For the past few years, the Mazamas have been working with other U.S. climbing organizations to establish a set of volunteer climbing educator certifications called the Mountain Leadership Education and Development Program. Mountain LEAD is a set of national climbing and mountaineering standards designed to improve the quality and consistency of volunteer-based climbing education.
Developed by The Mountain Education Alliance (MEA), which is composed of volunteers and staff from The Mazamas, The Mountaineers, the Colorado Mountain Club and the American Alpine Club, the certifications are due to be recognized by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). An international audit by UIAA is expected to take place this spring as the Mazamas progresses beyond its pilot program.
Each MEA member organization has developed its own training and certification assessment process to meet the varied needs of their respective organizations.
- The Mazamas generated the first Certified Educator in the country
- The Mazamas have actively trained the most people to the MEA national standards compared with all the other partner organizations combined.
- The Mazamas have implemented training programs for the largest number of the Certified Educator climbing standards that the MEA has created.
“The Mazamas program was designed to be accessible to everyone, rather than just our volunteers,” explains Matt Sundling, who spearheaded the Mazamas’ LEAD efforts. “We’re posed to help climbers from any organization and background to get trained and certified as Certified Educators. This is unique to our program.”
MEA standards ensure students have access to a consistent, safe experience, no matter where they are in the world, no matter what their local affiliation. Mountain LEAD instruction follows the most rigorous safety standards and establish best practices for leadership development and inclusion.
Students can achieve certification in the following categories: Traditional Climbing Educator, Sport Climbing Educator, Top Rope Climbing Educator, Winter Mountain Educator and Summer Mountain Educator.
“We want Mazama volunteers to be their best and also provide the best instruction to others,” Sundling says. “Our participation in the MEA and the development of Mountain LEAD is yet another way the Mazamas seeks to inspire people to love and protect mountains, and in this case everyone recreating on those mountains too.”