I help pupils (and teachers!) have an adventure of a lifetime in Morzine in the French Alps in the summer and winter.
Interesting thoughts on the position of influence of high mountain guides on climate change for all outdoor educators to ponder. You don't have to be guiding Bo Jo's mates up Mont Blanc to use your influence as an outdoor educator. #AdventureEducation
Founder + CEO at Do Nation, driving transformative action for climate + nature || Passionate about Community, Green Skills, Social Impact, Regenerative Business + Adventure!
Could mountain guides be all of our heroes?! On Friday, in a collision of my work and personal worlds, I ran a workshop for the British Mountain Guides on sustainability. It was fascinating, crammed full of conflicted feelings, and a perfect example of why we must think beyond our carbon footprints. Mountain Guides sit in a challenging place when it comes to climate change. With the Alps experiencing the most extreme temperature changes in Europe - changes which are making the mountains quite literally crumble beneath them - they are all too aware of the risk. Yet their livelihoods depend on travel. Whether it be to summit Mont Blanc or scale a remote face in Patagonia, both they and their clients tend to clock up a lot of air miles. This elephant in the room has led them to largely brush the topic under the carpet. However, as important as it is, to me it’s a distraction. It’s a case of our obsession with carbon footprints eclipsing our climate shadow (or as we prefer to call it at Do Nation, our “climate aura”). The way I see it, flights or no flights, mountain guides are in a uniquely powerful position to influence change. Here’s why: 1. Their clients are also some of the most affluent and successful members of society. Mountaineering isn’t a cheap pass-time, after all. During the workshop, anecdotes were shared about clients including friends of Boris Johnson, CEOs of Chinese banks, and American tech entrepreneurs. People who hold the keys to real progress on climate policy, investment, and innovation. 2. Their clients have a strong appreciation of nature and the outdoors -motivation to protect the mountains that they so love. 3. They’re adventurous people, going out of their way to explore remote and extreme places. It could be argued that they’re more likely to be innovators and early adopters. 4. These clients have an almost unnatural level of respect for their guides, “gods of the mountains” and heroes in whom they trust their lives in the most extreme conditions. “It’s weird to say, but it’s like clients almost have a crush on me”, one guide said. This trust leads to a power to influence that many don’t even realise they have. 5. Guides spend an unusual amount of time with these busy people, often spending days out in the mountains together, hiking in to routes or waiting out storms in high mountain refuges. Ideal time for conversation and contemplation. 6. And of course, all this takes place while overlooking melting glaciers and permafrost, their route plans being at the behest of our changing climate. Some fairly strong conversation starters. You see where I’m going? If all guides could be trained up in climate literacy, given the tools to instigate those challenging conversations with confidence and clarity, I really believe that they could unlock some enormous impact, well beyond their direct emissions. Their climate auras would shine bright, even if their carbon footprints remain heavy.
