Rob Collister: International Mountain Guide



Rob Collister is a very experienced and well respected UIAGM / IFMGA Mountain Guide;
Rob has been qualified and guiding since 1976.

Rob says ...

"This year I shall be available for work in the Alps as usual from February to April and during July and August. My winter programme is pretty full but if you would like to join a pre-existing tour, do give me a ring.

A new venture, in August, will be a course offering an introduction to both Alpine mountaineering and Alpine ecology, which I'm running with Dr Rod Gritten – details below.

During May and June, always a delectable time of year, I shall be at home in Wales and available for rock-climbing and scrambling, or for hill-walking with an emphasis on exploring the natural history of Snowdonia; though I ca always be enticed northwards for fun and games on the Cuillin Ridge!

I do not run courses, but provide instruction or guiding at whatever level and wherever individuals, pairs or small groups wish – it may be trips on glaciated terrain, beginners Alpine climbing, classic routes for experienced climbers or one to one Alpine climbs.

Give me a call and let's see if we can work out a venue and plan something suitable for your experience and aspirations. If you have an idea I can help you flesh it out and make it a reality. If you don't have an idea, just an urge to do something different or go somewhere high or remote, contact me or take a look at some of the ideas suggested below."

Guiding qualifications & experience

The UIAGM (Union International Association des Guides de Montagne) guide qualification is the highest professional award in mountaineering and the only internationally recognised qualification for guiding in glaciated terrain, it is also known as IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Association).

IFMGA / UIAGM guides are recognised worldwide to lead rock/ice climbing, mountaineering, off-piste skiing and ski mountaineering.

Rob also holds the MIC (Mountain Instructor Certificate), a UK only qualification for guiding and instructing groups in multi-pitch rock climbing, winter climbing, hillwalking, mountaineering and snow & ice climbing.

Rob's guiding trips and expeditions over the last few years have included:
– rock climbing on Mount Kenya
– ski touring in Corsica
– wilderness backpacking in Canada
– trekking in Bhutan
– climbing volcanoes in Ecuador
– ski-mountaineering in the Indian Himalayas, West Coast of Canada and Turkey

Rob is also one of the Wild Wales team, offering walking, scrambling and climbing weekends in North Wales, take a look and see what they have to offer.

Have rope will travel!

Outline:
A six-day course providing an introduction to both alpine mountaineering (including glacier travel, roped rock-climbing and the use of ice-axe and crampons) and the ecology of the Alps. It is aimed at fit, experienced hill walkers who take an active interest in the mountain environment in the UK but are new to the Alps.

The course will be run by two highly experienced professionals: Rob Collister, IFMGA Guide, and Dr Rod Gritten, a freelance ecological consultant who has recently left the Snowdonia National Park Authority after 32 years as their Senior Ecologist.

Dates: 22-29th August 2010

Venue:
The north-east corner of the Bernese Oberland in central Switzerland above Meiringen, a less-frequented part of the Alps, with a wealth of glaciated 3000 metre summits to climb. Map: Sustenpass in Swiss 1:50,000 series.

Cost:
£700. This covers the cost of half-board for two nights in a hotel and five nights in a hut, plus all guiding and tuition. It does not include travel to and from the Alps or lunches, snacks and drinks.

Booking: For more information or to book a place contact Rob

PDF: Download a pdf with this information here.

Article: read the article Mountaineering and Ecology

ARTICLE:
A Beginners Guide to Alpine Mountaineering

For many hill-goers, and rock-climbers, too, a visit to the Alps is the logical next step after an initiation in Wales, the Lakes or Scotland. The big hills beckon. They are an arena offering challenge, commitment, achievement. But they are also natural cathedrals of stunning beauty and grandeur where one can feel very small and vulnerable. Under the influence of heat, thirst, altitude, adrenalin and fatigue, one can "tread the realms of enchantment" and return to earth feeling privileged and somehow enriched.

In Britain, we think of ourselves as going either walking or climbing, or perhaps scrambling. But in the Alps they are all forms of mountaineering. The Alps are, quite simply, hugely different to British hills, even Scottish ones in winter. Distances are so much greater, climbs so much longer, the consequences of bad weather or climbing slowly so much more serious. There is the debilitating effect of altitude, especially at first. There is the need to move together, sometimes in very exposed places, and to down-climb rather than always abseil in descent – skills rarely needed in Britain.

Then there are the effects of glaciation – the threat of ice-avalanches from seracs high above, the danger of concealed crevasses, and the need to travel roped most of the time.

There is much to learn about what to wear and what to carry, about using huts, about planning where to go and when, and what to attempt.

Rob Collister, a qualified Mountain Guide (UIAGM) for thirty years, discusses many of these topics in his article – A Beginners Guide to Alpine Mountaineering, read on ...

Example guiding and expeditions:

What follows are some suggestions for guided mountain trips in the Alps, alternatively, if there is something in particular you want to do that isn't mentioned below, why not contact Rob to discuss its feasibility.

Glacier journeys – such as the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt or a traverse of the Bernese Oberland – at a ratio of 1:4 max.

Introduction to Alpine climbing – technical instruction for complete beginners, plus some easier climbs – at a ratio of 1:3 max.

Classic climbs – such as the Zinal Rothorn, the Dufourspitze on Monte Rosa or the traverse of Mont Blanc de Cheilon – for those with some previous experience – at a ratio of 1:2.

More serious climbs – for instance the Grand Combin, Mitellegi Ridge on the Eiger, Dent Blanche or any route on the Matterhorn – at a ratio of 1:1.

Guiding costs

Alpine daily rate:
£220 per day plus living expenses (approx £30/day).

UK daily rate:
£160 per day for one
£180 per day for two
£200 per day for three or more

LINKS:
Joyce Hodgson: writing and poetry about the natural world and the environment by a former walker, skier, sailor and climber.