Ok first of all, i have no job and no house/place to live at the moment and I'm looking for a new way of life, a job i enjoy and a way of living i will be happy with. I have some savings and the more i think about it the more i think i need to give this idea a go ... Stef Schuermans becoming the most sexy guide of the western half (if it is to goldenhoppers 70% rule at least ...)

After searching more about it the only opportunity i see is in the BMG (British Mountaineering Guides)

My English is WAY WAY better than my french and i don't mind moving to the uk, belgium is kinda dull, i don't like the germans, and i like the english people more than the french/suisse/italian/...

After schecking out the things i need to do i came to the conclussion i needed some advice ... Still not good enough for some parts and this thing need to be over fast but also in a good and proper way. Is it possible to do the next list in 5 years:

Be at least 22 years of age.

Probably the only thing i am good in from the pre-requirement list

Provide details of mountaineering experience in the UK over a period of at least five years, which should be geographically extensive. In all cases these routes must be led or alternate led, and not soloed. They should include:
At least 50 multi-pitch climbs led at El 5b or above in a wide variety of areas in the UK. Technical leads at E3 5c are recommended as this ensures that the applicant is consistent at E1 5b.

Climbing French 5c (5.9 - 5.10a ???) at the moment, to have this i need to upgrade my level to at least French 6a (5.10b-c) ...
Don't think this will be a propblem since i have done My first 6b's (5.10d) already

A comprehensive list of at least 50 snow and ice climbs of Grade III and above, of which 20 must be at Grade V or above. Over 70% (thirty five) of these should be in the Scottish mountains in a variety of areas. Non-UK experience may also be taken into consideration e.g. ice grade 4 in France or Canada, but the majority of experience logged must be UK/Scottish.

I have NO ice-experience at all! And need to get this done in 5 years ... How to get this grade, how to evolve further, ... Some advice is needed for this...

A general mountaineering history including hill walking in the UK and Ireland, mountaineering and camping experience

Done some main routes in Wales but still need to get some munros covered in schotland, the lakes, ireland and other places. This is a matter of time, not of technical ability ...

Provide details of Alpine mountaineering experience over a minimum period of at least four years. Again routes must be led or alternate led, and not soloed. This experience should show the following:
Knowledge of several Alpine climbing areas, at least three of which should be European
Twenty ascents of major summits, ten of which must be PD or harder.
A variety of experience including rock, snow/ice and mixed (mentioning any winter ascents)
As a guideline, experience in the European Alps should include a minimum of twenty routes, at least ten of which should be Alpine TD standard or above. Of these ten routes five should be at least 800 metres in length and be mixed routes of a serious and committing nature (i.e. classic North faces or similar).

To start with i give myself five years to finish this list ...

Twenty ascents of major summits: Matter of time and partners
Ten of which PD: Don't think that's a hard one either
Mixed: i need to get ice covered FAST!!!
European alps twenty routes: Ten of them at least TD ... HOW do i get to this level in such a short period
5 at least 800 metres ... Is there a way to find partners and be able to do this shit in five years?

Provide details of skiing ability on and off-piste including a minimum of thirty listed days of ski-mountaineering experience in glaciated Alpine terrain. Fifteen days or more of the thirty listed days must be linked days consisting of at least three consecutive nights in huts on recognised tours. Ski touring and skiing expeditions outside of Europe will be considered but the majority of ski-touring experience must be in the European Alps. Applicants are expected to ski all pisted runs with good style and demonstrate good balance, posture and control whilst skiing linked-parallel turns of varying radius. Applicants should cope well in all off-piste conditions showing the ability to ski safely, effectively and in control.

I think this is also a matter of time, technically spending loads of days skiing ...



How do i get to this level and is this possible to get to this level in such a short period?

Thanks for all those replying ...

Stef

How are your knees and your wallet? Move to a place with some good crags and nearby waterfall ice. So, let's get this straight, you climb 5c sport? Thats a whole different critter than E3 5c, if I understand the British systen right. You can be competent at WI 4 in a couple of seasons if you get enough mileage. Once your technical skills are solid, the rest should be pretty straightforward. What is TD anyway? Some apparently challenging routes get that rating, but I've free soloed two of the North American examples of D rated climbs on mvs/Fred Spicker's page on ratings and I am a solidly mediocre alpinist. How hard is the N. Face of Edith Cavell, 5.7 ? Anyway, it sounds horrible having to do all that climbing, especially if you actually have to move to the mountains to get it all done. Damn shame it's come to this.

E3 5c is 5c TRAD leading, not sport leading.

That was me above...

Anyway, could it be done? I think so, if:

-you spend the next 5 years climbing, not 4 weeks a year but 30 weeks a year

-you have the funds to live out of your car for 5 years straight

-don't get the RVA after your ass

-your knees don't blow out

hey Stef, in short.... you have a lot of work to do.

Grade V winter is pretty serious and requiers a lot of experience to get to, you're going to have to do a lot of winter climbing to get there in 5 years. This might be problematic given the generally unreliable weather Britain experiences in this regard. Having said that, the last 3 winters have been great, and given enough good partners, plenty of time and lots of flexibility... from my limited point of view, I reckon it's doeable.

You will need balls of steel though, British Winter Climbing is 'effing scary!

As you know trad and sport climbing are quite different beasts. Climbing 6b sport is not going to allow you to climb E3 5c. E3 is serious, especially when it's multi-pitch. Also, British technical grades and french sport grades are not the same; check out this table for conversions:

http://www.rockfax.com/publications/grades.html

I don't see why you couldn't get to that level in 5 years though. You've just got to get out and climb and get those days logged.

Perhaps you should consider getting your Mountain Leader and Single Pitch Awards first? These will allow you to work in outdoor centres taking people on walks to the mountains and climbing on single pitch crags. Then you could move on to the Multi-Pitch Award and so on. You can then build up your winter and trad experience while doing these.

Stef, good luck to you! In my opinion getting the badge is one of the hardest things one can do concerning mountaineering (not I write mountaineering). One not only has to be damned good but in all conditions and still keep calm and get your client down, not just yourself. I respect the ability of all guides - not the same as like, of course.

If you´d like to get some inside info, an aquaintance of mine is one (he´s a Brit). I climbed wth him in the mid 80´s, he was damned good then but it still took him a long time to get the badge.

If you´re interested I can send you his mail.

Cheers

Oh yea, and just to give you some idea of Trad climbing grades. Do you remember when we did Dives/Better Things? That's only HS 4b. E3 5c is 5 adjectival and 4 technical grades above that! That's a whold other world of fun!

(My best lead is E2 5b by the way, so I admit I'm coming from a slightly limited point of view )

Nanuls wrote:Oh yea, and just to give you some idea of Trad climbing grades. Do you remember when we did Dives/Better Things? That's only HS 4b. E3 5c is 5 adjectival and 4 technical grades above that! That's a whold other world of fun!

(My best lead is E2 5b by the way, so I admit I'm coming from a slightly limited point of view )

Nice route that!

charles wrote:

Nanuls wrote:Oh yea, and just to give you some idea of Trad climbing grades. Do you remember when we did Dives/Better Things? That's only HS 4b. E3 5c is 5 adjectival and 4 technical grades above that! That's a whold other world of fun!

(My best lead is E2 5b by the way, so I admit I'm coming from a slightly limited point of view )

Nice route that!

Fantastic route, really good value for the grade. When Stef was here in March I took him up that and Spiral Stairs as an introduction to Welsh trad. Not a bad introduction if I say so myself

The first thing you've got to learn in order to guide is to follow.
Here's about things in Slovenia: http://www.zgvs.si/
BTW, you'll need to do ski-touring as well.

If you climb F5c sport, you are very, very, very far away from E3 5c. Think of it as a bold, trad F6c. You also need a lot more ice and mixed experience and just log a bunch of mountain days. Your only chance is to move to Chamonix, Zermatt or another mainland climbing hub, find some job and go climbing every weekend for the whole season.

Finding partners isn't the hard part, sustaining motivation, income and staying injury free for a period of a few years is.

Nanuls wrote:

charles wrote:

Nanuls wrote:Oh yea, and just to give you some idea of Trad climbing grades. Do you remember when we did Dives/Better Things? That's only HS 4b. E3 5c is 5 adjectival and 4 technical grades above that! That's a whold other world of fun!

(My best lead is E2 5b by the way, so I admit I'm coming from a slightly limited point of view )

Nice route that!

Fantastic route, really good value for the grade. When Stef was here in March I took him up that and Spiral Stairs as an introduction to Welsh trad. Not a bad introduction if I say so myself

Spiral Stairs - that was one of my first routes. Got awfully gripped on it, very exposed!!!

nattfodd wrote:If you climb F5c sport, you are very, very, very far away from E3 5c. Think of it as a bold, trad F6c. You also need a lot more ice and mixed experience and just log a bunch of mountain days. Your only chance is to move to Chamonix, Zermatt or another mainland climbing hub, find some job and go climbing every weekend for the whole season.

Finding partners isn't the hard part, sustaining motivation, income and staying injury free for a period of a few years is.

Plus Ski-mountaineering, plus plus plus plus.

"...i don't like the germans, and i like the english people more than the french/suisse/italian/..."

A good thing to put on your guide profile once you get it. Good stereotypes are certainly valuable in life, but when it comes to dealing with people of a given race/nationality/... that you already know you don't like at a business level, best to let them know it before they spend their hard-earned Euros (dollars, ...) on someone that already knows enough about them to know that they won't get along.

Move to Ohio. I'll get you in shape