Over 50 Years Combined Expertise Providing Incredible Expeditions The Mountain Guide School The Mountain Guide School Training Program is unique in the outdoor industry. The process of learning to be a leader and guide is multifaceted; aspirant guides must be technically competent and experienced in the mountains, but also need to develop and foster a range of skills associated with client management and group leadership. Outdoor leadership and guide training programs today, in institutions ranging from universities to climbing clubs, place a major emphasis on acquiring personal experience and technical skills. The development of group management, risk management, instruction, and outdoor leadership skills is often relegated to a few short lectures. For guides, however, these skills are critical and in many instances are more important than pure technical ability. Like all skills, they must be learned, honed, and perfected over time and with experience. The Mountain Guide School is the first of its kind to provide you with real life opportunities to teach, lead, and work with clients directly, throughout your training. Course Progression The program is run in five modules, totaling approximately twenty-one months in length. Upon successful completion of the program, you will be a fully qualified and certified Wilderness Education Association Mountain Instructor Guide. WEA Instructor training involves multiple steps. Initially, you will train as a WEA Outdoor Leader, a basic Outdoor Certification that qualifies you for internships and entry-level guide positions. Six months later, you will participate in a WEA Instructor Trainer course, outlining the skills necessary to become a fully qualified guide. Finally, you will be assessed as an apprentice guide. If your assessment is successful, you will then be a qualified WEA Mountaineering Instructor Guide. More than just earning a qualification, your guide training program will be complemented by significant amounts of face time with clients and conscious development of leadership and instruction skills. Armed with this well-rounded résumé of skills and real life experience you will be well placed to find employment in this dynamic and rewarding industry. Lastly, we will also host a series of short seminars dealing with the industry itself, on topics such as resume building, interviewing, and an overview of the international guiding community. Lead. Climb.
Expedition Itinerary: Module One, the Foundation: You will begin your training as a student, building your personal foundation of outdoor and mountaineering skills, as well as decision-making and judgment skills. This first phase allows you to start your guiding career with a solid understanding of the mountains, learning to thrive in a remote backcountry environment, on many different levels. You will learn the basics of mountaineering, rock, ice, and snow climbing, camping in a variety of environments, navigation, backcountry risk management, and judgment. You will also take your first steps to becoming a certified guide by obtaining a Wilderness Education Association (WEA) Outdoor Leader certification, a wilderness first aid certification, and completing a Leave No Trace Trainer course. Module Two, Technical Skills: At this point, you will have a strong grasp of the basics of mountaineering, and will be ready to start developing deeper technical and instructional skills. This will happen in concert with your continued maturation as a mountaineer. Shifting away from the snow and ice of the Patagonian Ice Cap, you will spend a six-week rotation on rock, practicing traditiona and aid rock climbing skills. You will learn about placing rock protection, making traditional rock anchors, route finding, leading in technical terrain, and will also learn basic aid climbing and big wall climbing skills needed for multi-day rock climbing expeditions. Transitioning from rock, you will continue to develop your personal mountaineering and outdoor skills. With your fellow aspirant guides, you will plan and execute a six-week crossing of the southern Patagonian Ice cap, the third largest in the world. Working together, both students and guide instructors, you will select a route that allows a series of challenging climbing and glacier travel objectives, further consolidating your skills. This will be the first expedition where you will be responsible for all facets of the expedition, from planning and preparation, to carrying out the route. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to climb rock, snow, and ice to summit some of the most spectacular peaks in Patagonia. Module Three, the True Mountaineer: After working with your instructors to complete the ice cap crossing, your personal development will continue as you will and execute an international, six-week climbing expedition, this time with minimal input from your instructors. Possible climbing destinations include Bolivia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Argentina, and North America. Where you go will depend on you and your group s goals and desires, and will focus on further enhancing your outdoor resume. During this phase of the course, you will also continue along the course to WEA guiding certification by participating in an instructor training certification course. Module Four, the Apprentice Guide: The final semesters of your program will see you transition from a competent mountaineer to a solid guide. Initially you will work as an intern guide, and then as a full guide, in a series of progressively more challenging expeditions. Travelling abroad, you will spend three to four months working as a paid intern at one of our affiliate companies running single and multi-day expeditions. This will allow you to experience the guiding industry from a trip leader and employee perspective. You will work with clients on a daily basis and, over the course of the summer, will gain more and more responsibility. Exceptional students may be trusted to take their own groups out on multiday trips by the end of the summer, making the first transition to full guide. Module Five, the Mountain Guide: Following your internship abroad, your training will continue in Patagonia by working as a co-guide on a 42 day mountaineering expedition, co-leading a group of six novice clients into the Patagonian backcountry. You will be responsible for helping to teach and train a group of students of varying levels of experience in an incredibly remote environment. For your final step in the guide training program, you will work three expeditions as a full lead guide. From beginning to end, you will be responsible for taking a group across the Patagonian Ice Cap, up a remote peak, or rock climbing, training and helping the students to develop their outdoor skills. The final 42 day expedition will serve as your final evaluation for WEA Instructor Certification, and upon successful completion, you will have become a fully certified guide, coming full circle from student to competent instructor and outdoor leader. The School:
The School: The Mountain Guide School is South America s first and only WEA certified Outdoor Leader and Guide Training Center. The following is a sample itinerary, to give you an idea of what the course schedule looks like. Please see each of the course schedules, available on our website (): Sample Itinerary: -21 day Backpacking Trip, Patagonia July 10 to 31 August 1 to 15-21 day Ski Training, Patagonia August 16 to September 5 September 5 to 20-42 day Mountaineering School Level I/WEA OL Training, Patagonia September 20 to October 31-5 day Leave No Trace Trainer Course, Patagonia November 2 to 7 November 7 to 20-42 day Rock Climbing Level I and Level II, Patagonia November 21 to December 31 January 1 to 17-42 day Alpine Mountaineering Level I, Patagonia January 18 to March 1-10 Day Wilderness First Responder Course, Patagonia March 3 to March 12 March 13 to 19-42 day Alpine Mountaineering Level II/WEA Instructor Training Course, Variable Locations March 20 to May 1 May 1 to 20
-International Internship, Variable Locations May 20 to August 31 September 1 to 20-42 day Mountaineering School, Assistant Instructor, Patagonia September 21 to November 1 November 2 to 15-42 day Mountaineering, Alpine, or Rock Climbing School, Assistant Instructor, Patagonia November 20 to December 31 -WEA OL Evaluation Preparation, Patagonia January 2 to 15-42 day Mountaineering School, Assistant Guide/WEA OL Instructor Evaluation, Patagonia January 20 to March 1 -Graduation March 2
What is and isn t included: The course fee covers instruction, national park fees, certification fees, food and lodging during the course, local transport to and from course locations (not airfare), group and technical equipment fees, and most other day-today fees. We also provide group gear such as tents and cooking supplies, as well as group technical equipment such as ice screws and ropes. It does not cover personal equipment, such as clothes and toiletries, international and domestic airfare, food, transport, and lodging on breaks between classes, trips home, alcohol or supplementary food, visa fees, and other government fees, or travel medical and evacuation insurance. Travel medical and evacuation insurance is required. Gear and personal equipment: We produce a separate gear checklist. Gear selection is very important to your safety and comfort on the expedition. Please read the gear list carefully and make sure you bring all of the personal items you will need. Good equipment is very difficult to find in Chile. We are more than happy to advise you on gear choices. We also have available for sale a range of personal and technical gear from companies that we recommend. Please see the gear list for details. We work in partnership with many gear outfitters, and are happy to offer a discount on personal equipment to guide students. Gear partners include: Black Diamond, Arc Teryx, MSR, Mountain Hardwear, Cascade Designs, Lowa, La Sportiva, Scarpa, Wild Things, Liberty Mountain/Stubai, Beal, and Outdoor Pro Link. Upon your acceptance for a course and receipt of deposit, you will receive information about participating in this program and placing orders. Charges and reservations: As noted above, the Guide Training Program encompasses five modules over two years. The total cost for the program is $24,995 USD. A $2500 deposit is required to hold your place in the school. Your final balance is due 120 days before the course begins unless you sign up for our payment plan. Please note that, because we do not own our affiliate international companies, but rather work in close partnership with them, we cannot guarantee you employment as a lead guide. Your attitude, work ethic, manner with clients, and level of hard work will be used to determine employability. This hasn t been a problem in the past, but you need to understand that jobs will not be guaranteed and that you will have to work to succeed, like with any other perspective employee. Cancellation Policy: If YOU cancel the trip for any reason after your space on the expedition is confirmed, the following cancellation fees will apply: Up to 120 days before the trip: Half of the trip cost After 120 days before the trip: No refund Any expedition member whose conduct is determined to be detrimental to themselves or others will be removed from the expedition without a refund. The Mountain Guide School reserves the right to determine if a participant is suitable for the trip based on their medical form. If The Mountain Guide School cancels an expedition for any reason, your payments to The Mountain Guide School, including deposit, will be refunded. The Mountain Guide School is not responsible for and will not refund any other incurred costs and we strongly recommend that you purchase trip cancellation insurance.