INDOOR CLIMBING ASSISTANT

The Indoor Climbing Assistant is designed for people who want to support qualified instructors with climbing sessions on artificial structures. People interested in this scheme might be parents, youth workers, young leaders or teachers and the focus is on assisting with core tasks within a session.

Indoor Climbing Assistants are not qualified to manage groups independently.

A qualified Indoor Climbing Assistant can operate on:

Indoor and outdoor artificial bouldering venues.

Indoor and outdoor climbing walls.

Useful Resources

PROVIDERS CANDIDATE HANDBOOK

Getting Started

To get started on the Indoor Climbing Assistant qualification you need to meet the following prerequisites:

Be at least 16 years old
Have an interest in assisting qualified instructors on indoor climbing walls.
If the above applies to you, create an account on our candidate management system or log
in if you already have one. The registration fee is €28 (U18 Free) and covers access to DLOG (our
digital log book) where you can record your experience and keep track of your progress, a
quality assured course delivered by an approved provider, an online training record
and an official certificate.

Do you have additional needs?

Do you have a physical or mental impairment or disability which may
require a provider to make reasonable adjustments so that you can take
part in a training or assessment course? Find out more.

Not quite right?

If this doesn’t sound like the right qualification for you, consider the following:

Foundation Coach

Climbing Wall Instructor

Rock Climbing Instructor

Rock Skills (personal skills training, not a qualification)

You could also read through our ‘Which scheme is right for me?’ page.

Indoor Climbing Assistant candidate handbook

The Indoor Climbing Assistant handbook has full details about

the scheme including the syllabus and supporting guidance

notes.

Download The Handbook

Training & Assessment

The course involves one day (or potentially two evenings) of training and ongoing assessment in a supportive learning environment.

Prerequisites for attending the course are as follows:

Experience in the basic skills (belaying, harness fitting, tying on).
5 indoor climbing sessions. (There is no personal climbing requirement, you can just belay, but it is useful to have experience of climbing.)
Belayed on a minimum of 5 indoor climbing sessions.

After the course you will be given an assessment result of either Pass or Defer (not yet mastered basic skills).

Indoor Climbing Assistant guidance for course directors and staff

The Syllabus

If you have completed the Indoor Climbing Assistant you should be competent in the following key areas, all of which will be covered, to a greater or lesser extent, during the course.

Technical competence (equipment, belaying, personal skills and background knowledge)
Management and decision making (managing participants under supervision, demonstrations and understanding your role)
Teaching and learning skills
The climbing environment (access, etiquette and ethics)

Detailed information on each of the above topics can be found in the Indoor Climbing Assistant candidate handbook. As with all Mountain Training qualifications, your experience prior to attending the course will have a huge impact on the result and you should try to be as fully prepared as possible.

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 now

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