Do you ever hire guides or instructors?

**old goat** · 07-25-2015, 04:36 PM

My kid is my guide. When we do a trip together he usually skis by himself in the AM and then guides me around to the hardest stuff my ancient bones can handle. He's never steered me wrong. He has a gift that he certainly didn't get from me.

**Flounder** · 07-27-2015, 06:46 AM

Not sure if the question is for real but I'll bite. Only instructors and guides I've hired is for rock climbing. For instructions, I used Alpine Adventures in Keene Valley NY. Hired them because of their overall approach to instruction. RL has a great system for teaching and it was light years ahead of what my climber friends could teach me.

As for just guiding, hired guides twice. Once on a quick trip to Moab when our guide was a young Zack Smith. A few months after the trip he started making big news with his ascents in South America. He got us on a lot of routes in a short amount of time despite dealing with girlfriend issues day. Second guide was when we were in NZ on our honeymoon. Guy was great, had a climbers hostel and did some guiding as well. Got us on some really nice routes that would have been hard to find ourselves. Only downside was his constant commenting on how Mrs Flounder was being held back by my fat ass. Kept telling her she'd be a much better climber than I would ever be and she should climb with better partners for the challenge.

Only reason I see for guides is access to hard to find places or equipment when traveling light. Now with most everything on the Internet, we haven't hired a guide in a decade. Cheaper to pay for the extra bag with the gear. Finding routes can be challenging and we don't get as many climbs in in a day but that's ok, too old to hammer a ton of laps anyways.

**Gepeto** · 07-27-2015, 12:01 PM

Once the decision that a guide is the best way – the crème de la crème guides are home grown. They lived or live within reasonable proximity of the area you are throwing down pretty much all 4 seasons of the year. When you get a local inhabitant like that, a lot of nuance becomes apparent than will otherwise be the case.

You get lucky enough to hook-up with an amica – then everyone is having a good time. The lead dog is into showing you his/her backyard and you’re navigating the terrain with the best intel.

Knowing a good one is easy, finding one is the occasional pearl.

That’s not to say there isn't such a thing as a good seasonal hire guide. Anyone worth their salt in snow knowledge and procedure can make an unsafe snow pack an enjoyable safe one.

I saw (heard) more than 180 avalanches in one week and 120 in another. Both weeks became instant avi field studies for everyone involved. Just lucky enough to have bought into a calendar/storm confluence that created really tough zones. Base was whomphing the moment we got on the flat and just never stopped. You could be a 10 minute dig out for 6 people from a mushroom if you weren’t paying attention. It goes without saying that the experience was life altering, epic-sick to my stomach good time ripping absolute bottomless - because the Field Operation really knew what to do in the given environment.

The aforementioned good time is always offset by the trip made up of boney, old, shark infested, translucent blue concrete imbedded root skiing. And when you’re unlucky enough to be in this type of touph, then it’s just better with the local prideful native.

**k2skier112** · 07-27-2015, 03:34 PM

I'm looking for an instructor to teach me how to masturbate with my left hand so I can keep my right hand on the mouse. Aint sticky keys a bitch...or sticky mices.

**Gepeto** · 07-27-2015, 05:20 PM

.....

**daver** · 07-27-2015, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

I don't hire guides generally because they won't be better backcountry ski travelers than me. They've just gone through the hoops.

Curious what hoops these are? Either putting the time in as a volunteer/intern guide in the area or going through AMGA, what else is there?

**phallic-menace** · 08-01-2015, 07:44 AM

Whenever I start feeling good about my sking I hire an instructor. The first chair ride up as they introduce themselves really puts me in my place as they tell me about their spancers and the time they were on the circuit.