Families Stretch Their Physical Limits on Multisport Vacations

From rock climbing to mountain biking, families stay active on adventure trips.

ByABC News
August 30, 2008, 2:07 PM

Aug. 29, 2008— -- GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — The scarily steep expanse of granite looms, but fearless Patrick Kudej, 13, scampers up nearly 200 feet and then rappels backward off a cliff, with the help of a harness, careful rope support and watchful instructor. So do his sister and three young cousins.

Their father, computer graphics artist Rob Kudej, 46, amazes himself by doing the Spider-Man-like ascent and cliff-drop, though he, too, has no previous rock-climbing experience.

The kids' mother, a lawyer, is more tentative, but she gamely gets through. "I'm glad I'm trying it," Betsy Conway, 47, says. "But I really get a charge out of watching the kids."

The family of four from Norwich, Conn., have joined Betsy's sister and her clan on a six-day Grand Teton-Yellowstone multisport tour, a best-selling outing from The World Outdoors. It's one of a growing number of multi-adventure trips catering to today's appetite for easy-to-organize getaways providing varied physical challenges. Outfitters arrange guides, lodging, transportation, equipment, instruction and meals.

Parents like multisport because kids "get bored" doing one thing, says The World Outdoors president Bill Marriner, an energetic 55-year-old who is guiding this trip with guest services director Sherry Malanify, 47. Seasoned travelers no longer are content to sit in tour buses, he says. They like stretching boundaries and new experiences.

This August tour in the jagged, snow-capped Teton mountain range and geyser-dotted Yellowstone National Park includes rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and whitewater rafting -- with kayaking and horseback riding as pay-extra options.

The two families assemble in Jackson, Wyo., the night before the tour's start. Bill and Sherry meet the four adults and five kids in a white GMC van, with bins of energy-boosting granola mixed with nuts and M&Ms under the seats and a rack of bikes on top.

They give an orientation with the admonition that if you see a bear, don't make eye contact and don't run. If attacked, get on the ground in a fetal position. "We've never had a problem," Sherry says soothingly. Still, Bill totes a can of hot-pepper bear spray.