Mountain label: How to treat your mountain guide

Mountain label: How to treat your mountain guide

If you are an adventurer who dreams of great mountains, familiarize yourself with the right mountain label to ensure a pleasant experience for everyone

There is a moment in Sherpa, the BAFTA-nominated documentary about the famous mountain guides of Everest, in which a western tourist asks: "Can't you speak to your owners?" Based on the striking Sherpas.

It may have been a harmless request that was made in a moment of frustration, but in the tough truth of the film, the question reveals a worrying attitude towards the mountain guides who risk their lives to lead others to the summit.

The question frames the ratio of owners and possessions. It reduces the guide to a position of bondage, while he is actually in a leadership position. On the mountain it is the responsibility of a guides to constantly weigh up risk and reward and to push as hard as possible without exceeding the edge. Your job is probably the most important thing in mountaineering and deserves the relevant respect.

In the following we examine the correct mountain label with the help of Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants, the pioneers of the leadership on the Everest and administrators of the Sherpa Future Fund.

Trust your guide

In 2008, the climbers Jimmy Chin, Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk tried to first ascend the shark lick of the Meru Peak. After 20 days under extreme conditions, they gave up only 100 meters before the summit.

This moment of surrender-this heartbreaking moment of surrender-came about because these world-class climbers were able to recognize the Point of No Return and make the right decision. Most people do not have the experience to make such a judgment, which is why it is so important to trust their guide.

Guy tells us: "A professionally trained and qualified mountain guide was exposed to many different situations in his personal and professional career, but since the mountain environment is so dynamic, there are regular times when the plan has to be changed based on one of several factors: weather, conditions, daily time, fitness or performance of customers and so on. They originally registered. "

don't sweat the little things

On our Salkantay-Trek to Machu Picchu we learned from a customer who insisted that a guide and his horse ride from the Peruvian mountains to the next village to get more coffee.

at great heights cannot exist. You will be without your amenities and some of those you have can lose on the way. Don't sweat the little things. It's just not worth it.

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This is of course a good philosophy not only for mountaineering, but for everything that goes beyond. Guy says: "The mountains teach us what the real priorities in life are, and this is helpful if we integrate back into our normal world in which we can lose our eyes for the really important one."

take responsibility for your own equipment

take responsibility for organizing your equipment and thus for the security of yourself and others. A guide can only do so much and it helps if the group members actively contribute.

"You don't have to be unusual to be a successful height mountaineer, but you can't afford to be useless in anything."

"We are all challenged in the mountains depending on the personality type of different things," says Guy. "Some people think that it can be difficult to keep their equipment together and well organized, but they may find that they are really good in the general mountain movement. Others are the other way around.

"" I found that climbing very big mountains is as if you were holding a large mirror yourself by seeing your weaknesses and strengths down to the smallest detail. By accepting our strengths and working on our weaknesses, we can become rounded climbers and achieve great things. I do not think that you have to be unusual in something to be a successful height climber, but you can't afford it, but you can't afford it in to be something useless. “

Remember that nobody can control nature

Weather caprioles are destroying even the best plans, be it a picnic in a London park or a summit on the Lhotse.

"Guides want to have good weather and good conditions in the mountains, and an experienced guide knows if the stars are not on a line," says Guy. "We all expect and want things to run according to plan, but the reality is that nature comes first; it doesn't matter how many people follow their trip and expect them to be successful."

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to make difficult decisions makes you a better mountaineer, says Guy: "Failure due to correct decisions in terms of weather and conditions is actually not a failure; it is simply part of being in the mountains. To be successful in the mountains, you have to be very conservative and very intrusive at the same time. So that you really have to want it, but you have to be extremely realistic and if you don't have to wait until it is. Using clichés should only be struck when the iron is hot. ”

tip well-even if you have paid a premium price

We have already talked about how uncomfortable tips are and how difficult it is not to know what is "appropriate". Interestingly, Adventure Consultants have already seen everything in an Everest ascent, from $ 20 to $ 15,000.

everest veteran Alan Arnette advises: "Five percent of what you paid to the company are a fair tip. It works best if every team member makes the same contribution. If you have had an extraordinary experience, of course, five percent for a Rainier trip could be between $ 50 and 100, while an overest climbing with $ 50,000 $ 2.500 US dollars would cost;

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Some customers may be afraid to give tips after they have paid for a premium expedition, but it is important to remember that it is a premium expedition for a certain reason.

Guy explains: “The usual business approach to minimize expenses to maximize profits is simply not sustainable and certainly not safe for customers or employees. I see many tour operators in places such as Nepal that fight for the ground of the market, and they receive many customers who are overjoyed at first that they have received a journey at half a price, but the reality is that they pay for it, and many of them, and many of them These people go home disappointed or unsuccessfully and disillusioned. ”

He adds: "I cannot work and keep a feeling of professional integrity. There are human life at stake and it is already an environment that is dangerous enough, and I cannot understand why people would take a considerable additional risk if they choose an unreliable operator because it is cheap. Because it is much cheaper than having it carried out at home by trained surgeons in a real hospital. ”

they keep the larger one in the eye

The guides clearly take care of their well -being, but are professionally obliged to do the best for the group. If you want to go back 30 minutes because you have lost something, this will rarely be possible.

Guy advises: "If you want to take a trip that focuses on your goals and time frames, you can pay the surcharge for a private trip alone or with a few close friends. If you are in a group, you have to tackle both physically and emotionally to support the team."

Learn something from the national language

there is very little that delights a local as much as his language on the tongue of a tourist. It shows that you are interested in your culture and not just tick a box in your mountaineering calendar.

"Find out at least about the names of those who help you on your trip," says Guy. "It is disappointing to see how people point to an employee with whom they have been on the road for a week and say instead of their name" The Der there "."

left no traces

guides and carriers will do as much as possible to minimize the group's footprint, but their time and resources are limited in height. Therefore, please take on an active role to ensure that the environment is left as clean and undisturbed as possible.

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"We have to recognize that we always leave traces, no matter how conscientious we are, so we have to be particularly vigilant to ensure that we minimize our footprint," says Guy.

in the mountains, nature is most beautiful. With consideration and commitment from all of us, we can help to stay that way.

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Adventure Consultants offers 72 expeditions, hikes, backcountry ski adventure and wilderness trips in the Himalaya, Antarctica, South America, Greenland, Alaska and the Seven Summits, in addition to first-class guiding service and climbing schools in New Zealand and Europe.

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