When I started my own guide company in 2022, I had a few ideas that could “upgrade” the guided backcountry experience. Some of these include themed treks, more women-specific trips, and custom training and coach support to give clients the best chance of success on their trips.
The other issue I set out to tackle is even more important: changing the expectation of guide industry compensation.
While a guide’s pay rate may seem reasonable to some, in my experience, guiding has become a promising career path that is extremely overlooked and underpaid—especially since the outdoor recreation boom during the pandemic.
A Quick Breakdown Of A Guide’s Responsibilities
Guides must correctly carry out proper mentorship and safety protocols in the backcountry (and front country!). This type of career requires years of training, often in grueling conditions while carrying heavy weight (sometimes exceeding 80lbs). It involves endless tasks like cooking and staying up all hours of the night in below-freezing temperatures to melt snow for water. Guides also expose themselves to high risk in the mountains with inexperienced people to care for and keep safe.
To work safely in the mountains, guides must spend many years dedicating themselves to the physical and mental stressors of the job. Here’s some of what the job involves:
- Exposure to significant object and weather hazards, as well as overuse injuries from continuous heavy loads and physical labor. There have been times where I’ve had to carry my clients pack strapped to mine for multiple days!
- Spending an average of 4-6 hours per day cooking meals for the group, setting up/breaking down camp, filtering water, etc.
- Providing instruction on survival and backcountry travel skills and navigation.
- In the case of an emergency, all medical and evacuation procedures fall upon your guide. In the High Sierra, for example, even with a satellite communicator, medical evacuation in the backcountry often takes 12-48 hours. Your guides are trained as Wilderness First Responders to do everything possible to stabilize injuries and illnesses in remote locations.
- Despite popular belief, even though guides spend their days outside in the fresh mountain air, chances are, they are guiding the same 3-5 routes/trails and are often stuck in a repetitive cycle of what they guide.
The AMGA Standard in the USA is Changing
The AMGA (American Mountain Guide Association) is the gold standard for mountain guide certifications in the United States. In Europe and many other countries, guide companies require certifications in the specific field they are guiding. Because of this, most schools abroad have programs that allow students to use student loans to fund their courses and support their career and formal education in guiding.
However, in the U.S., many guide companies still operate under an apprenticeship format instead of formal instruction. Each AMGA course and exam costs $5,000-$10,000 and requires many years of building a detailed climbing resume strong enough to (hopefully) get accepted into a course.
As of 2022, any AMGA accredited guide business must have guides who are trained and certified by AMGA. Although you’d be hard pressed to find anyone objecting to the importance of this, making AMGA certifications financially feasible is still an issue. There is currently no way for guides to fund these courses and exams, other than paying out of pocket or taking out high-interest personal loans. (When I was saving for my AMGA courses, I was working up to three jobs at once to cover the course fees!)
This has put an immense amount of stress on guides who have been trained by their employers and have already been guiding for years at a professional level in their fields, to put together funds for these courses or risk losing their jobs.
The First Solution: Increasing Pay
Most guide companies across the country (even in the mountain ranges of California, Colorado & Washington) pay guides a daily rate of $125-$250 per day. Even certified guides usually only make about $50 more than that per day. Keeping in mind a guide’s responsibilities, let’s do a quick breakdown: With 8 hours of sleep (never guaranteed- imagine hiking your client out in the middle of the night due to altitude sickness) at $250 per day, that compensation averages less than minimum wage in California.
As a result, guides rely heavily on tips for compensation, and as many know, tips are not a reliable source of income. (Read more about properly tipping your guide here.)
"
Do you believe the compensation for the responsibilities of a guide should be the same as a cashier at a retail store?"
At TrekSierra, we believe our guides deserve more. Even as a (non-technical) premium backpacking guide service, we have increased pay to well above the industry standard, without increasing our trip cost. We also reimburse employees for gas and driving mileage (which many companies still do not provide).
As more guide companies become aware of the industry pay issues, some are even implementing an AMGA stipend, where owners match a dollar amount per day worked that goes towards AMGA courses.
I became a guide because I believe in the power of mentorship and making a difference in how people experience the outdoors (as so many have done for me!). TrekSierra is continuing to raise awareness about how the guide industry can rise up and take better care of our guides.
Our goal is to hopefully give guides a longer, more financially sustainable career in the field they love. Our guides help clients reach major physical and mental goals, all while keeping our clients safe and (mostly!) comfortable in some of the most beautiful yet remote locations in the country.
Check out some of our experiences here!
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