I’ve been climbing for most of my life. The early days it was mostly in the trees near my childhood home, with the occasional trip to a nearby climbing centre. On a family holiday to Slovenia I found a climbing school at the base of a crag, and spent the whole trip learning about limestone climbing on toprope (and a little bit of lead climbing).
Climbing took a back seat for a few years until, while living in London, I realised I lived just along the road from a bouldering centre. This became a full blown obsession, where I’d head to the climbing centre every other day after work.
Since 2017 I’ve worked as a Climbing Instructor in climbing and outdoor centres. I’ve worked my way up through some of the qualifications available from Mountain Training and am able to instruct to a high safety standard while keeping sessions fun.
More recently, I have worked within climbing centre management as the Head of Staff Training for the Glasgow Climbing Centre, teaching new instructors how to be more competent with their soft skills, brush up their practical teaching, and rehearse rescue situations.
| Qualification | Description |
| CWI | Climbing Wall Instructor – Teaching toprope climbing on artificial walls |
| CWIA | Abseil Module – To run abseil sessions from pre-set anchors |
| CWDI | Development Instructor – Teaching lead climbing on artificial walls |
| RCI | Rock Climbing Instructor – Teaching toprope climbing and abseil sessions on real rock |
| FUNdamentals 1,2,3 | Three levels of climbing movement fundamentals for coaching |
| Outdoor First Aid +AED +CPR 2 Day | First aid qualification for urban, rural, and remote situations. Included CPR and automated defibrillator training. Exp 23/4/2027 |
Stories of my climbing trips and adventures can be found on my Shirewalks site.
If you’re looking for more information on how to get into climbing or instructing, please head to my contact page. I’m happy to answer any questions.