Training

Having operated a commercial climbing wall for over 17 years, Beacon Climbing are well aware that building a new climbing wall is only the first step of the process. In addition to climbing wall design and construction, we also offer comprehensive climbing wall training courses to help you operate a safe and successful climbing facility.

Site Specific Climbing Wall Training

This course is intended to allow people to supervise climbing and carry out basic equipment checks on a specific climbing wall. It allows the belaying of colleagues or novices on the pre-rigged top ropes and the supervision of bouldering and traversing. The training does not cover the teaching of belaying to novices or supervision of groups on any other climbing wall.

The course will usually consist of two days training at your climbing wall, a period of consolidation (to allow candidates to gain experience), and a 1 day assessment. Training topics will reflect your individual requirements but will typically include:

• Basic supervision of bouldering, traversing and top roping.
• Formulation of risk assessments and procedures.
• Equipment care and logging.
• Basic climbing wall and equipment checks.

If successful, your staff will be signed off as being competent users of the climbing wall and will be able to carry out basic supervision of groups. It should be noted that this is a relatively limited qualification; anyone wishing to become qualified to teach aspects of climbing or to work at more than one venue should consider the Climbing Wall Award or the Single Pitch Award - more information on both further down this page.

Climbing Wall Equipment Inspection Course

All equipment used in a climbing wall should be logged in and then inspected on a regular basis by a competent person. If you are responsible for a climbing wall and fail to do this then you might find yourselves in contravention of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1998.

This one day course is aimed at those people taking responsibility for equipment checks in climbing walls and thoroughly covers all aspects of logging in and inspecting the equipment used in climbing walls.

Climbing Wall Award (CWA) Courses

The Climbing Wall Award is a nationally recognised qualification for those wishing to supervise others on a climbing wall. Beacon Climbing Centre operate regular training and assessment courses throughout the year. The comprehensive 2-day course covers techniques such as group supervision, equipment suitability, safety and coaching movement skills.

Single Pitch Award (SPA) Courses

Like the CWA, the Single Pitch Award is a nationally recognised course, however it also covers supervision on single pitch crags outside - the CWA is limited to indoor climbing only.

During SPA Training, you will learn how to become an effective supervisor, encourage others to enjoy their climbing safely, and will cover topics such as choice of venue, rope management, correct use of equipment, group management, emergency procedures, crag etiquette, access and conservation.

For more details or to book any of these courses, please contact Beacon Climbing on 0845 450 8222 or email info@beaconclimbing.com