Guides' Courses

AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor Course

Upcoming Course Dates

•   AMGA SPI Exam  2013

    Erving MA. June 15th-16th

•   AMGA SPI Course 2013

    Erving, MA. June 21st-23rd

    Gunks, July 22nd-24th

    AMGA CWI Course 2013

   Private courses can be arranged by calling 845-853-5450

Price includes Mohonk Preserve Day Pass fees.

AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course and Assessment

The AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Program is the only nationally and internationally recognized single pitch climbing instructor certification program. This course has been created to fit in the AMGA Rock Discipline training program, taking off from the AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor Program and greatly improving the instructor’s skill sets and integrating into the next level of training, the AMGA Rock Instructor Course.

The program is for current, active rock climbers that have a real desire to teach the rock climbing to novices in a single pitch setting. Candidates should be passionate rock climbers that have their own equipment, regularly climb and have been rock climbing outdoors for at least 12 months. The SPI will be able to proficiently facilitate and instruct the sport of rock climbing in a single pitch setting. For the purpose of the SPI Program a single pitch climb is one which is climbed without intermediate belays and presents no difficulties on approach or retreat, such as route finding, scrambling or navigating.

Course Length

The SPI Program is a three-day (27 hour) training course and a separate two day (16 hour) assessment. Certification lasts for three years as long as the candidate keeps current AMGA Membership and First Aid Certification. After three years, current SPI’s can re-take the SPI Assessment to re-gain the SPI certification. Taking any higher level AMGA Course also re-certifies the SPI certification for another three years.

AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor Course

The AMGA’s Climbing Wall Instructor certification program was introduced in 2007 to address the needs of professionals who teach in an indoor or artificial wall environment. The CWI program aims to increase the level of professionalism in indoor climbing and to improve the level of climbing wall instruction. The two and one-half day program addresses the basic technical skills necessary to manage an instructional program at a climbing facility. The CWI certification program is the premier source for training and credentials for climbing wall instructors.

Course Length

The course is two and one half days in length with a minimum of 20 hours of instruction, skills demonstration, and evaluation. The course addresses the basic technical skills necessary to manage an instructional program at a climbing facility, and will address the following general topic areas:

•   Client orientation and instruction

•   Teaching general climbing skills including movement

•   Teaching top-rope and lead belaying techniques

•   Equipment and facility use

•   Emergency procedures

Leave No Trace Trainers Course

Mountain Skills Climbing Guides is proud to have Leave No Trace Trainers and Master Trainers on staff. Our commitment to education is reflected in our desire to learn and pass on the principles that help keep our natural environment as impact-free as possible. We fully recognize that our obligation to the outdoors is to protect and preserve, and our obligation to our clients and staff is to model and teach low-impact skills.

Leave No Trace is an national and international program designed to assist outdoor enthusiasts with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they hike, camp, picnic, snowshoe, run, bike, hunt, paddle, ride horses, fish, ski or climb. The program strives to educate all those who enjoy the outdoors about the nature of their recreational impacts as well as techniques to prevent and minimize such impacts. Leave No Trace is best understood as an educational and ethical program, not as a set of rules and regulations.

About the Course

Course length is two full days with a required overnight camping in between. Trainer courses are designed for educators, guides, agency employees, and other outdoor professionals. Successful graduates of the Trainer Course gain the skills to teach Leave No Trace techniques and ethics to their clients, friends and family. Participants learn the concepts of Leave No Trace and prepare to teach Leave No Trace curriculum in a variety of settings: schools, camps, parks, wilderness and front country areas.

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RATES

Full Day Climbing Rates: