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, 2011, 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.

In July I'm running 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 can 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!

In the West, most of us live indoor lives, insulated from the elemental realities of sun, moon, stars, wind, frost and rain. Going to the mountains is a reminder that we are still a part of the natural world. Yet even mountaineers can be woefully ignorant about mountains, and we are the poorer for it.

The nature and origins of the rocks we climb, the forces that have shaped those rocks into mountains, the moist clouds that swirl about their summits, the plants that grow on them even above the snow-line, the insects, birds and mammals that feed on those plants and in turn provide food for other species, all these can be a source of wonder and delight, yet so often they are not even noticed. Ecology seeks to re-awaken our senses and our curiosity, alerting us to the teeming activity of the present, evidence of the past and intimations of the future.

Above all, the study of ecology leads us to the realization that we, too, are a part of the food chain; ultimately we are just one species among millions, and the gift of consciousness carries with it responsibilities rather than rights. The planet as a whole is in such a parlous state precisely because we have lost sight of those responsibilities.

This experimental six-day course in the Swiss Alps does not pretend to be saving the planet. It does aim to expand the mountain awareness of experienced hill-walkers, while giving them the technical skills needed to travel in glaciated terrain.

Outline: We will start the course by meeting at the Hotel Brunner in Meiringen, and exploring the jagged limestone mountains in this little visited region of the north-east corner of the Bernese Oberland by walking and climbing from hut to hut through flower rich meadows and dramatic mountain landscapes. After climbing the Hangendgletcherhorn (3291 m), we shall head off to explore some granite mountains nearby again moving from hut to hut before returning to Meiringen.

The course will be run by two highly experienced professionals who climb together regularly in North Wales. Dr Rod Gritten is a freelance consultant who was Senior Ecologist for the Snowdonia National Park for over thirty years. Rob Collister is a qualified IFMGA guide who has climbed and skied all over the world, though nowadays he works mostly in Switzerland because he can travel there easily by train.

Booking: For more information or to book a place contact Rob
Rob Collister, 1 Trecastell Terrace, Henryd, Conwy LL32 8EZ
Tel: 01492 582448
OR
Rod Gritten, Traian, Llanfrothen, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd LL48 6SW
Tel: 01766 770933
Email: grittenecology@yahoo

Dates: 2nd – 9th July 2011

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.

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:
£240 per day plus living expenses (approx £30/day when staying in huts).

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.