Boy Scout Merit Badge
Ready to take your troop’s adventure to new heights and help your Boy Scouts earn their Climbing merit badge? Climbing is an awesome way to help them strengthen their bodies, challenge their minds, and build camaraderie with their troop. They’ll discover key climbing techniques, safety practices, and essential preparation skills that will give them the confidence to climb rock walls and boulders, both indoors and out.
This course is designed specifically for Boy Scouts want to earn their Climbing merit badge.
The course is divided into two parts:
- (a) Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while participating in climbing and rappelling activities and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
- (b) Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses that could occur during climbing activities, including heat and cold reactions, dehydration, stopped breathing, sprains, abrasions, fractures, rope burns, blisters, snakebite, concussions, and insect bites or stings.
- (c) Identify the conditions that must exist before performing CPR on a person.
- (a) Explain how the difficulty of climbs is classified, and apply classifications to the rock faces or walls where you will demonstrate your climbing skills.
- (b) Explain the following: top-rope climbing, lead climbing, and bouldering.
- (c) Evaluate the safety of a particular climbing area. Consider weather, visibility, the condition of the climbing surface, and any other environmental hazards.
- (d) Determine how to summon aid to the climbing area in case of an emergency.
- (a) Climbers
- (b) Rappellers
- (c) Belayers
- (d) Boulderers and their spotters
- (a) Describe the kinds of rope acceptable for use in climbing and rappelling.
- (b) Show how to examine a rope for signs of wear or damage.
- (c) Discuss ways to prevent a rope from being damaged.
- (d) Explain when and how a rope should be retired.
- (e) Properly coil a rope.
- (a) Figure eight on a bight
- (b) Figure eight follow-through
- (c) Water knot
- (d) Double fisherman’s knot (grapevine knot)
- (e) Safety knot
- (a) Explain the importance of belaying climbers and rappellers and when it is necessary.
At Übergrippen, the scouts will get an instructor-led class that will help them with these hands-on activities:
9. Belaying. Do the following:
- (a) Explain the importance of belaying climbers and rappellers and when it is necessary.
- (b) Belay three different climbers ascending a rock face or climbing wall.
- (c) Belay three different rappellers descending a rock face or climbing wall using a top rope.
- (a) Show the correct way to directly tie into a belay rope.
- (b) Climb at least three different routes on a rock face or climbing wall, demonstrating good technique and using verbal signals with a belayer.
- (a) Using a carabiner and a rappel device, secure your climbing harness to a rappel rope.
- (b) Tie into a belay rope set up to protect rappellers.
- (c) Rappel down three different rock faces or three rappel routes on a climbing wall. Use verbal signals to communicate with a belayer, and demonstrate good rappelling technique.
Once you sign your scouts up for this class, you’ll automatically receive an email with access to our online course and quiz. This material helps us educate your scouts and verify their understanding of most of the merit badge requirements before they arrive at Übergrippen.
In accordance with Boy Scouts guidelines, we follow the requirement of having two instructors for every 12 scouts. The online course and quiz allow us to keep the in-person portion as brief as possible to make it cost-effective. If your troop is larger or smaller, we’ll work with you and other troops to accommodate your needs as the class has a set price for your scouts.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at events.cr@ugclimbing.com
