The Shallow Gene Pool of a UK Rock Climber
By Steve Casimiro, Adventure Journal on February 6th, 2012
Menna Prichard was photographed rock climbing near Swansea, England, with her two-year-old daughter Ffion on her back, and when the image went public she was castigated in the famously caustic U.K. press. Prichard was wearing a helmet and the child was not, and she said regretted having protection while Ffion didn’t and so if she were to do it again she wouldn’t wear hers. Well, that’s smart. Revealing even more astounding depths of ignorance, she also said, “A friend was solo climbing - without ropes - beside me. He’s a qualified Mountain Leader and rock climber. It meant we had someone very experienced right next to us all the time.” The British Mountaineering Council, losing a teaching opportunity and showing a wide yellow streak, said it was parents’ place to decide if rock climbing with children on their backs is appropriate. Via Telegraph UK.
Maybe you should take a look at the crag she was climbing before passing judgement. It’s a 5.4 slab. No danger whatsoever. You are a greater danger to yourself than this mom is to her child.
Mayhap this article could have been titled “The Cowardly Judgement of an American Blog Writer.”
The internet has allowed every idiot the opportunity to comment on things they know absolutely nothing about.
No danger? What’s wrong with you? If she slips, even the drop from nothing more than rope stretch could hurt that child. Or the photographer could dislodge a rock or drop their camera. That’s the beginning of the “what’s wrong with this picture?” list.