to become a guide how fit do you need to be? what qualifications do you need? and what else do you need

not speaking from direct experience, however my best mate is a guide at bikevillage, and i've known pretty much all of their guides over the years…

this is my mates 2nd season, he is just finishing off his MBL qualification (iirc, or is it SMBL), which is almost a must these days – seems that a lot of the operators want it (leading and 1st aid qualifications etc).

fitness wise, you need to be as fast and fit as the majority of the guests – i.e. pretty darn fit.
mate podiums in 10/12/24hr races up in scotland. another of bikevillages guides rode from norfolk to beijing to watch the olympics in 2008…

helps to have shit hot bike handling skills – else you'll look like a tit when all the guests can ride better than you…
bit of mechanical knowledge, good with people, able to cope under pressure etc

if you've not been on a guided holiday, it might be worth going on one, to see what the standard is like. could even approach a company and ask them if they will need someone in the future, and whether you can go out and observe for a week or something…

You don't need to be that fit! After a couple of weeks of riding everyday you'll feeling pretty good and so already have a natural advantage over the guests.

It seems the only qualifications that you can get over here is the SMBLA, which definitely teaches some good stuff. However it's useless abroad seemingly in official eyes. Well worth doing. This involves needing to have an outdoor geared first aid course, which is at least 12 hours.

Additionally a sturdy bike and a leather scrotum help. The bike handling comes along very quickly with riding everyday. I guess good communication and people skills also…

Should have said that the SMBLA covers some mechanical skills, which are essential also.

perhaps the fitness was over stated, i guess theres no need to be a race winner. but as a guest, i'd rather the guide was a bit faster than me so i'm not waiting at the top of the climbs for them…!
(not happened yet though!!)

thanks for that, been thinong about it recently, im in a pretty dead end job not going anywhere anytime soon so am looking for a new carrer, thinking of a sking in the winter mountain bike in the summer sort of place, maybe the alps or canada,

whats the pay like as a guide, is it little pay but food and acomadation paid for you,

is there anyone thats already a guide that can tell me what qualifications they have and what they do in the off season,

cheers

Regarding fitness, my experience as a guide showed that the faster a rider was uphill, the crapper they were going downhill. There were exceptions but generally speaking that was the case. So I wasn't that bothered about catering for the fireroad fuhrers as I wasn't going to beat myself senseless chasing down people with no skills but climbing egos all summer.
The people who got the most out of the holiday were the ones that came for the downs so I'd always save myself for hooning the descents, especially as I was riding a hardtail and the guests were nearly always on full suspensions bikes. Made for some fun times!

where did you guide to ?
what qualifications do you have?
whats did you get paid ?

jacko54321 – Member

whats the pay like as a guide, is it little pay but food and acomadation paid for you

That's what it was with Ticket2RideBC in 2007, and generally half the food that the guests got and around 60 hour working weeks, which is why most of us quit. Things might be better with the new ownership though. If I knew what I know now I'd have used my BUNAC visa to get a job in Vancouver instead which would have paid better money and hours that meant I could have done the biking I wanted. It's water under the bridge now though as I'm happily married and a permanent resident in Canada, so in that respect, getting a guiding job was the catalyst for totally changing my life.

The first aid course required to pass SMBLA needs to be a 16hr not 12hr one … type REC first aid in to google and you'll get a good idea. Even if you never guide the REC courses are well worth doing.

Can anyone recommend a course?

jacko, it's going to depend on where you're guiding / with who etc. The SMBLA qualification is a good start. International mountain leader qualification is going to open doors too, in France especially. Fitness wise, you'd need to be reasonably fit but there are a lot of more important requirements… Downhill skills are very important, we ride from mellow all the way to super, super difficult and the guide needs to be able to ride that stuff with enough reserve to still be looking after the guests. Some other places won't offer such difficult trails though so it will depend on who you go with. Also, some language is important for me, even if it's just to order food and drinks for everyone.

It's the people skills that are most important I reckon. You're there to make sure that the group is having a good time so you have to focus on that and put your riding / enjoyment to one side. If you're thinking of doing it because it'll be ace to ride your bike all the time then you might be heading for a disappointment… it's very different to riding your bike just for yourself! You need to enjoy riding with new people all the time and get a buzz from them having a good time.

That's what I reckon anyway! Best of luck with it, I love guiding and hope you will too.

Sorry, didn't see the last post. Course recommendation, Jules Fincham, cyclewild scotland. Fantastic course, in a fantastic part of the world. You'll be shown little trails around Aviemore that only the local guys know and you'll get a qualification too!!!

Jules is one of those guys with loads of energy and enthusiasm. He just pulls you all along with him and you'll have a total laugh on one of his courses and learn loads of stuff outside the strict syllabus.

SMBLA isn't the only guiding qualification have a look at:
MIAS http://www.mountainbikeinstructor.com
or the CTC (old OTC) http://www.promtb.net/courses/leaderawards/front.htm

The REC (Rescue Emergency Care) organisation seems to have died off, no courses listed on their website, but the ITC have taken over by the looks of it. Not much if any difference in course content or delivery: Level 2 outdoor first aid fits the bill for most national organisation,
http://www.itcfirstaid.org.uk/courses-calendar.asp?coursetypeID=5

You don't have to go abroad to be a guide or get experience how about offering to help some UK weekends. If you've got a first aid qualification (£100-150), some social skills and a bit of common sense most tour operators would be happy to have you along.

Hi

Check out the Instructor / Guide Courses below-

http://www.mountainbikeinstruction.co.uk/courses.asp?session=12444190020150231939671220721

We have trained quite a few guides who have / still work overseas. Also we sometimes get contacted by holiday companies who operate overseas, we normally post the job vacancies on our blog –

http://mountainbikeinstruction.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps

thanks for the links have been checking them out and they look good, only problem is i dont know what level course i would need to do, i ride the quantocks alot and havent found a trail im not willing to go down yet, im not the most confident doing jumps but im happy to do steps and drops,

how long were people riding for before they did the guiding the course?

Get on the SMBLA site fella…list of instructors and course dates there. SMBLA manual (part of £50 registration costs) is about 250 pages of info to read and digest…lot of it straightforward. you need BCF/equiv Welsh Scottish membership for insurance too

Start my TCL in a couple of weeks with 1bike1…looks like being fun 😆 then its MBL after youve passed TCL

ps. manual says 12hr first aid course is ok…if you fancy going for it start logging your rides, time terrain and weather conditions…and get a 6hr plus one in as its a prerequisite…

Hi

We have vast differences in ability levels / exprience. From say someone who is new to off road riding to sponsored world class downhill riders.

Our courses are combined Level 1 and Level 2. So you would be covering both levels. Looking at your exprience, I would imagine that your riding skills are at Level 2. Do not forget, that this is a training course, not just assessment. Also, riding the bike forms a small part of the role of a Mountauin Bike Instructor / Guide. MBI courses place coaching skills and group management high on the list.

Hope this helps.
Ray Mazey

One of the "problems" I've seen with the qualifications is that to get qualified you need to do some actual guiding. If you arent qualified who's going to let you guide (or assist) ? Or, have I invented a problem that doesnt exist?

We have vast differences in ability levels / exprience

who's we? do you have a link

The levels are quite self explanatory if you read what each qualification allows you to guide.

Its not necessarily about how difficult the riding is, but the exposure to risk and the availability of assistance, hence the height limits and 30 minute walk to road/telephone limit on some qualification.

As long as you are confident you can ride the trails you want to guide on, who cares how long you've been riding. Its your guiding skills and group management that people rely on.

Its not unusual for odd person to be faster/better than the guide, but then its your job to make it enjoyable for the whole group not just try to keep up with the fastest and of course you have to ride all year. Its no good knackering yourself out or getting injured one week when you'll have new fresh lot of customers next week.

+1 TC

Jacko54321 –

http://www.mountainbikeinstruction.co.uk

Did my MIAS level 2 course a month or so back. It was quite terrifying. Some of the people doing it had never been on an MTB before… Lots of outdoor pursuit centre watersports types looking to broaden their portfolio, or scout leaders needing a piece of paper to be able to take a group out on a tow path.

Back in the real world, the riding is the easy bit. The fitter you are, the easier it will be, and the quicker you'll recover, but a lot of the time you'll be riding at the back with the slowest members of the group. Hardest thing to remember is that you're not riding for yourself, and that you need to keep yourself intact as a broken guide is as much use as a chocolate teapot – I've learnt that one the hard way.

People skills are massively important – the ability to talk somebody up a climb in a way that they forget that they've been sitting there in the granny ring for 3 hours, or giving them the confidence to hit the techy stuff without binning it.

The wearing stuff is the non-riding. Cleaning bikes, fixing mechanicals, clearing and setting tables, washing up, serving meals, chopping endless quantities of french bread, and generally just being "on duty" (even in just a socail capacity) from 0730 till 2200 every day. My "own" time was generally a 40 minute wander round town after dinner was finished, and breakfast was set out.

Money? I'm lucky enough to be able to treat it as a working holiday,so I'm happy if I break even – food, accomodation all covered plus deals on bike parts, but beer, eating out etc all out of your own pocket.

I've really enjoyed the time I've spent doing it, but it's not something I'd want to do everyday of my life. 2 or 3 weeks a year is perfect.

Sorry about the mis-information regarding 12/16 hours with the first aid … I'm sure that SMBLA used to specify a 16hr course (or perhaps it was BC if you wanted to take advantage of their insurance cover).

The Blue Peris centre in Llanberis run REC courses. I was there a month ago renewing my certificate, great course, very informal and laid back.

I'm with walleater. I did a season guiding in the Alps and we had guests fitter than me, and generally I just let them get on with their masochistic sprints to the top (and, yes, they were often the ones who were least capable descending). For me and my work, it was more important to be able to get down the hill without carrying and to get along ok with a wide range of guests. You need patience and a tough tongue (you'll be biting it a lot). My season was a fantastic all-round experience with a great holiday company, but it was also seriously hard work, and quite often you're riding trails you wouldn't choose to ride, with people you wouldn't choose to ride with. Still worth going for it though.

The coaching / motivation side of guiding was definitely very rewarding as mentioned above. I still remember how stoked people were going off the big GLC drop in Whistler Bike Park on their final time in there. Or people trusting your advice on just how grippy the rock rolls are out here and riding stuff they'd have never thought possible. Sometimes you'd get riders that were totally out of their depth which could get frustrating from a group management perspective as you really don't want to give decent riders a crap time. Where possible you'd just take the weak rider out on their own on a scenic ride and treat it as a day off!

At the end of the day though, you can't buy a second dinner most evenings, maintain your bikes and go out for a cheeky beer with guests etc for 80 bucks a week, especially in Whistler! The figures just don't add up. Some places pay well though, so it's worth doing extra research on that.

For me it is just pocket money and board and food. It's the best way to spend a summer, especially when you're a student. I reckon I'll just about break even this summer.

I'm one assessment short of being MBL qualified, I can second Jules Fincham at cyclewise. I'll be doing my first aid course with BASP in Glencoe on Thursday/Friday.

It's a good feeling at the end of a day when your guests are buzzing.

You should think about it.

Does anyone know if the offshore first aid course any good,(full 40 hours) or does it have to be REC?

Off shore first aid should be fine.

Cheers, just saved myself a few quid then.

At the end of the day though, you can't buy a second dinner most evenings, maintain your bikes and go out for a cheeky beer with guests etc for 80 bucks a week, especially in Whistler! The figures just don't add up. Some places pay well though, so it's worth doing extra research on that.

Ouch,

Our guides are on double that, half the hours, all the food they can eat, 2 full days off a week, get 2 bikes to ride for the season and live like kings… Our guides know they have it good though and are superb at what they do. I guess that's why they keep coming back. The guides do tend to eat with the guests and socialize in the chalet with them, but that's their choice as they simply enjoy making people stay the best it can be.
We also offer afternoon guiding externally to non-package guests, so our guides get to earn extra money that way too.
We do have periods where we work the guides hard for a week or 2 if we are jam packed. But even if they've been riding every day with groups, a day off for them means going for a big ride anyway 🙂

Anyway, I digress…

Training wise, we have staff with 80 and 90 hour first aid training, some on just 20 hours. All the local 'formal' mtb instructor training we have available (Whistler Blackcomb level 1 and 2) as well as informal local training.
There is no real Canadian approved coaching certification, although 2 companies are offering what they suggest is the next best thing.

We are in the process of putting month long instructor courses together, but I'm not sure how well this will crossover if you want to guide anywhere other than a Gravity Logic based bike park or North American resort. That said, I'm not sure that I'd want to be guiding or coaching guests anywhere but Canada or NZ.
Let me know if you want any info on this instructor course.

Fitness wise, if you can't ride for as long and fast as your guest wants to ride for, that's no good.
The guiding is based on the guests needs, so if the guest is waiting for you, they'll have a pretty average experience.
However, if you're dealing mainly with beginners, then fitness is still somewhat important, but not anywhere near as important as your patience, ability to explain technique, ability to identify where their issues are and how well you can instil confidence into the guest to encourage them to put into practice those techniques you've demonstrated and explained.

As mentioned above, it is superbly rewarding to be able to take a guest with little or no real MTB experience and develop their ability and confidence over a day (or a week in our case) and see them ride things that would have given them jelly legs before they started with you.

Makes me want to go and guide instead of doing this 'admin' 😉

I did 2 day REC back in December with Katherine Wills: http://www.activefirstaid.co.uk/html/courses.html

That was fine for the CTC route…

That's good to hear Bearback 🙂