In reply to jimridge88:
It's hard. Not necessarily the ML bit, but the career bit.
There are many rewarding things about working in the outdoors, but it's undeniably tough. Here's a few to get you started:
- The pay is good but the work is irregular. Around £100-£130 per day, but it may only be 75-150 days per year and most of those will be weekends. That is also gross - fuel, insurance and kit is all down to you. I suspect £15,000 p.a. is about right for a busy ML/freelancer.
- There's a lot of competition. New leaders and freelancers are entering 'the market' at a much faster rate than they are leaving at the other end, and the amount of work available can't keep up. As a business owner it's easy to find a freelance ML with 24hrs notice - it's just finding the good ones that takes a bit more effort.
- There is also competition from those who work as freelancers at the weekend but have a full-time job in the week. They do the work because they enjoy it, but are happy to work for a lower day rate because it's not about the money for them.
- You are very dependent on your own health and fitness, and a minor injury (sprained wrist/ankle) might mean a substantial loss of income. Even more so if it happens just before flying off to South America to lead a group for Global or World Challenge. A broken shoulder cost me £2,000 a few years ago.
- There aren't many LEA outdoor centres these days and most of the folk I know work as freelancers - so you will have to network and be happy to work for several employers. This has a separate issue of some employers not wanting to use you once they see you have Company x on your CV - so taking a season of work from one employer might preclude you from being employed by their rival next year.
- Getting paid to walk up Snowdon sounds great. When you're walking the Llanberis Path for the 40th time that year, it's raining, you have a stinking cold and your clients are behaving like self-entitled arsebags then suddenly sitting in a dry office with statutory sick days and paid leave doesn't sound too bad.
A lot of the above isn't specific to working in the outdoors, and is common to all true freelancers working in the gig economy. Self-employment is rarely the easy option for anyone, and working in a largely seasonal tourist industry where you only work at weekends can have a bit of a toll on your enthusiasm for the whole thing.
At the end of the day a job is still a job and you an eventually become fed up of everything.
So, that said...
It can be great fun, and it's definitely a lifestyle career that you have to walk into with your eyes wide open. The self-confidence that going through any of the MT awards brings will enhance your enjoyment of the outdoors. There are many aspects of working with people in the outdoors that I didn't find elsewhere in other jobs, and all of my income now is related to my work in the outdoors in one way or another.
If you are looking to do the award to improve your CV then it certainly cannot hurt, and I suspect that you won't regret doing the award itself.
