Learning to climb, and how instructors and guides are certified.

What bodies say about instruction

Several bodies and makers state that climbing skills need training:

• The UIAA, in a 2018 extract from its Alpine Skills Summer Handbook, says users of technical gear must read its instructions, get specific training, understand its limits and accept the risks, and warns that failing to do so may result in severe injury or death.
• The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) says on its video pages that climbing and bouldering carry inherent risks, that its videos are not a substitute for instruction from a certified guide, and that viewers should get a certified guide's advice and supervision before trying the techniques shown.
• The American Alpine Club (Ron Funderburke, 2016, web page 2023) says lead belayers often learn only part of the skills they need before using them, which can lead to accidents.
• The Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) Code of Practice says novices need supervision by a competent person and that instruction must be given by an appropriately qualified instructor.
• Petzl, a maker, is reported in search summaries of its technical notices to warn that users must get specific training in using the product, and one notice to say users must have received qualified instruction. We could not confirm the wording, which varies by product.

The AMGA also notes that US federal law does not require a guide to have any training before guiding the public, which it gives as one reason the industry is moving toward certification. The safety section has more on these statements.

Schemes for climbers

Some bodies run progression schemes for people learning, mostly indoors:

• NICAS (UK). The National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme is run by the ABC Training Trust, a registered charity trading as NICAS. Its five levels are New Climber, Foundation Climber, Technical Climber, Lead Climber and Advanced Climber, with a separate bouldering scheme. Sources disagree on the age range: material from the 2008 launch, seen on a BMC page in a search summary, described ages 7 to 25, while a later provider's page says 7 to 17. Providers also say the awards are recognised by Mountain Training and the UK mountaineering councils; that is not on the NICAS page and is unconfirmed.
• DAV Kletterscheine (Germany). The Deutscher Alpenverein issues indoor certificates at Toprope and Vorstieg (lead) levels. DAV brochures, seen only in search summaries, say they record completed training, are issued by qualified trainers in sections, halls and schools, and have no legal or licence status.

UK: Mountain Training awards

In the UK, instructor awards are run by Mountain Training. The BMC (British Mountaineering Council) explains them as follows; we did not read Mountain Training's own pages.

The BMC presents these as awards for people who lead or instruct others; it does not say they are needed to climb for oneself. Its history says the Single Pitch Supervisors Award, introduced in 1992, was the first vocational rock-climbing qualification, and that in 1996 the BMC, the MLTB and the UKMTB founded the Mountain Training Trust, which took on Plas y Brenin.

The UIAA's instructor standards

The UIAA Training Commission accredits national federations' instructor training through Mountain Qualification Labels (MQLs). Its MQL page (undated) says these were developed from 1993 at member federations' request and set the minimum experience, skills and knowledge an instructor programme must show, across eight disciplines including climbing and mountaineering. It states the aim as minimising accidents and maximising safety and sustainability in the mountains. A federation must have trained instructors for at least 24 months to apply, and accreditation runs for four years with external inspection. A search summary of other UIAA pages says the MQL name dates from 2015; the fetched page did not say so, so that is unconfirmed.

Mountain guides: the IFMGA

Wikipedia says the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA, also known as UIAGM and IVBV) was set up in 1965 in Zermatt by guide associations from Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland, with its first statutes in 1966, and that its aims include standardising guides' training so they can work abroad under a common international identity. The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) describes the IFMGA as the international umbrella for guide associations, setting training standards and promoting reciprocal recognition, with members in more than 20 countries representing almost 7,000 guides (undated).

The count of member countries differs by source. The ACMG and AMGA say "more than 20"; a search summary of a directory entry gives 23.

United States: the AMGA

The AMGA says it began when four guides, Peter Lev, Yvon Chouinard, Jim Donini and Harry Frishman, met at the Moose Bar in the Tetons in 1979 and wrote the "Moose Bar Charter". It was first proposed as the American Professional Mountain Guides Association, and Doug Robinson was its first president. IFMGA representatives voted unanimously to admit it in November 1997. It reports about 4,600 active members (undated).

The AMGA lists instructor programmes (Climbing Wall Instructor, Single Pitch Instructor, Multi-Pitch Instructor and Ice Instructor) and guide programmes (Rock Guide, Alpine Guide, and Ski and Splitboard Guide). It says its Climbing Wall Instructor programme was established in 2007, endorsed by the UIAA in 2009, and certifies at Top Rope or Lead level. A 2008 trade-press report, seen in a search summary, says the Climbing Wall Association and the AMGA signed an agreement to set up that certification; the AMGA page does not mention it. The full American Mountain Guide (IFMGA) certification combines the Rock, Alpine and Ski streams, also requires current wilderness first-responder and CPR certifications and professional avalanche training, and is recognised in more than 20 IFMGA member countries, the AMGA says. Its Scope of Practice (version 4, 15 November 2024) requires discipline-specific training before a guide works in a discipline.

Canada: the ACMG

The ACMG says it became the IFMGA's first non-European member in 1972. It lists climbing qualifications including Climbing Gym Instructor, Top Rope Climbing Instructor, Rock Guide, Alpine Guide and Mountain Guide, and says specialty rock, alpine and ski guides do not meet IFMGA reciprocity unless they qualify as aspirant mountain guides.

This site names these bodies so their awards can be understood. It does not recommend any instructor, guide service or course.