In Defense of Guest Guiding
This fall, I guided for two weeks in the beautiful red rock country that surrounds Moab, Utah. I am fascinated by that area and have returned there season after season for many years now as I explore the canyons, climb the towers, and get spanked by every hard crack climb that I tie in for. I love it. The grit of the sand, the gobies on the back of my hand, the solitude of the red earth desert and the strange and surreal atmosphere of just being in that landscape.
I thoroughly have a blast with the climbing itself, but a climbing trip in the desert is so much more than the sum of its parts. The climbing is good, but the cragging isn’t as good as, say the New River Gorge, and the multipitch climbing isn’t as good as Red Rocks, two other classic American sandstone venues. But while the climbing is absolutely phenomenal in both of those areas, neither of them creates the richness of experience that I find in the Utah desert (and believe me, the New and Red Rocks are incredible!). The place exerts such an irresistible gravity on me, one that I feel strongly, even if I cannot understand or fully articulate what that force does to me.
The ever-inspiring Castleton Tower group.
But it continues to pull me back and now, after making many trips to Southeastern Utah, I’ve been lucky enough to come to know the place pretty well. I’m no local, but I’m pretty proud of my understanding of the lay of the land – the classic and the not-so-classic routes, the sun/shade timing of the crags, the natural history, the human history. I have my own story, too, which began 17 years ago with my first climbing experience in canyon country. With all of that under my belt and in combination with the easy-access to permits out of the Bureau of Land Management’s Moab field office, I could have easily justified going through the process of obtaining Cathedral Mountain Guide’s own permit to guide in the area. But I didn’t.
You see, guiding is an extractive industry. I’m not at all equating it with drilling, mining, or ranching, but it is important to acknowledge that most guiding takes place on public lands. Simply put, we privately profit off of public resources.
I don’t think that has to be a bad thing. As guides, we are a part of meaningful experiences that folks have with public lands and those experiences can be an important stepping stone for people to become advocates for stewardship, conservation, and community. But because we are profiting off of a shared resource, I believe that we have a duty to give back. Our activities have an impact and it feels important to me that we not only acknowledge that, but that we do something about it.
And most do. Especially at home. Guides on their home turf are often amazing advocates – they volunteer their time for anchor replacement, serve on the boards of local climbing organizations (LCOs), participate in cliff cleanup projects, spend all night out with volunteer rescue teams, and do incredible work to build strong, vibrant, and diverse climbing communities. But what happens when guides travel for their work? How do they reinvest in the areas that they are visiting when time is short and there may not be much opportunity for volunteering?
“Working on the Creekend”. Volunteering with the Access Fund’s Conservation Team on an Indian Creek approach trail.
While having a permit is one way to have a direct connection to the landscape, it feels like it isn’t enough. It’s just baseline. Besides, the fees that are paid to the land manager often seem to disappear down some bureaucratic black hole and not actually contribute to the sustainable management of the resource. Plus, in some instances – like here in New Hampshire State Parks – there might not even be a permit required. Then what? How is one to contribute to the local climbing area?
The easy and most obvious answer: donate to the Access Fund and your Local Climbing Organization. Here in North Conway, that’s Friends of the Ledges. These are the heroes who are sweating it out on fixed lines replacing bolts, making sure that we can still access our beloved climbing venues, acquiring parcels to conserve land and prevent its development, and organizing trail building, cliff cleanup, and community dialogue events that are vitally important to the sustainable evolution of our areas. Often times, the work that these LCOs are doing ensures that guides are able to make a living.
Another option is to partner with a local guide service. Not a large guide service that simply has permits to areas all over the country. A local guide service. One that is run by someone who does the work on behalf of community support. Support a business that supports the place and its people. Support a small business. Put the money directly into the hands of those who are doing so much good for their climbing areas and their broader communities.
Faith Dickey, ladies and gentlemen… On this recent trip to the desert, I ran my trips through Elevate Outdoors, a climbing, canyoneering and highlining guide service that is owned by Moab local and international badass, Faith Dickey. A year prior, I had been camping out underneath the Fisher Towers when Faith and her client pulled into the parking lot. I was loitering around on the chilly morning, drinking coffee, watching the sunrise, and happily eavesdropped on this unknown-to-me guide interacting with her client. And I was instantly impressed. Of course guiding is about being good with ropes and being a knowledgeable, experienced climber, but after you check those boxes, it’s really about being a grounded human who cares about the people who you’re working with. And Faith was clearly that.
Faith (on the left) and clients after another amazing day climbing in Moab.
So a year later, I cold-called her after a friend and colleague, Laurie Watt (another badass advocate who makes it happen for her local climbing community), offered some additional words of praise for Faith. Faith kindly entertained the idea and offered to host me and my guests while I was in the area.
As an aside, did you catch that Faith is a HIGHLINE GUIDE? She’s the only one in the country. And what she offers is an incredibly unique and powerful opportunity. She has developed an amazing technical system that makes it accessible and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is curious. Her coaching is thoughtful and on-point, the setting in which she works comes with the best view in Moab, and walking that line is spectacular and profound.
My mind being blown by the high line.
Chatting with folks at the crag and in parking lots around town, everyone seemed to know Faith. And they were proud of it. Proud of her. She’s a community staple, a mover-and-a-shaker, and one who’s advocacy work stretches far beyond the adventure world in which she professionally inhabits (she is highly active in the fight to prevent the blatantly destructive Kane Creek Development and in a local campaign that advocates for the advancement of reproductive rights and women’s health). She runs a great business, is a great guide, and clearly cares about the places in which she operates and the community in which she lives. She gives back.
Not every local guide service owner is going to be as committed on so many levels as Faith is, but nearly every single one is doing something to invest in their climbing community. And if they aren’t, well, then they need to step up.
Had I opted to get my own permit, rather than guest guide through Faith, I would have made more money. Making money is important, but if it were all that I cared about then I probably wouldn’t have chosen guiding. I guide because I climb. And I climb because of the places it takes me and the people I get to share those places with. For these desert experiences, I remind myself that I profit off of Moab and therefore need to reinvest in Moab. A sustainable industry does not simply take and partnering with a local provides an avenue for giving something back.
It’s true that these feelings hit me on an emotional level, but I believe that the rationale is true for the guiding industry on a logical level. So in support of the places and the people that sustain us, I am here to say: Guest Guiding is where it’s at. Donating to LCO’s is where it’s at. Expecting guides to actively reinvest in the landscapes and communities that make their work possible is where it’s at. If you’re a client, ask your guide what they or their business is doing to support the local community and to protect its climbing. If you’re a guide, make sure you have a real answer.
And, if you’re in Moab and looking for the right guide… Faith Dickey. Elevate Outdoors. Your one-stop shop for a great guide and a great human. Buy local.
– Grant Simmons, Managing Partner and Head Guide.
On the summit of Castleton Tower with Kate & Olivier!
