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Guide Qualifications

Moun­tain Mad­ness hires guides pro­fi­cient in all dis­ci­plines of moun­tain trav­el — ski­ing, rock and ice climb­ing, moun­taineer­ing, trekking, and avalanche edu­ca­tion. We require pro­fes­sion­al­ism and strict adher­ence to our guide­lines in rela­tion to risk man­age­ment, client care, and per­mit require­ments set forth by the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment and any inter­na­tion­al organizations/​governments with whom we work. In addi­tion to tech­ni­cal exper­tise, the per­son­al­i­ty of the can­di­date and their abil­i­ty to teach and com­mu­ni­cate with clients, will have an essen­tial role in the selec­tion process.

Moun­tain Mad­ness is accred­it­ed by the Amer­i­can Moun­tain Guides Asso­ci­a­tion there­fore pri­or and con­tin­u­ous train­ing through the AMGA guide pro­gram is high­ly desired and encouraged. 

All field staff must also have a cur­rent Wilder­ness First Respon­der cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, Leave No Trace train­ing and pre­vi­ous expe­ri­ence with the ter­rain in which they would be oper­at­ing. All guides must demon­strate com­pe­tence, judg­ment, prop­er risk man­age­ment (in addi­tion to the con­di­tions laid out above) to be con­sid­ered as a lead guide. 

Can­di­dates should be able to demon­strate suf­fi­cient phys­i­cal reserves to be able to assist clients and deal with phys­i­cal­ly demand­ing emer­gen­cies. Can­di­dates should be able to cope with the psy­cho­log­i­cal stress of liv­ing and work­ing in poten­tial­ly high risk sit­u­a­tions. They must be able to deal with emer­gen­cies in a calm and capa­ble man­ner. Can­di­dates must be able to impro­vise in unusu­al sit­u­a­tions. They must have expe­ri­ence in the selec­tion of appro­pri­ate routes and ter­rain result­ing in expe­ri­ences that are reward­ing, but with­in the tech­ni­cal, phys­i­o­log­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal capa­bil­i­ties of the clients. Can­di­dates must be able to estab­lish a pace where­by the client’s capa­bil­i­ties are not overex­tend­ed. They must have con­trol over trip tim­ing to ensure min­i­miza­tion of objec­tive risk. Guides must exhib­it aware­ness of, and empa­thy for, clients and their needs at all times. Guides must estab­lish firm but cour­te­ous con­trol by means of exam­ple, inspi­ra­tion, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Can­di­dates must be able to care for their clients in all aspects of moun­tain liv­ing and traveling.

Poten­tial guide can­di­dates must sub­mit a per­son­al climb­ing resume doc­u­ment­ing their climb­ing and teach­ing expe­ri­ence and edu­ca­tion­al back­ground. Alpine guide can­di­dates should high­light their moun­taineer­ing expe­ri­ence on longer, diverse routes on rock, alpine ice, frozen water­falls, glac­i­er trav­el, and high alti­tude expe­di­tions. Rock guide can­di­dates should high­light their lead­ing expe­ri­ence on mul­ti-pitch rock routes show­ing a diver­si­ty of route types and style, and with an empha­sis on routes grade III or longer. Ski moun­taineer­ing guide can­di­dates should high­light their ski tour­ing expe­ri­ence, ski moun­taineer­ing expe­ri­ence involv­ing ascent and descent, and expe­ri­ence on mul­ti-day tra­vers­es. All can­di­dates are also encour­aged to high­light avalanche edu­ca­tion train­ing and any pro­fes­sion­al lev­el guide train­ing with the AMGA, ACMG, or UIAGM/IFMGA coun­tries with estab­lished guide train­ing programs.

Resume Submission Instructions

Please send an email to info@​mountainmadness.​com with the following:

Your top 10 Alpine climbs, 10 Rock climbs, and 10 Ski descents and / or Traverses.

Sep­a­rate­ly attach your job resume, tech­ni­cal climb­ing resume, and a resume of any pro­fes­sion­al guiding/​instruction you’ve done. A cov­er let­ter is appre­ci­at­ed, as well.

Thanks and we look for­ward to meet­ing you!

The Guid­ing Life

If you’re look­ing to hear from oth­ers about the guid­ing life as a BIPOC check out this video with MM North Amer­i­ca Pro­gram Direc­tor Jaime Pol­litte and MM guide and train­er Joshua Jarrin.