Geoff Lodge – Strength of Character Scholarship Recipient

  “Crampons on.”  “Axes out.”   “Here, snap into this loop for me.”  The first day of the Advanced Alpine Guides Course in the North Cascades is off and running!  Its my lead as we step onto the Eldorado Glacier.  I make the call as to how I want to protect the opening moves.  Five experienced […]

Erin Smart – 2016 Julie Cheney Culberson Educational Fund Recipient

I thank the AMGA and the Julie Cheney Culberson for helping me realize my decade long dream of becoming an IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide. The alpine exam I just took, with the help of the memorial fund allowed me to realize this dream. I began the AMGA process in 2010, with the Ski Guide Course. I […]

Geoff Schellens – 2016 Millet Scholarship Recipient

The bulk of the Advanced Alpine Guide Course / AE is an upper level alpine guide course with a few days of examination to achieve Aspirant status.  The focus is to push aspiring alpine guides on long difficult objectives with a variety of terrain and route finding challenges.  On September 7th the course started and […]

Lindsey Hamm – 2016 Gore-Tex Scholarship Recipient

On June 14, 2016 I participated in the Alpine Guide Course in Bishop, California with the American Mountain Guide Association. In 2015, I applied for a scholarship through the AMGA, hoping one of the sponsors would pick me so I could participate in this amazing guide course, and GORE-TEX North America picked me! We started […]

Kate McHugh – 2016 Patagonia Scholarship Recipient

What is the role of a rock guide?  Some may look at our industry and say that a guide must climb efficiently, never get the ropes tangled, and look sharp (thanks to Patagonia for the scholarship to take this course). While those things are true, there is so much more that builds the foundation for […]

Brandon Phillips – 2016 Aspiring Young Guides Scholarship Recipient

I am a believer in the idea that an experience can change someone’s life.  I choose to believe this because it happened to me.  I tied in for the first time at age 22 and on that day my life changed. When I reflect upon it, it’s probably a pretty common story for most people […]

2016 Walker Family Foundation Scholarship Recipient – Jeff Witt

My first vision of becoming a mountain guide occurred in 1999, when I passed through the Tetons and took an Alpine Guiding Course from Exum Mountain Guides.  At the time, I was an aspiring rock and alpine climber that wanted to learn how to move faster on technical terrain.  It was impressive how the Exum […]

2016 Outdoor Research Scholarship Recipient – Viren Perumal

It is ironic that as a 17 year-old east Indian kid that was born in Thailand and grew up and went to high school in Tennessee would find a passion for ice climbing in the Canadian rockies.  This was my story and as unlikely as the start to my ice climbing story was all the […]

2016 Mike Hattrup Scholarship Recipient – Mike Abbey

It’s April 23, 2016 and I’m on a helicopter flying into the Selkirk Lodge in British Columbia. It’s a beautiful spring day. The sun is out, and we’ll have great views of the ski terrain on the way in. Today is Day 1 of the 2016 AMGA Ski Guide Exam. I am confident that it […]

Azissa Singh – 2016 Arc’teryx Scholarship Recipient

A month ago I had never been to Southern California. To Joshua Tree. To the Wonderland of Rocks. In the flaring, insecure chimney of “Right On.” On the unlikely, hollow crimps of “Walk on the Wild Side.” On the inspiring, exposed “Southwest Arête.” Just a month ago I was anxiously awaiting an AMGA Rock Guide […]