Granite Arches Climbing Guides

Climber's Self Rescue Courses

Well-developed self-rescue skills are a must for every climber. Granite Arches offers both basic and advanced self-rescue courses. We also offer custom/private courses to individuals or groups.

Our climber's self-rescue and wilderness medical courses are taught by Swis Stockton. Swis is a USMGA Endorsed Rock Instructor, an AMGA Rock Instructor, a WEMT-Paramedic, a Wilderness Advanced Life Support (WALS) provider, and he completed a 1999 UIAGM Mountain Guides' Rescue Course in the mountains of Peru. No other guide in the southeast U.S. holds these credentials. Click below for details of our basic and advanced classes. For a schedule of classes, click here.

Basic Self-Rescue Outline

Advanced Self-Rescue Outline

Basic Self-Rescue Course

Question: What do you do when you are cragging and the lead climber you are belaying falls, gets hurt, but there is not enough rope to lower him/her to the ground? What do you do when you are multi-pitch climbing and your second cannot climb a difficult sequence? What do you do on a belay ledge 300 feet off of the ground with four climbing friends when a large electric storm develops rapidly overhead?

Answer: Learn self-rescue skills! This class is for climbers to learn or improve their self-rescue skills. The class will progress logically from learning individual skill components, understanding each skills' utility, and then applying new skills properly in novel situations.

This is a hands-on course. You will not be lectured to endlessly, but instead asked to demonstrate the application of relevant skills. Skills covered will be

	when and how to escape belays from above and below
	when and how to use 3, 5, and 7:1 hauling systems
	when and how to lower using various systems including knot passes
	when and how to use second and leader rescue skills

Schedule: Course will be demanding and will run from 8:00-4:00pm both days. An equipment list will be provided upon deposit.

Cost: Course cost is $400 for both days of instruction. Class size is limited to 8 individuals. Class minimum is four persons.

Your Guide: Class will be run by Swis Stockton, USMGA Endorsed Rock Instructor, AMGA Rock Instructor, WEMT-Paramedic, UIAGM Rescue Course Trained. No other guide in the southeast US holds all of these credentials. For his full credentials click here.

For more information about scheduled basic self-rescue courses, click here. For custom/private courses, e-mail climb@granitearches.com, or call 423-413-1432.

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Advanced Self-Rescue

For the climber that possesses the rescue skills requisite to basic self-rescue (above), this course will provide a chance to integrate the planning and execution of rescues in various common situations. Emphasis will be placed on situation analysis leading to an efficient rescue plan, as well as the execution of rescue techniques.

Schedule: The course is a two day course that is offered privately. An equipment list will be provided upon deposit.

Your Guide: Class will be taught by Swis Stockton, USMGA Endorsed Rock Instructor, AMGA Rock Instructor, WEMT-Paramedic, UIAGM Rescue Course Trained. No other guide in the southeast US holds these credentials. For his full credentials click here.

For more information or to schedule your course, e-mail climb@granitearches.com, or call 423-413-1432.