Rock Climbing Courses

Prerequisites: No or very little climbing experience

Objective: Two days of climbing while developing basic technical and movement skills

Locations: All

In this course, you will experience outdoor rock climbing while learning fundamental climbing skills and jumpstarting a passion for climbing. Not only will you learn skills such as tying into a climbing rope, belaying, rappelling and how to move on rock, you will get to practice first hand as a climbing partner to your guide and fellow climbers. The First Ascent course is the first step to becoming an experienced and proficient climber.

Want to climb to the summit? Our First Ascent course can be conducted in single pitch or multi-pitch terrain. Our two-day course can give you the opportunity and skills necessary to summit Seneca Rocks, Moore’s Wall, or Stone Mountain.

• Outdoor climbing hazards and management

• Gear essentials

• Basic climbing movement

• Basic knots and hitches

• Top rope and lead belaying

• Rappelling

• Anchor evaluation

• Climbing Leave No Trace principles

If you have no or very little climbing experience and your goal is to summit Seneca Rocks, Stone Mountain, or Moore’s Wall, this course will provide the experience and technical skills to attempt a summit on day two.

Prerequisites: Indoor or some outdoor climbing experience

Locations: All

Objective: Two days of climbing while developing basic outdoor technical and movement skills

Our Gym to Crag course is for climbers who have climbed before and possess basic skills obtained from a climbing gym or outdoor climbing. In this course you will reinforce your basic climbing skills and bridge the gap to outdoor rock climbing. The Gym To Crag course will help you develop the techniques needed to climb outdoors and guide you in the direction of your first discipline of outdoor climbing: top rope, sport, or trad.

Gym to Crag focuses on more advanced skills than those covered in our First Ascent course, while giving you the practice and repetition to solidify the skills you already have. Been a while since you last roped up? This course is a perfect reintroduction to climbing outside. It’s a great way to refresh your skills and stay up to date on the latest technical practices.

Want to climb to the summit? Our Gym to Crag course can be conducted in single pitch or multi-pitch terrain. Our two-day course can give you the opportunity and skills necessary to summit Seneca Rocks, Moore’s Wall, or Stone Mountain.

• Outdoor climbing hazards and management

• Gear essentials

• Climbing movement on natural rock

• Basic knots

• Review or instruction of top rope belaying

• Lead belaying

• Rappelling

• Anchor building and evaluation

• Climbing Leave No Trace principles

If you have no or very outdoor climbing experience and your goal is to summit Seneca Rocks, Stone Mountain, or Moore’s Wall, this course will provide the experience and technical skills to attempt a summit on day two.

If you aren’t proficient with the skills covered in this course, we highly recommend taking this course or completing a day of private guiding focused on following trad routes before attempting a multi-pitch day.

Prerequisites: First Ascent, Gym To Crag, or similar experience (2 or more days of outdoor climbing)

Locations: All

This course is for anyone looking to focus specifically on single pitch top rope anchors. While the allure of sport, trad, and multi-pitch climbing is always appealing, we feel strongly that a sound understanding of anchoring and time spent learning to manage the objective risks of outdoor climbing is essential to a solid foundation in climbing. In this course you will learn how to construct anchors in a single pitch setting using trees, boulders, and bolts with a variety of riggings.

This course is available in a one or two day format. The one-day format focuses on essentials and serves as a refresher if you haven’t set up your own climbs lately. A one-day course is also a good option if you already have experience or have studied up beforehand. The two-day format covers the full skills list, allows more time for climbing on your anchors and more applied practice of anchoring systems.

• Essential knots and hitches

• Evaluation of natural anchor points

• Evaluation of artificial anchor points

• Static line anchor riggings

• Cordellette anchor riggings

• Sling anchor riggings

• Anchor evaluation principles

• Negotiating the edge securely

The above skills require two days to complete and practice. We recommend the one day option if you have prior anchor building experience and are looking for a refresher, guided practice and feedback, or have done pre-course studying. The one day option can also be used to cover the bare minimum skills to necessary to construct basic anchors.

Prerequisites: Comfortably climb 5.10+ indoors or 5.8 outdoors

Locations: Richmond, VA | New River Gorge, WV | Pilot Mountain, NC

Our Sport Leading course is for climbers who wish to ascend from the ground up! You will learn the skills necessary to lead, clean, and top rope sport climbs. You will be able to practice clipping, rope management, and falling while being backed up on a top rope system (mock lead). Guided practice and preparation from this course will set you on track for leading your first sport route!

• Climbing area hazards and management

• Stick clipping

• Bolt evaluation

• Clipping tactics

• Rope management

• How to fall

• Gri-Gri or similar device use

• Lead belaying

• Anchor rigging

• Anchor evaluation

• Cleaning a route

• Climbing Leave No Trace principles

The three day format is a great choice for anyone looking to practice lead falls, lead with a guide belaying and coaching them, or get more mileage in practicing skills and mock leading.

Prerequisites: Considerable outdoor climbing experience

Locations: Richmond, VA | Great Falls, VA | All WV Locations | All NC Locations

Our Trad Leading course is for climbers who wish to ascend from the ground up using only what they have brought to the climb! You will learn the skills necessary to lead and belay a second. Students will be able to practice their placements, rope management, anchor building, and top belaying while backed up on a top rope system. Guided practice and preparation from this course will set you on track for leading your first trad route.

• Route finding and following

• Gear placement and evaluation

• Clipping tactics

• Rope management

• Falling

• Lead belaying

• Belaying from above

• Anchor rigging

• Anchor evaluation

• Multi-pitch consideration and transitions

The three day format is a great choice for anyone looking to practice lead falls, lead with a guide belaying and coaching them, or get more mileage in practicing skills and mock leading.

The third day can also be used to follow a longer multi-pitch route to the summit of an area like Seneca Rocks, Moore’s Wall, or Stone Mountain.

While everyone will benefit from more time honing skills and gaining experience, the three day course is strongly recommended for anyone without trad following experience in multi-pitch terrain.

Prerequisites: Multi-pitch trad climbing experience
*If you exclusively top rope, follow, or don’t belay from above, we recommend booking a day of private guiding to work on self-rescue skills specific to that terrain. See below.

Locations: All

This course is for intermediate - advanced climbers who want to learn the skills it takes to be prepared for anything that could happen on rock or ice. You will learn the technical skills and rope work necessary to make sure everyone can make it to the top, and back to the ground, regardless of what happens. The course starts with the basics of single pitch rescue and advances to multi-pitch techniques. Often times, prevention outplays medicine. For this reason, a large focus of the course is understanding common mishaps and how to prevent them.

All of the skills covered in our Self-Rescue course are based on the AMGA SPI Course and the AMGA Rock Rescue Drill. After learning the skills needed, students will have the opportunity to put them to the test with mock scenarios.

• Common accidents and prevention

• Review of intermediate knots and hitches

• Advanced knots and hitches

• Belay device improvisation

• Belay take-overs

• Pick offs

• Lowering

• Hauling

• Advanced rappelling

• Ascending

• Load transfers

• Passing a knot

• Improvising a chest harness

If you exclusively top rope or follow, or don’t belay from above, we recommend booking a day of private guiding to work on self-rescue skills specific to being at the bottom of the climb or following.

Skills Covered

• Common accidents and prevention

• Basic knots and hitches for rescue

• Belay device improvisation

• Belay take-overs

• Counterbalanced ascending

• Counterbalanced rappelling

• Improvising a chest harness