This local rock climbing award is a site specific award set up by a group of outdoor centres, rock climbing providers and climbing walls in the South East of England.
It was originally set up as the Single Pitch Award did not cover all the elements of leadership and supervision required for teaching the the Southern Sandstone of Kent and Sussex.
The SSLA had a large emphasis on group management and goes further than the SPA in this realm as it also teaches how to deal with the groups at the top of the rocks (lowering off is prohibited on Southern Sandstone). The SSLA does not cover natural protection such as nuts and cams as these are not used on this type of rock.
There are still many providers that will accept this award in the South East but it is worth noting that it is not nationally recognised and it is up the to providers to choose whether they accept this award.
Although Bowles holds the records for this award, we do not own it and it is run by a numbers of different people.
Course Outlines
Sandstone Leaders course notes (training and assessment)
Application and logbook
SSLA Application Form – PDF
Logbook-Personal-Climbing-Page-1
Logbook-Supervising-Experience-Page-1
Notes for course providors
Southern Sandstone Leaders Award Assessment Sheet