UKH

I'm keen to start training as a guide but don't know which course is best. French obviously well known but how is the BMG course generally rated?

In reply to matt pigden: you still get the same badge at the end of it. i think both courses are pretty much the same apart from if you go through ensa youll need very good french.

the french apparently require absolutely excellent skiing whereas the bmg do not require you (i think) to be such a god on skis.

with the bmg the focus on 50 "proper" scottish winter climbs seems to be a little silly given youll be guiding in the alps.

id say that british guides are pretty well regarded given there arent that many of them and when you look at some of the routes some of them get up and, more importantly, down theyre pretty bloody good.

In reply to billy.granty: Thanks for that. If anyone is wanting to do 50 Scottish or Alpine routes/mountains give me a shout!!!

In reply to matt pigden:

from what little i understand of such things, the UK scheme seems to be known for being pretty hard - but then each scheme is designed to work for the challenges of its country, e.g. scottish winter stuff for UK guiding, ski-touring for NZ, etc...

In reply to billy.granty: You may get the same badge but the courses are pretty different as are the entrance requirements... The french exams are very much guiding oriented whereas BMG is far more instructional. For example the french have a "speed" test - basically whether you can jog up and down glaciers quickley. As for the 50 Scottish routes, is it really that bizzare considering lots of guides work in Scotland and the conditions experienced there are wildly different to those of the alps?

In reply to matt pigden: you need quite a lot of c. 1000m TD mixed routes as well. skiing is still a big part and you need a fair few big multi-day tours under your belt.

In reply to billy.granty: Well if you're up for some give me a bell.

In reply to billy.granty:

Is that a suprise? You are going to guiding people up them. If you havn't climbed similar routes yourself you are going to encounter problems.

In reply to matt pigden:
If you haven't actually started yet, matt, you've got a bit of a hill to climb!

In reply to matt pigden:

Have you got any qualifications like ML or MIA to start with?

In reply to Swig:

I've heard of at least one person attaining guide status without doing all the ML, MIA stuff etc - but he'd been gathering lots of experience in the preceding years.

In reply to matt pigden: Hiya matt, im in the process of preparing for the guide scheme. I have logged a lot of the pre requisites already, but need to more skiing and a few more alpine faces. My problem is finding people to climb with me as much as i need to! If your serious about getting on the scheme, maybe we could join forces for some prep? Im an SPA, ML and MIA trained.

In reply to CJD:

The pre-requirements are the same whether or not you've got an MIC or other UK qualification. Having an MIA/MIC just means you have to do slightly less (4 days) less training. The assessments are the same for everyone.

In reply to billy.granty:

The ENSA bods do not require you to be an excellent skier, all that they told me to do was get over here and climb, climb, climb. Decent skiing capablities will suffice, the next Sylvain Saudan they are not looking for,

In reply to Calvi: suspect French & British ideas of good & excellent for skiers are a little different

In reply to Doug:

In reply to matt pigden: the UK scheme is brilliant. I did it without any ML/MIA/MIC. There is a BMG "open day" for interested folk.
Get to know some guides - you need at least 1 to act as referee - and find out what's involved. Most guides will be pretty helpful.
The Scottish stuff is very relevant, and highly regarded by the other guiding countries, who all compare training schemes to keep standards equal.
Good luck!

In reply to Doug:

You are not wrong on that one.

In reply to Doug:

Its not so surprising seeing as we in reality dont have much in the way of skiing the belief that if you can ski in this country that you can ski anywhere is rubbish ! the guides standard of skiing is still high you need to be able to ski well and not just on a piste ! Its seems a bit harsh to shun the british guides ski ability due to the general british mountaineers standard !

In reply to graham F: Cheers for that graham- have you got details on that? email me on mattpigden@hotmail.com.

matt

In reply to Andy Say: Well I spent 4 month climbing in Canada (full time) including some pretty big (4000 and (nearly) 5000 m peaks and big wall climbing on squamish. 2 weeks in the Bugs, 2 months in the alps (mainly Chamonix), I've skied most years since I was 6 and my mum used to teach it in germany to the royal family of Fustenberg (i think thats how you spell it). I've also taught as an SPA/ML in Lakes (YMCA Lakeside), South Wales, North Wales and Peak (all freelance) and been qualified for over 9 years. I've climbed some pretty big multi-pitch routes both in UK and abroad (France/Canada/Spain) and head-pointed E5 (single-pitch), on-sighted E3 (single pitch) and when I go skiing (for the past 4 years) I book on back country ski trips with a guide. Apart from that I'm basically starting from scratch.
Cheers- Matt

In reply to Andy Say: Sorry that was a bit aggressive but is it really likely that someone with no experience or ability of alpine/climbing/skiing and teaching is likely to contemplate becoming a guide? Obviously I have a lot to do and am totally throlled that I do but motivation is important to keep the cogs turning and after just completing 7 years at uni training as a sports scientist and then chiropractor and then building up a clinic, buying a house and having 2 kids with my wife I haven't had a lot over time over the past few years to really get as much done as I would have liked, however the whole point of me starting the 5 year degree in chiropractic was so that once I graduated I could work all over the world and pick and choose my hours to fit in around climbing. I also moved to Peak after graduating to allow me to climb regularly. So you could say that the past 9 years have been geared up to me now working toward the Guide award. I did think about doing the MIA scheme but when I found out I could go straight for the guide I thought what the f*ck. So now I'm fully motivated to build on my fairly substantial base of experience and knowledge over what I reckon will take about 4 - 6 years.

Cheers to everyone who has given advice.

In reply to matt pigden:

You need to come out with me and do some more irresponsible drinking again.