I am a modern guide living in Banff.
I carry a backpack with a first aid kit, some bug spray
and other niceties,
extra clothes, and some field guides to help me interpret
questions I don't know. I drive a mini bus or a van, and
occasionally I will ride in someone else’s vehicle.
People hike, and sightsee with me, and it is my job to take
them safely wherever we go. It is my mission to provoke new
ideas and thoughts based on the day. People often complement
my ability to tell stories and what they say is a strong
array of knowledge. All this helps to facilitate guests'
appreciation of new places, but it is by no means the end
all. In the early days of guiding when names like Peyto and
Simpson resounded in the valleys, today I find my job to
be a shadow of what those men must have braved and experienced.
At the same time a commonality still exists that ties my
profession to that of 100 years before, the guided experience.
People hire guides to give them experiences not available
on their own. To help them discover a special part of the
land, to make a connection, and to experience something new
through me. Sadly, guiding today has become merely a talking
script that is recited 50 times identically each time, without
passion or variation, cheapening the guests experience. I
always try to differ the tour my clients receive, showing
them to small pockets of the mountains no one else will see
during that day, and to blend the places they know and read
about with spots they will never see again. When clients
and guests realize the understanding I have for this place
they feel more profound about the things that they see and
learn from me. The warm of the sun on your face, the smell
of trees in the soft montane landscape, the sound of water
babbling through trees and rocks, or the look of a raging
rapids from the angle only I knew of, are easy to impress
visitors with. However, combined with the experience of a
guided tour where there may be many people on the same trip,
or in the same location at a time, it can be a challenge
to create a connection to this place for them.
Local historian Bob Sandford writes that todays challenge
is to evoke a sense of place in people. To make people feel
more than they would otherwise. I see so many 1000's of people
rushing through the mountain parks, as fast as they can,
only concerned with visiting the highlights learned from
a video or magazine. Often, the guides and companies these
customers are with are with give them little more than the
basics. However, I pride myself on innovating every day I
step onto a trail with a group or put on my headset/microphone
on a sightseeing tour.
Where Peyto and Simpson guided by horseback, and the wilderness
spoke for itself, we as modern guides need to work harder
in many ways then they did. Certainly the very survival of
my customers is not a constant concern, but I do need to
work harder in giving people a sense of place that is so
important for us all. When people see Lake Louise for the
first time, as I will see it 100 times or more, it is key
to empathize with the guest and to look and study and remember
how you felt the first time so that you can relate to them.
It is also important to appreciate the magnitude of what
your job is doing...giving people experiences they will take
home as pure and pleasant memories free of any tainting from
personal bias or circumstance.
From chatting to my industry counterparts, I feel some success
when I see others on tour who have done a trip 100 times
or more sleeping behind the wheel of their bus while the
customers are off exploring. I feel success because I know
I have done the tour 100 times or more too but I am out adventuring
with my clients. When I can tell someone I stopped in one
place that has no name, that other guides will miss, or where
I show my clients something no one else will see, I feel
my job is being met. I feel privelaged to have the best profession
in the world where my bus is my desk, and the mountain parks
are my office. When I see people having genuine reactions
created by my own awareness of this place, I feel very satisfied
with my life's course and decisions.
This is a deeper analysis of the guided experience by my
own measure. What could be more laid back? What could be
more gratifying than evoking new and incredible thoughts
and memories in others??? I truly hope that others can find
this kind of satisfaction in their own jobs whatever way
they can and as for myself I know I will be working in this
line for many years to come.
Kevin Gedling
Guide
Discover Banff Tours
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