Guide Services in Vantage/Tieton

[summerprophet]

Hi there to all the new climbers.

 

I am here to pose a question, but first a little bit of history behind the question.

 

I was climbiing at Royal Columns last weekend and was in the company of a handful of people who were taking a guided course on setting trad gear. In short, the "Guide" demonstrated on two occasions (that I saw) dangerous behaviour that a rank beginner shouldn't do. These included completely passive anchors with no downward pieces, and threading standard hangers for rappel!!!!!!

 

My question is this, is there actually a demand for responsible, educated guide or instructive services in this area.

 

In my youth I was a professional Rockclimbing guide and assistant mountaineering guide, and at times I miss the experience. I was responsible for courses ranging from introduction to rockclimbing to technical rope rigging for search and rescue courses.

 

If there is a demand, I could offer very reasonable courses, as I am not really in this for the money (Although I would need to cover fuel and wear and tear costs).

 

Another issue is that I would not want to be pulling clients from an established guide service in this area. As someone who has guided in the past, I understand how close the typical guide is to the poverty line.

 

While I would be excited to be instructing again, I am also half hoping that the behavior I witnessed was an anomolly, and not the norm.

 

Justin