Becoming Certified

For more than two years now I have been slowly moving toward becoming a climbing guide. "Do what you love to do," has been what I've heard for a long time and now I'm putting that into action. And that action is building momentum.

Two years ago I signed up for an AMGA SPI course through Alpine Endeavors. (On a side note, people love acronyms, but for the most part I think they are rather annoying.) Who the heck knows what AMGA or SPI is? The American Mountain Guides Association is the industry standard for education and certification in the climbing world for guides in the US. They have been making efforts to create professionalism in the guided climbing world, which in turn legitimizes the industry. If someone is AMGA certified, a client can know that this guide has taken courses, learned skills, and passed rigorous exams.

The AMGA has different levels of guides. It starts with Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) which is a three day course and two day exam. It then moves to Rock Instructor followed by Rock Guide, each of which are 10 day courses and six day exams. And these courses ain't cheap either. The SPI course and exam would run you $800 and then the Rock Instructor and Rock Guide course and exam are each $3,600, for a grand total of $8,000.

Anyway, back in 2009 I signed up for the SPI course, but then didn't really pursue anything more with it. I think this was partially due to the fact that we were moving to the Adirondacks soon, and the focus was going to be Silver Lake. But, now, back in the Gunks, guiding can be at least somewhat lucrative, and it is something that I love. Earlier this summer I signed up for a refresher course with Alpine Endeavors, and then right after that I took and passed the SPI exam. I am officially an American Mountain Guides Association certified Single Pitch Instructor.

Well, actually, I wasn't completely certified when I passed. This is due to the fact that AMGA requires all its guides to have CPR and basic first aide certifications as well. This past week I have been taking care of that. I went back to New Hampshire, but this time not to play. This time I was going to become a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR).

One of, if not THE pioneer in wilderness medicine is SOLO, or Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities. SOLO has been teaching wilderness medicine since the 1970s, and their international headquarters happens to be in Conway, not too far from Cathedral and Whitehorse. So I zipped up their last week and took the 80 hour WFR course.

It's a pretty cool course. You learn basics like CPR, the heimlich maneuver, and how to use an AED device (and become certified to do all three). You also learn how to build splints, stop bleeds, treat shock, build litters and shelters and a lot of other really cool stuff. And doing it at the SOLO headquarters was awesome because the practice scenarios were sweet. Many times our instructor, Josh, would come in and say, "Oh, no, something really bad happened." We would gather all our gear, walk out of our classroom and up a trail, only to find one of classmates with a bone sticking out of their leg, or blood being spit out of their mouth. From wax to fake blood to makeup, the scenarios were super effective at teaching you how to rescue someone in the back country.

Only one more thing to do, and I am a legitimate guide. New York State needs a slice of the action, of course, so I have to take a "test" and pay them $150. After that, I'm good to go. The process started over two years ago, but this summer I have made concerted effort to make this thing a reality. Who wants to pay me to take them climbing? Anyone?