Overview
An informative and highly practical course designed to give you the skills to become a climbing instructor. This course will be delivered by highly qualified and professional instructors who have a vast array of experience delivering Mountain Training courses.
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Training courses are our chance to help you become the best instructor you can. For us, the essence of good instructing is the ability to pitch at a level appropriate to you, introducing the principles of each skill in the syllabus and building up from there with practice so that you’re confident to apply these skills in a variety of scenarios. If you put the effort in to learn, we’ll work hard to develop your skills to the required level and beyond – giving you confidence in your abilities whilst having few days out at the crags with like-minded people.
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At the end of your Rock Climbing Instructor training course, we’ll help you make an action plan to develop and consolidate your skills before assessment. Please note that before attending an assessment you must hold a valid First Aid certificate (see our outdoor specific First Aid courses here).
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We’re proud of our reputation for providing great courses and looking after people in a relaxed and professional way. Many people on our courses come by recommendation which is something we’re really grateful for and proud of – it’s the acid test of us delivering what we aim for! If you don’t know us and want to find out more please give us a call or email us to query anything.
Pre-requisites
Prior to attending the course, you must have:
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You must be registered on the Rock Climbing Instructor scheme with Mountain Training.
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You must have led at least: 15 graded rock climbs with traditional protection, 15 climbing wall routes and 5 outdoor bolt protected sport climbs.
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If you do not have the prerequisite experienced logged in your log book, the course director is obliged by mountain training to either ask you to leave the course or will not record your attendance on the course. The pre-experience is important as it allows the training to start at a leadership level rather than a novice level.
Course Location
Hathersage, Peak District (Day 1 is spent at Awesome Walls in Sheffield).
FAQ's
If you have any questions about the Rock Climbing Instructor scheme, the scope of the qualification, logbooks etc. then please take a look at the Rock Climbing Instructor FAQ's page on the Mountain Training Website:
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If you have any questions about our courses then please don't hesitate to contact us.
Access to Courses
Mountain Training is committed to ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to attend its courses, as are we. If you have a particular need that requires extra assistance, please discuss it with Mountain Training or alternatively, you can contact us.
To find out more please visit: https://www.mountain-training.org/help/resources/support-for-people-with-additional-needs
Day 1
Timings: 09.45am – 6pm
Venue: Awesome Walls, Sheffield
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At the start of the course there will be a short session where your Course Director will go through the Rock climbing Instructor scheme structure and the format for your course as well as answering any questions you may have.
We’ll start off by looking at the various aspects of how to use a climbing wall with groups and how to supervise and deliver indoor climbing sessions (bottom ropes and bouldering) as well as how to introduce and coach the fundamentals of climbing movement. A short session on equipment selection and serviceability will also be covered.
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Day 2
Timings: 9am – 5pm
Venue: A crag nearby to Hathersage
The first part of this day will focus on best practice when trad lead climbing followed by an introduction to the various skills required of a rock-climbing instructor when working outdoors at a crag, including venue and route selection, rigging techniques, crag etiquette and problem avoidance.
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Day 3
Timings: 9am – 5pm.
Venue: A crag nearby to Hathersage
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The third day will pick up where we left off and will cover personal and group abseils as well as how to plan and deliver sessions and manage an assistant. There will also be a short opportunity to revisit any previous course content that candidates may want some additional input on. In addition to this we’ll also look to develop your general climbing and environment knowledge on topics such as; geology, flora & fauna, access and conservation, and climbing history.
At the end of your course, you’ll sit down with the course director and be given feedback on how you got on and what to do next, including an action plan of how to prepare for your assessment.
Please note that the course programme may change to suit the prevailing conditions and/or the needs of the group e.g. the day when we visit a climbing wall may be moved to the wettest weather day of the course.
