Hello all!

It has been brought to my attention recently that many of the club's more experienced members have been asking whether it is possible for them to take the weekend long SPA training course that all committee members are required to undergo before the start of the academic year. The short answer is yes.

Hang on, wtf is SPA?: SPA (Single Pitch Award) is a weekend that will show you all of the essentials of climbing single pitch climbs outdoors. The idea is that after the weekend, you will understand and be able to set up properly at the top of outdoor climbs, as well as instruct others in climbing. In addition to this you will receive a mountain logbook to record all of the leads you complete from thereon in; when you have gained enough outdoors experience, you can take the actual SPA test and receive your SPA qualification in return, if you so wish.

Should I consider doing this?: Interest in the course has been very high recently among club members. If you have been in UBMC/climbing a while, and are keen to get leading for yourself outdoors, or to refine what leading experience you have, then it is definitely worthwhile! It doesn't necessarily matter if you have not lead anything outdoors, so long as you have done a fair amount of seconding and have a decent grasp on how bits of gear work.

Hit me with some cost brother: While UBMC cannot subsidise the course we should be able to arrange it easily enough. Registration to the course (which is done online) is £40, and the cost of the course itself is £120. While £160 overall may seem like a lot of money, what you learn on SPA is invaluable and will help turn you into a competent lead trad climber. Getting on the course outside of University will also be a lot trickier than doing it through UBMC, so if you want to learn to lead, I cannot recommend it highly enough!

The only real issue for now is that there would have to be enough interest in order to proceed. Ideally, for the course to run, we would need eight people keen to do it. I know there has definitely been interest and I know there are many club members for whom the course would be very beneficial.

If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Hev
xxx

_________________
#lovesthewhipsandchains

INTERESTED!!!!!!!

I wanted to do my SPA a couple of years back but nowhere had insurance to cover me. I'm definitely interested!

super interested please

_________________
suns out guns out

I'm definitely interested

_________________
où est la bibliothèque?

...dans le bricolage.

I like big cracks and offwidth lines
Yo other brothers can shag the spine
But when you come off that face into that itty bitty space
And a chock stones up in your case
You get gear!

Okay guys the interest in this is fab! I will be messaging people on FaceBook about this soon to try and work out some dates, as Paul, who teaches the SPA course, has kindly agreed to teach UBMC again

As he also pointed out, because I missed it in the original post and have since edited it, taking the SPA course allows you to instruct others too.

_________________
#lovesthewhipsandchains

Interested!!! =D

What does that mean Merlin? Were you under 18 at the time? Which means that you couldn't do the course anyway, or is there another reason?

_________________
--------------------------------
Mountaineering Instructor and Asp. Level 5 Kayak Coach
Supported by : Team Pyranha | Peak UK

I was under 18 but other than insurance reasons none of the trainers that I contacted seemed aware of an age restriction or any other reason why I couldn't do it.

Interested not using fb much though, os maybe text me?

You're sitting in my room and telling me this would be ideal for me. So I'm interested, as you already know because you just told me I should be interested.