ALPINE GUIDES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22307, 22 January 1938, Page 12

ALPINE GUIDES

State Licence System Advocated VIEWS OF MR V. WILLIAMS The Government licensing of mountain guides in New Zealand was strongly urged in an interview yesterday by Mr V. Williams, chief guide at Mount Cook for the last nine years, who has just resigned his position. Mr Williams, who is one of the best-known guides in New Zealand, and who has conducted parties on no fewer than 14 individual successful ascents of Mount Cook, urged that licensing was necessary to place the highlyskilled profession of guiding on a proper footing and to provide .security for climbers at alpine re-

"lam convinced that it would be a very good thing to have licensing of guides," said Mr Williams. "That is not only my opinion: it is the opinion of highly experienced overseas climbers who have visited New Zealand. Licensing is the rule in Furopean mountain regions, lnere, when a guide has been through a certain number of years' experience, he is allowed to come up tor examination for his ticket, which means undergoing rigorous tests under the eyes of highly experienced men. and also passing written tests m every phase *f mountaineering knowledge Once a man has passed for his'licence he has a definite standing In contrast to that, guio.es :n New Zealand have no definite status. All they have is reputation. If any of us were to go overseas say, to Canada or America, we would have no status at all. Another thing is hat a system of licensing would give guides an incentive to work their way up.

Protection to Visitors "Another important point is that licensing would B iv« visiting climbers the satisfaction ut knowing the real Qualifications of the suide allotted to ihern instead of having to depend on what they were told" Mr William* added. "At present it would be possible for a man with only two yearsexperience to be sent out with a party which was told that he was fully experienced. For a lirst-dass ticket; • man ought to have seven years experience To send a comparatively inexperienced man out to do a major chrno with a party is unfair to the guide and to the members of the party. It is dangerous for all concerned. Mr Williams added that there was already in existence a sort of classilication of climbers, which enabled a guide to judge fairly well what a man was capable of. A climber could not become a member of the Alpine Club for example, without long years of experience and delinite proof that he was a highly skilled mountaineer. A {.'uide knew at once, by the mere fact of his membership, what such a man «hould be capable of doing. Similarly a man could not pass the first-class ski-ing tests without being an expert mountaineer as well as a ski-runner. It should be possible for the mountaineer to have some similar aefinite assurance of the ability of hi? guide. The standard of guiding in New Zealand was high, but that \va? all the more reason why it should be put on a proper footing.

Wages and General Conditions "There is also need for generally improved conditions for guides in New Zealand." said Mr Williams. "When Ernest Skaradaszy uhe Austrian licensed ski tutor who was lately at Kosciusko) came to New Zealand last vear. he said that the wages paid to guides in New Zealand were appalling. He said that a porter in Austria would get more than guides did in New Zealand. It might be a good thing if. together with licensing, the guides at alpine resorts in New Zealand were made an independent service under the Government.

Security, and encouragement to continue in. their profession, were essential to mountain guides if a high standard was to be maintained. The guide's special knowledge of technique, of terrain, and of local weather, wars only gained by years of exp-~ r ience.