Under 18 Unsupervised
What is permitted and not permitted for a Green and Red Card climber at The Foundry?
Definition of Green Card and Red Card:
A Green Card grants permission for 14-17-year-olds to boulder, use auto belays, and top rope at The Foundry without supervision.
A Red Card grants permission for 14-17-year-olds to boulder, use auto belays, top rope, and lead climb at The Foundry without supervision.
Under-18s are prohibited from signing in novice climbers.
A Green Card-certified climber is not permitted to lead belay.
Neither card allows the use of gym equipment, such as weights, pull-up bars, fingerboards, and campus boards.
Process to Obtain a Green or Red Card:
Eligibility:
Climbers must be at least 14 years old.
A parent or guardian must be shown around the centre.
Attendance:
Attend a minimum of three young climbers sessions or equivalent.
Assessment:
Complete an assessment covering the required skills for the specific card.
Demonstrate appropriate attitude and maturity for unsupervised centre use.
Skills Assessed during the Assessment:
Fitting a harness on three separate occasions.
Correctly tying in three times using a rethreaded figure of eight and stopper knot.
Properly setting up a belay device three times under supervision.
Correctly attaching themselves to an auto belay three times under supervision.
Properly attach a sandbag to the harness before belaying under supervision and know when it is appropriate.
Belaying and lowering correctly five times.
Hold a top rope fall on three occasions.
For a Red Card, the following are additional requirements
Leading three routes with good clipping technique and body positioning.
Lead belaying five times correctly, demonstrating awareness of slack management, rope preparation, and belay positioning.
Holding a falling lead climber on three occasions.
Assessment Process:
Conducted by an approved team member to minimise bias.
Not carried out by the instructor from any attended sessions.
Additional Information
If you believe your child is sufficiently skilled and get an exemption from attending the Young Climbers session, please email the manager at jacob@foundryclimbing.com. Provide details of the child's climbing instructor or coach who has taught your child so that a reference can be completed. Make sure to inform the instructor or coach that the manager of The Foundry will be contacting them and why.
Please contact us with sufficient time to allow the above process to occur prior to you wanting your child to take their assessment.
Terms of a Green/Red Card
Post assessment, if we observe behaviour that we deem not to align with safety best practices, the under-18 individual will be informed of the issue and provided with guidance on how to match best practices. Failure to correct the issue or another issue occurring within 3 months will result in a 3-month suspension of their unsupervised status (The under 18 may still climb at The Foundry under the supervision of an Over 18 Unsupervised member). After the suspension period, the under-18 individual will be required to undergo another assessment.
Any inappropriate interaction with a staff member by the under-18 individual will result in a Green/Red card being suspended for 3 months, and then the under-18 can apply for another assessment.
Green/Red Card Renewal
A Green/Red card comes up for renewal every one year. An automatic email will be sent out in advance of the renewal date, prompting the parent/guardian to get in touch regarding the renewal process.
If the under-18 is well known to one of the approved team members or management, and they are confident that the under-18's skills have remained at a high level and they are respecting the centre's rules, the card can be renewed without reassessment.
If the under-18 is not well known—based on the number of times they have climbed at The Foundry or the length of time since their last visit—they will need to undergo a re-assessment.