Vertical Cave & Mine Leader Ropework for LCMLA Candidates

Описание: Cavers and Mine Explorers who aspire to lead novices underground in the UK will usually need to complete one of the British Caving Association LCMLA qualifications. The first tier is the Cave and Mine Leader Award, allowing you to lead in predominantly horizontal cave or mine systems. To extend the remit of the award to cover vertical pitches, candidates will need to complete the Vertical Leader Award. The Vertical Leader is a technical skills bolt-on to the Cave and Mine Leader award and focusses on the rigging and rescue skills needed to operate in the vertical cave or mine environment. The Vertical Core Skills module covers the use of Traditional Ladder & Lifeline technique, which primarily involves the group and instructor progressing up and down pitches using a caving ladder with a safety belay, but also covers other skills like traversing and group abseils. All Vertical Leaders will complete the Vertical Core Skills module assessment first before progressing to their Group Assessment or other optional skills modules like the SRT for Leader or Tyrolean for Groups modules. The optional SRT for Leader module allows the instructor to progress up and down the pitches on a fixed rope using SRT skills, however the group members will still progress on belay using lowers, group abseils, or caving ladders. Many Vertical Leaders opt to also take the SRT module because it can reduce the amount of equipment needed on longer trips with multiple pitches, or make it easier to operate as a sole instructor, but it is not a requirement and many vertical trips can be safely and easily run using Traditional Ladder & Lifeline skills only. The Vertical Leader has one core set of skills that all candidates must be assessed on, but then allows you a choice of additional assessment options to widen your remit and working options if you wish.

To help candidates understand the differences in the available modules, I have put together this short video to give you an example of both the Traditional Ladder and Lifeline skills used in the Vertical Core Skills module, and Travelling Ladder technique used in the SRT for Leader module. These examples use Garlands Pot in Giants Hole, where groups must return back up the way they came, but the scheme also extends to cover other skills for use on one-way trips or on fixed ladders or even ladder-less rock climbing type terrain, but I have chosen to just show basic examples of up and down groupwork in this video to demonstrate the overall style of each module's ropework. The scope of the Vertical Leader for trips in different environments and difficulties is very wide, and it would take a very long video to show you everything you could potentially do with the full award! All of the primary Vertical Core Skills and SRT for Leader techniques will be covered on your scheme training course, but the only required assessment module is the Vertical Core Skills covering Traditional Ladder and Lifeline. Leaders can go on to add further vertical skills through other modules in future if they wish to.
Special thanks to Aidan Lumb (Peaks of Adventure) and Paul Shepherd for their assistance with the filming of this video and tolerance of getting repeatedly soaked while I tried to get the perfect footage.

Full details of the LCMLA scheme can be seen on the BCA website, along with lots of other learning resources.

https://british-caving.org.uk/our-wor...

If you are interested in booking onto a training or assessment course with me, or just want to ask a question about the scheme, then please get in touch. www.peakinstruction.com