🌏 中文版
You can lead at Long Dong, you have climbed a few of Taiwan's 3,000 m peaks, and you have done a winter snow course. The previous post covered why Taiwanese climbers have to train abroad. This one asks an earlier question: before you apply, which parts of your experience are missing, and where do you go to fill each one?
The short answer: Taiwan can give you a solid base in rock and snow. Skiing, glaciers, ice falls and big alpine routes all require going abroad.
Below, the entry requirements are broken down item by item and compared across Taiwan, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the Alps. Then come the number of years and how to keep a route log.
The list first: take the strictest standard for each line
IFMGA requires at least 55 routes spread over at least three years, each led or led on alternate pitches by you (IFMGA Platform §3.10). The full breakdown and the entrance-exam items are in What guides learn and how they are tested. Here are only the three lines people most often underestimate:
| Item | IFMGA minimum | France, ENSM 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Ski touring | 25 tours, each 1,000 m+ of ascent; 10 days on glaciers with 1,400 m+ | 15 tours, each over 1,300 m, 7 crossing glaciers; must include one trip of 3+ days, which counts as 1 |
| Ice | WI4 at the entrance exam | 3 routes of WI5, 150 m+ high, on the list |
| Time window | Spread over at least 3 years | At least 3 years, with 24 routes in the 3 years before the exam |
The French figures come from the ENSM route list. Switzerland's SBV route list also asks for WI4+ ice falls, and New Zealand's NZMGA wants 30 days of ski records.
France sets the hardest grades but not always the highest counts: 15 ski tours is fewer than the IFMGA minimum of 25. So take the strictest number on every line: grades from France, counts from IFMGA. Once you pick a target country, check against its own list.
One table: where each skill can be trained
✅ trainable △ partly ❌ not trainable — no public information
| Requirement | Taiwan | Japan | Korea | New Zealand | Alps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6b onsight in rock shoes | ✅ Long Dong | ✅ Ogawayama | ✅ Insubong | ✅ | ✅ |
| 300 m+ rock routes on your own gear | ❌ | △ Mizugakiyama multi-pitch | ✅ Seoraksan | ✅ | ✅ |
| 50–60° ice slopes, crampon technique | △ depends on the year's snow | ✅ Yatsugatake, Northern Alps | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| WI4 ice falls | ❌ | ✅ Yatsugatake | ✅ Pandae, Gugok Falls | △ July–August only | ✅ |
| Skiing any snow with a pack | ❌ | ✅ Hakuba, Niseko | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ski touring | ❌ | △ Tateyama in spring | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Glacier travel, glacier ski touring | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| D+ alpine routes of about 800 m | ❌ | △ smaller scale | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Avalanche courses | ❌ | ✅ JAN, English AST1 | — | ✅ ASC1, ASC2 | ✅ |
The evidence for each cell is in the sections below.
What Taiwan can cover
Sport, trad and multi-pitch systems
Long Dong has more trad routes than sport routes, and almost everything at 5.9 and below needs your own gear.
The entrance exam asks for a 6b onsight, and France tests 6c+ to 7a (see What guides learn and how they are tested). You can get to that level in Taiwan.
What to train is the system: changeovers on multi-pitch routes, placing nuts and cams, building anchors and self-rescue. For the order of moving from sport to trad, see the sport-to-trad learning path.
Basic snow skills
Shei-Pa National Park runs its snow season from January to the end of March, and entry requires a self-check form for snow gear and skills.
Yushan National Park opens only the Yushan trail for snow training during the season and suspends single-day round trips.
In that window you can practise crampons, ice axe, self-arrest, roped travel and snow anchors. The catch is that conditions vary a lot from year to year.
Snow in the Snow Mountain cirque reached 145 cm in 2016, then stayed under 90 cm for the next five years (CNA).
Thin years usually mean hard ice. In January 2022 a hiker on the way from Snow Mountain's main peak to Cuichi slid nearly 300 m down an icy slope.
The snow mountain guide certificate
The snow category of Taiwan's Mountain Guide Qualification Regulations is the only formal snow-and-ice training in Taiwan. The practical exam covers winter camping, self-belay, self-arrest, rope handling and knots, anchors, roped-team systems and emergency response.
Avalanches, leading on ice and crevasse rescue are not on the list. Exam fees and other certificates are in the previous post.
Taiwan's ceiling
- The tallest wall at Long Dong is about 80 m (Wikipedia, in Chinese).
- The longest technical alpine route on public record is the north face of Yushan East Peak, at a little over 300 m (National Geographic column, in Chinese).
- On the winter ascent of Zhongyangjian's north face, the snow gully below dropped more than 400 m (Mountain Valley Club report, in Chinese).
All of these fall well short of the long rock routes and D+ alpine routes the list asks for. Long Dong is for training systems, not for filling the list.
What Taiwan cannot cover
| Item | Why it cannot be trained in Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Skiing | There are no ski areas. In January 2024 someone skied a slope near Wuling, and Taroko National Park ruled it a violation with a fine of up to NT$1,500 (in Chinese) |
| Ski touring, glaciers | Taiwan has no glaciers, and skiing itself is off the table |
| WI4 ice | The Mountain Valley Club planned ice climbing at Hehuanshan on a 5 m ice fall plus a 40 m ice gully, then cancelled it "because of poor ice" (in Chinese) |
| Avalanche courses | None are run in Taiwan; Chinese-language AST courses are held in Japan, for example by Japan Outdoor Institute |
| Winter alpine training | Even the national snow mountain guide course is held in Japan: the December 2025 session ran its outdoor days in Yatsugatake, Nagano (in Chinese) |
| 300 m rock, D+ alpine routes | Taroko's planning report says big walls are "recorded only on Baishafeng" and that "mountain rock faces are heavily weathered" (in Chinese) |
Close first: Japan and Korea
Japan: winter ice, snow ridges, avalanche courses, skiing
Japan is the easiest place for Taiwanese climbers to build winter skills; the snow guide course and most private snow courses already run there. Prices are the published rates as checked on 2026-10-18.
| What to train | Where | Season | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| WI4–WI5 ice falls | Minamisawa Otaki and Daidoshin Otaki in Yatsugatake; Yonako Fudo | Mid/late December to mid-March | Akadake Kosen hut, 14,000 yen with two meals |
| Intro ice and laps | Akadake Kosen's artificial ice tower | Late December to end of March | 1,000 yen day pass |
| 50–60° snow, long winter routes | Amida North Ridge, Akadake Main Ridge in Yatsugatake | December to early April | 1:1 guide, 2 days 1 night, 95,000 yen |
| English avalanche course | AST1 with Rising Sun Guides or Hokkaido Backcountry Club | Winter | 39,000–40,000 yen for 2 days |
| Japanese avalanche course | JAN Avalanche Operations Level 1, Hakuba/Otari | January, March | 160,000 yen for 7 days |
| Backcountry skiing | Hakuba, Niseko | Winter | Group guiding about 21,500 yen per person per day |
| Spring ski touring | Tateyama Murodo | April–May | — |
A few things to know first:
- Japanese ice has no official WI conversion. By Japanese IFMGA guide Katsuhiro Yamashita's comparison, Minamisawa Otaki and the left face of Daidoshin Otaki are about WI4, and "Cobra" at Yonako Fudo is about WI5.
- JAN Level 1 fills fast. Both sessions for next season were full by August this year, and the course is taught in Japanese. Japan's JMGA accepts it in place of its avalanche exam; if you plan to train in North America, ask your target association which system it recognises before you book.
- Japan has no trainable glaciers. Among the glaciers Toyama Prefecture recognises, the Gozenzawa glacier is 700 m long. JMGA holds its own glacier modules abroad.
- Add rock while you are there. Ogawayama is granite with a May–October season; Mizugakiyama has trad, wide cracks and multi-pitch. For other crags, see the Japan crags overview.
JMGA's own training requires a Japanese residence card, and it is not taking new international mountain guide candidates in the 2026 fiscal year. Details are in the Asia post.
Korea: nearby winter ice and long granite routes
Taiwanese passport holders get 90 days visa-free in Korea (in Chinese), and both winter ice and long trad routes are a short flight away.
| What to train | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial ice wall | Pandae Ice Park (Wonju, in Korean) | Five lines, 30–100 m high |
| Natural ice fall | Gugok Falls (Chuncheon, in Korean) | Online booking from January 2026, 40 climbers a day |
| Intro ice course | Seoul Climbing School | 4 weekends, 700,000 won for adults including lodging and insurance; course page in Korean |
| Granite multi-pitch | Insubong, Bukhansan | 1–8 pitches, 5.6–5.12b |
| Long trad | Seoraksan | Climbing season mid-May to end of October; permit required |
Korea covers ice and long rock. For ski touring and glaciers you have to go further.
Far but unavoidable: the Alps and New Zealand
Chamonix: prep courses, other courses and hiring guides
The Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix (CGC) runs prep courses for the French entrance exam. By its published results, 7 of 28 participants passed in 2025.
| Course (CGC and others; published prices checked 2026-10-18) | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Summer entrance-exam prep (10 May–18 June 2027) | 5 weeks | €2,525 |
| Winter entrance-exam prep (ski test; 2026 prices) | 3 weeks | €1,545 |
| Beginner mountaineering course | 5 days | from €1,140 (4-person rate) |
| Beginner ice climbing | 2 days | €480 |
| Ski touring Autonomy Level 1 | 3 days | €710 |
| UCPA ski touring week (Argentière) | 1 week | from €1,390 |
Guided routes do not count toward the list. ENSM requires every route to be led or led on alternate pitches by you, and Switzerland's SBV states that routes climbed as second cannot be listed. Guides and courses are for learning technique; the 55 routes have to come from you and your partners.
If you want a guide to teach you a route, a private guide costs about €480 a day for skiing to from €580 for alpine and rock. If you stay in a hut, you pay half board for both yourself and the guide; at the Cosmiques it is €82 per person.
A 2-day route 1:1, with guide fees, two people's hut costs and lifts, adds up to about €1,150–1,400.
Two common miscounts when building ski records:
- Lift-served terrain is not ascent. The Vallée Blanche starts from a cable car; however long the descent, you did not climb it.
- A multi-day traverse counts once in France. The Haute Route has about 6,700 m of ascent in total, but under ENSM's new rules it is still 1 tour.
Taiwanese visitors can stay in the Schengen area up to 90 days in any 180, which fits a long summer trip.
New Zealand: one working-holiday season of glaciers
The New Zealand working holiday visa is open to Taiwanese aged 18–30 for up to 12 months. Study during the visa is capped at six months in total.
The official page says "This visa is closed for 2026", so you have to wait for the next intake.
| Course (NZD, checked 2026-10-18) | Length | Season | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Guides Ski Mountaineering Course | 6 days | July–November | NZ$4,525 |
| Alpine Guides Technical Mountaineering Course (Mt Cook) | 8 days | November–February | NZ$5,525 |
| Adventure Consultants Technical Mountaineering Course | 8 days | November–February | NZ$5,450 |
| Alpine Guides ASC1 avalanche course | 1.5 days | — | NZ$495 |
New Zealand's ice season is short, concentrated in July and August. Courses often fly in and out by helicopter; log only the height you climbed yourself.
New Zealand suits building records, not doing your training. NZMGA accepts New Zealand residents or people with a current work permit, and its ski records must cover 3 winters, 2 of them in New Zealand. One 12-month visa gets you a single season. Whether a working holiday visa counts as the work permit it asks for is a question to email NZMGA.
How to lay out a year
| Months | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| All year | Taiwan | Sport, trad, multi-pitch |
| December–March | Japan, Korea | Ice, snow ridges, AST1, skiing |
| January–March | Taiwan's high mountains | Basic snow skills (conditions permitting) |
| April–May | Tateyama | Spring ski touring |
| June–October | New Zealand | Ski touring, glaciers; ice in July–August |
| Summer | Alps | Alpine routes, glaciers, prep courses |
New Zealand's winter overlaps the Alpine summer, so in any one year you pick one or the other.
Roughly how many years
Official minimums:
| Association | Time requirement |
|---|---|
| IFMGA | 55 routes over at least 3 years |
| France, ENSM | At least 3 years, 24 routes in the 3 years before the exam |
| Switzerland, SBV | List spans more than 3 years |
| UK, BMG | At least 4 years of Alpine experience |
| US, AMGA rock guide | At least 5 years of personal climbing |
| NZMGA | Ski records over at least 3 winters |
Candidates in Europe and North America who have written about it usually took longer than the minimum:
| Candidate | Country | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Misha Nepogodiev (2018) | UK | 15 years of climbing, about 5 of them working seriously on the prerequisites; the big TD mixed routes were the hardest part |
| Robin Bonnet (2019) | France | 3 years of focused preparation, passed on the third application, held back by skiing |
| Bernhard Chevalley (2020) | Switzerland | About 20 years; took a ski instructor course to fix his skiing |
| Ray Hughes (2018) | US | Says it typically takes 5–10 years |
For climbers based in Taiwan, the bottleneck is days abroad: skiing, glaciers and D+ alpine routes can only be done overseas.
An estimate: if you already climb 6b and have trad and multi-pitch basics but have never been on snow, getting to a complete list takes about 5–8 years.
That assumes 6–10 weeks abroad every year. The estimate comes from how long each of the three gaps takes:
- Skiing: from never having skied to skiing any snow with a pack, then 25 tours on your own legs, takes at least 3–4 seasons.
- Ice: one or two week-long trips a year to Japan or Korea gets you to WI4 in about 2–3 seasons.
- Glaciers and D+: one long trip every summer takes at least 2–3 summers to fill.
There is no public case of a Taiwanese climber going from scratch to a complete list to compare against.
How to keep a route log that gets accepted
The previous post said to start logging today. This section covers how much detail to record.
What associations have in common
- Always use the association's own form. Records from UKC, theCrag and Mountain Project can be exported as CSV for your own draft, but the application goes on the official form.
- Name your partner on every route. Austria also wants a phone number.
- State your role on the rope: lead, alternate leads, or second. Routes you followed throughout do not count.
- Record vertical gain, not route length. France also wants the descent route for snow and ice routes.
- You will be questioned in person. France's entrance interview lasts up to an hour and covers the routes on your list.
- Falsifying means you are out. ENSM says "exclusion immédiate".
- Do not cut it fine. A 2023 French candidate wrote on a forum that the examiners asked about 4 routes, and one was judged not to qualify and had to be replaced.
Each association's form
| Association | Form | Specific requirements |
|---|---|---|
| France, ENSM | PDF declaration | Partners, position on the rope, weather; you sign a handwritten statement that it is accurate; no partner signature field |
| Switzerland, SBV | German/French interactive PDF, printed and brought to the assessment | Routes climbed as second cannot be listed; routes outside the Alps may be listed |
| Austria, VÖBS | Blank form | Partner name plus phone number; the guidance notes say two 150 m routes do not make one 300 m route, and climbing gyms do not count |
| Germany, VDBS | Official form | Split into rock, ice and snow; due by 31 October of the previous year |
| US, AMGA | Separate Excel template per course | Mark lead or shared lead; you should be able to lead every route you list |
| UK, BMG | Application form | 2 referees, 1 of them an IFMGA guide; no photo attachments |
Suggested columns
This is the union of the associations' forms. Log in this format from the start and you can move to any country's form without digging things up again:
| Date | Range / crag | Peak | Route | Altitude | Vertical gain | Grade | Pitches | Role | Partner name + contact | Weather and conditions | Descent | Onsight? | Clients? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Record grades in the local system; do not convert them yourself. Most Taiwanese routes will not qualify, but the Swiss and British forms both have an "other experience" section, so log them anyway.
Three things you can do today
- Start the spreadsheet. Use the columns above and add the past year's routes. Ask your partners for contact details now; in three years you will not be able to find them.
- Plan Japan for this winter. Spend a week in Yatsugatake on ice falls, then take an English AST1. JAN Level 1 is already full and taught in Japanese, so skip it for now.
- Start learning to ski. It is the biggest gap and takes the longest, so start early. Begin with resort lessons in Hakuba or Niseko, with the goal of skiing off-piste steadily with a pack.
For certificates, first aid, languages and emailing associations, see How a Taiwanese climber can become an IFMGA guide.
Bottom line
Get your rock systems solid in Taiwan, go to Japan or Korea every winter, and spend summers in the Alps or the southern winter in New Zealand. Start your route log today, using the associations' columns.
Other posts in the series: What an IFMGA guide is, Hiring a guide, What guides learn and how they are tested, France and Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy, the US and Canada, the UK, New Zealand and the Nordics, Spain and Central-Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, How a Taiwanese climber can become an IFMGA guide.
References
- IFMGA Platform (EEMGA reprint)
- ENSM: 2026 route list (Liste de courses)
- ENSM: High mountain guide training
- SBV: Tourenliste Vers. 10.2026
- NZMGA: IFMGA Guide Pathway (ski records)
- NZMGA: IFMGA Pathway Application
- VÖBS: Tourenbericht form, guidance notes
- VDBS: 2026 training information
- AMGA: Mountain Guide Resume Templates
- AMGA Rock Guide Program
- BMG: Application form and information
- BMG: 2026 application form (xlsx)
- JMGA: 2026 international mountain guide exam regulations (in Japanese)
- Mountain Guide Qualification Regulations (in Chinese)
- Executive Yuan Gazette: snow guide practical exam (in Chinese)
- Sports Administration iSports: snow guide course session (in Chinese)
- Shei-Pa National Park: 2026 snow season notice (in Chinese)
- Yushan National Park: snow season entry rules (in Chinese)
- Taroko National Park: planning reports (in Chinese)
- CNA: Snow Mountain cirque snow depth (in Chinese)
- CNA: slide on the Cuichi route (in Chinese)
- TVBS: skiing violation near Wuling (in Chinese)
- Mountain Valley Club: Hehuanshan ice climbing (in Chinese)
- Mountain Valley Club: Zhongyangjian north face winter report (in Chinese)
- National Geographic: Yushan East Peak north face (in Chinese)
- Wikipedia: Long Dong climbing area (in Chinese)
- Japan Outdoor Institute: AST in Chinese
- Akadake Kosen: lodging, ice tower rules (in Japanese)
- Katsuhiro Yamashita: Japanese ice grade comparison (in Japanese)
- Sugisaka guide: winter plans and prices (in Japanese)
- JAN: Avalanche Operations Level 1 (in Japanese)
- Rising Sun Guides: AST 1
- Hokkaido Backcountry Club: AST 1
- Evergreen Backcountry Guides (Hakuba)
- Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: seasons (in Japanese)
- Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum: Gozenzawa glacier (in Japanese)
- UKC: Insubong
- Mountain Project: Seoraksan National Park
- Yonhap: Pandae Ice Park (in Korean)
- Chuncheon: Gugok Falls ice climbing booking (in Korean)
- Seoul Climbing School: intro ice climbing (in Korean)
- Bureau of Consular Affairs: Korea visa (in Chinese)
- CGC: summer entrance-exam prep, winter prep
- CGC: beginner mountaineering course, beginner ice climbing, public training programs
- UCPA: Chamonix ski touring week
- Peak Powder: guide rates
- Sharpe Guides: Prices
- Refuge des Cosmiques
- Ultimate France: Vallée Blanche
- Zermatters: Haute Route
- EU Office in Taiwan: Schengen stays
- Immigration New Zealand: Taiwan Working Holiday Visa
- Alpine Guides: Ski Mountaineering Course, Technical Mountaineering Course, Avalanche Awareness
- Adventure Consultants: Technical Mountaineering Course
- Wanaka Mountain Guides: ice climbing in New Zealand
- Camptocamp: 2023 probatoire account (in French)
- UKC forum: Meeting the BMG prerequisites
- Passion Alpes: Robin Bonnet (in French)
- Höhenfieber: Der lange Weg zum Bergführer (in German)
- Alpenglow Expeditions: Ray Hughes
- UKC Logbook help, theCrag: Export logbook, Mountain Project features