Turbocharge your Youth Climbing Programme with NICAS
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The Importance of Structured, Safe Learn-to-Climb Programmes in Indoor Climbing
Indoor climbing has rapidly grown into one of the UK’s most popular sports, attracting participants of all ages and abilities. As this growth continues, there’s an ever-increasing need for climbing centres to offer structured, progressive schemes that ensure safety, build skills, and, most importantly, keep the fun alive. That’s where the role of NICAS (National Indoor Climbing Award Schemes) becomes crucial in creating lifelong, happy climbers.
Why Indoor Climbing Centres Need Structured Schemes
With more people discovering climbing through indoor walls, climbing centres face a challenge: how to introduce new climbers to the sport in a way that is engaging, safe, and ensures long-term participation. Without a structured approach, beginners might feel overwhelmed, lose interest, or struggle with the technical aspects of climbing, potentially putting themselves at risk.
A well-designed learn-to-climb programme addresses these concerns by providing:
- A safe environment for beginners to learn essential climbing skills, like belaying, under the supervision of accredited instructors.
- A progressive structure, allowing climbers to build confidence and ability over time.
- Fun and engagement, which keeps climbers coming back and fosters a lifelong passion for the sport.
This need for structured, progressive schemes is why over 270 climbing centres across the UK and beyond have adopted the NICAS model.
How NICAS Serves the Needs of Climbing Walls
NICAS meets the demand for progressive climbing schemes by offering four distinct programmes: NICAS Climbing, NICAS Bouldering, NICAS Clip, and Wild Climbers. Each programme is designed to guide climbers from their very first steps through to more advanced skills, ensuring safety and progression are at the forefront.
Climbing walls benefit from NICAS in several ways:
- Increased retention: Climbers are more likely to return if they are engaged in a structured learning path.
- Expert training for coaches: NICAS provides climbing walls with certified, well-trained instructors who deliver high-quality coaching.
- Customised schemes: NICAS programmes can be adapted to the specific needs of the wall, whether it’s a focus on bouldering, roped climbing, or autobelay systems.
Each year over 30,000 people take part in NICAS schemes and there are over 250,000 NICAS graduates since 2008.
Examples of NICAS in Action
Many prominent climbing centres across the UK have adopted NICAS programmes to meet their learn-to-climb needs. These centres have found that NICAS helps them offer a safe, enjoyable way to introduce climbing to a wide audience:
- The Reach in London runs a highly successful NICAS programme, providing a safe environment for climbers to start their journey on ropes and progress through advanced skills.
- Big Rock in Milton Keynes has integrated NICAS across its bouldering and roped climbing courses, fostering a community of climbers who continue to develop their skills.
- The Depot Climbing centres, including their popular Big Depot Leeds location, have seen great success with NICAS programmes, helping them attract a diverse range of participants, from beginners to advanced climbers.
- London Climbing Centres which include popular walls HarroWall, BethWall and VauxWall, deliver large NICAS programmes, providing structured progression for hundreds of climbers each year.
These walls demonstrate the power of NICAS to drive engagement and ensure that participants not only learn safely but stay motivated to improve their climbing skills.
A Future of Safe, Fun, and Progressive Learning
As indoor climbing continues to grow in popularity, the need for structured, engaging learning pathways will only become more important. Climbing walls must be prepared to meet the demands of new climbers while ensuring safety and fostering a long-term love of the sport.
NICAS serves this critical need, offering climbing walls a way to introduce beginners to the sport in a way that’s fun, progressive, and safe. Whether it’s through the use of autobelay systems in NICAS Clip, or creating confident young climbers through Wild Climbers, the future of indoor climbing is being shaped by well-designed, structured schemes like those offered by NICAS.
If you’re involved in the climbing industry or a climbing wall operator looking to provide your members with a clear path to success, consider integrating a progressive scheme like NICAS. The results speak for themselves—a community of skilled, confident climbers who are in it for the long haul.
Thank you to Nick and Skinner at NICAS for their time and input for this article. The NICAS Team will be at Halls and Walls in Friedrichshafen 21-22 November 2024 - be sure to stop and chat with them for more information!
