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The Mountain Guide Bureau’s Guide Listing Criteria
This site serves a dual purpose; to help Mountain Guides and Guiding Agencies market their services, and to direct/link potential customers to guides and or guiding companies that meet their criteria and climbing interests. This purposeful combination of fueling both of these elements simultaneously will ultimately, directly or indirectly, foster support and growth for the climbing industry, new approaches in technique, and innovation in climbing equipment.
This services rendered on this webiste is FREE to individual mountain guides who have achieved specific level(s) of certification by a UIAGM member organization, and organized guiding agencies, as well as to the end user (potential clients). The Mountain Guide Bureau is not a placement service, nor a broker of guiding services. This site is a service provided by climbing industry sponsorship, such as BRADLEY ALPINIST, a retail provider of fine equipment suitable for high altitude climbing. In addition, BRADLEY ALPINIST’S suppliers indirectly, by association, make it possible. These suppliers include: Wild Things Gear, Valandre, DMM, SMC , Simond and JULBO.
This site and its sponsors also recognize and support the value of guide certification, and the end user’s (client) benefit of hiring a certified mountain guide. This said, all individual guides listed on the site hold earned certifications through a UIAGM member organization of a certain level of certification curriculum. Certified guides listed on this site are initially verified as current members of their certifying organizations, and current membership with a guide's certifying UIAGM member organization will continue to be an integral part of the criteria to be listed. Individual guides currently listed on this site are assumed to be in good standing with updated memberships with their country's organization. In the United States, The Mountain Guide Bureau, both as a Patron Partner of the AMGA, and in conjunction with a direct working relationship with the AMGA, periodically obtains updated information as to a certified guide's membership status, as well as accredited guiding services.
The Mountain Guide Bureau adheres to the UIAGM/IFMGA member organizations guidlines concerning logo usage and maintaining professional membership. As an example, the AMGA in the United States, requires that their certified guides maintain a current membership for thier certification to be valid. In addition, expired members may not use their certifying orgainzation's logo, insignias of any kind, or advertise him or herself as AMGA certified until their membership is current. No AMGA member shall use the AMGA name or logo in any way that could mislead the general public as to his or her level of certification. The Mountain Guide Bureau, in an act of goodwill and respect for the guidelines/standards of the most recognized authority in mountain guiding, the UIAGM/IFMGA, purposely, and as diligently as possible, endeavors to maintain the integrity of these adopted standards, by listing only those certified guides who hold current memberships with their professional UIAGM organizations.
Guide Agencies or organized entities that provide technically oriented guided climb outings utilizing expertise from a number of experienced individual guides, either curriculum certified or experience certified, are also detailed in this site.
Criteria for Individual Certified Mountain Guides
-Must be certified by an UIAGM / IFMGA member organization
*NOTE: AMGA Top Rope Site Manager and Single Pitch Instructor certfications do qualify if individual is also certified in another AMGA discipline, such as Alpine, Ski, or Ski Mountaineering. See Below explaination.
-Must have functional Email address, and contact phone number
-Current membership status of certifying organization IS NOT required to be listed
*AMGA Certified Top Rope Site Manager and AMGA Certified Single Pitch Rock Instructor Listings Criteria:
The AMGA Certified Top Rope Site Manager and AMGA Certified Single Pitch Rock Instructor Certifications are important, valued, and useful programs in a variety of climbing, and other outdoor recreation applications. We are carefully evaluating these certification classes as a category to list individuals who have achieved one or both of these certification levels, exclusive of other certifications from the AMGA. Because The Mountain Guide Bureau website ( www.HireaMountainGuide.com) is focused on providing a marketing service for individuals who guide clients on outdoor climbing endeavors, as well as providing a guide locator service for clients who wish to hire a guide for a particular climbing objective, this poses a significant grey area in our listing criteria.
No Mountain Guiding Certification of any kind is an end-all definitive representation of one’s continued interest or competence in guiding clients in outdoor climbing situations. For instance, a person could only hold a Top Rope Site Manager Certification, and successfully guide a client to the top of Everest, or not hold a certification of any kind for that matter. At the same time, all other certifications offered by the AMGA, represent a far greater commitment by the individual, including experience, financial investment, time investment, and pursuit of the guiding career and life. All other certifications offered by the AMGA also represent a more assessed expertise in a mountain guide’s skill set to offer a wider scope of professional guiding services to potential clients.
At this point, we are still evaluating this grey area, but have made an interim decision to include in our individual guide listings, any individual who achieved these above certifications, but also hold at least one other certification from the AMGA, such as Certified Alpine Guide, or Certified Ski Guide. The AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Guide Instructor encompass the Top Rope Site Manager, and Single Pitch Rock Instructor Certifications.
Certified Mountain Guides at any level, may provide a variety of services to the community other than those primarily focused on climbing, and utilize expertise from their earned credentials of AMGA certifications, including corporate team building, courses for Children’s programs, school programs, corporate programs, search and rescue training, military training, and confidence courses. These activity areas are valued, but are not included as a feature of interest on the Mountain Guide Bureau website. So, that said, we want to make sure that the individuals we list on our site, that are Top Rope Site Manager Certified, or in 08, Single Pitch Rock Instructor Certified, are focused on climbing, and primarily focused on finding/soliciting potential clients who will hire them to work on climbing skill, partner with them on climbing goals, and/or accompany them on destination climbing trips in the outdoors. In addition, we endeavor to list guides who, not only are certified at any level, but who are also pursuing guiding as significant component to their chosen career, however seasonal.
The Mountain Guide Bureau is focused and exclusive to guided climbing services for potential clients, the climbing industry, and the professional mountain guide industry.
Criteria for Mountain Guide Services/Agencies
-Must have published information ( each of the following)
-Website dedicated to registered by the licensed company
-Brochure or rack card
NOTE: Send us (regular mail) your agency rack card or brochure. SEND TO:
The Mountain Guide Bureau, P.O. Box 2986, Corrales, NM 87048, USA
-Must have a functional phone number and an email address associated with the website
-Scope of guiding services provided must consist of 80% or better of paid, technically oriented roped guided accents, or climbing instruction. This does not include caving, canyoneering, trekking, or hiking, as the primary paid activity of the company. This website is for the promotion of technical/roped climbing on snow, rock, or ice.
-Must be a licensed business. Please also indicate any permits , or granted concessionaire status of a guiding site in which roped guided business is conducted.
How to get listed, or update your current information on this site
Click on "Submit a Listing" to access emailable fields to send us your information.
It is at the discretion of The Mountain Guide Bureau to approve and list submitted information. Upon verification, and approval of any submitted information by the The Mountain Guide Bureau, information will be updated and posted on this site usually within 48-Hours. We can be contacted by phone during normal business hours (MST) by calling 505-243-0910. Once you submit your information, we will contact you via email with any questions, and or to inform you that your submission has been posted. After we email you, you will have our email address for further communications, such as sending us "jpeg" or "giff" file images of your agency's logo, or your individual guide photo, or any other detail you wish to include. REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE A GUIDING COMPANY SUBMITTING A LISTING, SEND US (regular mail), YOUR COMPANY RACK CARD OR BROCHURE. SEND TO: The Mountain Guide Bureau, P.O. Box 2986, Corrales, NM 87048, USA.
We endeavor to make available to users who are potential clients of professional mountain guiding services, the most complete and accurate information possible, and continually solicit the help of the guiding community to work with us on submitting any necessary information that may pertain to an individual or agency. Because of the nature of inputing information, and the continual changes with information related to guides and agencies, our site will always contain misinformation and inaccuracies.
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