A Change to the Rules for Hiking Guides in the South Tyrol

Sadly, I won't be able to go back to the South Tyrol as an HF Holidays Leader and the trip to Selva in the Dolomites in a month's time has had to be cancelled. The Administration of the Province of Bolzano have changed the rules about who can be a Hiking Guide in the South Tyrol. They define as a  'Hiking Guide' someone who accompanies hikers without crampons, ropes or ice axes on paths without fixed-ropes or other equipment and away from glaciers. This is what I do.

It goes on to say that the professional qualifications of these guides must be obtained through attendance at own's own courses and after passing the appropriate exam at the Association of South Tyrolean Mountain and Ski Guides.

There is a UK qualification that I could obtain called 'International Mountain Leader' that would be acceptable. This qualifies you to lead in the Alps in both Summer and Winter conditions but I am only interested in the former . From now on, in the South Tyrol at least, HF Holidays will need to employ someone with the necessary qualifications.

To become an IML you must first qualify as a UK Mountain Leader and have a certain amount of experience internationally in summer conditions. OK so far, but you also need more international experience than I have in winter conditions. So I'd have to get out and do that.

After that, you take the IML summer training course in the UK, which includes a timed navigation test in the mountains. This is followed by a summer assessment course and a winter training course, both in the Alps. Finally, and after more experience has been built up, you have to pass a winter assessment course in the Alps.

A lot of this might be enjoyable but it would cost a lot of money and it seems a bit rich to insist on winter experience as a pre-requisite for leading in the summer.

If the result of this is that both local and European guides get more paid work then I shouldn't complain of course. I hope it works out that way.

Of course none of this prevents me from going to the area with Dorothy and other friends and this is something I will definitely be doing in the future.

Schenna

The hotel used by HF Holidays in Schenna is totally amazing. It is called Schenna Resort because it is several hotels combined into one. You can watch this short film to get an idea of the facilities. They focus on 'Wellness' and offer lots of free activities during the day. Take a look at this weekly program.

Schenna Resort - Weekly Program

The theory is that Wellness Holidays improve physical well-being, happiness, and productivity, giving you a fresh perspective, improving creativity, resilience, problem solving, and capacity for coping with stress. I concur and I think that this also applies Walking and Cycling Holidays in general.

The hotel does offer short walks but mainly concentrates on spa type treatments. The concept is not new. Merano, further down the valley from Schenna, has been a spa town for a long time. Their favourite visitor was Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She arrived in the autumn of 1870 with an entourage of 102 for an extended stay to try to improve the health of her two year old daughter. Sissi, as she is affectionately known locally, was a keen walker and she returned to the town on three further occasions. On one of our walks we saw a sign by a tap sticking out of the wall in the forest explaining that she had drunk from it!

It is a fantastic area for walking. You can use cable cars to gain access to paths that wind their way, high up across the hillside. Sometimes crossing cliffs that seem impenetrable. Look at these pictures taken on two sections of the Meranoer Hohenweg.

Looking down at the next section of the path and the suspension bridge

The well engineered suspension bridge

Climbing back up again to regain lost height

Goats on the track. They weren't moving from that shady spot!

Some of the walks had to be adjusted because there had been a lot of late snow. Apparently the last few weeks had been 10 degrees colder than average and the coldest for 29 years.

We walked through here

We didn't walk across that!

On another walk we went up the very modern Merano 2000 cable car and got off at the mid-station. It reminded me of the sort of thing you might see in the original 1960s Thunderbirds Are Go TV Series.

 

 You can visit the Trauttsmansdorff Botanical Gardens, head down to Merano, visit Ötzi in Bolzano (see previous post) or just admire the incredible views.

A flower meadow at Trauttsmansdorff Gardens

A view of the Dolomites