Volunteering as an Instructor

Thank you for your interest in volunteering as an instructor with the WAC Basic Climbing Class! We are a 100% volunteer-run organization and rely on instructors like you to help teach, coach, and guide new climbers throughout their education. Volunteering is a great way to keep your skills fresh while teaching others, engage with the community, and meet new climbing partners. We appreciate your generosity and consideration.

BCC co-chairs will work to onboard new-to-BCC instructors based on availability.

Returning to the BCC? 

All BCC instructors including graduates of the Basic Climbing Classes are required to fulfill the following minimum requirements:

• Attend Instructor Training.

  • Training sessions are occurring from late January - mid March.  

  • These session will consist of reviewing several critical skills, going over how to teach these skills, and becoming skilled at identifying potential issues and how to address them.

• Have an up-to-date WAC membership: Begin by renewing your membership or becoming a new member, and sign the appropriate waiver.

• Pass a knots test.

• Register for whichever weekends or evenings you are interested in teaching. You do not need to commit to a minimum number of days to volunteer. However, you must complete the steps above in order to volunteer for any single day.

New to the BCC?

If you're interested in instructing for the BCC, please follow the steps below:

Before December 31st, send us a short intro email and climbing resume to the BCC Co-Chairs at wac-basic-chairs ΑΤ googlegroups DΟΤ com to begin the intake process. This should include:

• Your climbing education & background: What climbing classes you've taken, how you learned your skills.

• Your climbing experience: How many years you've been climbing, notable climbs you've led and/or participated in.

• Your personal evaluation: Strengths and weaknesses, interest in teaching, what you'd bring to the organization, and "Why the BCC?"

• Your experience in any kind of teaching setting (climbing or otherwise)

• Any certifications you feel are relevant (WFA, WFR, AIARE, etc)

In January we will set up some time to talk with you about your experience and interests in teaching with the BCC.

• You'll be interviewed by 1-2 instructors to discuss your Rock and Snow skills and your interests in volunteering

We're a volunteer run organization and our capacity to onboard new-to-BCC instructors may be limited. Anyone who expresses interest should hear back from us by the end of January.

Depending on availability and capacity:

• You'll be required to follow the same steps as outlined in "Returning BCC Member" including attending Instructor Training sessions, being up-to-date on your WAC membership, passing a knots test, and registering for weekends you're interested in teaching.

• Please review the WAC way, which is the collection of technical methods our club has chosen to adopt for our climbing curriculum.  We acknowledge there are many ways to address various technical skills, but for the sake of consistency in how/what we are teaching, we ask that all instructors (and students) work within the WAC way.

All event dates are in the Schedule and Google Calendar. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the co-chairs. 

Please note: Your completion of the above steps does not guarantee your status as an instructor or your staffing for a chosen weekend. Volunteer assignments are up to the discretion of the co-chairs and weekend organizers based on capacity, curriculum, skill sets and experience levels, and safety + risk management.

Thank you again for volunteering! We couldn't run the BCC without you.