The beginning of a climbing adventure... NICAS coaching at The Climbing Hangar
The National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme is a nationally recognised programme of training with the aim of creating confident, competent independent climbers.
Find out more about the 
scheme below.
Here at The Hangar, we base all our kids' sessions on the NICAS syllabus to ensure you're getting the best coaching and content for your kids. But what does that mean, and how does it work?
NICAS has been created with junior climbers aged 7+ in mind. It’s a perfect route to progressing a climbing hobby, but for more ambitious kids it provides opportunities to develop athlete dreams, coaching skills or other ‘at height’ career potential.
By creating a standardised programme, participants can monitor their progress, demonstrate their ability and be confident that the coaches delivering the course are qualified to a national standard.
The programme
NICAS is arranged over five levels.
- Level 1 – safety, confidence, and fun – catching the climbing bug!
- Levels 2 and 3 – skills and technique, self-motivation and independent climbing
- Levels 4 and 5 – advanced skills, structured training, collaborative coaching practice and experience of competitive events
You can check out the official skills breakdown on the NICAS website.
NICAS Wild Climbers
New for 2022, Wild Climbers offers news skills for all taking part in our Rock Club Mini classes! (Not available at Liverpool Matchworks, London or Sheffield)
It is a fun, games orientated programme that aims to introduce young children safely into the climbing environment. It also meets the 3 key learning areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) including Communication, Physical Development and Social/Emotional Development. Enquire at reception for details of how to enrol.
Take a look at what to expect from our Rock Club Mini sessions following the NICAS Wild Climbers syllabus. Parents, find out more here.
NICAS at The Hangar - how to get qualified
Running NICAS Bouldering means we need every centre and coach to be assessed to ensure they meet the required standards. This means it can take a little while for NICAS to be available in new centres. Check what's on offer with your local Hangar.
How it works
At TCH London, NICAS is run as a pre-booked course that runs over ten weeks with a maximum of eight kids per session.
All our Rock Club classes, from minis to advanced, are built on the NICAS Bouldering syllabus, so kids can work through their logbooks at their own pace during our weekly sessions.
Just register them with your session coach and purchase the logbook for their progress to be formally recorded and awarded.
Each Hangar NICAS course differs in price. Contact your nearest Hangar to find out more here.
ONE NICAS SCHEME. INNUMERABLE PATHWAYS.
If you're a teacher, instructor or parent who's keen to get a group together, we're more than happy to run private NICAS courses for groups of five or more. NICAS is a great addition to a PE syllabus and can be used to make up a significant element of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
