hey all! im interested in mountaineering, i rock climb and love it, i want to make mountain climbing and rock climbing my life... im not sure how i go about doing this though... i was wondering if there were any schools or colleges that i can go to specifically for mountaineering.. im not talking about a 12 day class or guided tour, i want a real school that can help make this my "career". i want to make my life mean something, i want this to be my life, it has meaning to me, if anyone has any information or any advice, or just would like to talk about climbing in particular, email me at guitarstryng@aol.com thanks:)

-- skylar (guitarstryng@aol.com), July 04, 2001

Answers

First thing to do is get all the Emergency Medical training (EMT), wilderness First Responder (WFR), And ny first aid training you can get. This stuff can be attained at most any university (even if your not a registered student). You'll need these just to get started in guiding. There are many month long courses in rock climbing instuction, ice, alpine and so on... As for colleges or four year programs in guiding I'm sure you could find somthing in an Outdoor Recreation major but the whole reason to pursue climbing as a lifestyle is to avoid that kind of mundane experience. good luck. If your in europe the specs are much more difficult to attain then in the US.

-- Travis Zuber (t_rav@hotmail.com), July 23, 2001.

THere is a course that covers the CPR and Woofer (WFR) called the OEC. Of course, it usually is for ski patrollers and much is done in the snow, but it's highly more worthy to guiding services OR SAR organizations than the Woofer. There is also the fact that the Woofer actually is sort of an EMT for the outdoors, but is actually one step below, so getting an EMT would cover all of it without worry, as you'll also be able to administer drugs and the newly illegal to all but EMT tourniquette.

-- joe (ski@patrol.man), August 02, 2001.

Actualy WFR and EMT are two separate courses for a reason. They cover different course material and you can get a joint license refered to as WEMT. WFR covers similair material to OEC but has more focus on when you're longer distances from medical care than OEC which, being for ski patrolers, tends to think more about getting someone stable enough to transport safely rather than caring for someone when there is no chance for anysort of immediat evacuation.

-- Tyler Freeman (its4tyty@hotmail.com), October 05, 2003.