Rock Climbing Guineapigs on Demand

Helping Trainers get logbook days

Picture this: You're a multisport instructor, and you're working towards your RCI, RDCI, or MCI. You're passionate about taking groups into the mountains, and you know that getting those qualifications will make a huge difference in your career. You reach out to a local Facebook group, looking for people to teach, and you get a flood of responses. Great, right?

But then reality hits. You spend hours chatting with potential learners, only to find that most of them are either unavailable, too advanced, or just too far away.

You manage to arrange a weekend, but when the day comes, all but one of your learners bail, leaving you frustrated and without those precious logbook days.

That's where we come in.

Rock Climbing Guineapigs on Demand connects you with eager learners from The Climbing Clan, allowing you to fill your logbook days without the hassle.

Here's how it works:

  1. You tell us when you're available and commit to those days
  2. You let us know the skill level and minimum kit requirements for your learners
  3. We'll organize everything, from finding the right people to making sure everyone has 3rd party insurance.

And the learners will bring some cake to share during the training day!

You can say goodbye to the stress and time-wasting that comes with trying to find suitable learners and instead, you'll be able to focus on what matters – teaching, climbing and getting those logbook days in.

So far this year we've run 12 events like this, and helped 6 instructors make significant progress towards their qualifications, and we're keen to help more people take their next step towards their next qualification.

Q&A

What is The Climbing Clan?

We're a bunch of supportive, friendly people who like to encourage each other to climb and eat cake. We've been affiliated with the BMC since 2021, and are run entirely by volunteers. We've grown rapidly, and now have over 200 paid members, and over 600 people have attended our events and many more in our Facebook Group.

I can organise this myself for free?

You can. But what is your time worth? What do you enjoy using your spare time for?

Is it teaching people about climbing or endlessly messaging people trying to rearrange dates?

We think training is a lot more fun when you can tell someone when you're free, and then turn up and do it.

Will there be any photos for my socials?

Yes. One of the learners will be on designated photo duty, and will be getting some photos during it. You'll be able to use the photos and any text to tell other people about the day.

We'll also give you a shout out on the Climbing Clan Facebook and Instagram.

Will I get any feedback on my teaching?

Yes. We ask learners to fill out a anonymous feedback form afterwards, which asks for good bits as well as opportunities to improve the training in future. We share the results with you so you can improve.

Is there anything else in this for me?

People who volunteer for us a lot (eg 5-10 times) get fast tracked for subsidised training from commercial trainers.

For example, this year:

  • we've put RCI-level trainers through some commercial training that might start to prepare them for RDCI,
  • we've helped some RDCI-level trainers get opportunities shadowing training courses run by RDCI Providers to help them improve their practice.

Once I get the qualification, are there any opportunities for paid work?

Potentially yes. This year we have employed several RDCI's for £250/day to help train our more skilled members.

We have a particular gratitude to Clan Members who are RDCI's, and whilst we make commercial decisions and compare the options available, being a Clan member is a definite advantage from our point of view.

How does it actually work?

  • You tell us what dates you're free
  • We create an event.
  • You sign up to membership (£34.50 one off), and to the event (£1.50 per day)
  • We arrange for your learners
  • You turn up and train

Why do I need to be a member?

Clan Membership gets you third party BMC Insurance, which is the same as all our leaners, but that's not the only reason.

We're putting effort into supporting you on your career journey, and whilst we're incredibly grateful you're keen to share your skills with our learners, we

Why do I need to pay £1.50?

We make all our learners commit to your training days by paying £1.50 towards cake. One of the learners will

What if the weather is bad?

It's up to you to make a decision on what to do. You may choose to change venue, choose an indoor venue, to go ahead as normal or to cancel. Generally, if you're not sure,, we'd suggest you let the learners give it a go, and let you know if they've had enough.

If there's bad weather, and you decide to cancel, we'll give everyone a refund of their £1.50.

What if my plans change for that day and I want to cancel?

We'd really prefer that this didn't happen. We'll have to either find another trainer for the learners, or cancel them - neither of which are good options.

If you need to cancel, we'll refund the learners, but we won't be able to refund you.

Are there other benefits?

Quite a few come with Clan membership including discounted entry to two climbing centres in Manchester

How can I get to know you more?

Have you joined our facebook group?

Or followed us on Instagram?

So you're keen to give it a try?

What do we need from you. Here's what:

  1. Drop us a message by clicking here.
    Let us know you're keen and what dates you're free for what training.
  2. We create an event.
  3. You sign up to Clan Membership (£34.50 one off), and to the event (£1.50 per day)
  4. We arrange for your learners
  5. You turn up and train
  6. We send your feedback and photos for your socials (and feature you in ours)
The Climbing Clan linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram