Getting Started
Min. age for training: 16
Min. age for assessment: 18
Training: 1 day
Assessment: 3 hrs
Average time from training to passing assessment: currently unknown - new qualification introduced spring 2025.
Ideal for: Bouldering wall staff, young people who’ve completed NICAS Bouldering Level 4 or 5, people who run bouldering sessions on artificial walls or towers.
To get started on the Bouldering Wall Instructor qualification you need to meet the following prerequisites:
- You must be at least 16 years old
- You should have at least 3 months of experience of using indoor/artificial bouldering walls, including a major public bouldering centre
- You should have an interest in bouldering and in supervising groups bouldering
- You must have recorded (ideally on DLOG):
- Visits to three different indoor/artificial bouldering walls on at least 15 different occasions; this must include at least one major public bouldering centre.
- Personal bouldering at V2 or above
- You must be a member of a mountaineering council: Mountaineering Ireland, BMC, or Mountaineering Scotland (you can join one when you register if you're not already a member) - find out why €35 for training candidates.
If you can meet all of the above requirements, here's what to do next:
- Register for the Bouldering Wall Instructor scheme (this costs €71).
Training
Bouldering Wall Instructor training lasts for 2 days and will be run by one of our approved providers in the UK or Ireland.
Before you attend a Bouldering Wall Instructor training course, make sure you have done the following:
- You must be registered on the scheme.
- You must have an understanding of the wider sport of climbing.
- Be a current member of a Mountaineering Council: Mountaineering Ireland, Mountaineering Scotland or the British Mountaineering Council. €35 for training candidates.
You must have an up to date logbook (preferably DLOG) with evidence of the following:
- You must have recorded (ideally on DLOG):
- Visits to three different indoor/artificial bouldering walls on at least 15 different occasions; this must include at least one major public bouldering centre.
- Personal bouldering at V2 or above
- Training and assessment courses are delivered by our approved providers in public and private bouldering walls across the UK or Ireland. A variety of cost packages are available, depending on what's included; food, accommodation etc. so you can choose one that's right for you.
Training
Bouldering Wall Instructor training lasts for one day (or the 1 day training can be split into 2 or 3 shorter sessions), and will cover:
- The Bouldering Wall Instructor syllabus
- What to expect at assessment
- Feedback on your performance and areas to focus on prior to assessment
Online learning is available through your candidate account on:
- Pathway to effective leadership
- Instructor responsibilities
- Use the Bouldering Wall Instructor Skills Checklist
This document can be used during or shortly after your training course to help you identify areas of the syllabus that may require attention prior to assessment.
Syllabus
Technical competence (including personal bouldering skills and background knowledge)
Management and decision making (including instructor responsibilities, leadership and decision-making, knowledge and demonstration of techniques, hazards and emergency procedures)
Teaching and learning skills
The climbing environment (including etiquette and ethics)
Detailed information on each of the above topics can be found in the
Bouldering Wall Instructor handbook and the onus is on you to be competent in all of them by the time you come to assessment - use the Skills Checklist to help with this.
Consolidation
The period between training and assessment (often referred to as the consolidation period) varies in length for each person and is an opportunity to develop your skills, paying particular attention to any weaknesses identified during the training course. You can use the excuse 'I'm preparing for assessment' to visit the wall as much as you like!
After completing a training course, use the feedback from your course director and the skills checklist to identify syllabus areas you need to practise.
Our membership association (Mountain Training Association) offers peer-led learning opportunities and formal workshops on a range of topics, from coaching climbing movement to developing your leadership/instructing style, to help you during this phase.
The Mountain Training Association
Join the
Mountain Training Association and be part of a community of like-minded people on our schemes. The Association offers a range of workshops for trainee and qualified leaders and coaches across the disciplines, as well as a quarterly magazine, gear deals/discounts, a monthly newsletter and an insurance deal. You can join the Association at any point after you have registered on one of Mountain Training's leadership/coaching schemes.
Join nowThe Book - Rock Climbing
Rock Climbing has been written specifically for people working their way through Mountain Training's climbing schemes and it's packed with colourful diagrams, photographs and simple language. It covers the full spectrum of modern climbing practice including movement skills, knots, bouldering, sport, trad and indoor climbing as well as risk management and problem solving.
Buy nowAssessment
Before you attend a Bouldering Wall Instructor assessment, make sure you have done the following:
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must have attended a Bouldering Wall Instructor training course or have been granted exemption from training.
- You must be familiar with the syllabus.
- You must boulder proficiently at V2.
- You must have assisted in the supervision of at least 15 instructed sessions on at least two different indoor/artificial bouldering venues, including a large public facility. A session is a minimum of an hour. At least five of these sessions must have personal reflective comments** recorded on DLOG.
- You must have physically attended and completed (i.e. not online) a first aid course which involved at least one full day or eight hours of instruction and included and element of assessment.
- Be a current member of a Mountaineering Council: Mountaineering Ireland, Mountaineering Scotland or the British Mountaineering Council. €35 for training candidates.
Assessment
The Bouldering Wall Instructor assessment is 3 hours. You will be assessed against the syllabus competencies with a group of participants. At the end of the assessment you will receive one of three results
- Pass
- Defer (requires a partial reassessment)
- Fail (requires a full reassessment)
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