AAI Guide Angela Seidling leads a group across a heavily crevassed glacier.
Mountaineering guides have to have the skills to keep larger groups
safe on glaciated terrain. Photo by Alasdair Turner
How Do I Become a Mountain Guide?
This is arguably one of the most common questions that we get from climbers who are just starting out. The short answer is to simply apply for a job with a guide service.
The longer answer is that it takes time and dedication to become a viable candidate for a guiding job. It is a very competitive industry and there are a lot of people out there who want to "live the dream."
The Mountaineering Instructor program was designed specifically to meet the needs of those who would like to work in the mountains as an instructor or a guide. This series of courses provides a climber with a backbone of skills and certifications that they will need in order to become a strong candidate for a position as a mountaineering instructor. Those who received this certification will have a strong resume of climbs that they have completed, level 2 avalanche training, an American Mountain Guides Association certification, and a Leave No Trace certification.
While the guiding industry is a competitive industry, the mountaineering instructor professional training program will give prospective guides a significant advantage. Many of those who have gone through this program are working as guides today.
The AAI Mountaineering Instructor Assessment Process
Courses Required to Receive the Mountaineering Instructor Certificate:
To discuss equivalencies, please feel free to call the AAI office at (360)-671-1505
Five-Day Mountaineering Instructor Assessment
Mountaineering Instructor Candidates will demonstrate the following skills during their assessment:
- Camp Fortification and Selection
- Self-Arrest from a variety of Positions (sitting, standing, on your back, head-first on your stomach)
- Snow and Ice Anchors (including pickets, screws, bollards and deadmen
- Snow and Ice Belay Techniques
- Navigation (map, altimeter, compass and GPS skills)
- White-Out Navigation Techniques
- Route-Finding
- Pace-Setting
- Crevasse Rescue (two person rescue systems, 3:1 Z-pully hauling system, 6:1 C on Z hauling system and the Drop C team assist system)
- Teaching and Instructional Techniques
- Fitness for Guiding
- Professionalism
Mountaineering guides must have the ability to take care of people in extreme environments. Photo by Alasdair Turner
In addition to testing candidates on their mountaineering skills, the assessment will have an educational component. Instructional curriculum will include, but will not be limited to:
- Leave No Trace Techniques - Participants will Receive a Leave No Trace Trainer Certification
- Techniques for Guiding Small Teams on Glaciers (1:1 ratios)
- Techniques for Guiding Large Teams on Glaciers
- Teaching and Instructional Techniques
- Tricks and Techniques to refine Crevasse Rescue
- Expedition Style Guiding
- Use of Fixed Lines on Expeditions
- Expedition Style Camp Fortification
- Summit Strategies
Upon registration, candidates will be provided with a study guide for the assessment.
All candidates who pass the assessment will receive a letter of recommendation from the examiner as well as written comments about what he or she needs do in order to be a viable job candidate in the guiding industry.
Course examiners will be guides with good standing at AAI. All assessors will have a minimum of five years in the field as professional guides and will provide candidates with insight as to what they need to do next in order to get a job in the industry.
Mountaineering Instructor Certificate
The Mountaineering Instructor Certificate that candidates receive after they complete each of the elements will include the following text:
American Alpine Institute
Mountaineering Instructor
The American Alpine Institute certifies that (your name) has completed our mountaineering instructor-training program. This rigorous program requires candidates to complete a thirty-six day alpine climbing program or equivalent, obtain avalanche 2 training, pass an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor exam, obtain Leave No Trace Trainer certification and participate in a five-day mountaineering instructor assessment and training course.
Those who have completed this series are considered to be quality candidates for employment in the guiding field.
The American Alpine Institute's Director and the guide that you worked with during your assessment will sign the certificate.
The Single Pitch Instructor Certification is one of the first steps that a guide must take to work in a rock environment.
In this photo an SPI candidate is completing a counterbalance rappel with AAI Guide Ian McEleney. Photo by Jason Martin
Other Types of Guiding
How Do I Become a Rock Guide?
Some people are not as interested in working in the mountains as they are in working on the rocks. For those people, the best starting point is the AMGA Single Pitch Instructor program. This program will help develop climbers into rock guides at the base level.
Those who wish to guide rock in a multi-pitch environment should first take the Single Pitch Instructor program and then work toward achieving the prerequisites for the next course in the AMGA rock discipline.
The American Alpine Institute employs a number of AMGA Certified Rock Guides that will be able to help prepare climbers for either their Single Pitch Instructor course or their Rock Guides Course.
As with the Mountaineering Instructor program, our guides will work with you on creating a strategy to get a job.
If you are a beginner and would like to become a rock-climbing instructor, the best series of courses to prepare you for a job are as follows:
Many will be able to find a job as an instructor after they receive their Single Pitch Instructor Certificate, but those who want to go on to guide multi-pitch rock should continue with the following courses:
How Do I Become a Ski Guide?
Ski guiding is one of the most competitive fields in the guiding world. In addition to this, the American Mountain Guides Association courses are very difficult. Every guide who wishes to be a ski guide is required to take both AIARE Avalanche 1 and Avalanche 2 classes.
Nearly all skiers - no matter how good they are - will need some additional instruction and pointers before taking an AMGA Ski Guides course. As with Rock Guides, AAI employs a number of highly trained AMGA Certified Ski Guides that will be able to help prospective guides prepare for their courses.
As with both rock and mountaineering, the guide that you work with will provide you with a strategy on how to get a job as a ski guide.
Ski guiding is one of the most competitive types of guiding to get into. All ski guides must have a very high level of
Avalanche skill as well as extremely strong ski skills. Photo by Ben Traxler
The American Alpine Institute and Guide Training
The Institute's staff members have played an important role in the development of the profession of guiding in the United States. They have played key roles in the national guides association, in the climbing industry trade association that has developed public safety and risk awareness programs, in the establishment of the Leave No Trace Program as America's national standard for outdoor ethics and practices, and in Outdoor Industry Association, the trade association of the outdoor industry, which has played a major role in the shaping of national recreation policy and the federal funding of public lands administration.
Staff members have played an important part in the development and administration of America's professional guiding association, the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). AAI's director served as president of the AMGA for six years, another Institute guide served as president for two years, and a former AAI guide for three years.
The American Alpine Institute's guide training program formed the basis of the AMGA's national certification program for alpine guides, and AAI guides have played leadership roles as the designers, instructors, and examiners in the rock, alpine and ski certification courses and exams. AAI guide Michael Powers served as national coordinator of the American Mountain Guides Certification Program for many years. AAI staff members have been leaders in the design and implementation of the National Accreditation Program. AAI's programs have been accredited by the American Mountain Guides Association since 1987 when the accreditation program began.
Over the years our competitors have regularly sought out additional training through AAI with our senior guide staff. Arguably, we have one of the overall best trained staff's in the guiding business.
Wilderness First Responder and CPR Requirements
It should be noted that most companies require a bare minimum of a Wilderness First Responder first aid certificate as well as a current CPR card for employment. There are many companies throughout the United States that provide these on a regular basis throughout the year.
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