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Offering a Tip or Gratuity to your Guide

Because professional mountain guiding is part of the service industry, it is customary, but not always expected, that a guide receives a gratuity from the client. In planning to tip your guide,  be prepared to present the gratuity in cash, or by personal check, directly to your guide, following your outing.  Guides are paid for their services via thier outing fees, and although gratuities do make up portion of a guide's personal income, they are not required, nor expected, as a line item on the outing fees, such as  with servers in a restaurant.  While tips do make up a certain percentage of a guide's income, your generosity in offering a gratuity is not  processed through the Guiding Agency, as an optional addition to your fees for your guiding outing (similar to paying your tab at a restaurant); Always tip your guide in cash. 

When offering a tip to your mountain guide, there are no set industry standards or expectations from your guide, as far as a percentage of your guided outing fees, the gratuity amount is up to you.  Consider using the table below as a helpful general guideline:

Inviting your Guide to Dinner & Drinks following your outing:

It is also customary or a common gesture of appreciation, in addition to , and not in lieu of your cash gratuity, to pick up the tab on a celebratory dinner or celebratory drinks following your outing, and presenting a gratuity to your guide at the restaurant/bar before parting ways until the next trip together. Consider this gesture of appreciation as an addition of your cash gratuity. If in a group, split the cost of your guides meal and drinks, and perhaps organize a presentation of the gratuity as a group, with each client taking a part in donating their own personal contribution amount in the gratuity (each client should not be expected to give an equal amount in gratuity, except to share in the cost of the Guide or Guides dinner and drinks).

Other items to keep in mind when considering a Tip for your guide

• Gratuities are not required, though they customary, and are an excellent way to show appreciation to your guide, if you had a positive experience.
• The amount of gratuity depends on your level of satisfaction with your guide(s) and the trip.
• There are no set standards or percentages ( the above table represents actual ranges)
• When planning to tip your guide, be prepared to give a cash gratuity. Sometimes this means having the cash with you on the outing, as upon your return to the trailhead, or Guide Facility, you may not be able to access an ATM, bank, or get to your pocket book at a hotel or other accomodation, before you part from your guide. Have your tip for your guide with you on the climb.
• Keep in mind that iintending to include your guiide's tip on your outing bill will usually not be a possible transaction for your guiding company to accomodate because of basic accounting iand payroll issues. Always plan to have cash to tip your guide or guides.
• If in a group setting, with multiple guides, consider selecting a leader among the clients to organize a donation pool for the gratuity to be split between the guides. Choose an appropriate time to present the gratuity, making sure all the guides are present, and that they know the gratuity is to be shared equally among them. Consider dividing the cash equally and present to each guide their tip at the same time, if possible.
• When climbing with a mountain guide you have had numberous outings with, perhaps working on many different objectives over the years, your personal relationship with your guide is such on a different level, that your gratuity not always be consistanty the same.  Your gratuity may vary from trip to trip, and may include as a combination or supplement to your normal cash gratuity, a useful and applicable gift, such as known needed equipmtent, a bottle of your guide's favorite fine spirits, or other items that you have learned to be personal and appropriate for the guide you have come to know over the years.