Scott Chapman – 2016 Adidas Scholarship Recipient
My first course with the AMGA was the Rock Guide Course in 2013. At the time it was still called the Rock Instructor Course and the name has since changed. We were schedule to have the course in Joshua Tree, CA but the Government shutdown moved us to Red Rock, NV. I had been guiding predominately on a single pitch level but climbing personally and taking inexperienced friends on multi-pitch routes. At the time of the course I had just moved to the Santa Fe area in New Mexico. I was coming from Texas where I ran an outdoor adventure program. I quickly learned during the course that I had been a bit insulated from the guiding community and culture. I had the climbing skills, but the guiding specific skills and context were new to me. During those ten days I gained a respect for skilled mountains guides; I began to see guiding as a rich craft, and I saw myself as more of an apprentice than a craftsman.
Enrolling for the Advanced Rock Guide Course and Aspirant Exam was intimidating. This course has more of a pass/fail component and I knew I wanted to do well, but it was tough to know exactly how I would measure up. To add to the pressure, I had received a scholarship from ADIDAS so I wanted to hold up my end of the deal. In preparation, I bought six-packs for friends, so they would hang from the cliffs for hours while I practiced the rescue drill, and short roped friends up thousands of feet of 4th class. I might have over extended some relationships. Regardless, I showed up feeling as prepared as I could but still unsure of how I would perform.
Beginning the course I was immediately impressed with the level of instructors. They were excellent at setting expectations while maintaining a learner-oriented mentality. They were great at differentiating between stylistic differences and requirements. All the instructors asked questions to understand my thought process for decisions I made. This let them really give instructive feedback. It is easy for instructors to jump in with feedback before they understand their student, but my instructors were patient so their feedback was more valuable. I really appreciated the level of transparency our instructors offered. On the first day swapping turns in the guide role the guide for our group left his pack at the belay. Half way up the pitch he realized and quickly solved the issue. Our instructor admitted he occasionally forgets his pack or makes other mistakes but the important thing is how you solve the issue. It was helpful to be allowed time to catch and fix mistakes.
In hindsight, a new bar was set for me as a guide because of the level of instructors I had. The value of the course, from my perspective, was the chance to measure myself next to my AMGA instructors. This high instructor to student ratio is by nature an expensive undertaking so I am extremely grateful to ADIDAS for investing in my guiding career. In order to protect and sustain the guiding craft there needs to be a high bar set. I believe AMGA is doing this and I can see that by providing scholarships through the AMGA, ADIDAS is a part of the effort to make guiding a respected craft in the United States.
-Scott Chapman
