Mountain Guides as well as River Guide are the two most obvious types of adventure guides that one will encounter, but the field of adventure guiding includes much more - it includes Zip-Line guides, Bungee Jumping Guides, Mountain Biking Guides and pretty much anyone who provides an adventure activity for reward. Under South African law (Tourism Act, Act No 3 of 2014), Adventure Guides are classed as a subset of Tourist Guides and must be registered with their provincial registrar of guides once they have obtained their National Qualifications.
The current National Qualification for an adventure guide is the Generic Adventure Site Guide. However, this course only covers the underlying theory of being an adventure guide. The second part of being an adventure guide is actually having technical adventure skills to take novices on your chosen type of adventure.
In other words, in order to become an adventure guide you need:
Generic Adventure Site Guide (GASG)
Technical Skills
When you complete your GASG course and are ready to tackle your final assessment you will be required to prove technical competence in every adventure type that you wish to guide as well.
As a member of the Adventure Qualifications Network, The School for Mountain Leadership offers the GASG course.
A couple of notes:
1. Although we permit you to start the course at age 17, you must be 18 years of age or older to complete the process.
2. You must be a South African citizen, permanent resident or work-visa holder ro register as a guide.
3. You will be required to be in possession of an appropriate first aid certificate.
You need to be fit enough to:
Conduct your adventure activity
Assist any client in difficulty, at least to the point of getting them out of immediate danger.
During this course you will be expected to complete a number of assignments. Each of these assignments covers an aspect of the competence that you are expected to attain. Once you have completed these assignments you will undergo a FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT. The purpose of this written assessment is to see whether or not there are any obvious holes in your knowledge that need to be addressed.
When you are ready, you can complete your SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT. This written exam covers the GASG knowledge. At the same time you will be required to prove technical competence. This is normally done with an assessor who is a Subject Matter Expert (or SME). The SME will assess your skill with regard to taking novices out to participate in yor adventure activity.
Once you have passed the GASG and have proven technical competence you will be issued with an interim certificate and your results will be forwarded to CATHSSETA for the issuing of your final certificate.
Guiding Law in South Africa
Surviving a career as an adventure guide
Guiding ethics
Identifyng customer needs
Planning the itinerary
Researching your experience
Designing the adventure trip plan
Assessing risk
Writing SOPs
Investigating environmental impact
Know your customers
The pre-trip and trip-commencement briefing
Pre-trip preparation
Final checks
Overseeing arrivals
Keeping communication open
Problem solving
Guiding
Leadership
Adding value
Implementing Leave No Trace in context
Safety planning
Hazard identification and risk management
Factors affecting changing risk
Incident management
Planning to camp
Camp-site selection
Considerations for sleeping
Considerations for cooking
Camp-site hygiene
Striking camp and packing up
Emergency procedures
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INCLUDED |
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Training handbooks |
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Marking of assignments |
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Access to trainer for advice and consultation |
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G.A.S.G. Formative and Summative Assessment |
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EXCLUDED |
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Transport to and from class |
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Accommodation |
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Appropriate clothing |
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Meals. |
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Any costs associated with assessment of technical skills |
