Menna Pritchard, 26, defends rock climbing with TODDLER strapped to her back

By
Ted Thornhill

Last updated at 3:57 PM on 31st January 2012

A single mother with a love of adrenaline sports has defended her decision to go rock climbing – with her toddler daughter strapped to her back without a helmet.

Menna Pritchard, 26 – who states brazenly that ‘life is about taking risks’ – scales sheer rock faces while carrying two-year-old Ffion.

The full-time student – studying for a degree in outdoor education – said yesterday: ‘Some people would say I’m taking more risks than are necessary, but I am very conscious of safety and I would never do anything with Ffion that I thought would put her in danger.’

Elf and safety: Menna Pritchard has defended her decision to rock climb with two-year-old daughter Ffion strapped to her back

Elf and safety: Menna Pritchard has defended her decision to rock climb with two-year-old daughter Ffion strapped to her back

Picturesque: Three Cliffs Bay is stunning, but is it the sort of place to go rock climbing with your toddler strapped to your back?

Picturesque: Three Cliffs Bay in The Gower, where Menna and Ffion are pictured climbing. Menna said: ‘It is the safest form of climbing you can do’

Adventures: Pritchard says that she hopes the trips will inspire her daughter

Adventurous: Menna Pritchard says that she hopes her outward bound experiences will inspire her daughter

Menna split from Ffion’s father when she was three months pregnant and moved to Wales to live with her parents.

She studies at Trinity St David in Carmarthen and works part time as an outdoor instructor while juggling her job and education with her love of adventure sports.

She said: ‘Rock climbing, kayaking and canoeing are all fairly new to me in the last two years but I feel I am in my element.

‘The idea is that it’s fun and exciting for Ffion too and hopefully I am inspiring her and giving her access to the outdoors.

‘Ever since Ffion was born I have been either trying to do mountain climbing with her or forest walking or doing beach trips.

‘It just felt so good, not only for my physical wellbeing but also for my state of mind.’

All smiles: Pritchard is studying outdoor education

Risk-taker: ¿Life is all about risks, whether that¿s something as simple as getting in your car every day or climbing up a rock face,’ said Menna, who is studying outdoor education

Ffion was just four months old when Menna carried her up Pen y Fan – the highest peak in South Wales.

‘She slept through the whole thing,’ she said. ‘She was in a front carrier at that time and it really was incredibly safe. Safety is always paramount.’

She has since walked or climbed with Ffion in The Gower – a coastal beauty spot near Swansea – on the Pembrokeshire coast, and in North Wales.

Yesterday, she defended a photo she posted on her blog taken as she climbed a limestone rock face at Three Cliffs Bay, The Gower – with Ffion strapped to her back.

While Menna and her climbing partner wear safety helmets in the photo, Ffion’s head is exposed to the potentially deadly dangers of rock fall.

Menna said: ‘I can appreciate if you didn’t realise how safe the environment I was in, it could be worrying, but I was top-roping which means if you fall you don’t fall any further than where you came off.

‘It is the safest form of climbing you can do. I was also in a beach environment surrounded by experienced climbers.

‘Health and safety legislation and the sue and blame culture mean so many people are nervous, so afraid of getting into trouble, and taking small risks.

‘Life is all about risks, whether that’s something as simple as getting in your car every day or climbing up a rock face.’

Peter Cornall, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident’s head of leisure safety, backed Menna, saying that experiencing these types of activities could benefit her daughter in the long run.

He told MailOnline: ‘Although we cannot comment on the precise conditions on the day, the route photographed appears to a simple straight forward short climb and so if the mother and child got into difficulties they could be lowered off easily by the belayer.

‘Outdoor and adventurous activities are a great way of learning about safety and getting children involved at an early age will improve their understanding of hazard and risk later in life.’

He added that despite the child not wearing a helmet, it would be unlikely to prevent serious injury in any case.

He said: ‘We would ideally recommend wearing a helmet, but it is not going to stop you having an accident and it is not going to give a great deal of protection if you are struck by a large rock fall, fall a significant height, or swing into a rock face.’

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

This female has the right to put her own life at risk but not the life of another.

Even if she had a helmet on, she should not be taken up a rock face from which she could fall and be severely damaged.

This is shocking. Once you are a mother you have more than just YOURSELF to think consider. Grow up! It is not all about you and your pathetic ego!

Talk about stupid. I too am an out-of-doors kind of person and would never do what she is doing. The child is too young to get much from these experiences. What they need at this age is to run around, crawl around on the ground with friends having fun not scaling hills and watching cliff faces.

Stupid woman, why isn’t the child wearing a protective helmet?

fool

You go girl – enjoy the outdoors – make memories with your darling daughter but GET HER A HELMET!!

that child will grow up in the real world knowing what life is about, unlike the namby pamby little squealers that are the norm these days.

I’m speechless. Get your adrenaline rush elsewhere!

I think that all of you people crying about this are really the stupid ones, are you somehow a little jealous or upset that you didn’t pay your child enough mind when you had them? A little guilty that you didn’t give them the experiences that you had, or were you too busy working at the call centre to give them enough attention? The helmet i would definitely agree with, but she’s putting her child at the forefront of her activities, which is probably more than most of YOU ever did.
Conclusion: Stop worrying about what other people are doing, and go and focus on your own lives, then maybe your child wont grow up to be like half of the child idiots we see today.

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