Preparing for a summer guiding in the alps

About this time every Spring, while most people in the UK are celebrating the long awaited return of warmer and drier weather, dusting off the garden furniture and planning barbecues and summer evening rides on dry trails, I’m torn between wanting to relax and enjoy all of those things, and yet needing to shift my focus to the rapidly approaching season of guiding in the Alps. 

As a mountain bike guide and tour business owner, the weeks leading up to the summer season are a mixture of excitement, preparation, logistics, and a bit of stress too! As each year goes by I think I’ll have everything more under control the following season, but then life has a habit of throwing some kind of spanner in the works no matter how well you prepare. It keeps me on my toes and to be honest it would feel a bit strange if I ever felt completely ready at this point a couple of weeks out! It comes around quicker every year too. 

Living in the UK for most of the year means the transition into alpine life is something I work towards long before the first trip starts. From rebuilding fitness after winter, servicing bikes, planning for the scouting of new routes, and keeping an eye on snow melt high in the mountains, to ensuring admin is up to date and logistics are dialled. Preparing for an alpine season is unfortunately as much about the less glamorous side of things that happen behind the scenes as it is miles ridden on the bike! 

It feels crazy to think about it but this will be my 14th season working out in the Alps as a guide (I missed a year in 2020). In the early days as a freelancer, life was significantly easier (although I definitely didn’t appreciate this at the time! Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh?!) I just had to prepare my body and bike for the demands of day-in-day out riding in the mountains. But as the owner of a guiding company organising package tours there's a fair bit more to do in addition, that provides a bit more of a challenge. Here are the things that go into my prep; 

Admin 

In reality, as soon as the season ends in October, things are underway for the following year in terms of behind the scenes business admin and logistics. Those fun trips don’t run themselves and take a lot of work putting together! Making hotel reservations, planning the schedule, updating websites, sorting paperwork like risk assessments and insurance, and of course marketing trips and communicating with potential guests….it never stops! This is what I spend my winter doing, sat behind a desk (not quite the dream life that some people think guiding is!) However, the opportunity to be able to live a life I’ve created around my passion for riding bikes as a sustainable year-round job is something I feel incredibly proud of and privileged to do, so I try not to moan too much about this side of it (that I definitely love a little bit less!) 

Body 

To get myself ready for the demands of a busy Alpine summer, throughout the Winter I stay fit by running, ski touring, indoor climbing and gym work, and surprisingly little time on the bike (I think I’m ready for a break! Although I’m also unashamed to admit I’m a total fair weather rider these days too!) 

Once April comes around and UK guiding starts, I gradually start riding more and building up longer days on the bike, and I’m usually excited to ride more by then too. By the time I get to now, a couple of weeks out from the season, I'm telling myself I'm mostly ready and it’s a case of just staying healthy and rested and injury free before a hectic summer. 

The riding we do on my trips in the Alps is tough on the body. Long climbs including carrying and pushing, generally at altitude and in the heat, physical descents where you get a full-body workout. There are few days off and little time to rest, with trips often running back to back. Just as one group finishes, another one starts so you need to have the energy to keep going all summer and not wear out or appear tired for a new group! 

Lots of riding at “guiding pace” (steady all-day pace) helps, learning to keep your heart rate from spiking or pushing yourself too hard when you have to keep going over multiple days, as does riding long rough and fast descents repeatedly to prepare for the length of the trails in the big mountains (Scotland trips are good for this!). For the last year I’ve had the help of an online coach who has put together a tailored strength and conditioning program for me, and this has been brilliant. I feel strong for whatever I do now, and know how to look after myself to recover well too. Prior to this I had been starting to worry about how hard back to back guiding weeks felt as I got older, but I know now that my strength and fitness is as good as it’s ever been and hopefully I have many more years of being able to do this job yet! 

Bike 

Preparing the bike for the season is super important. I want to be able to ride all summer day-in, day-out, without having to worry about it, or even really touch it other than the occasional wash and drivetrain clean. I’ve been fortunate to have support from Hope for a long time now, and so I can rely on trusted components that I know from many seasons experience can withstand the demands I place on them as a Guide, I can’t understate how fantastic this is! It’s true that if you want to know which are the best, most reliable and durable parts to put on your bike, take a look at what the guides are using…we honestly give everything a test that few other riders or reviewers can simply because of the amount of riding we do! 

Before the season kicks off I’ll give everything a thorough service, checking bearings, replacing any worn out parts, ensuring the drivetrain isn’t worn, servicing the suspension and bleeding the 

brakes. New tyres are always a good idea too. I’ll put together a box of spares that I might need, which are usually brake pads (lots!), rotors, spokes, tyres, derailleur parts, and grips. I run chunky 200mm rotors front and rear, and the Evo GR4 brakes on my guiding bike, which are perfect for all the steep and long descending in the Alps. 

Brain 

I try to make sure I’m as relaxed, happy and unstressed as I can be going into a season, knowing that it’s a full on, hectic few months ahead! This means doing fun things, seeing friends and family, and also enjoying some quiet time at home. I’ve learnt over the years to not try to pack in so much to the weeks leading up to the season that I’m running around stressing and overly busy before I go, although this isn’t something that comes naturally to me so I have to make a conscious effort to look after myself and have that downtime recharging my own batteries! All the other parts of the preparation and planning contribute to this side of things too. If I’m organised and having everything ready for the season ahead, then I know I’m not going into a trip stressed and struggling to keep on top of all the things I should have done weeks ago, and that means I can focus on the guiding part of the job more, and the fun side of interacting with all the lovely guests on the trips. 

Logistics 

The final preparations are getting together all the group kit I need to take out to the Alps for the season with me. This means a refresh of the guiding bag (where I’ll often find a 6 month old banana skin tucked in a pocket….nice), checking the first aid kit supplies have been replenished, and ordering new riding kit and helmet/knee pads (you wear stuff out very quickly as a guide!). There’s also the group picnic stuff for the lunches we prepare on the trails for guests, as well as the toolboxes, basic repair stuff, and of course the bike trailer and servicing this ready for use throughout the summer. Mostly it’s just collecting it all together and having endless tick lists to ensure everything is organised and done before I leave. 

When it all comes together and I finally get that first view of the big mountains as I drive into the Alps, I’m always reminded how all the preparation and behind the scenes stuff is totally worth it. I know not everyone is lucky enough to have an office view like this for 4 months of the year and that’s something I’ll always be very grateful for. It’s taken a long time to build this life and job that I love but I feel privileged to be able to do this and hope I can continue for many years yet! 

Words & Pictures by Julia Hobson