Maple Canyon: The Orangutan Wall
Overall:
The Schoolroom is a great destination for climbing with kids. Honestly, one of the best. There are climbs for kids, beginners and adults. The landing is perfect, and it is easy to get to. It can get busy here, but every time I have come to this area, there are always climbs available. If you have kids and want to get them on a wall, this area should be at the top of your list.
Routes:
We aren’t interested in duplicating effort, so you can find information about this area at…
Maple Canyon Guide book Pg. 175-175 (The link is to a site where you can purchase the book. Really, if you are going to Maple, you should have it.)
Approach:
Time
This is just past Billy the Kid Wall and won’t take more than 10 minutes even with the tiniest.
Difficulty
Flat and level trail.
Danger
Not really dangerous, but a few years back our then two year old did stumble at the beginning of the hike. She tumbled down a hill that could have potentially hurt her pretty bad. She was fine, but a little shaken up. You see those videos of miraculous dad saves on YouTube. That wasn’t me. I would say, not dangerous, but hold the littles hands at the beginning.
Landing:
There is an upper and lower section of the Orangutan Wall. The upper section is a few feet higher than the lower on a sort of island that can be steep to get up. While the landing is great in the upper area and great in the lower area the fact that there are two with a steep path between the two can be harder with little kids.
Traffic:
It can get crowded here because it has so many intermediate level climbs.
Extra Kid Fun:
I think this area is a lot of fun. You start out crossing a bridge. The approach is a hike past The Pipeline, which has some difficult climbs and usually people good enough to do them. It is pretty fun to watch. Slightly farther up the path is a log crossing a small ravine. It is not super dangerous so my kids and I always like to do it. My dog will even cross it.
Here is a picture of the log.
Potential Dangers:
There’s the possibility of bigger slips and stumbles with your child (if they are really small) off the upper area of Orangutan Wall or the super fun log if they get away from you and try it themselves. Though my two year old will just scooch down from the upper level on her bottom and hasn’t gotten hurt.