Ok, I am debating next year trying to get a sabattical and attempting to get a guiding job in europe somewhere.
Main questions are:
A) What qualifications would I need
B) Which companies to contact
and C) is this just a pipedream or could I make it work.
Any advice gratefully recieved.
Cheers
Graham
from what ive heard from mates... avoid trying to work in france, they are quite strict about qualifications you need to do that kind of thing there?
that could be wrong mind. i would rather someone else confirmed that.....
You are right, france is pretty much out, was thinking maybe, spain, italy or further afield.
However if I can't do it guiding I may head out somewhere anyway
What kind of riding are you after? Are you sure you want to guide? If you are in a position to save up cash and this likely to be a 'once in a lifetime' trip I'd recommend NOT working and be a total bum. I took 10 weeks out last summer and did just that, the time is the real value and not guiding allows you to really move around and enjoy the time.
Ask if you want information about any alpine tours...
I guess you are right, looking at a bit of everything really, love DH, but am happy enough taking the xc ish bike out too.
Will still have a look at guiding stuff, but yeah should be able to cut together a bit of money to make a 10-12 week trip.
Any suggestions?
Ok, First off read this Becoming a guide
If you're still interested, then here is my personal experience. I did my first season guiding last year for Mountain Edge In Austria. I have the SMBLA Mountain Bike leader qualification and also the TBV (tirolean Mountain leaders association) Mountain Leader award. Qualifications are essential if you want to be insured, and the SMBLA is probably the place to start.
Fitness and skill - I race elite level XC, and I was still tired most days - when you end up riding 40 miles for 10 days in a row you really need to be fit. Bike handling suffers when you ride that much too, so make sure you know your way down the toughest trail you can find with confidence. you need to be comfortably better than 95% of your clients to make sure you can give them a good guiding experience.
Secondly, guiding is hard work. not every day will be fun, but most will. you will fix more punctures than you can keep count of and pick gravel out of many a knee. it will rain, you will get lost and people will crash and complain. but it is the best job I have ever had.
I taught a 56 year old woman to ride a bike from scratch, and by the end of the week she was riding singletrack with her husband. I took a Uni group on a 4 day, 150 mile adventure on the Austrian Wilderness, and I also broke my bike alot!
I would say think about what you really want to get out of your sabb. Guiding is a great experience but it isnt a holiday, its a lifestyle which takes alot of enthusiasm to get it to work.
As for contacting companies, most smaller companies will only employ people they already know, for reasons of wanting a guide they get along with. the bigger companies are more likely to accept a random application, but remember its pretty competitive.
If you want to talk in more detail email me.
I spent my time touring a different resort each week in the alpine summer lift system. On thing I noted was the seasonaires I made friends with were often annoyed at being stuck in one place, depends on where you are based. The trip isn't going to be as expensive as you'd expect, so well worth selling your soul to make it work.
Take a look at my flickr for some ideas http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcsolomons/sets/
As a result of last summer mega trip this summer (normal 2 week jobbie) I have a hit list of 12 resorts and will move around daily, with the huge advantage of my experience/knowledge.
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