In the Canadian Rockies, up a narrow canyon, eight-year-old Rose sits on her pack in the snow. Next to a sled full of gear, she works the straps on her crampons\u00a0with a little help from her dad. Rose\u2019s older sister, Marie, 11,\u00a0sits nearby and fits her own crampons. They\u2019re in Grotto Canyon, near their hometown of Canmore, Alberta, and they\u2019re here for the ice.<\/p>\n
This may be a normal day out for the girls\u2014it\u2019s Marie\u2019s third time\u00a0and Rose\u2019s second time ice climbing\u2014but their father, professional climber\u00a0Will Gadd<\/a>, certainly does not have a normal career. Despite making a living through dangerous feats<\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0establishing some of the world\u2019s hardest ice and mixed climbs, sending a frozen Niagara Falls<\/a>, and setting the distance world record for paragliding (twice), he hasn\u2019t reached the ripe\u00a0old age of 52 without knowing a thing or two about risk management. On his website<\/a> under career highlights, he proudly lists \u201csurviving.\u201d<\/p>\n Gadd and his kids try to go on one adventure every weekend, not only because they love it, but also because it teaches the girls how to assess and manage risk in the outdoors, a skill that Gadd hopes\u00a0they will carry over to everyday life. Risk management, however, isn\u2019t about eliminating risk altogether\u2014an impossibility in any facet of life\u2014but recognizing\u00a0potential hazards and mitigating\u00a0the consequences, or knowing when to bail.<\/p>\n With her crampons on, Rose pops up and asks her dad if she can sled while she waits to climb. Gadd replies, \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen when you get in the sled with crampons on?\u201d<\/p>\n Rose looks at the sled for a moment, and then her feet, and then back to the sled. \u201cI poke holes in it,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll just go practice.\u201d She picks up a pair of ice tools\u00a0and, stomping her feet to set the crampons, duck-walks over to the frozen river to work on her swing.<\/p>\n \u201cOK, Rosie,\u201d\u00a0Gadd\u00a0says. \u201cJust keep the pointy bits away from your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n Parenting is a lot like guiding,\u00a0<\/strong>and vice versa, Gadd says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re taking care of people in the mountains, regardless of their age, you\u2019ve got to set realistic goals, keep them warm and fed, and make sure the risks you\u2019re taking are appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the latter, he classifies risk into three general tiers based on the potential consequences: bumps and bruises, hospital, and death. He uses the same system\u00a0whether guiding or out with his girls, but his girls were the ones who came up with the names. When they reach a hazard, like the base of a cliff, together they assess the danger. They run through scenarios\u2014what would happen if this<\/em>, or what would happen if that<\/em>\u2014and then come up with ways to manage or work around those hazards. If the risk is too high for the girls\u2019 experience or ability level, they\u2019ll walk away. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to scare my kids by pointing out there is potential for death and hospital and bruises out there,\u201d\u00a0Gadd\u00a0says. \u201cI\u2019m trying to get them to identify the real problems, and then they\u2019re free to explore the spaces between them.\u201d<\/p>\n He is Socratic in his approach. Like with Rose and the sled, Gadd rarely tells his girls to not <\/em>do something\u00a0but will instead phrase a concern as a question to encourage critical thinking<\/a>. \u201cThe goal is to turn them into autonomous people, right?\u201d he says. \u201cI think there\u2019s this overemphasis on developing confidence in kids, but if you develop confidence without competence, it leads to beatdowns and danger. I like to boost their competence, and I hope confidence will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n As Marie and Rose take turns climbing laps on the ice flow, a hiker approaches the cliff to take photos. \u201cDad,\u201d Marie says, \u201cthat woman is standing in a dangerous place.\u201d<\/p>\n Immersed in her camera, the hiker is oblivious to the fact that the top of the cliff is now in full sunlight on an unseasonably warm day. Any loose rock that had frozen in place over the winter could come unglued at any moment. The ice climb itself is protected by a section of overhanging rock, but a few feet out from the base of the cliff is a brown ring of pebbles and stones, exactly where the woman stopped. Stand there without a helmet for too long, and you might be riding the hospital train.<\/p>\n
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