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.