Alpine Guides

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22308, 24 January 1938, Page 10

Alpine Guides

By advocating State licensing of mountain guides in New Zealand in an interview on Friday, Mr V. Williams, lately chief guide at Mount Cook, drew attention to a question that has been discussed for many years by mountaineers and others interested in the welfare of the alpine resorts of the Dominion. A very similar statement of the position was made early last year by Mr Frank Alack, an equally well-known guide from the West Coast. Official registration and classification of mountain guides have long been sought by the New Zealand Alpine Club and the Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand. It appeared that this objective might be attained when the Mountain Guides Act was passed in 1931, but that legislation was not altogether in the form desired by mountaineers. Even in its abbreviated form, however, the legislation has been neglected, and no regulations have ever been issued under it. The reasons for seeking a licensing system are mainly two—protection for those who climb with guides at mountain resorts by assuring them of the qualifications of the men they employ, and protection of the guides themselves by giving them a recognised status. A condition of affairs exists now, according to Mr Williams, where it would be possible for a party to be sent out with an inexperienced man in the belief that it was getting the services of a fully qualified guide. That, as he says, is unfair and dangerous to all concerned. It could not happen under a licensing system. To the mountain resorts of the Dominion go many people who know nothing of local conditions, and sometimes very little about climbing, so that they must place full faith in their guide in whatever climbs they attempt. A guide's possession of an official licence would be a guarantee that their faitn was justified. What Mr Williams has to say about the poor prospects of guiding as an occupation in New Zealand, and the rates of pay, also deserves attention. His suggestion that the security necessary for the maintenance of proper standards might be obtained by making the guides a special service under the Government is fraught with difficulties, but it should be considered in any general investigation of the position. The chief thing is that something should be done about licensing the guides. In seeking this, the mountaineers of New Zealand, supported by eminent climbers who come here from overseas, are asking for no more than has been done in Switzerland for the protection of guides and climbers. It is important, however, that the desire /or the licensing of professional guides should not be misinterpreted as a desire to restrict climbing to guided parties. Even in Switzerland, where there is the closest control of guides, this does not involve a restriction of guideless climbing. Any such restriction in New Zealand would be folly, for it would limit climbing to the recognised resorts, as there are no guides elsewhere, and it would destroy the democratic tradition which is characteristic of New Zealand mountaineering.