being only 30 minutes from Paris, France means you can stay far enough in the countryside to enjoy some peace and quiet and simplicity with the kids, but it also means a short train ride to one of the most amazing cities in Europe! The boulders are located in a large dispersed area, with dozens hundreds of sectors to choose from. Additionally, the boulders are located only a minutes walk sometimes from the parking areas for the boulders. The area is not too hilly, and you can even push a stroller around at some of the sectors. We did!

When - I'd say fall is probably best then spring, but you really can climb there year round. We went in July, fearing hot temps, but were quite lucky and it was never hotter than about 76 degrees. We've been in November before, which is great for visiting Paris (no crowds), but we had snow and lots of rain.

Accommodations - My favorite part about vacationing in France is the plethora of cheap accommodations! We always rent a gite, which is a restored farmhouse. They are basically houses where you can cook your own food and have your own yards etc typically, and can rent for seriously as cheap as 100 euros a week! Depends on how large, how nice, etc you want. We stayed recently at this gite. You really should use this website  to search through all the gites throughout France. We have also stayed at this B&B directly in the city of Fontainebleau, and loved it. . We have also stayed in the IBIS hotel chains in the area, and many other gites, but this latest gite was definitely in the best location. Very close to the Three Pigeons Climbing area (see Bouldering Areas section below).

Food - Having kids, we tend to always stock up on groceries and eat in as much as possible. There is a wonderful  Carrefour VILLIERS EN BIERE  Route Nationale 7, 77190 Villiers-en-Bière, France. Think massive Walmart, only 100 times better, and in a fancy schmancy mall. They seriously have 2 aisles just of cheese selections! This place really is amazing. And they sell my favorite French kids clothing line, Le Petit Bateau, for much less than the boutiques sell it. There are also lots of pizza joints you can call for carry out, and plenty of great restaurants around the area. We really like a Chinese Restaurant in Bois Le Roi called Grand Bonheur. In Arbonne La Foret is a good climbing hangout/pizza joint called Croq Foret. Also good. And don't forget to get Pain Chocolate at a Patisserie! I LOVE french bakeries. Nothing compares.

Bouldering Areas - For in depth bouldering info, go to this website. Personally, my favorite area to go for amazing intermediate problems (V2-V5) is Three Pigeons area. This area is also pretty ideal with kids because of the sand. It has TONS of it. Feels like you are at a beach in some parts (e.g. by the Cul De Chien). 

What to do in the Area - Aside from bouldering, there are castles and medieval cities, Paris, museums galore, and plenty of nature hikes and exploring to do. I would devote at least 3 days to see Paris, but spread the visits apart! It can be a little stressful/overwhelming in the summer with the huge crowds. There are dozens of things to do with kids, but I really like this summary list of the top ten things to do in Paris with kids.
Vaux le Vicompte is an amazing little castle near Melun that is definitely worth checking out. You can rent a golf cart to drive around the awesome gardens.
Does that cover it all? If not, let me know and I can add more to assist you if you plan on visiting the area.

Climbing in Arco Italy with Kids

One of the most kid friendly, amazing climbing areas we love to go is Arco!

Why - Arco is beautiful, and perfect for anyone who loves climbing, biking, wind surfing, or simply seeing a beautiful part of Italy. And best of all, it is a great area to travel with kids. We have been 5 or 6 times now with our little ones, and have always had wonderful weather, great climbing, and fun touring the area.


Where - Arco is located at the top of the beautiful touristy Lake Garda, in northern Italy. If you are wanting to see some of Italy, as well as getting in some excellent climbing while visiting Europe, this is the place to go. Verona is only an hour away, Milan 2.5 hours away, Venice 2 hours. Lake Garda has enough small towns/castles/and theme parks to keep you busy for at least 2 weeks as well. 

When - Climbing is awesome in the fall and spring, but we have also lucked out throughout the winter (Christmas Break and Thanksgiving Break and even in February). Summer would be excellent for the lake, and there are shady crags, but we like to avoid the crowds.


Accommodations - There are tons of hotels and apartments you can find by googling, but we always prefer to stay at either http://www.guesthouse-arco.com/en_arco.php or  http://www.lacolombera.it/residence_eng.php. Both are very close to the climbing, are kid friendly, and you have your own apartment so you can prepare dinner and breakfast and not deal with the stresses of going out with kids and save some money. La Colombera has a sandpit, slide, and swings even for the little ones!


Food - We had a lot of trouble finding any places open in the winter season for eating lunch. For dinners, the restaurants opened around 6, but many are not open in winter still. Riva has a lot of nice pizzerias and cafes right on the lake. Arco has a lot of pizzerias as well and will even let you order them for carry out. We like to stock up at the grocery store in Riva the first day we get there with fresh pasta, sauce, pesto, and fruits and veggies. Easy to make dinner in 20 minutes after coming back late from climbing that way... And we bring a baguette with cheese and salami and snacks for lunch at the crag in the day. Look for Kinder Eggs by the check out for a nice treat for the kids at the crag (a chocolate milky egg with a toy inside they get to put together). They aren't sold in the US because of the choking hazard of the toy size, but are super popular over here for a reason!

Crags - It's hard for us to go anywhere other than Massone. This is by far the most popular crag, but it is so great with kids and right in town. It has TONS of routes of all grades and the setting is perfect, olive groves. Our oldest son, who is now 3, loves to play with the olives and the rocks, playing on his own for hours at a time at this place. And you don't have to worry about too many areas with steep drop offs. Most of the belay areas are flat and large. Another favorite is right up by the castle in Arco. Same setting, olive groves, nice and easy with the kids. And of course, the routes are amazing at both.

What to do in the Area - On our latest trip, we visit Thermal Lake Garda http://www.villadeicedri.it/eng/parco_main_prova.html. It was expensive, but well worth it. Beautiful gardens and huge thermally heated outdoor lakes! They are so warm and wonderful, especially in cool weather, and open year round. Verona is also a city that is well worth a visit.

Gardaland, which is Italy's largest theme park, Movie Studios Park, and Aqua Paradise Park (a nice waterpark), are all close to each other next to the town of Pacengo. The parks are open from Easter until Halloween and run complimentary buses around the lake from all of the major towns to the parks.  All are worth visiting.

Other Info - Arco has 3 or 4 really nice climbing shops in town where you can buy the guidebook Arco Rock (which is in English) and any gear you might need. You can also find some free route/crag information online at websites such as http://www.coronn.com/TOPOS/italy/arco/arco.html.

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll try to respond.

Grazie!