List of national backcountry guide clubs

Guide club introductions mainly introduce guide clubs with JMGA qualifications. We listened to various questions and organized them so that we could convey as much detail about the guide club as possible.

Number of guides, qualifications, and guide ratio

The ratio is a measure of the number of guests per guide. For ski/snowboard guiding in mountain areas, the appropriate ratio is 6 guests to 1 guide. You can see what guidelines each guide club is showing within this range.

If you look at it together with the number of guides, you can get an idea of ​​the maximum number of people they can accept on a tour. Also, the areas that you can guide will vary depending on your qualifications. The JMGA homepage has detailed guidelines regarding this.

rental

Rental equipment items are listed for each guide club. Details are mainly shown for four types: safety gear, backpacks, sliding gear, and climbing gear. I want to check what I have by comparing it with the gear I own.

Actual contents of the tour

The activity time, total skiing elevation difference, average hiking time, and slope details are listed for each of these three types: first-time tour participants, those with BC experience, and the most difficult.
Activity time includes all activities on the snow, including climbing, skiing, and resting. From this content, you can get a rough idea of ​​the features of each guide club.

If the activity or hike time is long since your first participation, you can expect a route without lift access, and if the hike time is short and there is a cumulative elevation difference, you can imagine a tour that uses a lift. This largely depends on the location of the guide club.

Also, if you take a quick look, it may seem like there isn't much difference whether it's your first time on tour or someone with BC experience. If you are participating in a tour for the first time, you will be given an explanation of the situation in the field, plenty of time for hiking, and plenty of rest time, so your time on the snow will not be that different from those with BC experience. However, the difference is the hike time and altitude difference. Most of the hikes involve sliding and climbing repeatedly, which saves time and elevation gain.

By the way, a cumulative elevation difference of 600m would be from the top of Marunuma Kogen to the base, and a 1000m difference would be from the top to the bottom of Happo-one Ski Resort.