May 29 2018

Climbing, Travel and … Napping!?

Kids, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Travel
by Beth

Hi Beth,   First, thank you for truly being an encouragement, inspiration, and role model to all of the mommies out there trying to navigate their new roll as life giver while also trying to remember and live their identities as adventurers. Certainly a hard and rewarding transition.I loved the blog about the third wheel, thank goodness for them. Probably, all enthusiastic hikers, having told relatives and friends the good news about the upcoming addition to the family, hear similar phrases: “Well, now hiking will have to be postponed for several years ...

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Apr 24 2018

Weekend Warriors

Climbing, Kids, Travel
by Beth

As a professional climber, I've avoided weekends when the roads were full of traffic and the crags were littered with people. Saturday and Sunday have always been, by choice, my rest days. It worked out perfectly. I climbed during the week with other abnormal people (e.g., professional climbers or vacationers) and lived in a lovely little bubble. During those years, it never occurred to me how few weekend warriors I actually knew or interacted with. Then I met Randy, my husband, a bonafide working man with a commute to an...

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Apr 04 2017

Paige Claassen Interview: Thoughts on Climbing, Starting a Non Profit and Having a Family

Climbing, Interviews, Kids, Motherhood, Travel
by Beth

Paige Claassen is one of the strongest, understated climbers of her generation. For the past decade she has dispatched with some of the hardest routes in the world - and doesn't gloat about it. What's always struck me about Paige is her eye and desire to try meaningful climbs - beautiful, historical, stiff - they are always "king lines" in my opinion. She recently got married (happy almost one year anniversary Paige!) so naturally I wanted to know when she was going to have kids...

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Mar 23 2017

Babies in Bleau

Climbing, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Travel
by Beth

Salut friends! Here we are bouldering again in the forest of Fontainebleau.   Having spent my prime years competing in Nationals, sport climbing 5.14s, and either establishing or repeating hard big-wall free climbs on El Capitan, I would never have guessed that I would go on to become such an avid pebble wrestler in my ripe old age of "29-plus"-but here I am, on my third trip to Fontainebleau in as many years. Who knew that bouldering was the most conducive way of climbing with a kid?   Fontainebleau has become an annual...

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Dec 01 2015

Climbing with Kids: Hilaree O’Neill Interview

Climbing, Interviews, Kids, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Travel
by Beth

Hilaree O'Neill is one of the most well rounded mountain athletes out there. She is the first woman to climb two 8000 meter peaks in 24 hours and has continued to push the envelope with big mountain expeditions for decades. Along with being a truly inspirational athlete, she is also the mother of two young boys. She recently returned from an expedition to Makalu, where her boys joined her on the trek to basecamp. She was super kind to do an incredible and open interview on the life of a...

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Nov 17 2015

Great Outdoor Kid Gear

Kids, Travel
by Beth

I receive a lot of messages from parents asking me what gear we use for Theo in the great outdoors to transport and entertain him, as well as keep him warm, dry and protected. I know that I could have benefited from having a concise list of some great, vetted items, and not just for kids too, like a sun or hiking hat - something that is necessary for sun protection for example. We relied mostly on our friends for suggestions, and were fortunate enough to receive a lot of...

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Sep 11 2015

Climbing With Kids: Climbing in Fontainebleau

Climbing, Kids, Motherhood, Travel
by Beth

I always envisioned myself becoming one of those “cool” parents. You know, the kind of parent who takes her child everywhere. The kind of parent whose child has visited more foreign countries than you can count. The kind of parent who, at the drop of a hat, could buy a ticket online, pack everything into an impossibly small duffle, and zip off on a light and fast adventure around the world. To me, those kinds of parents always seemed like the cool, groovy, relaxed people that, surely, I would be.   Being...

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Mar 10 2015

Climbing With Kids: Injuries and trips

Climbing, Injuries, Kids, Motherhood, Travel
by Beth

As the Dawn Wall excitement exited the Valley, Theo and I got back into our quiet routine in Yosemite. California’s dry and warm weather unfortunately continued, allowing me to keep climbing and start ramping it up. My body slowly felt like it was getting back into my all too familiar climbing rhythm - albeit at a much more reduced level. I actually was able to climb with people during the “climbing” part of their day, not just the “warm up” part. It felt beyond incredible to feel like I was...

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Nov 13 2014

Climbing With Kids: Becca Caldwell Interview

Climbing, Interviews, Kids, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Travel, Yosemite
by Beth

For any of you out there that buy Patagonia kids clothes, you've probably seen the adorable kiddo Fitz Caldwell. Most likely those pictures were taken by his talented mom, Becca. She does an amazing job at documenting all the adventures that Fitz goes on, from her Instagram feed to their family blog. As many mothers do, she does run some social media accounts. It's become a lot more popular for families to have these social media platforms to influence others from. They can do this easily by using sites like...

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