New film A Guide’s Book traces Pierre “Pim” Idris Mehdi’s path from wide-eyed beginner to certified guide, revealing the skill, humility and human connection at the heart of life in the Alps.
Mountain guides are a rare breed. The role demands mastery across every type of alpine terrain, from glaciated peaks to steep rock and blue ice, along with a respect for the craft and a commitment to continuous learning. True expertise is earned slowly, through long seasons spent in complex environments, building the judgment and humility that can’t be taught in an online course.
The new film A Guide’s Book peers deeply into that journey. It follows Rab athlete Pierre Idris Mehdi, known as Pim, into the world of guiding in Chamonix, offering a portrait of what it means to live, work and find purpose on one of the world’s most revered alpine stages.
Squamish-based filmmaker Laurent Bilodeau is behind A Guide’s Book. On his first trip to Chamonix several years ago, he was a client of Pim’s. The Canadian was struck not just by the enormity of the peaks but also by the drive and focus of the skiers and alpinists.
He returned year after year, and as the professional relationship between client and guide evolved into a friendship, the concept for the film began to take shape. Rather than producing a standard showcase of mission-based big-mountain skiing and alpinism, Bilodeau set out to explore the life of a mountain guide, immersing the viewer in every aspect of the world.
The premise resonated with Pim, who balances his own alpine pursuits with the responsibilities he carries for his clients. It is clear from the film that Pim sees the two sides of his vocation as profoundly interconnected. “I think it’s super important to keep talking about both sides because they work with each other,” he says in an article published on Rab’s Basecamp Blog. “If you improve your technical skills, you can work more calmly, and you can climb more difficult routes with clients. And the more time you spend with clients, the more in tune you become with the mountain and its obstacles.”
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Twenty-nine-year-old Pim grew up in the south of France, far from the Alps. For his 13th birthday, his parents sent him into the mountains with a guide, an experience that changed everything. “It was that day that I really discovered the mountains, it was the best day of my life,” remembers Pim. “I started sport climbing, then I got into alpinism, and then, steep skiing.”
Growing up far from big mountains only focused his drive. “I think when you grow up far away from the mountains, you find this energy to practice more and more. More so than the guys who grew up in Chamonix and were used to seeing the mountains every day.” After three years of intense training in and around Chamonix, he became a certified guide at 22.
Beyond technical skill, he believes character matters just as much. “To be a good mountain guide, it’s important to like the mountain and to like people,” he says. “You need both. Some guides forget this part of the job, I think.”
More about Pim and the film HERE.
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