Today was our inclusive rock climbing experience for Conductive Education Bristol. We had a group of 7 young people, all of whom were struggling with different types and stages of cerebral palsy.
Even though I know how to rig hoists & pulley systems, use ascenders, etc. It is out of remit for an RCI. So I got 3 of my freelancers who are RCDI's to run the session for me. I assisted with rigging and wore a helmet and harness, though I only did so in case of an incident resulting in a rescue.
It was a fantastic session with all the climbers, some of whom, required a wheelchair, were able to take part in and enjoy the climbing.
The rigging was done from the bolted anchors, reached by abseiling form the top. We rigged up 2 lines for the climbers, but rigged a third line for an instructor to ascend/descend to assist any climber on the wall you needed help.
I wrote up the risk assessments and procedures for this event, including the equipment that I expected the instructors to use for ascension i.e., Petzl Rig, Petzl Ascension and 2:1 pulleys to assist with ascending the rope.
