Climbing is a potentially dangerous activity, and has inherent risks and hazards. A variety of knowledge, skills and techniques are required to reduce safety risks in our school.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have expanded our safety procedures to follow CDC guidelines, including the addition of face mask requirements and group size limits to better protect our participants.
We are proud to have run all of our climbing classes and trips without any accidents since the beginning, because we are super serious about safety!
Safety guidelines
ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK! (double checking fixes all potential problems)
- the harness is properly adjusted,
- the helmets are on,
- the buckles are double-backed,
- the tie-in knot is done properly,
- the carabiner is properly clipped to the belay loop,
- the rope is properly threaded to the belay device,
- the rope is properly looped to the carabiner,
- the rope is properly oriented,
- the carabiner gate is locked,
- use clear commands (proper communications is the base of safety).
Experience of our Coaches
All of our coaches have at least five years of climbing experience. All coaches are students of Aleksey Shuruyev (founder of the school) and learned all the same teaching techniques and safety requirements. All coaches are CPR and First Aid certified.
Responsible Teaching and Structuring
We teach our students how to belay each other using all modern belay devices such Gri-gri and ATC. All students learn belaying techniques under close coach supervision until they show consistent and solid skills. Our decisions to let a student belay independently are not based on the age of the student, but on his/her skills and level of responsibility. The ratio of students per coach is 5 to 1 for our indoor classes. At our outdoor climbing, the ratio is 2 coaches per 6 students. This ratio allows us to achieve great climbing goals without compromising student’s safety.
Helmet Policy
Wearing a helmet all the time while climbing is simply the safest choice. During the years, we have developed a common sense helmet-wearing policy. It is based on the relative danger of a climbing area and a level of climber’s experience, as follows: All climbers must wear a helmet all the time while climbing. All climbers must wear a helmet while climbing sport, traditional or ice routes.