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ArrampicA Site-Specific Qualifications have been running since 2000: ArrampicA serves to train and assess staff to best practice guidelines as laid down by a variety of governing bodies. The company can service the most basic of needs, for example Assessments and certification only, right through to writing a centres guidelines for operating procedures and training and assessing staff to those procedures.
So, what is a site-specific Qualification?
Elements of site-specific awards are present in some form or other at every artificial climbing structure. Even centres that only use instructors holding NGB type qualifications will still have specific rules or practices that will have to be adhered to and therefore external instructors will have to be informed or trained to comply with the facilities site-specific. (Example, fire evacuation procedure)
ArrampicA will perform one of three possible actions;
- to train and assess staff according to documentation the facility already holds (assuming it complies with best practices),
- to update a facilities old documentation to help comply with guidance on best practices before then training and assessing staff or
- to start from scratch with a new scheme.
A site-specific scheme can work along side NGB qualifications. An example would be a facility having 10 potential supervisors of climbing of which only 2 have enough interest / financial support / time to attain NGB qualifications. These 2 can be working towards their NGB awards and can attend (along with the other 8) training and assessment in the sole site-specific use of a single facility (ie school wall or single commercial wall).
The site-specific award exists to initially train and assess an individual’s ability to operate safely at a particular (specific) artificial climbing or abseiling structure. Awards are in no way transferable to other sites however, for those intending to continue supervising and teaching climbing at a number of venues, the skills learned would prove invaluable in all cases and would certainly prove relevant towards attaining further NGB level qualifications. Awards are in no way designed to replace the single pitch or climbing wall supervisor award and in these cases candidates may apply to attain either SPA or CWS awards via ArrampicA.
It should be noted that once written, the applicable wall owns the award and is entirely responsible for ensuring it covers all aspects of requirements of the BMC and MLTUK. As ArrampicA is not in-house, each wall management must take it upon themselves to ensure they are up to date with all current climbing wall and other relevant legislation. ArrampicA trains and checks safety of individuals but cannot realistically ensure the persons in question maintain safe practices on a daily basis. Climbing walls must take responsibility for this and if in doubt, advice should be sought from the BMC, ABC (Association of British Climbing Walls) or MLTUK.
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Oxted School, Oxted, Surrey; on their Sandstone Site-Specific Training at Stone Farm, East Grinstead. |
