Chamonix/Mountains: High Mountain Guide, a dangerous job

All the accidents that occurred this year makes all the mountain guides companies think about this situation. Eleven mountain guides have died since last November, and the death of Karine Ruby this spring was another tragic event to add to this big list. Another serious situation was the death of a mountain guide during a safety formation at the Grands Montets. After 2004, the Guides Association and the ENSA have initiated a review of the Guides Formation. The new system (that will start next year) will answer to this issue. Bruno Pelissier says "The alpinism has changed. We don't search, like 50 years ago, for the impossible. Today the clients just want to pass a good moment in the mountains". The system will put in advance the fact that the young mountain guides will be 'followed' by a more experienced mountain guide during all the formation. Ice Climbing, Avalanches, Snow bridges... all this issues will be studied deeply. For the Commander in chief of the PGHM of Chamonix, Blaise Agresti, the fact that the mountain is accessible to almost everybody and the search of quick sensations, makes that the high mountain guide job has changed a lot. "Sometimes we see people walking in a glacier without a rope" he says. Numbers 20% live as a mountain guide all year Only 20% of the mountain guides live all year from they job (alpinism, canyoning, ski, via ferrata). Their income changes according with the weather and the economic situation. If you think that a day charge is high, you can't forget that they must pay back some charges to the Mountain Guides Bureau, the insurance and of course, all the expensive gear. 90 days per year 90 days is the average days of work of a mountain guide per year. This number became stable after some years. Stop at 45 years old The average age to stop their career is 45 years old, after 17 years of work. 270 in Savoie 270 high mountain guides are established in Savoie. Le Dauphiné