Prowess Coaching is a provider of both training and assessment courses on behalf of Mountain Training. These include the Bouldering Wall Instructor Award.
The BWI Award is designed to provide candidates with training and an assessment of skills that allow them to teach climbing in a man-made bouldering environment. While there is an element of coaching involved, the focus on this award is on safety and group management.
Upcoming Dates
Please note, while every effort is made to keep this updated, dates may change. Please click here 100% accurate dates. Click the link on the date to go straight to a booking page
Please note: you may also be interested in the BMC FUNdamentals of Climbing workshops. For details of courses, including dates and venues, please click here
What’s Covered on Bouldering Wall Instructor?
The Bouldering Wall Instructor Award is primarily a safety/group management award. Attaining the status of qualified BWI follows Mountain Training’s three stage model:
- Attend a Training Course. Typically, training is completed after a candidate has a good level of personal experience
- Conduct a Consolidation Period. While there is a minimum of three months, there is no maximum time for candidates to put what they have learned into practice. Note: remember to record your taught/observed sessions, including reflective comments where you can
- Arrange an Assessment. The final stage before completing the award assesses the candidate’s ability to perform to the required standard, while providing feedback on a normal teaching session
Pre-requisites
There are a few pre-requisites for attending a training course. They are:
- Candidates must be at least 16 years old
- Have 3 months experience of bouldering at a major centre
- Be a member of a mountaineering council (BMC, MCoS, MI)
- Be registered for the course
- 15 bouldering sessions at a minimum of 3 bouldering walls
- Boulder proficiently at V2 or above
Tick this little list and you’re all set to register for your training course! Please note, there is a seperate Registration Fee paid direct to Mountain Training
Training
The BWI Training specifically looks at:
- personal bouldering and boulder induction. We look at a mock Boulder Induction, completing a meta-analysis of what is typically included, while also covering personal climbing skills
- coaching on the bouldering wall. We investigate how the bouldering environment can be an effective environment for coaching
- small children and bouldering. We discuss and explore safe and effective use of bouldering walls with young children (roughly up to age 7) as well as other social groups who may require specific considerations
- assessment prep. We discuss what is expected on assessment, how to prepare and what to focus on during consolidation
BWI Training is a one-day course and is a mix of classroom based and practical learning (as practical as possible) so bring your rock shoes and get ready to get on the wall! However don’t expect us to be trying super hard. The focus is on safe and effective use of the bouldering wall with the minimum grade required only Font 5/V2. In the event of injury – or even if you choose not to climb – there is no requirement to climb at all, although we generally find most people are psyched to get on the wall.
After the course, you’ll be provided with a link to the BWI Training Resource page. Here, you’ll be able to download the course slides, Course Notes and much more, as well as having a heap of further reading links.
These workshops are stacked with useful information to help you with your clients (or even your own climbing) all delivered in a super relaxed, super chilled out environment.
Assessment
The assessment is essentially a check to ensure that you are safe and competent in supervising and teaching people in the bouldering wall environment. However it is also an opportunity to receive feedback from a hugely experienced and highly qualified professional. It is an assessment but it is run as relaxed as possible.
It is my firm view that the best place to be assessed is where you know best. Therefore, I am very keen to come see you coaching in your own wall. However, I’m also very aware this can be logisitically quite difficult, especially once travel expenses are taken into account. If you prefer to come be assessed in North Wales, this can also be arranged.
Currently, assessments are arranged bespoke. Please contact to discuss your assessment directly.
More information for both training and assessment is available on the Mountain Training website
Prices
Public Courses
- Training: £100
- Assessment: £100
Prices subject to change. Please contact for accurate prices
Private Courses
Private Courses are also available for centres, businesses, groups and more. They are charged at
£300 per day + £12 per person + expenses
For more information, please click here.
Payment is required in advance to secure places on both public and private courses.
After the Training Course: the Resource Pack
A training course is a big old day with heaps of information. Being as there’s a lot of stuff to remember, each participant on the course will receive an email designed to give you something to refer back to: your resource pack.
Included in the pack is:
- The Course Slides
- Course Notes covering the content of the day
- Downloadable files covering many of the sections of the day
- A Prowess Reflection Sheet, which can also be used on any other course (with any provider) in the future
- Links to external articles and resources
- Links to relevant articles on the Prowess website
- Often more too, depending on the course
Each participant will receive an email to a password-protected page (with the password) to browse at your leisure.
Cancellation Policy
Circumstances change, things come up and occasionally people can’t make it. It’s understandable. If this happens to you, the sooner you can let me know, the better as I can hopefully fill the space with someone else. If you let me know two weeks before the session/course/workshop then I will issue a full refund. If you let me know between two weeks and one week before the session/course/workshop I will issue a 50% refund. If you let me know less than one week before the session/course/workshop then no refund will be issued. Remember you need to pay to secure your place on the course or your place may be allocated to someone else. If the course is cancelled by Prowess, a full refund will be issued.