2023-07-10 07:25:00
The rush to the highest mountains in the Alps, the three- and four-thousanders, is greater than ever. Anyone who decides only now to book a guided climbing or high-altitude tour this summer will only be lucky enough to get an appointment.
“High tours on the Großglockner and Großvenediger in the Eastern Alps are booming. In the Western Alps there is a lot going on on the Matterhorn and the ‘Spaghetti Tour’,” says Pinzgau mountain guide Bernhard (“Berni”) Egger, training officer at the Salzburg Mountain Sports Guide Association. “After the corona pandemic, the urge to climb these mountains became even greater. People realized how much it means to them. But without a long-term booking, it’s difficult to get a mountain guide in midsummer.”
The topic of safety on the mountain is becoming more and more important and is increasing demand. The avalanche danger is difficult for a layperson to assess, and climbing exposed ridges of rock makes you feel safer with a rope. Climate change and its effects also increase the desire to explore the high alpine region with an internationally recognized, state-certified mountain and ski guide.
Crevasse meters wide open
Increasingly mild temperatures are causing the permafrost that holds the rocks together to thaw and glacial ice to melt. The result: increased risk of falling rocks and falling into crevasses. Certain paths are no longer accessible. Snow or ice bridges over crevasses lose their load-bearing capacity or break away entirely. “Sometimes it happens that we have to look for new routes during the tour. Good knowledge of the area is an advantage,” says Egger.
In the summer of 2022, mountain guides, in cooperation with the Kürsingerhütte and the Alpine Club, laid a ladder at the Großvenedigerscharte at around 3,400 meters above sea level, as they had done a few years before, because the crevasse had opened several meters. The effort has also increased for the mountain guides. “People have to be additionally secured,” says the 37-year-old Bramberger, who also works in the training team for state-certified mountain and ski guides. Crossing the deep chasm was a thrill for some aspirants.
Five mountain guides in Salzburg
The danger of falling from crevasses has increased the interest of alpinists to improve their rope skills on glacier courses. But here, too, it is increasingly said: everything is fully booked, please wait for next year. The situation is also getting worse because some of the 170 mountain guides in Salzburg, five of whom are women, are taking fewer bookings due to their advanced age or are regarding to retire.
The local mountain guide association is therefore starting a youth development program. A climbing day with information regarding mountain and ski guide training is planned for September 30th. Two to four-day courses in the various mountain sports disciplines are also offered in preparation for the training. Alpine clubs and mountain rescue teams are also promoting prospective mountain guides.
“It can be reconciled with the family”
Berni Egger is a full-time mountain and ski guide. “Financially, it’s definitely worth it if you work hard – as in any job -” says the married father of two children, whose wife Maria also works as a mountain guide. In winter he works more “on the doorstep”. He goes on ski, freeride and ice climbing tours in his home country with his guests – two thirds of whom come from German-speaking countries. In summer, high tours and training courses take several weeks. “It can be reconciled with the family. It’s a matter of design.”
Information regarding the training
The training to become a mountain sports guide lasts a total of 3.5 years and includes 97 days plus two days of the final exam. “You have to bring a high level of personal skills and alpine experience,” says the reference manual for Austrian mountain and ski guide training. According to Egger, the requirements are high, “but absolutely not unattainable”: Solid climbing with a 7th level of difficulty in alpine and 8th level of difficulty in the climbing garden, good skiing technique according to the guidelines of the Austrian ski instructor plan and ice climbing with a difficulty level of WI 5. There is also an aptitude test Show a tour book regarding completed, icy waterfalls, rock routes as well as high and ski tours.
“During the training and also when leading, a certain social competence and resistance to stress is required,” says Egger from experience. He would like to see more women on the team. At the final exam in Chamonix, France, only three of the 35 participants were women.
Interested parties can find all information regarding the training on the homepage www.bergfuehrer.at/salzburg. Personal information on the mobile phone number 0664 2352244 or by e-mail at [email protected]
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