elevate your skills

Develop your capability & empower your adventures with specialty skills courses

The Climbing Company (formerly Melbourne Climbing School) has courses designed to teach safety skills to all levels, from absolute beginner to advanced rescue skills and these courses are suitable for both professionals and enthusiasts.

  • Single Pitch Trad

    Learn to use pro like a pro

    This is a two-day course designed to teach existing lead climbers how to use trad gear safely and effectively. We practice placing nuts, cams and other equipment to secure our system to the rock.


    What will we learn?

    On this course you will learn to:

    • Adjust belay habits to suit traditional rock climbing
    • Prepare your gear prior to leaving the ground ready for safe, efficient climbing
    • Identify the best type of gear for a particular rock feature
    • Build multi-point EARNEST anchor systems using trad gear and your rope
    • Return at the end of your session without leaving any of your equipment behind
    • Recognise the most common trad climbing mistakes and easy methods to mitigate them
  • Multi-Pitch Trad

    Conquer that fear of heights

    Do you hunger for thrilling exposure? Do you want to really challenge your control over your fear of heights? How about the amazing views that most people simply will never see?


    What will we learn?

    Among the skills covered in this course are:

    • Planning your day before you start, preparing for any eventuality
    • The importance of clear, concise communication on multi-pitch routes
    • Additional types of anchor systems
    • Additional belay techniques
    • Smooth transitioning from top-belay to lead-belay while on the wall
    • The importance of staying vigilant even after arriving at the top
    • Preparing equipment for a walking descent, or –
    • Using two ropes for very-long abseils
  • Falling Clinic (second half of Indoor LTL)

    Heebie-Jeebies begone!

    Is your fear of falling on lead holding you back? We aim to fix that and get you back on the rope and trying your best without fear!


    What will we learn?

    We run through the following skills, continually refining them until they are committed to (muscle) memory:
     
    Belayer Skills:
    – Catching leader falls (small to large)
    – Feet position on the ground, on the wall
     
    Climber skills:
    – Taking a leader-fall (we start small, don’t worry!)

  • Sport Climbing Conversion

    Take your first steps outside

    The aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive introduction to climbing “Sport” routes in the outdoors, tailored specifically to Melbourne’s rapidly growing indoor climbing community.


    What will we learn?

    On this course you will learn to:

    • Apply indoor lead-belay and lead-climbing techniques to outdoor rock
    • Build anchors on fixed hardware
    • Return at the end of your session without leaving any of your equipment behind (often called “cleaning” the route)
    • Abseiling on a doubled rope
    • Inspect fixed sport climbing hardware and anchors before you use them
    • Recognise the most common sport climbing mistakes and easy methods to mitigate them
    • Make intelligent decisions in the outdoors.
      BONUS – as part of this course you will learn about the humble prusik loop – a very simple, extremely useful piece of climbing equipment that not many sport climbers carry or even own. You will learn just how useful it can be in all sorts of situations, and as a special thank-you for signing up to this course – we’ll give you one to keep!
  • Essential Self-Rescue Skills

    Basic Rescue Skills all climbers should know

    This is a two-day course covering tips, tricks and practising rescue scenarios that anyone could come across in the outdoors. These essential skills you should know to become a safe outdoor climber, and the tool-box of skills you can draw from to enhance your everyday climbing experience will be valuable as well!


    What will we learn?

    On this course you will learn:

    • Tying off a belay device
    • Escaping the belay to attend to an emergency situation
    • Z-drags and assisted hoists
    • Additional prusik knots and their uses
    • Prusiking up, and prusiking past a knot
    • Abseiling down, and abseiling past a knot
    • Retrievable single rope abseil
    • Lowering a partner past a knot (i.e. lowering a partner more than the rope length)
    • Various ways to belay if you don’t have a belay device
  • Big Wall Course 1

    Take your climbing higher

    Learn the fundamental techniques needed for big wall climbing: aid climbing, hauling, and complex rope systems. Perfect for experienced multi-pitch climbers ready to tackle bigger objectives.


    What Will We Learn?

    Preparation and Equipment

    • Proper gear organiSation and racking for longer routes
    • Haul bag setup and packing techniques
    • Tag line systems and their applications
    • Equipment selection for big wall climbing
      Climbing Techniques
    • Introduction to aid climbing fundamentals
    • Solo climbing techniques and safety systems
    • Advanced rope management
    • Strategies for harder pitches
      Following and Cleaning
    • Following efficiently with aiders/etriers
    • Cleaning gear on steeper terrain
    • Short pendulum techniques
    • Basic pendulum cleaning
    • Managing traverses and diagonals
    • Rebelays (rules and advantages on classic big wall push)
  • One-Day Trad Refresher

    Get back in the game safely

    This is a ONE-day course designed to help existing trad-climbers get back into the game of trad climbing safely and effectively. We will tailor the session to you and make sure that your system is safe and ready for independent use!


    What will we cover?

    • Review and update of gear placement techniques
    • Modern anchor building practices
    • Current safety standards and best practices
    • Personal systems check and optimization
    • Tactical considerations for route selection and protection
  • Mental Training for Trad Climbing

    Master your mind, master the climb

    An innovative course combining practical skills and mental techniques to help you push your trad climbing to the next level. Learn to manage fear, make better decisions, and climb with confidence.


    What will we cover?

    Practical Skills Foundation:

    • Practicing with trad gear (ensuring correct placement techniques)
    • Understanding gear limitations and testing placements
    • Aid climbing practice to build placement confidence
    • How to choose routes suitable for your current level
    • Creating detailed route maps (rest points, crux zones, gear placements) 
      Mental Skills Development:
    • Fear management techniques specific to trad climbing
    • Decision-making frameworks for route selection
    • Visualisation techniques for route planning
    • Building confidence through progressive challenges
    • Techniques for maintaining focus during long routes 
      Creating Security:
    • How to make a “nest” or secure point before crux sections
    • Managing the relationship between mental and physical aspects
    • Building resilience through controlled exposure
    • Partner communication and trust building
    • Developing personal risk assessment skills