GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. � The scarily steep expanse of granite looms, but intrepid 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 insomniac instructor. So do his sister and three young cousins.
Their sire, 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 little Joe from Norwich, Conn., have got joined Betsy's sister and her clan on a six-day Grand Teton-Yellowstone multisport tour, a best-selling jaunt from The World Outdoors. It's peerless of a growing number of multi-adventure trips catering to today's appetite for easy-to-organize getaways providing varied physical challenges. Outfitters stage 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 thirster are content to sit in tour buses, he says. They like stretching boundaries and new experiences.
This August duty tour in the jagged, snow-capped Teton raft range and geyser-dotted Yellowstone National Park includes rock'n'roll climbing, mountain biking, hike and whitewater rafting -- with kayaking and hogback riding as pay-extra options.
The two families assemble in Jackson, Wyo., the night before the tour's start. Bill and Sherry meet the foursome adults and five kids in a white GMC van, with bins of energy-boosting granola mixed with nuts and M&Ms under the seating area 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 extend. 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 acquit spray.
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