We met at Rosyth Quarry at 9am and geared up in the rain. After a lovely fresh autumn day yesterday at Traprain, the weather couldn't have been more different; it felt like a winter storm was coming. We headed into the quarry and we were each given our first tasks - mine was to rig a releasable abseil anywhere on the crag. I grabbed my gear and headed around the path to the top, trying not to slip and fall in the mud and the autumn leaves.
I soon had my rig ready to go and David was to be my client. Euan had asked him to undo the thread-back buckle of the waist belt of his harness, which I spotted almost immediately. It was an amusing moment, as David when pink and immediately apologised, as he felt bad about being involved in such trickery! David and Chris then ran their rigs of an abseil and bottom-rope respectively.
I was then asked to rig a bottom-rope using a ground anchor. At the bottom of Drizzle S, there was a conveniently positioned large boulder and a thread at the back of it - perfect. I then ran my bottom-rope with bell-ringing using the ground anchor and an italian hitch as the belay. By this time, the rain had turned into quite a heavy shower so Euan gave the word for us to pack everything up asap and make our escape.
We headed back to the EICA for a quick coffee before re-grouping down in the main arena. David was the first to play instructor and took Chris and I through a great 15-minute warm up. Then I took over and treated David and Chris as my two clients who were here for a one-off climbing session. I tied Chris in and gave a quick demo of belaying (up-down-slide-slide) before David took over while I backed up and coached along the way. After practicing lowering down, Euan instructed Chris to pretend to be stuck just over halfway up the wall. I then performed a bottom-rope rescue using my Gri-gri. Then Chris took over and took us through tying in using a figure-of-eight etc.
Euan than said that he was happy with everything that he was seeing from us so he said he wanted to 'workshop' bottom-rope rescues. When I performed my rescue, I tied off my Gri-gri as an 'extra' safety, but Euan told me that I didn't need to and showed us how to do it to avoid slack in the system. He said that what I had done was totally safe but he just wanted to show us how it could be done in fewer steps - very useful indeed and I could see how it was a much simpler method. He then showed us how to self belay on an adjacent climb with a separate bottom-rope. He said that this could be useful on a steep wall when it is difficult to avoid putting weight on the rope when climbing up to the stuck client. Again, very useful.
Euan said that the assessment was now at an end but it would take him a wee while to sort out all of the necessary paperwork so he asked us if we wouldn't mind waiting upstairs in the cafe. After a coffee and a scone, it wasn't long before Euan emerged and told us there and then that we had all passed. It was big smiles all round and after congratulating each other, Euan called me over for my individual debrief.
The feedback was very positive indeed and I was very pleased with how the two days of assessment had gone. He said that I shouldn't stop climbing, as this would make me a better coach and instructor. I told him that I really wanted to get more involved in coaching climbing and he gave some advice about what my next steps should be and what courses to avoid. I was told that now I had my SPA that I would be able to get insurance through MTA and I would then be able to coach at the EICA. Euan also recommended that I should try to attend the BMC's FUNdamentals of climbing workshops and also think about aiming for the Climbing Wall Leading Award (CWLA).
It was a great feeling to get this award done so that I can now move forward with my coaching goals and gain further experience and focus on progressing to the next stage (level). Many thanks to Nic Crawshaw and Euan Whittaker for yet another excellent course. More on Euan's blog.
I soon had my rig ready to go and David was to be my client. Euan had asked him to undo the thread-back buckle of the waist belt of his harness, which I spotted almost immediately. It was an amusing moment, as David when pink and immediately apologised, as he felt bad about being involved in such trickery! David and Chris then ran their rigs of an abseil and bottom-rope respectively.
I was then asked to rig a bottom-rope using a ground anchor. At the bottom of Drizzle S, there was a conveniently positioned large boulder and a thread at the back of it - perfect. I then ran my bottom-rope with bell-ringing using the ground anchor and an italian hitch as the belay. By this time, the rain had turned into quite a heavy shower so Euan gave the word for us to pack everything up asap and make our escape.
We headed back to the EICA for a quick coffee before re-grouping down in the main arena. David was the first to play instructor and took Chris and I through a great 15-minute warm up. Then I took over and treated David and Chris as my two clients who were here for a one-off climbing session. I tied Chris in and gave a quick demo of belaying (up-down-slide-slide) before David took over while I backed up and coached along the way. After practicing lowering down, Euan instructed Chris to pretend to be stuck just over halfway up the wall. I then performed a bottom-rope rescue using my Gri-gri. Then Chris took over and took us through tying in using a figure-of-eight etc.
Euan than said that he was happy with everything that he was seeing from us so he said he wanted to 'workshop' bottom-rope rescues. When I performed my rescue, I tied off my Gri-gri as an 'extra' safety, but Euan told me that I didn't need to and showed us how to do it to avoid slack in the system. He said that what I had done was totally safe but he just wanted to show us how it could be done in fewer steps - very useful indeed and I could see how it was a much simpler method. He then showed us how to self belay on an adjacent climb with a separate bottom-rope. He said that this could be useful on a steep wall when it is difficult to avoid putting weight on the rope when climbing up to the stuck client. Again, very useful.
Euan said that the assessment was now at an end but it would take him a wee while to sort out all of the necessary paperwork so he asked us if we wouldn't mind waiting upstairs in the cafe. After a coffee and a scone, it wasn't long before Euan emerged and told us there and then that we had all passed. It was big smiles all round and after congratulating each other, Euan called me over for my individual debrief.
The feedback was very positive indeed and I was very pleased with how the two days of assessment had gone. He said that I shouldn't stop climbing, as this would make me a better coach and instructor. I told him that I really wanted to get more involved in coaching climbing and he gave some advice about what my next steps should be and what courses to avoid. I was told that now I had my SPA that I would be able to get insurance through MTA and I would then be able to coach at the EICA. Euan also recommended that I should try to attend the BMC's FUNdamentals of climbing workshops and also think about aiming for the Climbing Wall Leading Award (CWLA).
It was a great feeling to get this award done so that I can now move forward with my coaching goals and gain further experience and focus on progressing to the next stage (level). Many thanks to Nic Crawshaw and Euan Whittaker for yet another excellent course. More on Euan's blog.
