Tackling a steep learning curve; Adventure travel guide

STUART Hood began his university career in Aber-deen, studying mechanical engineering. Next year he will graduate as an adventure travel guide and begin working in the field, using the mountaineering, kayaking, open canoeing, rafting, trail and mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and sailing skills he has honed in the course of his studies.

Mechanical engineering, Hood soon discovered, was not for him. In fact, the 23-year old, who lives in Mallaig, believed that university was not for him, until he discovered a new course, run by Newbury College in Berkshire. Adventure travel guiding, he thought, seemed very much to his taste.

Or, rather, it seemed too good to be true. The course's only equivalent is one in Canada that costs (pounds) 8,750, which is roughly three times the cost of becoming a qualified adventure travel guide through Newbury College.

This, of course, is no traditional university course, being hardly campus-based at all. Students travel from one activity to another, camping or staying in bunkhouses, hostels or huts in some of the most remote locations in the UK as well as overseas.

When I caught up with the adventure travel guide students in the north of Scotland, in the middle of a typically busy year, Stuart Wagstaff, the course director, described his hands-on role. His is a job that many would envy.

"We're just back from sea kayaking around the outer Hebrides, where we were rock climbing, carrying our gear in boats, and stopping on the islands.

"Then we were surf kayaking and sea kayaking on North Uist and along the north coast of the mainland. Then rock climbing around the Wick area and on the Aberdeen sea cliffs. And hillwalking all over the place."

Not your typical university course, then. And increasing numbers of people are cottoning on to this, with places on the year-long course, usually restricted to 24, in danger of being seriously oversubscribed.

When he was offered a place, Hood realised it was an opportunity to be grasped with both hands.

"I packed in university after two years and worked in a couple of shops, not really knowing what I was going to do long-term," he says. "I had no idea anything like this existed, and it's been fantastic. They throw you right into it in week one - I thought we'd maybe ease into it, but we didn't. But you get a lot of support. I've done things I didn't think I would do and really developed, particularly my climbing skills."

But it isn't all about fun, despite impressions. Adventure travel is growing massively - from its roots as a tiny niche market it is perhaps the tourist industry's fastest growing area - and Newbury College's course is surely the first of many.

Wagstaff, who has been with the college for 11 years, says: "It started as a fairly standard outward bound course, but I've been given an incredible amount of freedom to develop it. Last year we revamped it even more and gave it the adventure travel guide name. That reflects the growing market. I used to work on the west coast of Canada, and at the time we were the only company taking people out sea kayaking. Now there are 20 companies operating there, and they're all busy. People now are looking for interest holidays."

Wagstaff himself has a fine pedigree. "My friends laugh when I describe myself as an all-rounder," says the 47-year-old. But he's being modest, having completed the first ascents of the two largest and longest rivers in the Nepalese Himalayas, and climbed the highest mountains in both North and South America, and kayaking and canoeing on many of the rivers and the sea in between.

As the industry grows, the guidelines become more stringent, with many approved by the Outdoor Adventure Licensing Authority. "This," points out Wagstaff, "works in our favour. Centres are looking for well-qualified, well-trained people."

Already the Newbury course has its success stories. Newbury- qualified adventure travel guides work throughout the world, and two graduates - both females - recently became the youngest to pass the mountaineers' instructors awards, though both, Wagstaff points out, are allrounders rather than pure mountaineers. This gives him particular satisfaction.

In many of the places Wagstaff's students visit - from North Uist to Costa Rica - the budding adventure travel guides are looked after not only by their course director, but also by local guides and coaches, whose knowledge can be invaluable.

As for career opportunities, Hood is excited. And his course director is optimistic. "People who are really keen can make a good living. We do get some ex-students saying, 'Well, in the end I just couldn't make a decent living'. The reason is that they weren't keen enough to do lots in their spare time. Which meant that they only got the lowest level of qualifications and so they weren't able to really sell themselves. It's not a nine to five job. We're just back from Uist Outdoor Centre, where the staff were meeting at nine and still clearing away after 11. But they love it, because it's such a stunningly beautiful place and they get to do the things they love to do.

"Above all else, enthusiasm is the most important thing," adds Wagstaff, with extra emphasis. "At the same time the students shouldn't be frightened of water or heights, otherwise the learning process is slowed down considerably. But the students' experience varies a lot when they start. The younger ones tend to have done many of the activities, while some of those in their late 20s may have travelled widely."

Hood says that he has never considered himself an expert in any field. "Stuart's main asset," says Wagstaff, "is that he's very comfortable in the outdoors. Like many of the students, he may not be a superstar, but as a coach he will do well because he is so comfortable, even when the weather is horrible."

Which was the case in the north west of Scotland, but is unlikely to be so in their next port of call, Costa Rica. "I'd rather be there," reflects Hood ahead of some serious climbing in South America, "than studying mechanical engineering in a lecture theatre."

oFor details of Newbury College's adventure travel guide course, call 01635 845000 or visit www.adventuretravelguide.co.uk

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