Geology and Climbing

I’m in my last couple semesters of an undergrad geology degree and Im getting ready to either go to grad school or get a geo-engineering job. It seems to me like a lot of climbers probably went to school for geology. I was wondering what jobs people got with a geology degree and how well it worked out with climbing/living in the west and just general advice?

Sawyer Greerwrote:

I’m in my last couple semesters of an undergrad geology degree and Im getting ready to either go to grad school or get a geo-engineering job. It seems to me like a lot of climbers probably went to school for geology. I was wondering what jobs people got with a geology degree and how well it worked out with climbing/living in the west and just general advice?

Step 1: Worked for an oil company.
Step 2: Pay off loans. 

Step 3: Work an office job or a “fun“ job in the field

I'd highly recommend looking into jobs at state natural resource agencies or geological surveys if you value flexibility or work-life balance (aka climbing). Working in industries like geotech or resource extraction can be pretty demanding time-wise

Edit: I second (third?) everything Tom said below

I'll second the USGS or similar, though most of the people they are hiring nowadays have a masters or PhD. Don't work for the guys ripping up our planet for profit. Remote or telework is your best bet to maximize climbing, but if that isn't an option choose a couple places you would like to climb/live and see what opportunity is available nearby. There are some great environmental consulting groups doing cool work all over the west. Easy to parse out the culture of work/life in these groups early in the interview process. Grad school can be flexible, but I would not recommend it for a geologist unless 1) you are 100% funded through research/teaching and 2) feel passionate about the research you will be doing.

Check out 'the rock behind the climb' podcast if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Well site logging is a great job for climbers. A BS is all that’s required. There are far more jobs worldwide in oil and gas but the geothermal sector is continuing to grow. The work can be intense, the shifts are 12 hours for many days in a row, but the benefit is highly competitive pay and extended periods of time off. A side bonus can be travel paid to/from cool locations. I used to do horizontal drilling for coal bed methane but have worked exclusively in geothermal since 2019. I have a regular schedule of 3 weeks on/3 weeks off. Commonly it works in my favor that I end up with more days off due to rig moves, delays, etc. 4 or sometimes 5 weeks off at a time is not uncommon. I work for a small company in Northern California but our jobs can be anywhere. I worked on the big island of Hawaii for over 3 years. We did a project in Mammoth for 6 months. We are constantly looking for qualified geologists as we have so much work right now. Anyone who’s interested, feel free to PM me for more info. 

Anything with engineering will earn you more money and provide more job opportunities . Plus with a geo engineering background you can still do straight geologiy.

What the guy said above about well site logging.  Every geo should do a mudlogging stint, 6 months is enough, you’ll learn more about life than in any other situation.  For example I once had to diffuse a situation where roughnecks wanted me to fight a large dude, I weighed 149 pounds at the time,  my response:  don’t fuck with me, I’m from ny and used to fight 7-foot tall (redacted) ….  You won’t learn shit like that in an office.  Plus you’ll learn a lot about drill rigs,

My masters is the geology of the gunks and I’m a pretend engineer who can design giant mines.

Send me a dm if you need advice, happy to mentor a young climber! 

My dad worked as a geophysicist for USGS for almost 40 years between Menlo Park, Flagstaff, and Sacramento. Did a lot of field work early in his career all over the west which were pretty steady stints in the field where he was able to easily squeeze in climbing on the tail end. Living in Flagstaff made for easy climbing right after work (there’s a small bouldering area right near the USGS office there), and the offices in California made it easy to get out on the weekend. Government jobs have good pay, though not as much as the private sector, but more flexibility and a pension. He just did a BS at Sonoma State and went right to the workforce. A pretty good career path for a climber.

I don’t want to post a bunch of too much feel good geology major stories but the one word of advice is be willing to move another part of the country than where your roots are. Geology worked out very well for me.

The intial staff/entry level jobs in the geology are what get you in the door at the good spots later down the line. Most of the time the work load is unmanageable and or heinous; mudlogging, groundwater sampling at contaminated sites in Narnia and lots of time away from home, etc.

Turnover in staff level positions is usually 1-3 years. If you want a pay raise you move companies (in private sector). If you hyper focus on living in one area and try and get the perfect geo job you are guaranteeing yourself to have a bad time.

I'm not a geologist, but I'm a climber today because I landed a federal job as a soil scientist. Not recommending you pursue soils, but a field job for the feds can be a great gig for the type of person who loves outdoor climbing. My schedule is flexible, my boss is the guy who taught me to climb, AND I get paid to explore wild places, dig holes, measure snowpack, etc. 15 years in, and I get 5.5 weeks of paid leave on top of holidays, and every extra hour I work one day is an hour I can climb another day. I also do plenty of pointless things indoors because bureaucracy, and get paid less than I would consulting. On the balance, I can't imagine a better job for me right now.

Points made above about willingness to relocate are quite valid in my experience. You probably won't land anything in your ideal location right off the bat, and folks often have to move to get promoted. Sounds like this may not be different in the private sector.

It's probably on your radar, but NM Tech is one to consider for a geo-engineering track. I've heard good things about that program, and I bet it's good bang for your buck. There's some mediocre climbing just outside of Socorro, and a couple of excellent options within 1.5 hours.

I’m from CA but went to Imperial College in London for a master’s in engineering geology.  That was a great adventure but without the climbing. I now run my own company in the Bay Area. I wish I had more time to get up in the mountains. Some of the previous posters have good advice for your stage in life.