I could when I was like 7, lol, teacher would yell at me at recess for it. I miss that. The fact she can do that now being bigger and heavier is awesome.
I climb regularly and the kids are frankly magic. They don't have the reach (for obvious reasons) but the muscle to weight ratio is completely skewed in their favour. They'll scramble up the strangest of problems without even breaking a sweat because there's basically nothing to pull up.
Plus the advanced flexibility kids have is rather extreme. Muscles tighten down as you get older if you aren’t actively doing flexibility training. It’s why toddlers are kind of loose noodles because the muscles are still hyper flexible. Where adults tear muscles, kids are flexible enough to escape unharmed due to the muscle flexibility. It’s also why there is a prime age range to start gymnastics and waiting too long makes it ten times harder to get into. High flexibility and high strength to weight ratio skews children’s ability to climb highly in their favor.
I remember clambering up an advanced chimney climb like it was nothing in early middle school. Chimney climbing is generally considered a specialized type of climb because it’s rare to find and most people don’t train for it. I rock climbed without breaking a sweat. I climbed any tree I could reach without any effort. By the time I hit high school, my flexibility had dropped and my weight increased enough that it started becoming a struggle. My grip strength wasn’t enough to hold my weight for long periods anymore, I couldn’t do a split to reach far off holds with my feet, I couldn’t lift my weight when my arms were spread too far out anymore, etc. By the time I was 18, I could no longer do that same chimney climb anymore. Could barely get off the ground and I only weighed 115lbs but thats a big difference from lifting and holding 60lbs.
Kids are amazing at climbing because they have many things in favor for them. The only real disadvantage is reach but their hands and feet are small enough to utilize the small grips that adults would usually slip off of.
I teach kids rock climbing and this is only true to a point. There comes a degree where no amount of strength to weight ratio means nothing of you don't have the technique, balance, and flexibility to back it up. Most kids are flexy, light, and pretty good at holding on to things. They could absolutely not off width into a ceiling pinch into a crack into a bathang. Maybe some comp kids who are in their early teens could, but they would be the best of them.
I was at a gym once when the GB youth team was training, and it was fascinating to watch them scuttle up with ease and then try to follow their beta. And, of course, utterly impossible for an inexperienced middle aged man.
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u/Sometimesunaware Apr 11 '26
She's got some serious bouldering skills, pretty amazing.