Congratulations! I enjoyed reading this thread as I have a four week old girl and a two year old boy.
For me the main things are risk, rest and prioritising competitive activity to things I can realistically train for. Apart from that the best realisation I had as a dad was the meaning of compromise. I thought it would mean less time in the mountains but it actually means splitting time between two hugely rewarding and enjoyable pursuits: ones own objectives and spending time with your family.
I’ve always loved the process of skiing and climbing and been very ambitious with my objectives as well as pushing my limits. That includes training.
I live in London and can fit running into my commute, so am doing a lot of that and racing on roads. It is a release for my competitive side and whilst I used to race in the mountains I now just do that for fun because I can’t get away as much for specific training. I can still do big routes for fun though.
We’re lucky as we spend a lot of time in chamonix. I bought skimo skis when we had our son and even if I spend the day with him I can still race up the mountain and back in an hour before or after the lifts open and I love doing that.
I had a bad fall whilst skiing a month before my son was born. I had plenty of time to think about whether I would meet him as I was bouncing down snow and over rock bands. Miraculously I was uninjured but it certainly made me think about what acceptable risk is. I still want to do big days in the mountains but there’s loads of things I love doing in life as well as the mental challenge of putting in turns on exposed terrain. So I’ve just stopped doing that – there’s plenty of other stuff to do. So I’d definitely echo what others said about risk.
I also completely agree about rest. As I’m getting older and maybe wiser, I find it easier to admit that unlike Killian, I have a conventional job and a family and I’ll maximise my own fitness by being realistic about how much rest I need.