Page 8 - 2020 AMA Summer

AMAHQ
BMC FUNDAMENTALS 1&2
14-15 DECEMBER 19
Al Mason, Vice Chair, Mountaineering
Winter is arguably the best time to be indoors at a climbing wall, and a December weekend, with constant gales and flooding proved the perfect backdrop to the AMA facilitating the BMC Fundamentals 1&2 courses at The Quay Climbing Wall in Exeter.
The courses are explained on the BMC website, but essentially, they are designed to introduce a person to training people without breaking them. Fundamentals 1 lasts one day and looks at a person’s long-term physical development in the context of climbing training. It also examines climbing warm ups and exercises to develop the core skills of Agility, Balance and Coordina- tion. Hands and feet are then discussed, and ways in which to make both more efficient are explored. This then leads into the principles of Head, Hands, Hips and Heels (& Habitat & Head-mental) as parts of the body to be controlled whilst moving. Finally types of holds and features are discussed and then everything is put together to round off the day.
Fundamentals 2 also lasts one day and starts with a revision of Fundamentals
8 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
1, so fits nicely into a 2-day package. The course moves into focusing on most of the techniques required for climbing common features such as cracks, aretes, slabs and overhangs. The group was then sent off in syndicates to demonstrate various climbing moves such as smearing, bridging, laybacking, flagging and dropped knee using the
IDEAS coaching model (Intro, Demo, Explain, Activity, Summary) and focusing on BOSS (Body, Order, Shape, Speed). Not only did the team have to think about how to breakdown a technique, but also where best in the wall to teach it – not an easy task at a busy wall with limited features (maybe a midweek course might be best?).