Woodchuck ATC wrote:Respect those with much varied experience; they learned the hard way before quick easy gear came around.
+1, Experience is always the most important factor to me, whether looking at a guide, or simply a climbing partner. Interestingly, if you look at AMGA's requirements for guides / instructor certs, they require using skills you learn in the courses (ie, instructing in a multi-pitch environment) before being certified at those levels! Always thought that was interesting.
I took an SPI course when I worked for a college outdoors program for a while. The technical skills we went through weren't anything startling to anyone who's climbed even just a few years. The education techniques, group management, etc was extremely valuable, though. It really wasn't very much about leading safely or being a strong climber (although obviously that's a minimum requirement)... it's more things like "How do I manage transitions and belays of a group of 12 people who want to rappel, some left handed and some right handed?" or "how do I occupy the attention of eight kids at one time even though only two are climbing at any given point?" Even people who have climbed for many years may have not encountered situations similar to these, but they could be very important toward maintaining the safety and positive experience of clients.
One interesting thing our instructor pointed out was that, in America, we have this impression as a "guide" being some level above "instructors". He mentioned that in some other nations, "guides" were seen as people who can simply drag somebody up a mountain, albeit safely. Instructors, conversely, were seen as individuals who have the knowledge and skills to teach climbing and safely and effectively impart climbing skills on others. I thought it was an interesting distinction.