| How to Choose a Guide or Guide Service | |
| on this page: who
is your guide? See also: |
There are a number of things you should consider in choosing a guide or guide service. Click on a topic on the left to go to the discussion. Or you can read the whole thing from top to bottom. For more information on how to choose a guide, see the information posted by: American Mountain Guides Association |
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This is a central question to which you should try to get an answer before you sign up for a trip. Even if you don't know any of the guides in a particular guide service, most of these services publish, as part of their advertising, a list of their guides, stating such things as years of experience, guiding credentials and other potentially useful information. Ask the guide service who your guide will be, and to send you a list of guides if the service publishes one (most do). When you contact a guide service about a trip, be sure to ask who is likely to be your guide. Because of scheduling constraints and sign-up uncertainties, they may have a tough time answering your question. The staff of most guide services include a range of experience and qualification levels among their guides. In order to avoid getting the least experienced or uncertified guides, for your own peace of mind, you should press for an answer to your question. Reading the published material describing staff may not tell you who is best. Read the section down below on Qualifications and Training for more information. If you know you would like a specific guide, - perhaps you have heard good things about a particular guide or maybe you had a great previous trip with that guide - request him or her. Make every effort to convince whoever does the scheduling to guarantee your guide of choice. If you have a favorite guide, but that guide is not available, ask for a recommendation for another name. Ask your favorite guide, or someone else you trust. Someone with whom you have developed a personal relationship is more likely to keep your interests at heart in making a recommendation. Be suspicious if they can't recommend you to someone else, ask why. In some cases there may be no one else whom the guide can honestly recommend. Most good guides have good relationships with their competitors. If they recommend you to a competitor, that speaks well of both the guide doing the recommending and of the competitor.
It may be surprising, but in the United States climbing guides don't need any type of official guide training or certification to guide. Most guide services require first aid training but only a very few (and they are not any of the big ones) require their guides to be certified by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). In the US the AMGA is the only guides association whose guide training and certification programs are recognized internationally by the UIAGM (IFMGA, International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations). The AMGA offers a number of different types of certifications, but of most interest to potential clients are the certifications in the disciplines of Alpine, Rock and Ski guiding. Those guides who are certified at the highest level in all 3 disciplines are awarded the internationally recognized credential of UIAGM / IFMGA Mountain Guide. As of June 2008 there are only 50 guides who have been IFMGA internationally certified by the AMGA–Kathy and Mark are 2 of these guides. There are about 1750 IFMGA Mountain Guides in the French guides association, the Syndicat National des guide de Montagne (SNGM) . The AMGA has a listing at the AMGA web site as does the SNGM. Getting AMGA or SNGM certified is no easy task. It takes dedication, training and a strong commitment to the career of guiding. Guides must be trained in several disciplines:
In the AMGA the Rock discipline is broken down into Certified Rock Instructor (shorter routes up to grade III in length) and Certified Rock Guide (routes of any length). Ski Guiding is broken down into Ski Guide (does not include examination in glaciated terrain) and Ski Mountaineering Guide (does include glaciated terrain). Try to find a guide who is certified in the discipline appropriate for the trip you're planning. You'll want an Alpine Certified guide for your ascent of Denali, not a rock guide, and you will want a Ski Mountaineering Guide for that glacier ski tour in Alaska, not a Ski Guide. In the SNGM things are a bit simpler – there are Mountain Guides and Aspirant Guides. Some guides also have training in Canyoning, but most work the alpine world, both in summer and winter. The AMGA has been certifying guides for about 15 years. Since it began, certification has remained controversial and not universally supported. Without going into the reasons for this I think it is important to say that there are many excellent guides who are not yet certified. If you can't hire a certified guide, the question you must answer is "how do I determine who these good non-certified guides are?" Recommendations from those you trust are really the best way. For years many American guides have, in essence, trained themselves to guide. Because they came from a recreational climbing background they have tended to try to use recreational climbing techniques as guiding techniques. Overseas and in Canada, in countries with a more formal guide training system, guides devised and perfected additional techniques and skills specific to guiding, not recreational climbing. Only recently have many American guides begun to learn and implement some of these useful techniques. This is the stuff of the AMGA's guide training programs. And these are the skills that a guide who has received formal training in guiding will demonstrate. In the US there are only a handful of places where guides can get this training. The biggest provider is certainly the AMGA. But a few other services are including in-house training in these techniques. My advice is to seek a guide who you know to have received specific and formal training in being a guide, preferably through an internationally recognized IFMGA-member mountain guides association. Look for a guide who has passed that association's certification exam(s). Be sure that they are trained and assessed in the basic discipline of your planned activity, either Rock, Alpine or Ski. If you can't find such a guide (look in the SNGM or AMGA web sites), then go with a good recommendation from a trustworthy source.
CLIMBER to GUIDE RATIO With few exceptions you should go with the lowest client to guide ratio you can afford. A low ratio (a small number of clients per guide) offers several extremely important advantages. First, is safety. In mountainous terrain a small team moves much faster, avoiding all the bad things you like to avoid, like afternoon thunderstorms, nightfall, exposure to objective hazards, icefall, rockfall, avalanches, hypothermia and others unpleasantness. Mountaineering and guiding history is littered with stories of large rope teams falling together. Whymper's tragic climb of the Matterhorn where 4 out of 7 climbers roped together fell to their deaths is a classic example. Whymper and the Taugwalders were spared only because the rope broke! Today, local guides (and us as well) will only take one client per guide up this peak. On easy glaciated peaks or technically easy climbs, larger groups may be desirable. These groups offer greater social interaction and the increased party size can give strength to a rescue or other potential problem. But don't confuse party size with guide to client ratio. Even in a large group, try to go with a low ratio. Two guides with four climbers is a much stronger and flexible group then one guide with five climbers. Unfortunately, many guides and guide services go for the extra dollars or the more competitive pricing that trips with high ratios can produce, sacrificing safety or the quality of the experience in the process. A large roped party, traveling on exposed terrain, is exposed to the clumsiness of its weakest member. A good guide with fewer people on his or her rope will have at their disposal more, and more effective, methods of protecting the party. Large parties sometimes use running belays (the entire rope is moving, with the leader occasionally placing anchors through which all team members successively clip) on moderate but exposed terrain. This is a common practice on long snow slopes. In my opinion, this is often a red flag indicating that the party may too large for the objective. An entire falling rope team puts incredible stresses on the one or two anchors holding it to the mountainside. Often these anchors are snow pickets or other types of snow anchors which are dubious at best. Besides, who wants to be pulled off the mountain by the guy behind you, even if it is only a short fall? Speed and a greater range of available techniques the guide can employ are what makes the small ratio safer than the large. Small teams generally move faster than large teams. This means you spend less time waiting for others, stay warmer, and have more time to spare at the end of the day, relishing your accomplishments. Small teams offer greater odds of successfully reaching the summit or completing a tour. A team is only as strong or as fast as its weakest member. The larger the size of the team the greater the odds of someone keeping you back. Stack the odds in your favor and insist on a low ratio. Small teams also have more inherent flexibility to accommodate adjustments in team composition. Compare a group with 2 guides and 4 clients to another group with 2 guides and 6 clients. If one of the climbers is ill or simply doesn't have the strength, will or desire to continue, with the 2:1 ratio one guide can take the healthy client, in addition to his or her other clients, on his or her rope and continue to the summit while the other guide heads down with the single client. In the 1:3 ratio, however, the guide going on to the summit may be unable to accommodate the healthy clients from the other rope. In this situation one or perhaps two perfectly capable climbers will be unable to summit because the higher ratios lacked the flexibility to adjust. Smaller ratios generally offer greater rates of summit success. In instructional settings, courses with a low client to guide ratio give each participant greater personal attention. When shopping for a trip always inquire what the maximum client to guide ratio will be. In general, technical climbs should have a maximum ratio of 2:1, and climbs with a great degree of exposed 3rd and 4th class terrain, such as the Matterhorn or the Eiger should be done at a 1:1 ratio. Low angle glacier climbs can be done at higher ratios, but more than 4 or 5 people (including the guide) on one rope can be a frustrating experience for everyone. 1 or 2 climbers with 1 guide is a good number of a glacier climb.
CERTIFICATION, ACCREDITATION, the IFMGA, the SNGM & the AMGA There are a number of different credentials you might come across in your search for a guide or guide service in North America. First, a few definitions. The International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA) and the Union International des Associations de Guides de Montagne (UIAGM) are one and the same, the former merely being the English translation of the latter. As the name would suggest the IFMGA is a federation of member guide associations. There are 21 different member countries, including; Argentina, Bolivia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy (Italy has 3 different associations), Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Additionally, Chile, Ecuador and Nepal are candidate countries hoping to join the Federation in the near future. In November 1997 the US became a fully qualified member of the IFMGA. The 21 member countries of the IFMGA all have agreed to recognize the training and certification programs of the other member countries. In so doing they try to offer to one another reciprocal rights of access to guides. It is because of the IFMGA that guides certified by the member associations can ply their trade with a minimum of red tape in other member counties. All member associations have guide training programs which have been inspected and approved by the Technical Commission of the IFMGA. These training and assessment programs produce guides who are called IFMGA (or UIAGM) Mountain Guides. If you ever travel to IFMGA countries you might see the guides with the little pewter and blue IFMGA guides pins.
The training and certification exams of the American Mountain Guides Association have been completely inspected by the IFMGA to be sure that the standard for certification is at the international level. In the Spring of 1997 the final observation of the AMGA Ski Guides Program was completed. All of the AMGA's training programs and exams have been determined by the IFMGA to meet the international standards of the IFMGA. In nearly all IFMGA countries, guides must be certified IFMGA Mountain Guides , or certified Aspirant guides operating under supervision, to legally guide commercially. More on how this impacts American guides below. Accreditation verses Certification The American Mountain Guides Association offers two different credentials for guides and guide services. Guide services get Accredited, and individual guides get Certified. Certification is considered to be a much more rigorous standard. For example, to become Alpine certified a guide must pass a 10-day field exam, conducted in a variety of terrain types, from alpine rock to glacier and ice routes. Pass rate for candidates is about 60 to 70%. In addition, guides normally take one or more guides training courses to prepare for the exam, which can be physically and mentally quite taxing. By the time the guide has completed all the various training courses and exams, the first aid requirement and the required avalanche training, he or she has had about 40 to 50 days worth of training and examination. And that's only for the Alpine guiding discipline. To include Rock and Ski certification adds another 25 to 30 days of training/exam for each discipline. As you can see its a huge investment of time and money. Accreditation is a very different AMGA program that involves a review of a company's administrative aspects and a brief review of infield practices. Normally the review is conducted over 2 days, one day in the office and one day observing a course or climb in the field. In the words of the AMGA;
We feel that Accreditation is too low a standard for guides. While it will indicate that the necessary permits, insurance and operations manuals are in place, it says little about the quality of the guiding, or the qualification of the guiding staff. Accredited guide services are also permitted to display the AMGA logo but they must also use the word "Accredited".
American guides who have received their AMGA certification in all three disciplines of Ski Mountaineering, Alpine and Rock guiding are qualified as IFMGA Mountain Guides, and have gained the access rights accorded to IFMGA Mountain Guides internationally. In your search for a guide it is worth having a good understanding of these various credentials. Some guides will claim that guides training and examination is all a bunch of nonsense, but you should draw your own conclusions. If I were shopping for a guide for a planned climbing or back country skiing trip in the USA, I would first look for an IFMGA Mountain guide. If I could not find one then, if necessary, I'd find a certified guide who perhaps is not IMFGA certified but is at least AMGA certified in the terrain type for the trip I'm planning. Look for the logo (below) of the American Mountain Guides Association with the word CERTIFIED. In the US only AMGA certified guides, accredited schools and supporting (financially) members are legally permitted to use the logo, and they must display the necessary explanatory text, such as Certified, Accredited, or Supporting. If you are planning a trip to a UIAGM member country including all of the Alpine countries in Europe, Canada, New Zealand or Peru, you should seek out a UIAGM (IFMGA) Mountain Guide to be sure of the legality of their commercial operation there.
Local experience is, and always will be, a valuable asset to a guide. This is true on both rock climbs, where micro-routefinding and a knowledge of what's around the corner can be useful, and on snow or ice climbs where changing conditions may dictate choice of route or peak. A good guide can, however, do an excellent job even on a climb or a peak to which he's never been before. He will do his homework, learning all he can about the climb prior to going, consulting with other guides, and he will stack the odds in his favor by doing such things as climbing at a low client to guide ratio, which gives him more security and flexibility. If you are climbing with a guide who is "guiding blind" as it is often called, you'll want to be sure that guide was conscientious enough to prepare as best he could, and that he has a large "bag of tricks" to help him deal with situations as they may arise. Formal guides training courses are the best way to learn these techniques. If your guide has been well trained, he or she should have no problem. Some clients prefer to go to locations to which their guide has never been. They like to watch the guide's thinking in action, and they know that the guide is also enjoying the discovery of a new (to them) route. If your guide is willing to share his decisions with you as the ascent progresses, this can be very educational. Most good guides enjoy guiding blind, as it challenges them and keeps their thinking focused. Just as you might enjoy completing a climb in good style and time, a quality guide also enjoys a guiding job well done. Even though local knowledge can be a real asset, more important are the quality, competence and conscientiousness of your guide.
Consider additional ancillary costs. Some guide services include just about everything you could imagine in their trip fees, others, precious little. It's hard to know what specific things to ask about. Generally a good sign, however, is if the guide service can give you definitive answers to any of your questions regarding what is covered. The more you ask around the better sense you'll get. Yet another consideration is what equipment is supplied with the trip. Most guide services can rent you gear if you need it, but the price varies greatly from guide service to guide service. Other, more generous services, will lend you gear you might need, though these are rare indeed. The quality of accommodation both in tents and hotels that a guide service offers can greatly affect the cost of the trip. The star system for comparing hotels is a good indicator of the type of lodging you'll be using. If the cost of lodging is included in the trip you might want to ask about these things. Porters or animal handlers, generally not too expensive to hire and feed, can also add up if there are many of them or they are with you for much of your trip.
Most guides and guide services use good equipment. It is one area that is plainly apparent to the clientele and makes a big and early impression. Technical climbing gear is built with a fair degree of extra strength and even old and well used equipment can be generally safe. Misuse is by far a greater hazard than failure due to age. There are, however, a few things you might do well pay attention to. Tents can be critically important on expeditionary climbs, especially those which experience a lot of wind, like Aconcagua or virtually any 8000 meter peak. Also heavy snow loads of the type often encountered on Denali can test your tents to their limit. Many expeditions have ended with the destruction of their tents in a storm. A good guide or operator will supply you with high quality and generally newer tents. Tents are probably the biggest equipment expense for many expeditionary climbs. They are expensive, damaged easily and normally require frequent replacement. A company that turns over their pool of tents on a regular basis shows you that they are making an investment in your safety and the success of your climb. Another item your guide should perhaps carry is some form of communication with the outside world. Normally this consists of a radio or cellular telephone. In most of North America, Europe and much of South America these items can be life saving. On climbs at a very high altitude (7000 meters or more) at least large parties should have a hyperbaric chamber such as a Gamow bag available in base camp. These chambers are used to treat life threatening altitude illness. In some areas, like Ecuador and much of Peru, an evacuation to lower altitude via car is a reasonable substitute. One final comment about equipment. Nobody likes to carry more weight than is necessary. On most climbs, extra weight is actually a hazard, excessively tiring climbers, even increasing the likelihood of falling. A good guide will be sure you do not carry more than is necessary and that your equipment selection is appropriate for the task. A good guide service is happy to hire local help, porters or beasts of burden, to aid in your ascent.
PERMITS, LEGALITY and INSURANCE In most parts of the US, and, in fact, in most parts of the world, permission of some form or another is required to guide commercially. In nearly all federally managed lands in the US, guides must either obtain use permits for their company or become an employee or subcontractor for another company holding a permit. This can be major problem to visiting guides or guides who want to travel outside their home area. In some areas there are either bureaucratic obstacles to working as an employee or the permit holding guide service will not allow visiting guides to use their permits. As you can imagine, with these challenges to guides there is a fair amount of illegal guiding done. Even many of the larger guide services "bend the rules" and operate illegally. You can sometimes see this when they instruct in downhill ski areas (areas where they don't always have permission to operate) and occasionally when they stray into a land management unit in which they have no permission to operate. There is also a great amount of illegal guiding conducted by American guides and guide services outside the US. Most IFMGA countries have regulations limiting the right to guide to either IFMGA Mountain Guides or to aspirant guides operating under their supervision. American guides who have attained IFMGA Mountain Guide status can legally operate in IFMGA member countries. Also, American guides can legally operate under the direct supervision of IFMGA guides so long as the American guide is AMGA certified in the discipline appropriate to type of terrain on which he or she is guiding. Many American guides and guide services choose to ignore the IFMGA rules or to bend the definition of "operating under supervision". Ask to see their international "carnet" or identity card. It must display the IFMGA logo. These cards are updated annually, with a small dated sticker, and issued only to IFMGA Mountain Guides. See example. You should be aware that in many cases, where your guide is not complying to the letter of the law, you and your guide may be detained or denied access to your desired climbing goal. Furthermore, the guide's or guides service's liability insurance may not cover him and your options in the event of gross negligence on the part of the guide may be further limited. If you are not sure of whether or not you guide or guide service has the needed permission, ask. You can ask the guide or guide service, hopefully they will give you an honest answer or, you may ask the land manager for that particular area. In most areas, guides are required to carry liability insurance. The insurance may protect the guide, and indirectly, the client as well, in the event of an accident in which the guide is found to be negligent. There is a general consensus among IFMGA member countries that this is a moral obligation if not a legal one. The guide's associations of the main Alpine members of the IFMGA, such as France, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria, purchase good insurance for their members (participation is obligatory) that covers their members round the world. But in the US, things are not so organized. Insurance is quite expensive there, and its quality is never really known until it is tested by an actual court case. If you are concerned that your guide have effective liability insurance, you should ask who the carrier is as well as the amount of the insurance. However, it is worth pointing out that we believe it is much more important that your guide be well trained and certified, than that he have insurance to cover his mistakes. All images, layout and text ©2004 Cosley & Houston Alpine Guides, All Rights Reserved |
