Hiking guide vs. mountain guide Your professionals for different activities
Whether it's a leisurely alpine hike or a challenging alpine tour, if you want to play it safe on your tours, qualified mountain hiking guides and state-certified mountain guides are at your side in the Schladming-Dachstein region.
But what exactly is the difference between these two professional groups? You can find out in this blog:
What do mountain guides do?
Do you love leisurely hikes with nature experiences, regional knowledge and culinary breaks?
Then a mountain hiking guide is just right for you!
They are your contact persons for safe, guided hikes at medium altitudes and accompany you on marked hiking trails with little technical difficulty as well as day or multi-day tours without glacier passages, rope protection or climbing sections.
🚶♀️Wie How do you become a mountain guide?
According to the Styrian Mountain Guide Association, the training is divided into two parts:
- The summer course: This eight-day course is the first step and the basis for everything else. Here you will learn the basics of hiking in summer and complete the course with an exam.
- The winter course: Also eight days long, this course builds on the summer course and teaches you everything you need to know for winter tours, such as snowshoeing. This part of the course also ends with a final exam.
📘What do you learn during your training?
The training content is extremely varied and makes our guides real all-rounders in the mountains:
- Practice: equipment knowledge, tour planning, orientation and meteorology.
- Safety: snow and avalanche awareness, risk management and first aid.
- Interesting facts about flora and fauna: sports biology, professional knowledge (law, liability, insurance), natural history (flora and fauna, geology).
- You will improve your own skills and learn how to keep others safe and provide assistance.
When should you book a mountain and ski guide?
If you want to go higher, for example on a climbing tour on the Hohe Dachstein or venture on an alpine ski tour, you are on the safe side with a state-certified mountain guide. They undergo advanced alpine training and are qualified to lead glacier and high mountain tours, lead climbing tours and ski tours as well as secure guests in the most difficult alpine terrain and carry out extensive emergency measures in the event of an emergency.
🧗♂️ How do you become a mountain and ski guide?
Training in the Austrian Mountain and Ski Guide Association is intensive and usually takes around 3 years. Before the actual course begins, there is an aptitude test.
The courses do not focus on teaching you the basics, but on making you a real leader on the mountain. You will become an expert in these areas.
📘 What do you learn in the training?
- Leadership & methodology: How do I lead a group? How do I impart knowledge didactically?
- Safety & rescue: mountain rescue and rescue techniques, emergency management, first aid and avalanche awareness.
- Knowledge & practice: Tour planning and guiding, rope and safety techniques, weather and glacier knowledge, equipment knowledge, ecology and professional knowledge.
Conclusion: Why should you book a guide?
No matter who you choose, the advantages are clear: you go with a certified professional and can relax and concentrate on nature instead of constantly looking at your cell phone or map. And you are guaranteed to learn something new and be safer on the trail. When are you booking your next guided tour?
You can find more information about the offers in the Schladming-Dachstein region here:
