This award enables holders to supervise people on single pitch crags and climbing walls. To gain this award you need more than just good personal climbing skills. We will teach you about safe group management, indoors and out, crag etiquette, environmental responsibilities and more. You will learn how to become an effective supervisor, encouraging others to enjoy their climbing safely, whilst also improving some of your own climbing skills.

How do you gain a qualification?
Before you can lead or teach others you need to have a level of personal competence in the mountains or on the crags of the UK. If you are thinking of undertaking the SPA you should already be a climber. There are 4 basic stages in getting a qualification:

Stage 1: Contact MLTUK to ensure that you meet the pre-requirements and get a copy of the syllabus. You can do this at www.mltuk.org

Stage 2: Register with a Mountain Training Board for the appropriate qualification. They will provide you with a logbook. You can do this online at www.mltuk.org

Stage 3: Attend a training course. You must have completed stages 1 and 2 before attending the training course. If you have an exceptionally high level of experience you may be able to apply for exemption from the training course.

Stage 4: Attend an assessment course. You must have completed stages 1 to 3 and meet any other requirements laid down by the appropriate mountain training board (ie hold an appropriate, valid first aid qualification).

Courses

SPA Training: This is a two day course based on the SPA syllabus but specifically focusing on the skills that people struggle to learn on their own. We will visit 2 or 3 different crags over the 2 days as well as an indoor climbing wall. We will try to ensure that the crags offer a variety of rock types ie Limestone and Gritstone. At the end of the course each client will be given an individual debrief on the skills that you need to work on prior to assessment.

Pre requirements: You must have completed the first two stages detailed above, be a minimum of 18 years of age and have 12 months climbing experience. You must also be a member of an affiliated mountaineering club or a mountaineering council (ie www.thebmc.co.uk) and have led a minimum of 15 outdoor routes of any grade, using leader placed protection.

SPA Assessment: A two day assessment that includes personal climbing, group supervision and the use of climbing walls. Before presenting yourself for assessment you need the following:

You must have led an absolute minimum of 40 climbs outdoors on leader placed protection. Some of these must be at least Severe grade and should be on a variety of rock types.
You must have completed a SPA training course or successfully gained exemption from training
You must hold a valid First Aid qualification.
You need to have assisted with the supervision of climbing for at least 20 sessions at a variety of locations, some outside and some indoors (a session is a half day or evening).

Dates: See diary page for open course dates. If there is a group of 4 or more of you then we can run the courses at a date to suit you.

These courses are run in conjunction with Mountain Experiences.