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 are an experienced mountaineer who hasn't taken the BCC, please consider applying to instruct! 

The minimum requirements for new to BCC instructors are:

1. Rock:   Intermediate Climbing Class graduate or high level of sport lead climbing experience.

2. Snow:  Has had a leadership role on climbs of two or more glaciated peaks with own team (not guided).

• Those with significant experience in one area, but need growth in the other will still be considered.

How to Apply

Applications for BCC instructors will be open HERE from Nov 1-30.

What's next

For qualified applicants, we will set up an interview in January. You'll be interviewed by 1-2 experienced 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.