The recent statement from the Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, has been widely welcomed by many in the tourism and leisure sectors. It has provided Mountain Training with significant room within which delivery of many schemes can now recommence in Wales. A summary of the relevant relaxations is below. The full statement can be found on the Welsh Government website.

Monday 13th July

From this date onwards, gatherings of up to 30 people, outdoors only, are allowed where they are organised and supervised by a responsible person for sports and other leisure activities and classes. Mountain Training providers operating in Wales can now resume delivery of courses at normal ratios and accept candidates, all of whom can come from separate households.

Saturday 25th July

Campsites will be allowed to reopen. Until this happens, all schemes which require overnight camping should not take place in Wales.

Social Distancing

The Welsh Government will also make changes to the physical distancing regulations to reflect some of the challenges faced by the hospitality, beauty industry and other sectors where a 2m distance cannot be reasonably maintained at all times. The law in Wales will continue to make the 2m distance the default position, because this remains the safest way to protect people’s health. But when 2m cannot reasonably be maintained, the regulations will require businesses to put in place a set of additional measures to minimise the risk of the virus spreading, including taking reasonable steps to minimise close face-to-face contact and maintain hygiene.

It is important for all providers, course directors and staff to be mindful that 2 metres is still the default position and you must maintain this throughout the course, wherever possible. Should this become very challenging, additional measures must be introduced to mitigate transmission of the virus until it is possible to resume activity at a distance of 2 metres or more.

Indoor climbing walls

No firm dates have been provided for the reopening of indoor facilities. The next formal review of the regulations is due to take place on 30 July and options for reopening will be considered from 3 August onwards, if the virus remains under control.

Scheme information

From Monday 13th July, the following schemes can now take place in Wales:

• Hill Skills
• Mountain Skills
• Rock Skills Introduction
• Rock Skills Intermediate
• Rock Skills Learn to Lead: Sport
• Rock Skills Learn to Lead: Trad
• Lowland Leader
• Hill and Moorland Leader
• Mountain Leader – reassessments only (no overnight camping)
• Rock Climbing Instructor (outdoor only) training for CWI trained candidates
• Rock Climbing Instructor reassessments (outdoor only)
• Rock Climbing Development Instructor

The following schemes still cannot take place in Wales:

• Mountain Leader (campsites should open on 25th July, once this happens, this scheme becomes viable)
• Expedition Skills Module (campsites should open on 25th July, once this happens, this module becomes viable)
• Indoor Climbing Assistant
• Climbing Wall Instructor and Abseil Module
• Climbing Wall Development Instructor
• Rock Climbing Instructor including the indoor climbing syllabus content for both training and assessment

The national Mountain Training organisations’ Covid19 framework for decision making outlines our principles by which we expect providers to make any decision on whether to go ahead with a course. Our guidance on safe practice in the outdoors issued to Mountain Training Association members and updated guidance from the Association of Mountaineering Instructors may also prove useful for both providers and candidates.

Providers are responsible for mitigating the risks to staff, candidates and the general public during course delivery and will need to have satisfied their own risk assessment about Covid 19. Candidates need to be prepared to adopt the safeguarding measures which will be required for responsible course/workshop delivery and we encourage candidates to engage with the provider to ensure they understand any control measures and can discuss any concerns they may have.

A cautious approach will be necessary to both limit the spread of infection and respect local community sentiment. As such, providers and their associated course directors and staff should take note of local information and advice from organisations such as their own membership organisations (AMI, BAIML, BMG and MTA), BMC, National Park Authorities, and Mountain Rescue. We have every trust and faith in you, our providers and candidates, that you will consider the reputation of our sector and act accordingly.