Mountain Guide beings: School for mountaineers, canyoning, sport climbing or hinking - licence

Under the Mountain Guides Act (Bergführergesetz), running a school requires a permit from the Provincial Government. The following types of permit are available: school for mountaineering, canyoning, sport climbing or hiking.

The activity may only be carried out after the legally binding permit has been issued.

EUR 147.40 provincial administrative charge
EUR 47.30 application fee in accordance with the Federal Law on Dues (Gebührengesetz)
EUR 83.60 fee for the official certified copy of the documentation, in accordance with the Federal Law on Dues

Further costs depend on the number of appendices submitted (EUR 3.90 per sheet (= four DIN A4 pages), maximum EUR 21.80 per appendix).

If an expert opinion from a non-official expert is required, this will be communicated separately in advance.

Section 27 of the Mountain Guides Act (Bergführergesetz)

General Administrative Procedure Act (Allgemeines Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz) 1991

Vorarlberg Provincial Administrative Fees Regulation (Verwaltungsabgabenverordnung des Landes Vorarlberg)

Federal Law on Dues 1957

Pursuant to the Mountain Guides Act, a permit to run a school may be granted to individuals who – depending on the scope of their authorisation – are:

a) mountain guides, canyoning guides, sport climbing instructors or hiking guides, and
b) have demonstrably practised their profession of mountain guide, canyoning guide, sport climbing instructor or hiking guide for at least 5 years.

Bergführerwesen: Schule für Bergsteiger, Canyoning, Sportklettern und Wandern - Antrag auf Bewilligung zur Führung [Mountain Guide beings: School for mountaineers, canyoning, sport climbing or hiking - licence]

Additional requirements:

Authorisation may be granted to one person or jointly to several persons. If there are several persons, each must fulfil all the requirements and each is solely responsible for compliance with the law.
The licence holder must run the school themselves. The management may only appoint a deputy for a maximum of 2 years, and only if there is a valid reason for the licence holder being unable to fulfil this role.

The name of the school must be clearly distinguishable from existing ones and must not give rise to deception.

The designations Schule für Bergsteiger (‘School for Mountaineers’), Schule für Canyoning (‘School for Canyoning’), Schule für Sportklettern (‘School for Sport Climbing’) and Schule für Wandern (‘School for Hiking’) are reserved for schools authorised under the Mountain Guides Act.
Other designations referring to the teaching of skills and knowledge in mountaineering, canyoning, sport climbing or mountain hiking are also reserved for authorised schools.

Personal data is processed in order to handle your case and/or conduct proceedings. Information on data processing and your rights as a data subject can be found in the form.

Amt der Vorarlberger Landesregierung; Amtsstelle Sportreferat [Office of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government, Sports Department]

An electronic or handwritten signature is not required for applications.

An appeal against a decision of the Provincial Government may be filed with the Provincial Administrative Court. The appeal must specify the contested decision and the authority that issued it. It must contain a request and set out the grounds on which the allegation of unlawfulness is based.

The appeal must be filed in writing with the competent Provincial Government within four weeks from the date of service of the decision and must contain information that makes it possible to assess its timeliness. The appeal may be filed electronically. Appeals in administrative proceedings. 

EAP Vorarlberg 

Amt der Vorarlberger Landesregierung
Römerstraße 15
6900 Bregenz

16.10.2019