Advanced Rock Climbing Curriculum

Advanced Climbing Camp Curriculum

Intro: This camp is designed for campers entering 4^th through 7^th grade and is intended for campers who have completed a previous week of Avid4 Rock Climbing Single Sport camp. The focus of the Advanced Climbing Camp is to provide intermediate to advanced instruction for climbing in a safe, comfortable progression that builds off of the Rock Climbing Camp Single Sport camp curriculum. Throughout the week many technical aspects of climbing will be taught.

Goals:

• Reviewing basic climbing skills

• Gaining advanced climbing technique and body position and holds

• Gaining advanced rope work

• Gaining knowledge about climbing protection

• Incorporating LNT in climbing specific ways

Special Considerations: Campers in Advanced Climbing should have completed Avid4’s normal climbing intensive and be comfortable with heights and an outdoor rock climbing setting. Parents are told this on the webpage for the camp: “If a camper does not meet these minimum skill requirements, we reserve the right to move a camper to a different program (if space is available) or remove the camper from the group and offer a credit. This is rare but is an option for single sport camps.”

In addition, skills taught in this camp include but are not limited to the below lists at the start of each days section. Skills taught can be dependent on terrain and site for the day.

*REMEMBER, ALL CAMPERS BELAYING MUST BE BACKED UP BY A STAFF MEMBER AND ALL CAMPERS LEAD CLIMBING MUST ALSO BE ON A TOP ROPE BELAY. CAMPERS ON RAPPELS MUST ALWAYS BE ON A BELAY AND TYROLEANS ARE AT COMMERCIAL STANDARD WITH CAMPERS ON BELAY.

A Day in the Life of Advanced Climbing Camp:

9:00am Drop Off, Morning Circle, Name game

9:15am Bathroom break, load in van

9:30am Depart for site

10:00am Unload van/equipment, set up for the day, snack, orient group to the site.

10:30am Learning and skill practice

12:00pm Lunch

12:30pm Learning and skill practice

2:30pm Depart rec area for camp.

3:00pm Arrive at camp/sign out for the day.

Monday

Skills for the Day

• Figure 8s

• Leading head to toe safety checks

• PBUS belaying

• Using feet effectively

• Using the upper body effectively

• Becoming familiar with advanced climbing techniques like hand-jams, stems, drop knees, heel hooks, etc

• Rope Coiling Intro

Goals:

This day is a focus on reviewing existing skills from previous camps. By the end of the day all campers should be confident belayers, know how to tie in on their own, and know how to use their bodies to climb effectively at low grades.

9:30-10:00

• Review Fitting equipment: Helmet, harness and rock shoes (worn for climbing only, not on the approach): detail how to take care of each piece of equipment, proper fit and safety checks.

• How to pack their bag so it is clean; Everything should be inside with no danglers! Helmets that don’t fit inside bags should be worn.

• Intro to climbing site & potential dangers. Have campers involved in environmental briefings at each site.

• Figure 8 knot. All campers should be able to tie themselves in by the middle of day one.

• Review climbing commands

10:00-12:00

• Belaying

  • Instructors, remember: All campers belaying must be backed up by a staff member at all times!

  • Incorporate jobs within each belaying system to engage all campers- not just the climber & belayer

    • back up belayer (in addition to an instructor)

    • rope wrangler

    • cheerleader

    • photographer, etc.

  • Ensure there is a thorough safety check happening on every climb.

  • Be firm with warnings during belaying; if a camper cannot handle the responsibility you do not have to give it to them.

  • Be very aware of long hair, loose clothing and jewelry.

• Climb, Climb, Climb!

LUNCH

LNT Lunch Topic: History of Clean Climbing and Intro to Gear

Show and tell campers some of the gear used for set up. Teach campers about cams, nuts, slings, draws, etc. Talk to campers about why we use this gear now instead of pitons.

12:30-2:30

• Talk about basic climbing technique: Body away from the wall, using their feet to make

progress, leaning back to shift weight into your bones, using your eyes etc.

• Talk about advanced climbing technique: Techniques like hand-jams, stems, drop knees, heel hooks, etc

• Introduce rope coiling. Over the next several days all campers should have the chance to coil a rope at least once to completion. Remember ropes will be big for campers so laying it on a rope bag and ground coiling is acceptable. Still make sure to teach how to neatly wrap the rope at the end and fit into a rope bag. Another fun option is to teach a mountaineer's coil or a backpack coil.

Tuesday

Skills for the Day

• Spotting

• Bouldering

• Placing climbing protection in the rock at ground level

• Leading environmental briefings at a climb site

• Understanding LNT at a climb site

• Understanding different belay methods

*Note: if there are not good options for bouldering on this day, instructors may want to swap this day’s curriculum to a day when the group visits a location with good bouldering.

Goals:

On this day campers have the chance to boulder and start learning about gear placement. Campers should have the morning to boulder a bit to warm up while an instructor gets climbs set up. Then they will climb on toprope until lunch. After lunch is a chance for them to place gear at ground level and familiarize themselves with good placements. Afterward they will climb until the end of the day.

9:30-10:30

• Bouldering- A great warm up, ½ day activity, or activity option with 1-2 instructors while the third instructor is overseeing roped climbing (assuming there are good bouldering options nearby).

  • Spotting

    • Be very cautious with campers spotting each other as they rarely do a good job!

    • Teach campers to be in a defensive position with arms up, fingers closed (like mittens, not gloves. Spoons, not forks!)

    • Have campers make up their own problems or play add on or take away. Most official boulder problems will be too hard for kids so be creative and search for other boulders.

  • Campers & Spotters must wear helmets while bouldering.

  • Do not allow climbers to climb higher than their shoulder height while bouldering.

10:30-12:00

• Campers should be belaying each other on every climb.

• Climb, Climb, Climb

• Campers should be leading safety check and environmental briefings for the site/each climb.

LUNCH

Discussion topic: What's the difference between bouldering and climbing on ropes? Why do you think climbers would choose to go bouldering? Would you consider roped climbing and bouldering the same sport? Why or why not?

12:30-2:30

• Gear Placement: Explain and demonstrate how various pieces of climbing gear work.

  • Passive gear vs. active: nuts/hexes vs. cams. What are the differences in the way these two types of gear work? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

    • Review common ways that gear gets stuck! Don’t place nuts too firmly, ensure cams don’t get over-extended when placing.

  • Have campers ‘check out’ one piece of gear from an instructor at a time to ensure you don’t lose any! Supervise them closely.

  • When gear practice is over, one instructor should inventory the entire rack to ensure all gear has been returned. Don’t be the instructor who leaves the entire rack of climbing gear sitting on the ground!! (Yes, this has happened. Yes, it was a huge bummer).

• Climb, Climb, Climb.

Possible Additional Teaching Topics:

• Footwork: Talk through the parts of the shoe we want to climb on for most control (toes & front edges). If appropriate, do a footwork exercise by challenging the campers to traverse or boulder on a low angle slab with no hands, challenge them to find the smallest hold to stand on, etc.

• Hand work: Teach campers about different types and styles of hand holds. Crimps, jugs etc. If there is an appropriate crack, show them some crack climbing techniques. Have them look for and ID certain types of holds.

Wednesday

Skills for the Day

• Knot tying

• Ground school ERNEST anchors.

• Identifying basic safety issues with climbing anchors

• Rope Coiling

Goals:

By day 3 campers should feel very confident and able to climb in rotating pairs. Each pair should be able to lead each other through gear prep, safety checks, and belaying/climbing. In the afternoon after lunch campers should watch an anchor building ground school and then have the chance to work in groups to set up anchors at ground level. Afterward they will climb until the end of the day.

9:00-10:30

• Anchor Building

• Introduce the EARNEST acronym for building good anchors. They should be…

  • Equalized, Redundant, No Extension, Solid, Timely)

• Ground school anchor building and anchor check out. Instructors pass out a handful of gear and cord for campers to set up anchors in cracks on the ground.

• Take small groups to the top to view instructor set anchors (remember there are some sites that are conducive to this and many that are not, plan ahead).

  • Edge Safety is the priority here, only do this activity if the site is safe and easily managed for this purpose.

• Knot tying intros. Instructors demo how to tie a variety of knots such as a fishermans, double fishermans, clove hitch, 8 on a bight, etc. Emphasize the importance of neatly dressed knots.

10:30-12:00

• Climb, Climb, Climb!! Continue to work on different body positioning and holds.

LUNCH

12:30-1:00

• Knot Tying Relay Race w/ cards (requires advance prep)

  • Campers split up into two groups. Each group sends the person in the front of the line up to grab a card from the instructor. Each card has a name and picture of a knot on it to tie. Campers race to tie a neat knot and then return it to the next camper. That camper must untie the knot and tie the new knot from the next card.

1:00-2:30

• Climb, Climb, Climb!!!

Thursday

Skills for the Day

• Rappelling

• Setting up a rappel and back up method

• Learning about local climbing clean-up and conservation efforts

• Understanding differences between natural and artificial anchors

Goals:

On day 4 the focus will be on rappelling, more anchors, and climbing. Campers will have the chance to climb and rappel in the morning. In the afternoon campers should have the chance to set up a natural anchor on the ground in teams. And of course like all days, they should still get plenty of time climbing on ropes.

9:30-10:30

• Setting up a Rappel and Rappelling ground school: Campers have the chance to set up a rappel at ground level and rap away from a tree or rock on the ground.

  • A huge teaching point here is the danger and consequences of rappelling. The need for redundancy here just as in any other climbing system, and then giving campers the ability to set up a rappel through an ATC, with a prusik backup, a stopper in the end of the rope, and a partner holding a fireman’s at the end of the rope.

**NOTE: All activities here happen on flat ground. Actual Rappels will be belayed and will be set up with a Munter Mule releasable system. **

10:30-12:00

• Rappelling

• All students should have the chance to rappel at least once. Sites for this day will be picked based off of suitability for rappelling.

• Rappels must be belayed (no fireman belays)

• Rappels must have a load releasable (munter mule) rappel line

• Teach campers how to use an autoblock back up below their belay device on the brake strand. They will still be belayed by an instructor.

LUNCH

Suggested lunch discussion: Women and Minorities in climbing

• Who can name some well-known and famous climbers?

  • Open responses, no guidance. Provide some famous climbers if able and if the group is floundering.

• How many of the people you named are women? How many are racial minorities, like Latino, African American, or Asian?

  • Open responses, no guidance.

• Why might it be important to support women and minorities in climbing and other adventure sports?

  • Representation is an important part of being inclusive and ensuring that all people see themselves in the outdoors. Avid4 Adventure wants to help all people love our core sports, including climbing, and that means encouraging all genders and races to be part of this sport.

• How can you practice being inclusive, welcoming, and supportive to all people in the outdoors?

  • Be friendly - LNT!

  • Encourage family members, friends, etc. to climb and adventure.

  • Ask friends from different families and backgrounds to join you on adventures.

12:30-1:00

• Natural Anchors: In the place that rappel ground school happened in the AM instructors will teach campers the difference between natural anchors and artificial anchors. Instructors will demo this with the surrounding trees, rocks, etc.

• This is also a great spot to talk to campers about the impact of climbing on the areas we use. Campers should walk away with an understanding of the difference between artificial and natural anchors and the historical context of clean climbing. They should also know at least one organization that helps with conservation efforts in climbing areas.

1:00-2:30

• Climb, Climb, Climb!!!

• Continue to build campers climbing skills with encouragement and instruction.

Friday

Skills for the Day

• Mock sport lead

• Mock trad lead

• Using a Tyrolean

Goals:

On day 5 the goal is to take the group to a site in which they have to use a Tyrolean to get where they are going. This is dependent upon strength of the group. Once they have reached the site

they will be working on mock leads. Sport climbing is the priority but trad is also an option if a camper has already led a sport climb and there is an easy trad climb that makes sense.

9:30-10:30

**Tyroleans and sites with river crossing must be cleared with the Camp Director AND Climbing Supervisor. **

• Tyrolean: This will be a time consuming activity but also a peak experience activity. Setting up a commercial standard Tyrolean takes time and moving all campers across takes a lot of time as well. This is only for camper groups that are older, stronger, and generally more able than the typical group. Tyrolean must be backed up with an Avid rope fastened at each end, campers must be tethered to both sides to avoid getting stuck in the middle, on the dismount side campers must be top rope belayed to unweight and lower them off the Tyrolean.

• All other campers must be sitting and waiting to cross in order to effectively manage the group during this time.

• Best practices to come; Consult Ian Fo. and Ryan Ar.

10:30-12:00

** To avoid falling gear or lost gear no campers will climb with gear on. Gear will always be pre-placed**

• Mock leading- After campers have been exposed to gear placement, introduce them to lead climbing.

  • Have pieces of gear placed along one of the top ropes. As campers climb they can either drag a rope & clip in or simply look at the gear and take it in & out (careful!). Make sure to brief campers on handling gear very carefully to avoid dropping.

LUNCH

12:30-2:30

• Climb, Climb, Climb!! This is the chance for instructors to really capitalize on helping campers break through any barriers in their climbing or teach them something they have been really wanting to do all week. See the below teaching topics for more ideas.

Other topics to try throughout the week:

• Climbing techniques- As appropriate explain specific climbing techniques to the group. Some examples of this would be liebacks, high step, smear, stemming, chimneying. Demo and explain techniques as the week goes on as they pertain to the specific climbs.

• History of climbing- From Yvon Chouinard (the father of clean climbing) to Lynn Hill (first person to free the Nose on El Capitan), there is a wealth of information and stories that campers will find fascinating.

• Climbing blindfolded- allow campers to challenge themselves by taking away their vision. Make sure they remove the blindfold prior to lowering.

• Climbing blindfolded with a task- as a small group initiative, have a camper climb blindfolded while being given directions from a peer on the ground. The goal is for the camper to find & touch a piece of gear that an instructor has placed along the route.

• Other knots- bring short sections of cord to have campers practice other useful knots: the bowline, pruisk, square knot, etc.

• Rope Coiling- make this useful skill a game. After teaching rope coiling, divide campers into small groups and have a race as to who can coil the neatest rope the fastest.