When the mountains are your passion and profession - the life of a mountain guide

In my previous life, I did an apprenticeship as a central heating and ventilation engineer. But even during this time I realized that this would certainly not be fulfilling for the rest of my life. And so I decided to apply for mountain guide training. I passed the entrance test, and completed the mountain guide training in 1992. From then on, my focus shifted pretty quickly away from being a heating engineer and towards being a mountain guide.

How did I get into it? I got into mountaineering through my parents. They were ambitious mountaineers and took us on easy climbing trips. And that's how mountaineering continued throughout my childhood. From the age of 12, I started climbing more and also went on alpine trips.

Mountaineering has always shaped my life and so I took this as an opportunity to become a mountain guide. Of course, at that time you could not say how long it would be fun or physically possible, but I'm still full of enthusiasm and have been for several years.

You can't separate the two quite so strictly. I still enjoy being on the road with guests. And that's also the crux of the matter. An older colleague of ours used to say to mountain guides in training: "It's nice to be on the road, but we you must to be on the road it can also be torture.

You have to decide for yourself: If you no longer enjoy working with people, you have to stop. But I've never reached the point where I didn't enjoy it at all anymore. On the contrary, I would do it again in my second life with some minor changes!

But the fact that I have had the opportunity to go on so many beautiful journeys is really special. In my career as a mountain guide, I have made 80-90 trips to distant countries. These trips have given me so much joy, and still do today.

Of course! The whole thing started in my "storm and stress" time, around 1990/91, when we flew to Argentina to climb Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. At that time there was no proper infrastructure, no weather report. And so we just took 3 months, went down there and tried what we could. Due to the unstable weather situation and little experience in the area, it was of course quite an undertaking.

The journey from Calafate to Chalten in 1991 alone was a "world trip" and took a good day - we also needed a pickup driver who could transport everything. We had food for 6 weeks with us. There was only one very small store in Chalten at that time!

Of course, all this has changed over time: Family, children, job, the action circles already limit themselves. Climbing and paragliding are of course still on the program (unfortunately far too little). The last time I was in Patagonia was 1996 and now, after more than 30 years, I will go there again with guests in November. I'm curious to see how everything has changed.

Sure! For example, back then I did trips and expeditions with Kari Kobler again and again.

Then, at some point, he asked me if I would like to climb Kula Kangri (in Tibet on the border with Bhutan) with a small group. After I had a closer look on the map, I was totally attracted. It's off the beaten track, with no other climbers except us on this mountain, 7500 meters high and an unbelievably great landscape...

But we just had very little information about it at the time. We knew approximately how the ascent route should go, and where the base camp is and then I still exchanged information with a colleague who had been there before.

The whole thing turned into an intense experience. We were on the road for 6 weeks. We were not so lucky in terms of weather, there was a lot of snowfall. At our last summit attempt quite high up, we turned around at some point. There was a feeling in me that said, we are still on safe ground, relatively little can happen here, but if we have to pass the steep flank over the back, that has too much snow ...

There was one participant who really wanted to go on. Of course, everyone wanted to go up there, especially since it is a mountain that has not had many ascents, but the conditions were just so bad that I did not want to take the risk.

When we got back down to camp one, it turned out that the whole flank had actually slipped. It was really clear that we made the right decision...

Kazakhstan, for example, was quite an experience - incredible scenery in the Tuyuk Su area. The mountains are in the 4000-meter range, and I was invited to be an observer for two courses training Russian climbers in 2019. It was a great time, but also very long. No communication, but unique experiences. The food was so terrible that I refused it at some point. Fortunately, I had 2 kilos of bacon from South Tyrol with me. That has always been my motto on expeditions: Bring good food with you!

Both. Over the last few years, I've also been doing a lot more in the Allgäu, Lech Valley, Wetterstein Mountains, Ammergau Alps, because I live here in Pinswang and think that you don't always have to travel far to give people great experiences. I have also shown many of my regular guests my home region - from the Lech Valley over the Allgäu main ridge - and many have noticed that there are also extremely exciting trips and lots to experience here.

In addition, I have been leading trips with the "Leica Academy" for many years, focusing on nature and photography, together with a professional photographer. Some of these undertakings are in the surroundings of my home in Pinswang. And then there are the giants around the corner: the Dolomites. They can be easily reached from us in 3 hours driving time. Today I can say that I don't always have to go far away. But the really big mountains are also a great opportunity and a different kind of adventure.

But you mustn't forget the diversity that we have in the Alpine arc. I've traveled a lot and I don't think there's another place in the world where there's so much diversity in such a small area - in terms of landscape, culture and mountains.

The Alps are something unique! I have my place of retreat here.

This makes me think of something current: a few weeks ago there was a big change in the weather and a rescue operation on the Watzmann. People set out, even though the weather conditions were so bad, and then had to be rescued. That simply shouldn't be the case nowadays, when we have so many tools at our disposal and can inform ourselves. Surely some stupid situations could be avoided for people from the outset. If I know that thunderstorms are reported in the afternoon, then I choose a route that does not take me to my limit, where I have a buffer and can get off at any time. And if you have a hiking goal that seems too big for your level, there are many mountain guides. Don't overestimate yourself.  Before a vacation in the mountains, you should inform yourself.

Yes, I also use Outdooractive when I'm not working. It's a super interesting tool, also for planning. Especially in this day and age: it's simply amazing what you can do with it and how you can look at things. Steepness, weather, avalanche conditions, estimated times: everything is all together. Especially from areas where you have no maps at home. I often save the GPX tracks to be on the safe side and make the map available offline. But I must admit, I am also old school and take additional paper maps with, if available. You never know if the cell phone or the battery will fail. I simply find that both have their justification. And if you combine the two resources, you get great results.

Now we are going further away: to Argentina, Patagonia. With guests with whom I was already on the road last year, we have the goal of climbing the 6739m Lulluaillaco in the north of Argentina on the border with Chile. The route leads us over two high camps and then to the summit. Afterwards we will be in Patagonia for another week. There we will trek in the area of Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre. I am curious how it will be for me to be there again after such a long time. On these long trips, you have to act like a family and like a team. It takes a lot of consideration. I also have guests with whom I have been traveling for 10, 15, 20 years. That makes for a nice feeling of togetherness on the road.

If a young person simply wants to pass on the joy of mountaineering to other people, the profession of mountain guide or hiking guide is a great thing. Of course, you're with a lot of people, and you have to like that. So if you prefer your hermit existence, then you should probably leave it, because you will not be happy.

But especially today, in combination with a second profession, you have a great opportunity. Sharing mountain experiences and hiking adventures with people and seeing that glow in their eyes when your customers have experienced something great or have climbed a high peak is something beautiful!

There are still places that appeal to me. Bhutan culturally, Kamchatka for skiing or the Arctic regions.

Also Nepal - Mustang and Dolpo would be exciting destinations. My focus is on the area of ventures with or without guests in areas where I still find seclusion, nature and adventure.

But you have to look at how far this will still be possible or justifiable in the future. As I said, we also have to rethink, because mountain sports are also motorsports. You have to get from point A to point B somehow and that leaves marks.