A life of skiing leads Erin Smart to the Ski Mountaineering Exam

Erin Smart received the Chad Vander Ham Memorial Fund The Ski Mountaineering Exam was the culmination of the last several years of my AMGA ski guide training, and the last 25 years of my life growing up as a skier. My education as a skier and a mountain guide has been varied and engaging, and […]

Durability is the Key to Success (in mountain guiding & in life)

By Kyle Lefkoff “Contestants must be present to collect their prize money” – Peter A. Roshko, Venture Capitalist Peter and I took a ski tour in Zermatt in 2011 with our Swiss partners, Dominik Meyer and Uli Geilinger. Zermatt is the birthplace of mountain guiding, and we were privileged to have as our guide Hermann […]

A Note of Appreciation: Millet Scholarship Recipient Tracy Martin

THANK YOU MILLET for your financial  generosity  in supporting  my journey deeper into the world of rock guiding. It is a fun journey full of learning, believing and little accomplishments that add up to be something pretty amazing. I was introduced  to rock climbing  over 20 years ago and every since then I have been […]

Some New Names for AMGA Programs

Over the coming months you will probably notice some slight changes to some of our program names. We have created some new names for some AMGA programs. In the case of the rock discipline we are bringing back the name Advanced Rock Guide Course & Aspirant Exam. And in the ski discipline we are dropping […]

What Stuck Ropes Taught Me About Guiding

Derek Debruin received the Mountain Hardwear Scholarship, which paid for his Rock Guide Course/AE I watched the end of the green rope where it dangled a few feet below us.  It moved in steady jolts away from us, heading down the wall, sometimes spasmodically, sometimes slithering.  As it jumped and whipped along the rock, it […]

High Altitude Symposium Highlight of AMGA Annual Meeting for Many

At this year’s Annual Meeting, the AMGA took the educational opportunities they offer to guides to the next level by organizing and hosting a one-day seminar on advanced mountain medicine for guides. Called the Advanced Mountain Medicine for Guides, it brought together experts in the medical industry with an audience of professional high altitude and […]

OR Scholarship Recipient Ron Funderburke on His Alpine Guide Course

I left home on June 5th to attend the AMGA Alpine Guides Course. On June 5th, I went to Burke’s graduation (his son), and once I said goodbye, with some sadness, I had to drive to Charlotte to catch my flight.  I caught up with Derek in Chicago, and we flew to Jackson, Wyo., together.  […]

Government Shutdown & Access

By Scott Massey, AMGA Outreach & Advocacy Director Well, here’s the first Advocacy blog on the new site, and it’s a doozie.  It goes under the title of GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Assess the Impacts that Congress’ Inability to Make Compromises Have on Me (and by me, I mean […]

Receiving the 2013 Julie Cheney Culberson Educational Fund

By Lisa Van Sciver I began this year’s guiding season with AMGA’s Rock Instructor Course. This course offered me 10 days of learning and working with others to enhance my guiding skills.The instructors offered a wealth of knowledge and constantly looked for opportunities to give us new skills. During my five years of guiding this […]