I have recently had a flurry of request for winter guiding, and at first i was a little hesitant to reply, after all on paper I have no official qualification, however I have written pieces before highlighting the fact that you don’t need a qualification to guide in the UK. Why?
Well the Health and Safety Executive recognises four ways to show competence:
1. Formal Qualification,
2. Experience
3. In House Training
4. Equivalent Qualification
As such after thinking a little about my experience of taking out quite a lot of inexperienced friends winter climbing, combined with a Winter Mountain Leader Training and my Summer based Mountaineering Instructors Awards. I decided that if I tell my clients that i am unqualified, but experienced, I had covered myself morally. Besides, if I head out on a Mountain Rescue call out, there is no one asking whether I am qualified to get someone off a hill in winter conditions!
Ironically, in the last couple of years I have heard of several incidents of trainee Mountain Guides having fairly serious accidents, two of which proved fatal. Three Aspriant Guides have been caught in serious Avalanches along with there clients, and these are the so called experts. I have a theory that the less you consider yourself an expert in Avalanches the less likely you are to be caught in on as you will often not try and push the limits and listen to the sage advice from a variety of sources. I also heard a rumour that the French Guide Scheme has been shut down by its government after they lost 13 guides in one year!
Anyway, I am out guiding later this week, which I am rather looking forward too. As it has been a while since I taught winter skills, cramponing and winter climbing. My problem is to get these ‘official’ pieces of paper I would have to move to Scotland to get the required ‘experience’ when all I would want it for is guiding around my home of Llanberis. At least I am getting some of the experience I need to go for these pieces of paper.
Not sure where I am going to go yet, I will have to see what the weather is like!
