Archive for March, 2010

Climbing books reviews: Rock Climbing Essential Skills and Techniques (Mountain Leader Training UK)

The cover describes this book as being the official handbook of the Mountaineering Instructor and Single Pitch Award schemes. I would go as far as calling it “The Rock Climbers Bible!” I’m not the only one either, I heard it described as such by other climbers at the Single Pitch Award training I attended a couple of weeks ago.

Climbing instructor training – The Single Pitch Award

There are several routes to becoming a climbing instructor. The route you take largely depends upon the type of mountaineering or climbing instruction you aspire to be involved with:

* Supervising at an indoor climbing wall
* Supervising at a single pitch outdoor venues
* Leading walking groups
* Supervising multi-pitch mountain climbs
* Mountain guiding

My favourite climbing is outdoor climbing on single and multi-pitch crags. I would love to able to supervise groups in that environment, so I opted to start my training with the Single Pitch Award (SPA). If I qualify, I’ll be able to supervise groups in a single pitch outdoor climbing environment.

Climbing techniques – weight loss programme

A couple of weeks ago I told you about my halt in progress in my climbing improvement plan. I explained that I have gained weight, and although much of it is muscle weight it is putting extra stress on my fingers (which is impairing my performance, especially on overhanging routes).

I’m into my third week of a body composition workout, designed to cut weight while maintaining lean muscle mass. I said I would share the workout with you, so as promised here it is…