Why are climbing guides so expensive?

Wait till you hear what nerds bill hourly…

Rich man hires a guide, a poor man gets to work.

Don't ask nobody for nothing, if you can't climb it on your own.

Compared to medical, legal, accounting services, or even plumbing and automobile repair; 

they are cheap!

While I am not sure, I suspect guides rarely work 5 days a week but more like 2 days a week (the weekends) plus a weekday once in a while.  I imagine this depends somewhat on where the guide lives.  So guides need to charge to cover their down time so they are available (in business) when you want to hire them.

thats a bit missleading.. many things including guiding can cost more than people will pay...  another consideration is that it is often hard to book full weeks. most recreational climbers  are trying to book weekends and hollidays... that leaves a lot of starveing time.. 

Guides aren't too expensive

DIESEL is too expensive

climber patwrote:

While I am not sure, I suspect guides rarely work 5 days a week but more like 2 days a week (the weekends) plus a weekday once in a while.  I imagine this depends somewhat on where the guide lives.  So guides need to charge to cover their down time so they are available (in business) when you want to hire them.

This is definitely not the norm.
ive spent entire summers working, and many friends in the industry do the same.
while everyone’s financial situation is going to differ, I can promise you that the wage the guide makes, and the price companies charge, have nothing to do with “downtime”

Supply and demand, just like anything else.

Ironically, a key factor that limits supply is that guides don't make a lot of money.

soft cruxwrote:

Supply and demand, just like anything else.

Ironically, a key factor that limits supply is that guides don't make a lot of money.

You would think the price would come down with the AMGA churning out 5.8 climbing "guides".

Tradibanwrote:

You would think the price would come down with the AMGA churning out 5.8 climbing "guides".

Getting the certification and actively pursuing guiding as a career are different things. The certification is the easy part, making a commitment to do it as a profession is the crux. You've got to invest in marketing, live near a crag, make yourself available to clients (which means not doing another job that could pay more.) If you do it part time, your weekends are gone. If you do it full time, your potential income from a "real" job is gone.

Hir….. you can learn the ropes fairly cheaply- what’s a 1,500 investment in your safety worth?

But a real guide who makes a living at it offers much much more.
Want to Ice climb in Canada in February?
The “Guide” outfits you in about 3,000 worth of clothing and gear that you don’t own.
Want to go climb the “Matterhorn”?
The “Guide” works as a “Trip planner”, “Translator”, “Driver” and they will safety haul your ass up the Mountain.
Learning how to do this on your own and equipping yourself takes several years and several failures in the process.
So IMHO a “Guide” is the cheapest part of getting deeply into real climbing - the real shit, not just belaying at the gym or 1p Sport Climbing.

Think about that 

Thomas Hlrwrote:

Hi, 

I have been looking around - granted mostly in CO - and I am curious as to why guided climbing trips are so expensive. Not judging here, just trying to understand. Looking at the Colorado Mountain School for example, looks like a private guide for a day cost around $400. Or like this https://coloradomountainschool.com/product/learn-to-lead-trad/ cost over $500 per person for up to 6 people for 2 days. Includes guide and gear but nothing else. I am curious at to why 2 days (not even overnight) of guiding 6 people cost 3k. Is there a crazy amount of hidden cost (eg insurance)? is the guide training so expensive that they need to reimburse it over multiple years?

Because the costs associated with guiding are too high starting with the AMGA courses. Then Insurance. Then permits. Then paying the guide company.. at the end of the day, the guide hardly gets anything! 

Tradibanwrote:

You would think the price would come down with the AMGA churning out 5.8 climbing "guides".

Tragedy of the (Guide) Commons:

1) Guides flock to a climbing area lacking guides and charge more than $50/hour.

2) Eventually there are too many guides and not enough Gumbies.

3) Guides lower rates to be competitive

4) Guides starve to death

5) Gumbies continue to flock the climbing area and the surviving guides raise their prices

6) Other guides hear they can charge more than $50/hour.

7) Go back to #1

It is an interesting question. When you look at it from the point of view of hiring a professional to do many hours of work, the cost is not high at all.

But then there are so many other ways to learn or just go on a trip, like clubs and friends. In that way it seems like a lot to pay for something that can often be done for free.

Let’s get real.  The sordid truth on why guides are so expensive is that in most areas, the bulk of work is seasonal.  And the cost of fueling the yacht in the off-season has gone way up recently 

Mark Pilatewrote:

Let’s get real.  The sordid truth on why guides are so expensive is that in most areas, the bulk of work is seasonal.  And the cost of fueling the yacht in the off-season has gone way up recently 

Rule #1 of Guiding:  There is NO crying on the yacht.

2 Items I've noticed with guides:

1. You're not just paying for their time that day. You're paying for all the time they spent learning the area, climbing routes, gathering beta.  This makes the day out more efficient, more fun, and safer.  It's like my bike mechanic who can do repairs really quickly, but charges the same rack rate - $15 to fix a spoke that took you 3 min?  Their response:  Well if you'd like to wait around another 20 min and pay the same amount that's fine. 

2. I think folks underestimate how much specialized knowledge good guides have.  I once dislocated my shoulder 5 pitches up with a guide.  He got me, a now one-armed climber, down, leaving no bail gear, without really breaking a sweat.  

Private guiding is cheaper than private golf or tennis lessons. And, last time I checked, those don't involve risk of horrible death.

What's the difference between a climbing guide and a large pizza?

This question doesn't really make sense.

Bingo.