The FCOA Climber Program offers a structured approach to learning rock climbing, starting with the FCOA Improvised Climber program and progressing through various levels, including Top Rope, Lead, Rescue, and Instructor courses. Each level builds on skills learned in the previous one, emphasizing safety, improvisation, and practical techniques.  

Our introduction program to climbing is called "FCOA Improvise Climbing"

Progression:
Once you have completed the FCOA Improvised Climber program, you can continue practicing your new skills till you can do them blind folded or in the dark. Once you're able to do that you can start your next trainings:

FCOA TOP ROPE CLIMBER
FCOA LEAD CLIMBER
FCOA RESCUE CLIMBER
FCOA CLIMBING INSTRUCTOR

About the FCOA Improvised climb training:
Most people in the world don't have access to specialized climbing gear. Also, when you're on top of a burning building, you will just have to use what is available, so being able to improvise can save your life. For this training, all you need is a random 15 meter rope from your local hardware store. (Ø 10 mm) 

180.000 people per year die due to fires. Many could have saved themselves if they would have been able to rappel from their burning building 

Risk Management: 

During this training we recommend to not climb higher then 2 meter and to keep an old mattress under your climbing area. The development of climbing skills takes time. It's good to practice new skills close to the ground. Use common sense and develop your judgement. Take responsibility of your own safety and don't just trust anyone till that trust has been earned.  

This improvised climb training is available for anyone that can get online and is meant to reduce the risks involved in our natural climbing journey. This training is somewhat different than most other trainings where they will be very specific about what specialized equipment to use.  

We humans are primates and just like Orangutans and Chimpanzees, it's in our genetics to develop climbing skills. By doing so we can reach the best fruits and stay away from the wolves. Sometimes we fall, get injured and some even die, but most of the time we just bruise and evolve. As much as possible learn from mistakes that are already made by others. Good for you if you can find a climbing instructor. But if not, don't let it stop you from practicing improvised climbing basics at home. 

How come a freediving organization teaches climbing? 

This program came to exist for 2 reasons.  

1. Climbing skills are now an additional prerequisite for FCOA lifeguard certification. This will aid rescues from water wells and high ships.  

2. Its now also a prerequisite for FCOA solo sailor certification. Since sailors occasionally have to climb in their masts.  

The training modules for climbing are available on fcoa.online under digital training. 

Top rope climbing is one of the safest and most accessible forms of climbing. The rope runs from your harness, up to an anchor at the top of the route, and back down to a belayer on the ground. This setup minimizes fall distance and is ideal for learning technique, building strength, and gaining confidence.

Prerequisites

1. You have completed the FCOA improvised climbing quize
2. You have further trained yourself to do the following knots with your eyes closed: Clove hitch, Bowline, Double eight, Italian Hitch, Cow Hitch, Over hand hitch, Granny knot, Reef knot, Prusik knot.You can transition from Prusik to Self-belay without slipping. 

During the FCOA Improvised Climb Training you learned how to rappel, prusik and give belay during emergencies. Outside of emergencies there are many detailed safety habits climbers have developed to minimize risk.

The biggest difference between what you learned during improvised climbing and sport climbing are the following. Most climbers only use certified climbing equipment and only use it in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Ropes and harnesses often get retired after 10 years or after a certain number of uses. Climbers care for their expensive ropes. They prefer devices that are the most gentle on their ropes. They would avoid rappelling with an Italian hitch because it twists and turns the rope. Even a figure of eight still twists the rope. ATC's are preferred.Climbers don't like people to stand on their ropes. It can push sand and dirt trough the outer core, and also: lead climbers sometimes put the rope in their mouth before clipping into the next quick draw, so that is extra reason to keep the rope clean. 

They would use double anchor points just in case one breaks out. They tie double eight knots on their belay loops. They are particular about the knots they use. They would never say: If you don't know how to tie knots, tie lots. They stick to well thought trough proven effective and safe habits.

COURSE TOPICS

1. Equipment & Further knots
2. Different anchors
3. Giving and taking belay Climbing Technique
4. Falling practice

Requirements to meet to become a certified FCOA TOP ROPE climber:

1. You must have completed this quiz
2. You must be able to make the additional knots with your eyes closed
3. You must be able to create safe anchor points
4. You must be able to give safe belay also when you have no vision of the climber
5. As a climber you must have shown 3 intentional falls
6. As a belayer you must have responded appropriately to 3 unannounced falls
7. You must have participated in training 2 members for Improvised Climbing. If your an FCOA coach, you must have certified them for it. 
   
   

Prerequisites

1. You have completed the FCOA improvised Climber Course. 
2. You have completed FCOA medic fist air or an equivalent course. 
3. You have completed the theory FCOA lesson 8 "LOST"
4. You are a competent safety and have climbed for at least 2 days
5. Additional  knots

Spanish Bowline 
Portuguese bowline
Sliding X
Butterfly knot
Double Fishermans knot

Lead climbers are exposed to higher risk, top rope climbers already have an established rope that allows them to let go from the rock with a minimum falling distance. 
Lead climbers are the once that establish the top rope. While climbing up they clip in to anchor points, as they climb above their anchor points, when they fall, they will fall twice the distance that they got above the anchor point before the rope catches them. 

Risk Assessment

Lead climbing has the highest risk near the ground. The first few meters you will have no rope protection yet. In case you fall or jump your belayer can only guide your landing and stop you from further rolling down the hill. Once you are clipped into your first anchor point you have some rope protection but as you climb above it that protection greatly reduces. There for it's good to have the first few anchor points near each other. The higher you get the more rope protection you have. Once your 8 anchor points up, you could fall, your last anchor point could break out and the next one would catch you without you coming to near the ground. When climbing repetitively visualize how your fall would play out. If you're not exactly above your anchor point then after your fall you will swing. What will you swing in to?

When lead climbing the equipment is prone to shock loading and stretch. Make sure to understand the fall factor. 

FALLING

Notes of caution for lead climbers: As a lead climber, you need to be prepared for a fall at any moment. Here are two things you can control once you fall. 

Eyes: Your eyes dictate the movements of your body. If you barn-door off the wall and look over your shoulder while rotating away from the wall, your body is likely to follow. Instead, when you fall, look down between your legs at the wall, which will help orient your body in a position better suited to a soft landing.Body Position: After you fall, your goal should be to end up in a sitting position. When you come in contact with the wall, your feet are ideally planted a little more than hips-width apart, knees bent to absorb the impact. Hands may be up in front of your face to protect it against large holds or roofs, but should otherwise not be involved in bracing the fall.

Rope in mouth: Lead climbers often put the climbing rope in their mouth while they are clipping in to their next anchor points. If you slip and fall be sure to spit the rope out.

Lean from the mistakes of others: Five recorded casualties to learn from most accidents happen during the routine parts of the journey.

Competent belayer
Don't trust to easily. If as a lead coach you have not yet build trust with your belayer then climb at a place that looks like a staircase to you. A place where you are not going to fall. There you can simulate some falls and unannounced jumps to build trust. 

The FCOA definition of a competent belayer: 
A belayer that has at least 3 times responded appropriately to your unannounced fall in the last year with the equipment types and environment he/she is familiar with.

When you start using new equipment you are no longer a competent belayer. You have to again respond to some unannounced falls to experience how this equipment handles the forces. 
When you start climbing in a new sort of environment you are also no longer a competent safety. Your first time climbing in cold or snowy conditions or your first time belaying in a dark cave. Again, you should practice some responses to unannounced falls.

Prerequisite

You have completed the following:

1. FCOA improvised climber
2. FCOA TOP ROPE CLIMBERFCOA LEAD CLIMBER
3. FCOA Lesson 3 Navigation
4. FCOA Lesson 5 A Coach training
5. FCOA Lesson 5 B Medic First Aid
6. FCOA Lesson 8 Lost at Sea (On use of coordinates, same as lost in the jungle)
7. FCOA lesson RADIO Operator (Under Sailing)

Passing criteria

1. Able to bring down an unconscious climber (or dummy) on a free hanging rope in less than 15 minutes.
2. The fastest solution here could be to use a second rope to rappel next to the unconscious climber, clip his harness to yours, cut his rope and descend. But we like to practice worst case scenarios, so for our practiced: you have to climb up the same rope that the unconscious climber is hanging on. You somehow have to get above him, connect him to your harness and find a way to leverage him up to undo his belay devise. Your not allowed to cut ropes.
3. Time is of the essence in this exercise. Once a climber is hanging unconscious in his harness his muscles will relax and the harness cuts of the blood flow to his legs. Tisue damage will occur if he won't get help soon enough. 
4. Lifting up an unconscious person (At least 2.5 meter) using a pully system. This should prepare you to lift a person that has fallen into a water well, a cave or a glacier. 
   The ideal solution would be to have a basket stretcher an electric winch and a helicopter, but we like to practice worst case scenarios.
   
   For this exercise your only allowed to use one climbing rope. You will need to tie a harness at the end of the climbing rope to put it on the victim. You will probably need a pully system. Once you start lifting the victim it should not take longer than 5 minutes to take him up, since the rope harness obstructs the blood flow to his legs.
   
   How to open a Carabiner while lifting a victim?

Prerequisite

1. Your a certified FCOA improvised climber
2. Your a certified FCOA TOP ROPE CLIMBER
3. Your a certified FCOA LEAD CLIMBER
4. Your a certified FCOA RESCUE CLIMBER
5. You have completed FCOA Lesson 5: "Coach training"
6. You have certified 5 FCOA Improvised climbers.
7. You have completed Lesson 10 Lead coach training

Risk Management

FCOA recommends to keep climbing students practicing below 2 meter until they master all the improvised climbing concepts. That's slightly different then how other climbing organizations do it. We want our climbers to take responsibility of their own safety from day one. Before they go up, they should be fluent with all needed knots and with rappelling. If they are still making mistakes in their knots, or if they still don't appear calm and methodic when rappelling from 2-meter height, then they still have plenty to develop close to the ground. For some climbers prusiking is very tough, due to body weight or lack of strength. They don't have to master prusiking up before they start the Top rope training. But they should be able to explain how prusiking works and they should be able to demonstrate the knots involved in a repeatable fashion. 

Top Rope Climbing: 

Liability
Even though FCOA trains their members to look after their own safety, when something goes wrong everyone is pointing fingers at the instructor. And even when you are the best instructor, you cannot always control everything. Our members agree with liability releases on both FCOA.online and in the FCOA improvised climber quiz. But it's the responsibility of every climbing instructor to check what documents are needed for the best legal protection in their area. 

Passing Criteria

1. You have certified 5 FCOA Improvised Climbers
2. You have trained 5 FCOA Top Rope Climbers under direct supervision of an Instructor
3. You have trained 2 FCOA Lead Climbers under the direct supervision of an Instructor
4. You have 10 Documented Lead climbs on video