Jonny Baird Mountain Guide

What was your early background as a mountaineer? How did you serve a mountaineering apprenticeship? Who inspired and influenced me?

It's hard to believe that joining the scouts when I was in school and taking up hillwalking in the Scottish mountains took me eventually to a career as a High Mountain Guide based in the French Alps. I grew up in the village of Taynuilt in Argyll and started rock climbing on the Buachaille in Glen Coe along with a couple of friends (mostly self taught). This quickly led to dabbling in winter climbing with the book 'Cold Climbs' for inspiration. Winter climbing was a turning point and I did not want to do anything else. I moved to Fort William and took a job in a climbing shop so I could indulge in ice-climbing on the Ben. I lived in a flat together with other keen climbers, also working in Nevisport or Ellis Brigham, rented from the late BMG member Ed Grindley.

Eventually, it was Jim Blyth who inspired me to start training with the BMG as a mountain guide, and Jim was my referee and mentor when I started training. This was my first contact with the guiding world and what it was all about. Around this time I got to know Cubby (Dave Cuthbertson) who also became a referee for my application. I got more and more intrigued as to what the job of a guide entailed and also, importantly, the lifestyle.

There was a good scene in Fort William and I managed to tick a lot of the hard classics, both ice and mixed, on The West Coast of Scotland with occasional trips to the Cairngorms and The North West. I had three winter trips to the Canadian Rockies to climb the legendary frozen waterfalls. My focus then turned to climbing in The Alps, mostly in autumn or winter, with routes like the Droites North Face and the Matterhorn North Face. Winter in The Alps also started to fuel my passion for skiing. Outside Europe I climbed in the Tien Shan, Southern Alps of New Zealand and in Peru. I also enjoyed the amazing rock climbing in the Scottish Highlands, both on the crags of Glen Nevis and the mountain routes. It is a magical feeling when you get the timing right in Scotland, where the routes are rarely dry.

How was life training as a guide?

At the time I was accepted onto the BMG training scheme, my main employment was industrial roped access which enabled me to earn more money and therefore climb, ski and pay for training and assessment courses. I registered on the BMG scheme with six others, all of whom have become good friends and colleagues. I started work for Alan Kimber who has helped many young guides get started, he was very supportive and let us all tap into his massive amount of knowledge and experience as a Mountain Guide. Other guides such as Rob Jarvis and Jim Blyth had similar starts.

My first Aspirant summer (2003) was spent camping in the 'slopey field' in Argentiere, the more Alpine work I did the more I enjoyed it and knew this was the best job in the world! I was also commited to the lifestyle of an Alpine Guide and the following summer moved permanently to the Alps.

Jonny Baird, climbing 'Scottish Shower', steep cascade ice in the Arve Valley, French Alps. Photo: Jude Spanken

Describe what your current work as a Guide involves, what you enjoy, find difficult, are there any other areas you would like to expand into?

I have a wide variety of work during the Guiding year. Around the end of November I often teach on some day courses for resort ski reps and avalanche awareness courses for seasonaires. They are very satisfying to work on because the knowledge we give as guides can be invaluable for the safety of their season skiing.

The end of December to the end of February is a mix of off-piste skiing, ski-touring and ice climbing. When asked which do I prefer ? The answer is whatever is good on the day. Deep powder, perfect ice or ski-touring in a remote area are all amazing in the right conditions. Introductory ski touring and backcountry courses are particularly satisfying because it is often the first experience that folk have away from the ski area, and they can gain good knowledge for future multi day ski tours.

Throughout the winter we all spend a lot of time guiding the fanous off-piste route, the Vallée Blanche, and often asked if we ever get bored of it. The answer is no; we meet new people every day, the amount of ground you cover and the scenery are gobsmacking, and more often than not the snow is powder.

From mid-March onwards the hut to hut ski touring begins. I will try to go to a number of areas, Haute Route, West Oberland, Oberland, Andermatt Area and my personal favourite The Grand Paradiso area due to its more remote feel, lack of lifts and friendly Italian huts. Sometime in June the summer season kicks off and I try to have a good mix of work during the summer including alpine mountaineering teaching courses, the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and also private guiding on mountains all over The Alps. In amongst this, I also do some guided rock climbing.

I always try to do some 'on sight' guiding, and think this is important, during the year. It keeps us fresh as guides and sharp, plus it is very enjoyable for both the guide and the client. Good to have the feeling of adventure! I really enjoy the opportunity to work in quieter areas such as the Chaine des Aravis, the rock is incredible! In summary, I aim to do a good balance of all types of work.

In the future I would like to take a Ski touring trip to Chile with the right group of enthusiastic clients, also a return trip to Greenland where I had a fantastic trip guiding for Neil Mc Nab and his keen snowboarders.

How does guiding affect your motivation for personal mountaineering / ski trips?

After a summer of guiding in the mountains, the desire to get on some rock is strong. Its a good wind down for us as guides to meet at the crag, push ourselves and enjoy some banter. There is also a lot of good adventurous multipitch rock around where I live which I love getting on. During winter on a 'guides day off' we will go and ski some powder or go for a ski tour, days like this are really good fun and we often go to new areas. I do less mountaineering in my spare time but there are objectives in Chamonix still waiting like the Dru North Face which I am keen for on the right day. If most guides are honest we get knackered quite often and that will affect our motivation.

How do you manage your personal / family life around Guiding?

I live in the Village of Passy with my girlfriend Jules. She has her own buisness and has been involved in the ski industry for a number of years. She is a very keen skier/ski tourer/sport climber. We ski and sport climb together as much as possible when we have time off. The Ski touring season and summer season can be hard with hut nights and the unpredictability of plans changing due to the weather.

I am lucky in that I live on the doorstep of a lot of my work, I am integrated into the French system and am always trying to improve my French language which I think is a positive and makes life more interesting. Where we live is close to Italy and often a different climate and Chamonix is only 3hrs from the Med ! So the opportunitys for variety in our spare time are endless.

What advice you would give those contemplating starting the long route that is becoming a mountain Guide?

Life as a guide is fantastic and rewarding. You get to work in an awesome environment and meet many amazing and interesting folk. If contemplating becoming a guide, I think the first thing to do is to ask yourself what lifestyle you would ultimately like. It is important to want to be a working guide in the end, because the scheme is so commiting. It is one of the most difficult things I have done, and financially commiting, personally I don't think there is any room for holding onto another career from a certain point. Totally embrace everything that's needed to get registered on the BMG scheme and the same when you start your training. I had a lot of stress while training but also a lot of fun!

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Visit Jonny's Mountain Guiding website.