What to Expect

The AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course is the standard entry point for anyone pursuing a career as a professional climbing guide in the United States. Pisgah Climbing School offers this 3-day course in the exceptional terrain of western North Carolina.

The AMGA Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) program is the most widely recognized professional credential for climbing instructors in the country. It is required by guide services, summer camps, university outdoor programs, and climbing gyms that offer outdoor instruction. If you want to get paid to take people climbing, this is where you start.

The course runs 3 days and covers everything needed to work professionally on single-pitch terrain: anchor building and evaluation, site setup and management, client instruction, rope systems, risk assessment, basic rescue skills, crag etiquette, and Leave No Trace principles. Instruction is grounded in the AMGA's national curriculum and delivered in the field — not a classroom — on real routes with real anchor scenarios.

Pisgah Climbing School hosts the SPI Course in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. The region's mix of sandstone and granite crags offers candidates exposure to a variety of rock types and anchor environments, which is exactly the kind of varied experience the AMGA curriculum is designed around. The course is taught by Sam Jury, an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and SPI Provider — one of a small number of guides in the Southeast credentialed to deliver and examine the full SPI program.

Candidates who successfully complete the course are eligible to sit for the AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Exam. The AMGA recommends waiting 6–12 months between the course and exam to allow time to practice and consolidate skills, though in some cases candidates may take both in sequence. Contact us if you have questions about the right timeline for your current skill level.