Yoga for Guides, Part II: Meditation

By Richard Parker, Rock Instructor & Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor In the first article (Yoga for Guides, Part I), I discussed some of the areas of the body that take a beating from guiding and some of the poses used to address them. This piece focuses on breathing techniques and meditation. The third in this […]

Nate McKenzie on the takeaways from his 1st AMGA Course

Photos, video, & text by Black Diamond Scholarship winner Nate McKenzie. Read more about Nate in the latest issue of the GUIDE Bulletin. It feels like the beginning of a long journey. Looking ahead at the courses, certifications, tuition, and exams required to become a fully-certified AMGA Mountain Guide is daunting. Or at least it […]

Congrats Dan Starr, American Mountain Guide

Dan Starr began guiding in 2002, and has since climbed throughout the North Cascades, the Alaska Range, on Mount Rainier, in the Khumbu region of Nepal, the Teton Range, and many other national and international ranges. With a background in ski patrolling at Jackson Hole, significant avalanche expertise (he taught at the American Avalanche Institute), […]

Editor’s Corner: Honoring Our Fallen Guides, 2014

By Betsy Winter, AMGA Executive Director In an effort to honor the lives of our fallen guides, we will be including personal stories by the friends and colleagues of these fallen guides on the blog and in the GUIDE Bulletin. 2014 was a particularly difficult one for the guiding world; we lost six people—Eitan Shalom […]

Patagonia’s Nano-Air Hoody: The Leave It On Jacket

Our trusty gear tester and newly pinned American Mountain Guide/IFMGA Guide, Rob Coppolillo, recently submitted this review on Patagonia’s Nano-Air™ Hoody, which he tested over a few weeks in Boulder, Colorado, while guiding, climbing, cycling, chasing kids, teaching a self-rescue course, and just “during the madness of everyday life.” AMGA: What makes this piece ideal […]

Congrats New American Mountain Guide Mike Arnold

Congratulations American Mountain Guide Mike Arnold! Arnold first started the AMGA process February 2010. He took his first Ski Guide Course at Snoqualmie Pass, Wash. Nearly four years later on September 25, 2014, after just after turning 27, he finished The AMGA Programs to receive his American Mountain Guide/IFMGA certification. “It was one of the […]

Geoff Unger Reviews Osprey’s Rev 12 Backpack

American Mountain Guide/IFMGA Guide Geoff Unger tested Osprey’s Rev 12 Backpack while preparing to teach and while teaching an Alpine Guide Exam in Leavenworth and the Cascades, Washington. He found the pack to be functional and durable.

American Mountain Guide/IFMGA Guide Geoff Unger tested Osprey’s Rev 12 Backpack while preparing to teach and while teaching an Alpine Guide Exam in Leavenworth and the Cascades, Washington. He found the pack to be functional, yet more appropriate as a trail running backpack or a hiking pack. AMGA: What makes this piece good for climbing/ice climbing? […]

New American Mountain Guide: Rob Coppolillo

Mike Arnold and Rob Coppolillo

Text & photo by Editorial Staff (Mike Arnold on the left, Rob on the Right) One of our favorite gear testers and excellent writer Rob Coppolillo became an American Mountain Guide September 2014, after starting the process in January 2007 with his Ski Guide Course. We chatted with him about his perspective on the process. […]

Dylan Taylor Reviews the Guide 10+ Adventure Kit Solar Charger

Goal Zero Review

Dylan Taylor, American Mountain Guide/IFMGA Guide, tested the Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit Solar Charger (including the Nomad 7 charger) over the course of seven days in the North Cascades while teaching an Alpine Guide Course/Alpine Guide Exam. He has also used this kit on various extends trips, including an expedition to Afghanistan. AMGA: […]

What’s in a name? A lot when it’s for guide training & certification

By Patrick Ormond, American Mountain Guide/IFMGA Guide Q: How do you know that someone is a guide? A: They’ll tell you. One in a number of (bad) guide jokes, but it’s true, isn’t it? It is a truth we should embrace and actually expand upon when we interact with our guests and the public. The […]