Mark Smiley's Online Anchor Course

So many haters on MP, damn! I respect Mark a ton, not only because of his climbing career and awesome videos that have provided me with a lot of stoke. I respect Mark because he’s hustling and working hard. Not many guides have the entreprenurial spirit that he does, and I think that’s awesome.

This course is expensive for sure. I might be willing to pay $50 but definitely not $200. I think a lot of potential customers are probably being priced out of this course. That said, I’m sure that some are willing to pay the asking price and will gain some useful knowledge. 

On the other hand, it’s disappointing that NEAS posted the article about his course as a “review” when it is a long-form advertisement for a product that the author is making money on. A simple disclaimer posted on day one would have completely nullified this. It makes me wonder about the potential bias on other reviews on the NEAS site, which I have used in the past for many gear reviews.

Nick Sweeney wrote: So many haters on MP, damn! I respect Mark a ton, not only because of his climbing career and awesome videos that have provided me with a lot of stoke. I respect Mark because he’s hustling and working hard. Not many guides have the entreprenurial spirit that he does, and I think that’s awesome.

This course is expensive for sure. I might be willing to pay $50 but definitely not $200. I think a lot of potential customers are probably being priced out of this course. That said, I’m sure that some are willing to pay the asking price and will gain some useful knowledge. 

On the other hand, it’s disappointing that NEAS posted the article about his course as a “review” when it is a long-form advertisement for a product that the author is making money on. A simple disclaimer posted on day one would have completely nullified this. It makes me wonder about the potential bias on other reviews on the NEAS site, which I have used in the past for many gear reviews.

Price it the same ~$35 as a book and Mark would sell 100x subscriptions.

slim wrote:

i have described on MP several times though how a friend of mine had the rope unclip from one quickdraw when top roping.  if both gates had been facing the same direction who knows what would have happened.

What, are you expecting people to change their unsubstantiated opinions in light of new evidence or something?

If "self-proclaimed" means having dozens of other professionals instruct and examine you over the course of years, then, uh, yeah, I guess Smiley is a "self-proclaimed" expert. I watched him get his pin and he didn't proclaim anything---just showed up and got what he'd earned...

Rock on, Smiley, hope you make some cash on this and that a bunch of people refine their skills with your help...! RC

Props to Mark for encouraging people to be safer while bailing and for being an entrepreneur. $200 does seem high considering what most other online classes are going for right now on Udemy and Coursera but climbing is a niche market and the only competition is AIM Adventure U which is even more expensive

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

I actually still do quite a number of first ascents, thank you very much.

A Guidebook or Beta isn't remotely the same as being Guided.

My point is that you have decided what kind of help is acceptable and what kind isn't. That line is somewhat arbitrary since there are all kinds of other ways that others have made climbing easier for everyone else. When you buy a guidebook, you pay for someone who has spent a lot of time researching things so you don't have to. How is that different than paying for a course to learn a few things about anchors? I agree that self reliance is a virtue in climbing. Just because you have decided for yourself that a guide would violate your personal ideals in climbing doesn't mean that others shouldn't use them or that doing so is somehow the 'wrong' way to go. Everyone has to learn somehow. Why do you care if some people learn from a guide?

RangerJ wrote:

My point is that you have decided what kind of help is acceptable and what kind isn't. That line is somewhat arbitrary since there are all kinds of other ways that others have made climbing easier for everyone else. When you buy a guidebook, you pay for someone who has spent a lot of time researching things so you don't have to. How is that different than paying for a course to learn a few things about anchors? I agree that self reliance is a virtue in climbing. Just because you have decided for yourself that a guide would violate your personal ideals in climbing doesn't mean that others shouldn't use them or that doing so is somehow the 'wrong' way to go. Everyone has to learn somehow. Why do you care if some people learn from a guide?

Dude, we all learned from others and from books etc etc.

If you learn from a Guide more power to you.

But, Climbing has an emphasis on self-reliance on the sharp end. When that is not the ideal climbing will die.

The goal is not to be guided, but to have your own adventures.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

The goal is not to be guided, but to have your own adventures.

_Your_ goal is to have your own [unguided] adventures.  That's not necessarily everyone else's goal.  My goal, as an example, is to challenge myself in amazing locations.  Whether that involves a guide or not depends entirely on the objective and my current skills and is completely orthogonal to me achieving my stated goal.  (Although I very seldom higher a guide, but that's mostly because I'm cheap so choose objectives that I can do safely without one, not because it would impeded me from getting what I want out of climbing.)

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

But, Climbing has an emphasis on self-reliance on the sharp end. When that is not the ideal climbing will die.

That's a bit melodramatic

Mobes Mobesely wrote:

People that actually read books are a rare bunch nowadays, especially down here in 'merica.

Where do you get that information from?

Most of my climbing partners read books.
And aren’t mentally handicapped.
Maybe I read more into what you wrote than was actually there. But I do read a lot.

Bill Czajkowski wrote:

Where do you get that information from?

Most of my climbing partners read books.
And aren’t mentally handicapped.
Maybe I read more into what you wrote than was actually there. But I do read a lot.

Outside of your bubble there is a country getting dumb and dumberer every day. Fat too if you hadn't noticed.

Hi Mark Smiley-

Even if I was a newer trad climber, I wouldn't buy your course.  It's just priced too high.  The info in it is probably worth far more than $200, but for an individual user, it an amount of money which sets up a high mental barrier.

I'd be curious what a marketing person would say about the price.  Your time and effort is a sunk cost.  There's probably a very large audience for this info right now, and if it was priced at the right price point, it would do very well.  It seems to me that if you priced it at $40-$50, you would get more than 4 times the amount of sales that you would at $200, because it's a price that more people who would benefit from the info could justify.

And if it was priced at $20-25, I might even buy it.  If I learned one new important thing, I'd think it was worth that money.

Guidebooks have thousands of dollars of info in them, IMO, and they are typically priced at $30-50.
Good luck.

I agree with phylp's post regarding the price. A Colorado guide company offers an 8 hour anchor clinic for $249 during which time I could get feedback from someone instead of only watching a video. That's just too close to your price not to have a guide there in person.

Derick Page wrote: I agree with phylp's post regarding the price. A Colorado guide company offers an 8 hour anchor clinic for $249 during which time I could get feedback from someone instead of only watching a video. That's just too close to your price not to have a guide there in person.

I know my opinion here won’t be considered unbiased but I will point out that how much someone retains after an 8 hour in person clinic varies greatly from person to person. This course isn’t over after 8 hours, it’s repeatable until understanding and long term memory kicks in. And while not in person, Mark is offering personal feedback on anchors through the exclusive Facebook group. This still might not change what you feel the value of the course is.

And for anyone on the fence the $150 discounted price expires tomorrow. 

Northeast Alpine Start wrote:

I know my opinion here won’t be considered unbiased but I will point out that how much someone retains after an 8 hour in person clinic varies greatly from person to person. This course isn’t over after 8 hours, it’s repeatable until understanding and long term memory kicks in. And while not in person, Mark is offering personal feedback on anchors through the exclusive Facebook group. This still might not change what you feel the value of the course is.

And for anyone on the fence the $150 discounted price expires tomorrow. 

Act now and we'll throw in 2 free Ginsu knives, that's 2 knives folks, free knives! That's not all folks, act now and you not only belong to the super exclusive FB  group, you'll get one free live video call for when you are sketched as hell and don't know what to do!

Those that have taken the time to question Marks qualifications or the value of what he has produced should take an equal amount of time to read through this document that outlines what it takes to become an IFMGA certified guide. I’d wager that few on this thread can can touch even the prereqs.
https://ifmga.info/%3Cnolink%3E/training-and-assessment

Adam Password wrote:

I know a guy that accomplished it in 3 years while working as a full time lawyer. Stop blowing smoke up his ass. They are a dime a dozen. If it were harder then we would call them Dr.s. 

There are approximately 140 American IFMGA guides and 6000 in the world. Hardly a dime a dozen.

Did you take the time to read the doc? You should, might temper your tone.

"I know a guy", who would that be? Full cert is sometimes thought of as having a Doctorate. In fact you can get a Doctorate in less time in certain fields here in merica. 

Quick to reply, far from the standard.

Adam Password wrote:

I know a guy that accomplished it in 3 years while working as a full time lawyer. 

I don't believe this (not that it matters what I think). From no certs to IFMGA in three years, while having a non-climbing full-time job? Nope.

So who is this lawyer guy?  I'm sure that those in the know would recognize the name. I'm sure that as a certified guide he'd appreciate the name drop. 

Adam Password wrote:

Some people are more dedicated than others. 

Or they can do magic! Please let us know the name of the person, who can take 75-125 days a year off to rock and alpine climb, ski, travel, take courses and exams and still work “full time”.