I'm doing the TCL next week.

What are the items I need to have to ensure I've got it all?

Ta!

didn't they tell you? I had about thirty pages of bumf and the book posted to me as soon as I signed up for mine…it's all in there. Or on the internet.

If you don't have everything, they won't fail you…they're supposed to be telling you.

Have fun. I did.

Group shelter
Spare clothing (for clients and for yourself)
Tools (at TCL, a multi-tool with a chain tool and a set of tyre levers should cover it).
Spares – brake & gear cables, brake pads (V + your own disc pads), tyre boot
Pump (Presta AND schraeder)
Spare tubes (presta as they fit both sizes of rim hole)
Full waterproofs
1st Aid kit
Survival blanket/bag ("thermal wrap" is best – a plastic survival bag cut open with a foil blanket taped on).
Duck tape & cable-ties
Map & compass (& GPS if you have one)
Bike computer

Sure there's more, I've probably missed something obvious. I think there's a suggested list in the book.

Aye, the SMBLA course book should have a full list in it. Stevomcd is pretty much bang on, however don't forget food for you and clients, doesn't have to be much but something. A whistle would also be worth sticking in, as would a spare pair of gloves.

Stuart

stevomcd list looks god, maybe a small bag of mixed bolts and some sram chainlinks
i would carry either a group shelter or a survival blanket
clothing wise i carry a spare wind shirt and a few buffs and possibly a spare base if it is cold, but ideally think around things you can put over current client clothing and use to stop heat escaping.

Man with all that kit it's a wonder the leader can actually lead the ride…what with a pack the size of a WW2 parachute strapped to them.

Man with all that kit it's a wonder the leader can actually lead the ride…what with a pack the size of a WW2 parachute strapped to them.

It's a fair point and the subject of much debate. The MBL (2nd level of the course) requires even more kit (as it allows you to lead in more remote terrain). When we did the exams, the examiner deliberately left the "technical riding skills" assessment until the end of the ride, so that we'd been riding all day with this monster pack on – you've got to show that you can carry the kit around all day and still be fit to ride.

Throughout the training/assessment process, most people's opinion was that the sensible thing to do was to share some of the kit out among your group (e.g. give the group shelter, 1st aid kit and spare food to individuals to carry for you). That was certainly my plan. But when it actually came to it and I was leading people around the Alps I suddenly thought, "you know what, these people are here for a fun holiday, not carry my crap around." So now I just carry it all. Once I'm a couple of weeks into the season, I don't even notice it any more.

I had some XC whippet types out for the start of the season last year, with minimalist packs, lightweight carbon bikes, etc. In the early season, there are a lot less uplift options so we do a fair bit of climbing. I reckoned between bodyweight, bike weight and guide's pack, I was giving away almost 50kg! 😯

Rip, you doing the session at Dunkeld tomorrow? If so, see you there

No, in Northumberland next week.

Thanks for the replies all, it's appreciated.

Off to get a larger pack.

Hip flask full of brandy?

So, what large pack would be recommended to get all of this in?

My HAWG ain't gonna cut it, that's for sure.

Anyone mentioned a reflective jacket yet?

Friend got marked down on a recent course for not donning his to cross a road.

Personally, I'd have failed the tutors for not having having lights with them on a December ride.

i hope this helps
http://glenmorelodge-01.e-availability.com/customer_images/8C89FF1B-DF26-4373-8970-76B8E8A6F425/docs/2010/bike/smbla%20trail%20cycle%20leader%20training%20_2%20day_%202010.pdf

i did my TCL in 2001 and i really enjoyed it ! have fun

So, what large pack would be recommended to get all of this in?

My HAWG ain't gonna cut it, that's for sure.

Needs to be minimum 30l. I used my 35l snowboarding pack (BCA, can't remember the model) which was bursting at the seams for the courses, but had a little space left with the slightly stripped-down kit I actually carry when guiding.

I've just bought a Deuter TransAlpine, which seems ace but I'm slightly worried that it's going to be a touch small (30l).

Never used a reflective jacket on any of my TCL/MBL courses and haven't seen or heard of anyone else doing so!

Re. lights – you should carry some basic lights if you're going to be riding on the road (just some wee LED ones). One of the first things back out of my "real-world" pack (along with the V-brake pads!).

Do you take that lot on every ride? Even a sunny day in the alps (e.g. Chatel?)?

Most of it, yeah.

I take less if I'm sticking well within a defined "resort" area (e.g. riding the DH course & bikepark at Les Arcs), more if I'm doing something remote.

I used to go more minimalist, then we had a bit of a try-out day at the start of last summer, just did some shuttles & guiding for some friends/locals. One guy had a pretty minor off and fractured his knee-cap. He was in a lot of pain and couldn't be moved until we got a doctor up there to give him an injection of morphine. That took over 3 hours. Fortunately, it was a warm day and we were close enough to base that some guys rode back to the village and came back with blankets and stuff long before the doctor got there, but it got me thinking. If it had been a damp, chilly day and we'd been a bit further away, could I have kept him warm for 3 hours until help turned up?

It can snow on any day of the year once you're above 2000m in the Alps and afternoon thunderstorms are pretty common.

I wouldn't hold up Chatel as an example of sunny! Any time I've ridden there the trails have been hub-deep in claggy mud. That's why I live here! (That and the braking bumps).

Normal guiding pack would be:

Group shelter
Big pump + 2 spare tubes (even though I run tubeless!)
Shock pump (even though I've got coils at both ends!)
Multi-tool + leatherman thingy + adjustable spanner
Box of spares (gear cables, end caps, brake pads, tyre boot, HTII tool, random bolts…)
Decent tyre levers (I do get some whinges about rims when I pull the steel ones out, but it's usually the nuclear option when someone's been fannying around for 20 minutes with their own ones).
Waterproof jacket
Spare fleece
First aid kit
Map, compass & GPS
Mobile phone
Emergency food stash (usually a big bag of Haribo and some squashed cereal bars)
Cable ties & duck tape
Survival blanket
Food & water for me
Camera
Sun-cream
Walkie-talkie

Usually enough for at least someone every day to go "F***ing hell!" when they pass my bag out of the back of the van… 😯

One addition for this summer is likely to be a guide's radio – proper one you can use to call for a helicopter if someone has a bad accident and there's no phone reception.

Blimey. Must say I've not seen the french guides with all that kit with them – aren't they the only 'legal' ones?

aren't they the only 'legal' ones?

No!

I'm fully legal.

You wouldn't necessarily notice. I'm carrying all of that here for example:

Ah sorry, no offence intended. Has the whole legal thing been sorted out with the frenchies then? I thought they'd instigated some dodgy rule where only the french qualification counted (the one that took years to get and needed fluent french) and british ones weren't valid.

Have they seen sense?

Ah sorry, no offence intended. Has the whole legal thing been sorted out with the frenchies then? I thought they'd instigated some dodgy rule where only the french qualification counted (the one that took years to get and needed fluent french) and british ones weren't valid.

Have they seen sense?

No, this was never really the case, but it seems to be the general perception.

The short version : European rules say that EQUIVALENT qualifications between different countries must be accepted in all member states.

British MTB quals = 4 days training, 2 days assessment
French ones = 4 week-long training courses, plus an "apprenticeship" period and a series of assessments.

The French therefore (not entirely unreasonably) said "that's not equivalent and therefore we don't have to accept it". So they didn't.

To make your British bike guides qualification acceptable, you have to back it up with an International Mountain Leader award. This is essentially a walking leader award, but is pretty big on group leadership, navigation, mountain knowledge, emergency procedures, all sorts of good stuff. This means you're now equivalent to one way of becoming a French bike guide (be a French Mountain Leader and do a bike add-on course).

It was pretty clear when I started out that this was what was required so I got my head down and got on with it. It took me a bit less than 2 years. There's no need to speak French beyond what you might need to check into a mountain hut or make an emergency call (although I'm fluent anyway).

There was a monster thread on this recently, so I'm not going to repeat myself too much: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/being-a-guide-in-the-alps

Ah interesting. I missed that previous thread – thanks for the link…