Qualification
Mid-mountain leader
Hiking guide
The mountain leader, more precisely the mid-mountain leader, also called AeM, AMM, hiking instructor or hiking guide, holds a regulated professional role. The role is certified by a state diploma under the Ministry of Sports. It was renewed on 3 June 2019. Here are the details of the role and the path to becoming a mountain leader.
The role of mountain leader
Being a mountain leader means leading people in the mountains on a hike. This requires deep knowledge of the mountain environment (mountain culture), good physical fitness and human qualities of welcome and sharing.
The leader first watches over the safety of those they accompany. They can carry out a rescue in a remote area where an accident would be made harder by the conditions.
The leader's scope covers practising in mid-mountain, meaning zones where mountaineering equipment and technique are not required. In winter, they can lead people equipped with snowshoes.
On the ground, there's variety in how someone wears the mountain leader hat:
- trek and multi-day guide in France or abroad
- guide for day hikes (star-shaped stays from a single base)
- sports instructor in clubs practising hiking, trail running or nordic walking
- nature educator with school audiences (school discovery trip, school trip) and with companies (corporate retreat, winter team building)
- and more
Most diploma-holders work seasonally as mountain leaders.
Job offers for mountain leaders are not common. Most often, the leader is self-employed. They run services commissioned by agencies or sell their activity alone or through a mountain office (a group of professionals). That's the case for Pied Vert: we are a group of professionals.
See also the view of the role by the Pied Vert mountain leaders.
How to become a mountain leader
The training is long and demanding. The tone is set.
It's run by the public national body of the Ministry of Sports, the Centre National de Ski Nordique et de Moyenne Montagne (CNSNMM), which is part of the École Nationale des Sports de Montagne (ENSM).
Before entering it, future trainees must pass the entry exam.
Entry exam
Two periods in the year allow you to sit the entry exam: April-June or August-October. Each period holds two sessions in two different mountain ranges: Alps, Pyrenees, Vosges, Corsica or Massif Central. Each session is capped at 150 candidates. The dates are listed on the gepafom.fr platform.
The entry exam has 2 parts:
- a navigation walk in varied terrain
- a written multiple-choice test on the mountain environment (natural and human) and on mountain life experience
If the first test isn't passed, the second cannot be taken.
To access this entry exam, candidates must complete a file containing a list of hikes done solo or in a group (being the leader in planning is a plus).
This list contains:
- 10 hikes with positive elevation above 1000 m, done in France and across several massifs, including a 5-day multi-day hike
- 10 hikes from a list published online by the ENSM (downloadable on the CNSNMM site)
- 10 hikes tied to the chosen module, on snowshoes or in a tropical environment
These hikes must be documented in a spreadsheet, also downloadable from the CNSNMM site (cnsnmm.sports.gouv.fr).
Many courses or preparation programmes, from a few days to several months, help candidates prepare for the entry exam. Yann, Alice and Victor of Pied Vert did the preparation course in Autrans (about 3 months).
The training: being a trainee mountain leader
Once the entry exam is passed, the candidate will soon be able to start the national training programme.
First, they must validate the general training common to mountain-sports teaching, leading and coaching (5 days), poetically shortened to FGCMEEESM, before signing up the following spring for the first training unit.
The training is a sequence of training units to sign up for based on the dates available.
Each training unit is also a certification (= assessments). As soon as the first UF1 is validated, the candidate becomes a trainee and their training booklet is opened. From the validation of UF2, they can lead the public outside snowy zones and bivouac. Then validation of UF3 opens leading on snowshoes. Only bivouac remains outside trainee scope throughout the training.
Following the 3 June 2019 order, which once again refreshed the diploma, the training runs as follows:
- UF1 Technical and Educational Fundamentals (10 days)
- UF2 Mountain Environment and Educational Progression (10 days)
- UF3 Snowy Mountain Environment (or Tropical and Equatorial) (10 days)
- UF4 Effort adaptation, technical perfection and training for hiking and related activities in mid-mountain for all types of audience (5 days)
- UF5 Professional environment and leading all types of audience, including school audiences and audiences with disabilities (10 days)
These 45 days are a mix of theory (classroom and field) and assessment. The trainee must also plan personal time to prepare for each unit, without which it'll be hard to pass first time. A final exam then validates the diploma.
At each unit, the trainee continues training with qualified professionals in the field. The trainee approaches professionals to complete their training booklet with outings in observation, co-leading and planned and led independently.
At the shortest, count at least two and a half years between the entry exam and the final exam.
A budget for training fees of around 3000€ is to be planned. Some organisations can help candidates, but it'll be necessary to fill in funding applications for each training unit. Some students have been funded through regional support managed by Pôle Emploi, then by FIFPL, once registered as self-employed (micro-entrepreneur or another status).