OT: climbing certification?

[Butch Crain]

Louisiana Tech in Ruston is just finishing up the hand holds on a 9 belay, 29 foot tall climbing wall

right now it's only available 4-8 pm & must be belayed by a trained staff member

I'm hoping to get them to make it available from the intramural center's 5am opening hour to experienced belay partners

is there a school in Arkansas that offers such certification?

[mgood]

Butch,

Been around the rock wall/ropes course scene for a while now with different outfits, facilitating and doing some minor repair here and there.

One thing that has been constantly frustrating has been the lack of a national certification program. :myday" At each center, i would have to re-demonstrate my abilities in order to pass that course's "certification." It was necessary for the peace of mind of those that operated each course, but I feel that a national certification could be established and recognized that at least demonstrated a correct belay.

That being said, it is OBVIOUSLY more important to have the required skills/knowledge than a national certification course under your belt.

I feel pretty strongly about that statement. When the Arklatex crew is off paddling somewhere and people ask us if paddling that rapid is a good idea, my dad always tells them that he and several others are ACA certified instructors. It's a good line for him to use, but he and I have had several discussions/arguments about how being certified means squat if you end up in a situation that is over your skill level. As with any certification/license, there will be a ton of great certified instructors and some which barely passed/were helped through class. I don't pursue any kind of certification because I know what level I want my paddling to be at, and I'd rather spend the time and resources on rivers than in a classroom somewhere. I've got enough school ahead of me as it is.

One problem with different climbing courses/people/attitudes is that people do a lot of things differently (knots, actual belay technique, gear application, etc). Most people I watch belay cut corners here and there (dominant hand not on the rope at all times!), and they tend to get away with it due to the rare rate at which people fall on these elements and how easy it is to quickly get back on track with belaying correctly. I'm currently "certified" on a course where I am constantly having to correct my supervisor's knots or change/trash gear due to his propensity to leave stuff out in the rain.

Centenary has a climbing wall as well, and I offered my help in getting it off the ground again after a lack of use (former student there). The admin wasn't too interested- I hope LA Tech is a little easier to deal with.

Rant end.

[Shep]

There is a top-rope/climbing wall site manager certification available through the AMGA, but it is more expensive and time-consuming than the ACA certification to teach whitewater paddling, which of course has a less-controlled environment than a climbing wall. Because of this, very few climbing walls require or even recommend it. When I worked at OB in Maine, our program director was becoming an AMGA Trainer, and they were moving towards using AMGA certifications with staff, but it was only feasible because he was already going to be on salary for OB when he was doing an AMGA training, and nearly every single OB course has a climbing day somewhere, so every instructor needs to have some basic site-management skills.

Shep

[Butch Crain]

Thanks for the info guys - I think the AMGA course was just completed by several Tech students and staff in an onsite workshop.

The wall is part of a very generous improvement of the intramural facilities at Tech, so you'd think there would be a committment to keeping it operating, particularly with non-student members that are more likely to be around Ruston for a while.

Not to mention that given what Bobby Jindal is doing to state government services and education budgets, it's doubtful they'll even be able to maintain permanent staff. A different rant altogether though.

Thanks again.

[hdh]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... RDS=jindal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Yes it's terrible....

[Butch Crain]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... RDS=jindal


Yes it's terrible....

and yet a 3rd altogether different rant from climbing certification or government & education budgeting, particularly at Louisiana's colleges & universities