SPA assessment Pembrokeshire
This weekend just gone we’ve been running an SPA assessment here in Pembrokeshire. On the weekend we had 4 candidates who had travelled down to Pembrokeshire from as far afield as Nottingham!
Over the 2 days we assess peoples personal climbing and abseiling, group set ups for climbs and abseils and problem solving, as well as their knowledge on kit, fauna/flora and general climbing knowledge and much more…
Newton Head, great venue for our SPA assessment in Pembrokeshire
Obviously we’re mainly interested in if they are a safe and experienced climber, and if they are suitable to take groups out, but the other stuff really enhances their sessions so is an important part of it as well..
We started the weekends SPA assessment at Llanion Cove climbing wall, with using climbing walls a small but important part of the syllabus. Swiftly moving outside to make the most of the better weather forecast for Saturday, we headed to Newton Head.
A candidate leading during this weekend SPA assessment in Pembrokeshire…
This excellent crag is easy to access, which is rare in Pembrokeshire on the sea-cliffs, and is often overlooked for its bigger, illustrious neighbours. But the climbs are nice and friendly, the setting sublime, and a great area for our SPA assessment!
After doing their personal climbs and abseils we started on the group-work side of things, cramming loads in with the expectation of poorer weather tomorrow. We finished the day by reviewing the “home paper”, an exercise aimed at exploring people’s in depth knowledge of the climbing world! Coffee at the St Govans Inn soothed everyone’s wind worn faces…
Running a group abseil during the SPA assessment in Pembrokeshire
Day 2 of the SPA assessment saw us meet at Wolfs Rocks, an inland crag almost exclusively used by outdoor centres, but actually also contained some excellent bouldering. I tested the candidates set ups on various parts of the crags, got them to solve some problems and run some warm up and skills sessions.
After a debrief and invididual feedback I was pleased to confirm all 4 candidates had passed. Now they can really start learning! Well done all and top effort over the long days!
Problem solving during our SPA assessment in Pembrokeshire this weekend…