Post - exam Purgatory

Much of the last year of my life has been focused on successfully completing my Assistant Guides Exam with the ACMG. This consisted of moving to Canmore, training ice climbing in -30C temps and completing an ice climbing course. Then, a trip to the sierra with las chicas and later, more training in the Canadian Rockies ahead of what ended up being a super fun summer alpine guiding course. Do I even need to mention .... training in the exam venues? The culmination of the courses was a recent 10 day exam conducted in the Coast Mountains of BC in the Joffre and Tantalus Mountains.

As part of the revered Canadian tradition of certifying guides, the examiners scrutinize our every move for the 10 days, providing coaching and daily de-briefs of our performance. Fortunately our examiners were able to balance professionalism with irreverence and kept things safe, productive and dare I say, at times even fun.

Then, the examiners spend up to 3 weeks mulling over our performance on categories such as technical systems, risk management, professionalism and route finding. Yeah sure, its good to pause and process how we've done for a wee while ... but 3 weeks is a long time to find out how we've done officially.

In this time, we candidates rest, recover and wait. Of course, all my friends and family know how important this is - so they ask how it went .... but I can't really say, and I certainly can't move on to the next phase in my life till I know.

Hence my reference to post-exam purgatory. I did a little research on this concept - thanks wiki. "Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven."

Hmm .... lets explore this analogy. So then, I must be in that conditional state of temporary punishment (certainly not one of purification) as I reach for ....heaven ... no this can't be right! Being christened the title of assistant alpine guide is certainly not a heavenly title with its requisite large packs, wicked storms and 16 hour days. But, it certainly beats the hell of being asked by the ACMG to try again next year .. which of course is the other potential outcome.

Wiki continues: "The word "purgatory" .... has come to mean any place or condition of suffering or torment, especially one that is temporary."

Pretty much sums it up. And so I go on waiting, wondering what the official word will be. So how am I currently passing my moments of purgatory? After finishing my laundry, I am off to drink some wine with some ladies - one of whom is equally in the state of purgatory as I. Perhaps you could say we are working on that purification I referred to earlier!