Rock climbing is a sport that is unlike any other. It is one of the very few experiences in life that allows you to be fully engaged. When you are climbing, you're in the moment. You are there. You can feel every muscle working and you can see every foot that you've climbed beneath you. Your mind is held captive by where you are and what your body is doing. And because of this, the experience of rock climbing can be life-changing.

A climber on Barney's Rubble in Leavenworth, which is
famous for it's clean cracks and quality granite. Photo by Jason Martin

The American Alpine Institute Basic Rock Camp was developed to provide you with not only the experience of rock climbing, but with the technical skills required to practice the art without the oversight of an instructor after the course. The objective of this four-day program is to provide you with the basic skills that you will need in order to competently climb in a single-pitch environment. By the end of the course, you will have the knowledge required to set-up and manage a climbing site independently.

The Basic Rock Camp curriculum was designed to build on itself. The course begins with most basic of techniques and then slowly moves through a series of steps to more advanced technical systems. On the final day of the program, participants will be setting up and managing every climb that they visit.

The Aztec Sandstone of Red Rock Canyon provides a phenomenal venue
for beginning level climbers. Photo by Jason Martin

• Introduction to Equipment: Design, Care, Use, and Selection
• Introduction to Knots and Hitches
• Techniques for Belaying and Rappelling
• Climbing Commands
• Development of Full Repertoire of Free Climbing Technique for Moderate Ground
• Introduction to both Passive and Active Traditional Protection
• Anchor Construction
• Techniques for Setting Up and Managing Top-Rope Sites

The Basic Rock Camp is offered throughout the winter season in Red Rock Canyon, NV and in Joshua Tree National Park, CA. During the summer season this course is offered in Leavenworth, WA, Mount Erie, WA, Squamish, BC and in Bishop, CA.

Red Rock Canyon is located just minutes outside the city of Las Vegas, NV. Joshua Tree National Park is approximately an hour away from Palm Springs, CA and right next to the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, CA. Leavenworth is about forty minutes from Wenatchee or three hours from Seattle on the east side of Washington's mountains. Mount Erie is an hour and a half north of Seattle, near Anacortes, WA. Squamish is two hours north of Bellingham, WA and one hour north of Vancouver, BC. And Bishop can be found on the east side of the Sierra, four to five hours away from Reno, NV and Las Vegas, NV. It is also forty minutes away from Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Red Rock provides phenomenal climbing just twenty miles from
the world famous Las Vegas Strip. Photo by Jason Martin

Day One:

• Meet your guide at the program location at 8:00am.
• Selection, use and care of climbing gear.
• Introduction to basic knots and hitches. Knots to be covered will include but not be limited to the figure-eight follow-through and the clove-hitch.
• Introduction to climbing commands and belay technique.
• Develop an understanding of climbing grades.
• Develop techniques for climbing beginner and intermediate rock climbs.

Day Two:

• Review knots from the previous day and then continue the development of your knowledge of knots by learning the figure-eight on-a-bite, the munter-hitch, the overhand, the water-knot, the barrel knot and the autoblock hitch.
• Introduction to climbing guidebooks and route topos.
• Learn how to place and remove both passive and active rock protection.
• Introduction to the concept of SRENE and 12-point anchors.
• Develop the skills to build both pre-equalized and self-equalizing anchors.
• Learn how to set up simple top-ropes using bolts.
• Practice and discuss bouldering technique in an outdoor environment.
• Introduction to basic rappelling technique.
• Continue the development of movement skills for intermediate rock climbs.

Day Three:

• Review knots from the previous days and then continue the development of your knowledge of knots with the double-bowline, the double-fisherman's knot, the mule-hitch, the kliemhiest, and the prussik-hitch.
• Learn how to use traditional climbing gear to set up a simple top-rope anchor.
• Develop the skills to belay a lead climber.
• Learn how to follow a route that has been lead with traditional gear and clean the equipment off the route as you climb.
• Develop advanced techniques for rappelling.
• Continue the development of movement skills for intermediate rock climbs.

Day Four:

• Review all of the knots and hitches from the previous days.
• Use traditional climbing gear to set up a complex top-rope anchor.
• Learn how to use a static rope or webbing to set up a multipart top-rope anchor.
• Practice the rappel techniques that have been developed over the preceding days.
• Continue the development of movement skills for intermediate rock climbs.

Mount Erie, WA

August 20 - 23, 2010
September 3 - 6, 2010
May 27 - 30, 2011
July 8 - 11, 2011
September 2 - 5, 2011

Leavenworth, WA

October 8 - 11, 2010
April 22 - 25, 2011
May 13 - 16, 2011
October 7 - 10, 2011

Squamish, BC

June 10 - 13, 2011
August 11 - 14, 2011

Red Rock Canyon, NV

October 8 - 11, 2010
November 11 - 14, 2010
December 28 - 31, 2010
January 14 - 17, 2011
February 18 - 21, 2011
March 14 - 17, 2011
March 21 - 24, 2011
April 15 - 18, 2011
October 7 - 10, 2011
November 11 - 14, 2011
December 28 - 31, 2011

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

October 8 - 11, 2010
November 11 - 14, 2010
December 28 - 31, 2010
January 14 - 17, 2011
February 18 - 21, 2011
April 15 - 18, 2011
October 7 - 10, 2011
November 11 - 14, 2011
December 28 - 31, 2011

Bishop, CA

June 10 - 13, 2011
July 8 - 11, 2011
August 11 - 14, 2011
September 2 - 5, 2011

The Basic Rock Camp is the first part of a four part rock series. The second level of this course is Learn to Lead - An Introduction to Traditional Rock Leadership. The third level is our Big Wall and Aid Climbing Seminar. And the fourth part is our Rock Rescue Clinic. While it is possible to take all four of these programs in a row, it would make the most sense to climb independently between each program. The more practical time that you put in between courses, the more likely it is to retain new material.