AMGA CWI Course, January 14-16 at Spooky Nook. Register now!

North Fork Adventures LLC

The American Mountain Guides Climbing Wall Instructor Program (CWI) trains and certifies professionals who teach (or plan to teach) in an indoor or artificial wall environment. The course aims to increase the level of professionalism in indoor climbing and to improve the level of climbing wall instruction, to develop a more consistent standard of care for climbing instructors in the US, to evaluate the skills of climbing instructors in the US, and to provide guidance for further professional development. There are two certification levels: Top Rope and Lead.

Pre-requisites for Certification at the AMGA CWI Top Rope Level:

Must be 18 years old or older
At least one year documented personal climbing experience (a minimum of 20 outings climbing indoors and/or outdoors)
Climbing ability: Top rope 5.7 on artificial structures while demonstrating calm, confidence, good position, balance, solid base of support, no falls, and general body awareness
Ability to effectively belay with tube/plate device and an assisted braking device (i.e. Petzl GriGri)
An instructional background: ability to effectively teach basic skills

Pre-requisites for Certification at the AMGA CWI Lead Climbing Level:

All of the above pre-requisites plus
Climbing ability: Top rope 5.9 and lead 5.8 on artificial structures while demonstrating calm, confidence, good position, balance, solid base of support, no falls, and general body awareness
Ability to effectively belay in a top rope and lead belay setting with tube/plate device and an assisted braking device (i.e. Petzl GriGri)
An instructional background: ability to effectively teach skills learned in an indoor setting

The AMGA CWI course is approximately 20 hours long and is generally held over three days. The maximum student to instructor ratio is 6:1.