Rob Collister: International Mountain Guide

Rob says ...

"This year (2008) I'm afraid I'm fully booked for the winter ski-touring season and for the Alpine climbing season, but if you would like to plan something for next year do give me a ring. I North Wales, where I am based, I shall still be available during June, August, October and November for rock climbing, scrambling, guided walks or map-reading tuition. Alternatively I am always prepared to travel north for a Cuillin Ridge traverse or similar project.

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!

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 follow 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

Alps:
£250 per day inclusive of lifts and living expenses both in huts and in the valley.

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