So im just about to finish up a seasson in whistler and decided next year i want to go work in the alps for the summer. I know everything i need to do to become a qualifyed guide in the uk but france is different. Ive heard the course is very expensive to do and alot of guides get around it by not actually officaly being guides ?

What i want to know from real guides who have done a french seasson is what they thought of it, the hard the easy parts ? How they got into it. The obivious way would be to send my cv to lots of tour companies but i was wondering if anyone did it any other way.

Thanks alot

Dont they lable themselves as "riding Buddys" or something like that

I think you have to be french to do the course,not 100% though.

hang on... he said he wants to work in the summer... there aint no snow in the summer, so no point telling him about all that stuff. 

Anyway, I have worked as a guide in the summer (in Morzine and surrounding area) on UK qualifications, and keeping an eye out for the police. That was in 2007, and it was a bit shady to say the least.

At the moment the situation is that they really really reallllllllllly have cracked down on it, and no one is being foolish enough to guide in France if they only hold UK qualifications. So basically its out for next year (the French qualis take aaaaaages to get, like more than 2 years I believe). Lsat year the highest qualified british guy (he had UK guding qualifications and a mountain leader qualification which the french do actually recognise) in Morzine got arrested along with one of his employees who holds the SCU SMBLA guiding qualifications (which they don't recognise).  It went to court and the French court gave them both minor records. However, apparently the european court will now take it up for them and fight their corner, so hopefully things will change in the future and the French will recognise the UK qualifications, just like every other european country does. But for the time being they don't. 

If I were you I'd try and base yourself in Switzerland or Italy because they do recognise our qualifications, and before that you need to get yourself on the SCU website (www.scu.org.uk I think) and look up the info about the SMBLA qualifications. You'll have to do trail cycle leader first (TCL), then do Mountain Bike Leader (MBL), which is what you really need to guide in the mountains as TCL only qualifies you up to 600m on "non technical" terrain, so that rules out the whole of the alps! But both of those qualis are relatively easy to get assuming you have a first aid cert (but that's easy to get), and are a fit and able rider, which I guess you are!

Alternatively get on the chalet hosting wagon instead and then you're able to look for work in France.

Lil i thought you was talking about the winter season my mistake

How come all of Europe can wander into the UK and work as, when and where they want, but we can't do the same in reverse?