While many of us are experiential learners who have developed
their outdoor skills through trial and error over many trips, there are many
benefits from using a professional guide to help you turn your dream adventure
into a reality. While there are certainly numerous reasons to seek professional
guidance to safely “learn the ropes”, I will highlight five of the top reasons
to hire a mountain guide.
1. Local terrain
knowledge.
So you just saved up all your vacation time from the past
year to be able to take a trip to climb a peak in a mountain range you have
never visited. Do you want to spend half of your trip wondering if you are
off-route or inadvertently in dangerous terrain? Snow, glacier conditions and
avalanche conditions change rapidly and dynamically- going with someone who has
intimate knowledge of your route in a variety of conditions will keep you safer
and perhaps more successful.
2. Ability to match
your ability and goals to a trip.
Whether you are a casual climber or hiker who wants to do a
unique and fun trip once a year, or a keen mountain climber looking to develop skill
sets to be more self-reliant, working closely with a professional guide can
help you customize your mountain experience. Guides carefully match the
challenge of a route with the desired outcomes of their guests to deliver the
best education or experiential outcome.
3. Experience in
managing groups in the mountains.
Sure, you just joined a local Meet Up style group that offers
climbing trips. But what kind of qualifications do these trip leaders have, and
how much responsibility do they have for you if something happens? Signing up
for a group trip through a guide service will ensure safe and prudent group
sizes, and attention to risk management so that all participants have their
needs met. Plus, you usually eat a whole lot better on guided trips!
4. Qualifications and
certifications.
Mountain climbing and backcountry adventuring can already be
a dangerous activity, so seek out a guide who has passed formal internationally
recognized exams through the American Mountain Guiding Association (AMGA). The
long and rigorous process to become a certified guide involved not only guiding
exams and professional development courses, but also wilderness medical
training and attention to teaching outdoor-based curriculum.
5. You just want to
get out and hike or climb, but can’t find a partner!
It can be frustrating to have to deal with schedule conflicts,
partners who bail, and friends who just aren’t interested in another one of
your half-cocked trip plans, so hiring a guide can take away a lot of the
stress of planning a trip. Guide services work with your schedule, deal with
the logistics and permits, and get everything lined up so that you get to show
up and have fun without all the hassle of finding an appropriate partner.
