Running a trek leader course in the monsoon was always going to be challenging! Daily deluges and legions of leeches were the order of the day. However, our 16 candidates kept high spirits throughout, and were keen to learn. One of the students, Mingmar Sherpa, is an Everest veteran having summitted at least 4 times (One trekking agency says its 5 times). He says he learned masses from the course; we certainly learned plenty from him!
Our co-instructors from Nepal are both aspirant IFMGA Guides and great company. The course director was Eric Lescarcelle, an International Mountain Leader and climbing instructor from France.
My job was to co-direct but mainly to get an overview of the course which is part of a long-term project run by various French Guides in partnership with the Petzl Foundation. It was really challenging but rewarding to work with such a mixed group, and without modern teaching aids. On the last day we put everything together in an 18km trek throught the leech heartlands.
After the course we stayed for one last night at the house of our colleague, Lapke Sherpa near Bouddhanath, the famous stupa. We had various meetings with the NMA president and the local Guide and Instructor associations. They see the UIAA Training Standards as a catalyst to bring together various disparate training projects that have been undertaken throughout Nepal. We emphasised, as always, that it is for the federation to decide what training is appropriate within its country, but we would be happy to accredit Nepalese qualifications when the courses are running autonomously at the international standard. I should point out that the UIAA training standards are aimed primarily at volunteer leaders and instructors - but in a country like Nepal its only natural that many graduates of these schemes are going to be looking for paid work - indeed several of the students were already old hands in the trekking business. Check out my other photos by clicking the image; its hard to take a bad photograph in Nepal!
Our co-instructors from Nepal are both aspirant IFMGA Guides and great company. The course director was Eric Lescarcelle, an International Mountain Leader and climbing instructor from France.
My job was to co-direct but mainly to get an overview of the course which is part of a long-term project run by various French Guides in partnership with the Petzl Foundation. It was really challenging but rewarding to work with such a mixed group, and without modern teaching aids. On the last day we put everything together in an 18km trek throught the leech heartlands.
After the course we stayed for one last night at the house of our colleague, Lapke Sherpa near Bouddhanath, the famous stupa. We had various meetings with the NMA president and the local Guide and Instructor associations. They see the UIAA Training Standards as a catalyst to bring together various disparate training projects that have been undertaken throughout Nepal. We emphasised, as always, that it is for the federation to decide what training is appropriate within its country, but we would be happy to accredit Nepalese qualifications when the courses are running autonomously at the international standard. I should point out that the UIAA training standards are aimed primarily at volunteer leaders and instructors - but in a country like Nepal its only natural that many graduates of these schemes are going to be looking for paid work - indeed several of the students were already old hands in the trekking business. Check out my other photos by clicking the image; its hard to take a bad photograph in Nepal!
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