Allie's links:

Instagram: @tahoeallie

Website: www.allieace.wordpress.com

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Our guest today is Allie Ace. We met in an SPI course. She told me that she had been an active listener of the show and resonated deeply with a few prior guests, especially Mia Tucholke. She mentioned that she had a very positive experience with her AMGA courses and wanted to encourage other aspirant female guides not to be afraid to take the first steps to become a guide.

Originally from the east coast, Allie learned to ski in the Poconos at the age of 3. In 2010, she moved to Tahoe to pursue bigger mountains and a full time career in the ski industry. She has traveled all over the country and the world to teach skiing and coach ski racing. Allie is a USSS Level 400 Alpine Coach, Coach Developer and Alpine Official, has her PSIA Alpine Level 3, Children’s Specialist 2, Freestyle Specialist 1, Resort & Divisional Trainer, and Snowboard Level 1. With her eye on steeper and deeper lines, Allie started backcountry guiding in 2020. She is an AIARE Course Instructor, has her Pro 1, and is an AMGA Apprentice Ski & Alpine Guide. Allie currently lives in Truckee, CA, works for Alpenglow Expeditions, NASTC and is the lead alpine trainer at Sugar Bowl Resort. She is working towards her avy Pro 2 and the PSIA National Team this season. When not skiing, Allie enjoys whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing and yoga.

Allie is very passionate about continuing education and training. She is serious about being outstanding in her job and equipping her clients and students with current and relevant knowledge. I learned so much from her. We found there are many analogies between the ski and rock disciplines. Without further ado, let's dive in this episode with Allie Ace.

What We Talked About:

What We Talked About

From PA to CA

Taught ski racing and coaching in resorts

Headed to AK and got into backcountry skiing

How long did it take Allie to make the shift from resorts to mountains?

Allie used to have a dream to heli ski but when she skied in the mountains in AK, she realized she didn't need a helicopter

Allie had a great schedule when she was in AK, which allowed her to ski much on her own in the mountains

Moved back to Tahoe but the pandemic shut down resorts

Due to the pandemic the demand for guides for backcountry skiing increased dramatically

Would love to transition the ski racing kids to backcountry skiing

Think it's really cool to equip those kids with good decision making ability in the mountains

What are the steps Allie took to feel comfortable guiding in the backcountry?

Had great mentors in AK

Took AIARE and AMGA courses, did in house training and shadowed many trips and courses

Certification in ski industry?

Recreational track and pro track

How and why did Allie start her AMGA journey?

Allie had a very positive experience with the AMGA

What's next on Allie's plate?

How long is Allie's guiding season?

What do people do off-season?

Via Ferrata in Tahoe area

Proudest moment

One big take away?

Episodes Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. I'm your host Ting Ting from sunny Las Vegas. Today I'm presenting you another episode of the Guides' Beta series with our guest Mary Brown.

Mary Brown has worked as a guide manager at Alpine Ascents for almost 10 years. A guide manager is often the interface between guide services and their guides, and serves as a bridge between clients and guides. As a guide, I certainly appreciate how a competent and caring guide manager makes my life easier.

However what exactly does a guide manager do? In today's episode we dive deep into Mary's role in Alpine Ascents to learn about her job description and duties. Since she has been in the industry for almost a decade, I was curious about what major trends Mary had observed. She pointed to climate change and a more diverse clientele as two areas that have impacted the way guide services operate. She described how guide services, for example, Alpine Ascents, had responded to the changes.

We also spent quite some time talking about the awesome initiative, BIPOC Guide Development program, Alpine Ascents piloted in summer 2023. According to Mary the motivation of the program was to provide climbers of color an onramp to professional guiding and help the aspirant guides build their professional network. Mary provided strong reasons to justify the cost to Alpine Ascents. Hopefully other guide services will follow suit.

I hope this episode help unveil the road map to becoming a guide. Now, give it a listen!

What We Talked About:

Intro

• What do you do?
• How did you start and how long have you been in this position?
• Almost 10 years - what did you learn from the industry? How have you improved? Other than daily operation what's your big picture? Things you wish you've done better? Things that you're proud of?

Relationships with guides

• Recruit? How's the turn over rate? How many new guides does Alpine Ascents recruit each year
• Onboarding
• Scheduling
  • Criteria?
  • Seniority?
  • Guide and clients match?
  • Instructor team dynamics
  • Lyra's story (female guide team) but work with majority male clients (atypical?)
• What kind of impacts do you think a guide manager can impact guides
• Compared to traditional sense of Human Resources dept
• You mentioned that Alpine Ascents guides have low turnover rate; however they do transition from full time to more diversified job ( you mentioned about longevity) what other jobs do you see guides transition to? How come full time guide is hard in what aspect?
• Do guides need to be proactive in order to get work? Do you have a feedback system? Are guides generally satisfied with what they are assigned? Or do they fight over work?
• How do you see your relationship with guides? Pure professional? Some personal?
• What's fair? And do you think you have blind spots or biases?

DEI initiatives

• How did you all start?
• Describe the program the selection process and are graduates required to work? Will they be staffed working with non-bipoc clients
• Why? Is it a good thing? Business also needs to look at growth and profit, how does Alpine Ascents justify the initial cost and investment?
• Leadership as a big guide service?
• How did it go for the first year?
• Any direction change for the second year?

Show Notes:

Sarah’s links:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.b.jamin/
• CMS guide profile: https://coloradomountainschool.com/guide/sarah-janin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.janin.7

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. Happy Wednesday and happy Valentine’s Day. Our guest today is Sarah Janin from Boulder Colorado. A mutual friend highly recommended Sarah to me and I was so glad that I had the honor to interview her.

Many things about Sarah amaze me. She grew up on a small island and immediately fell in love with mountains and snow sports when she moved to Colorado. She can soon become the first female AMGA certified splitboard guide. She is also type 1 diabetic but she manages it well and is actively pursuing another big goal of hers to become the first type 1 diabetic IFMGA guide.

After many career changes, she found guiding at 35 and fell in love with it. Now at 45, Sarah appreciates that she started her guiding career later in life as she is still motivated and passionate to improve as a guide and does not feel burnt out. Right now Sarah is a Certified Rock Guide, Aspirant Splitboard Guide, Assistant Alpine Guide, Avalanche Instructor, and WFR Instructor. She works full time for Colorado Mountain School, and has been working hard to organize more women’s programs. One of her goals is to continue to empower and create a more open environment for all who identify as female.

I really enjoyed talking with Sarah. She emitted so much positive energy and has so much devotion to what she set her mind to do. Let’s dive in and I know you will be inspired by the conversation.

Things We Talked about:

• From an island girl to a mountain girl
• Growing up in the wilderness
• Moved to CO and fell into with mountains and snow sports
• Loved snowboarding
• In order to extend winter, let’s go to South America
• Compare skiing with snowboarding
• Skis are better tool for guiding and the reasons…
• It was an accident that Sarah became a guide
• At some point decided to work for a company and stayed inside but the company sent her to Boulder CO
• Speed up the AMGA track
• Best part of guiding?
• Want to show people the wilderness and the importance to preserve it
• Did gender ever play a role in Sarah’s guiding career?
• Has always worked in male-dominated fields
• Confidence and determination helped
• How to manage being type I diabetic?
• How does it feel to instruct all female groups
• Create a better environment for women
• Approach to facilitate all women courses
• How to turn experience into confidence
• Found guiding relatively late
• Motion is lotion
• Next steps/goals
• Proudest moment

Show Notes:

Meg’s links:

• Instagram: @Meg_Yingling
• Counseling Website: https://www.crystalcreekcounseling.com/copy-of-longmont
• Guiding, Coaching and Providing SPI Courses through KMAC Guides
• A Thousand Ways To Kiss The Ground

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. Happy Wednesday. I’m your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas and today’s guest is Megan Yingling from Colorado.

Meg came on my radar when I accidentally saw her post on Facebook. In that post, she described her experience with grieving, mental health and climbing. She mentioned that she was becoming a psychotherapist and wanted to help people who suffered similar trauma like she did before. At that moment I also recalled just seeing her name on the new SPI Provider list from an AMGA email. Bing! I wanted her on the show.

So here she is,

Meg (she/they) is a pre-licensed psychotherapist, AMGA certified Rock Guide, and SPI Provider based out of Estes Park, Colorado.

Throughout her two decades in the sport, Meg has learned that climbing and guiding can provide the highest highs but does not come without its challenges and barriers. Meg has dedicated her career to navigating the intersection between mental health and climbing and has a deep passion in helping others achieve their goals.

Meg loves climbing, running, and playful exploring in her home range of Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was a fun conversation and I learned a lot. Meg shared experiences that many of us can relate to and provided great insights on dealing with fear and grief. Hope you enjoyed this conversation just like I did.

Things We Talked about:

• The origin of Meg’s last name: Yingling
• Currently, where Meg resides in, works for, and does
• Take root in Colorado
• Climbing in Colorado
• How did Megan get into guiding?
• Started as a comp kid and then discovered outdoor climbing
• Lots of “firsts” in Black Canyon
• When Meg started outside was often told she was bad at ropes
• Realization: rope skill was a learned skill. No one started as a rope person
• How Meg bugged her mentors
• Her first AMGA Rock Guide Course rocked her
• Climbing and mental health
• Dealing with fear
• 2020 was a tough year for Meg, lots of grieving
• Climbing Grief Fund
• A Thousand Ways to Kiss the Ground (A documentary)
• Went back to school and wanted to be a therapist
• Combining what she learned in school (outdoor education and psychology) and (therapy training) with guiding
• Dual approach with coaching and guiding
• Framing
• Observing people’s body languages and discovering signs for fear
• Nervous system response explained
• How to create a safe learning environment
• The path to become an SPI Provider
• Proudest moments
• Hope listeners to take away

Show Notes:

Lyra's links:

• Movementum Website
• Lyra's Instagram @pierotly

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. I'm your host Ting Ting from sunny Las Vegas. Today our guest is Lyra Pierotti.

Lyra has been guiding and instructing for over half of her life. She is an AMGA Rock Guide and Alpine Guide, and has just one more exam in May of 2024 to achieve full international certification.

Being a woman guide has had its challenges over the years, so Lyra has managed those additional gendered risks with additional work, developing an overlapping and supportive career as a personal trainer. She passed a similarly coveted certification from the NSCA in 2017, to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Lyra is a senior guide with Alpine Ascents International, a staff Instructor Trainer with AIARE, and has her own small business coaching mountain athletes, called MOVEmentum.

In this episode we talked about how Lyra "stumbled" into guiding after college, how her love of science and art of movement served as a compass for her to navigate through different phases of her guiding career. After an injury almost ended her guiding career and athletic life, she persevered and regained her footings and used her knowledge to help other mountain athletes. She also shared her experience serving as a board member of the AMGA, and offered some insights for newer guides.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Lyra and wished I could talk with her for another hour or two. And I know you'll feel the same way too.

Things We Talked about:

• How Lyra "stumbled" into guiding
• From a marine biologist to a mountain guide
• Study abroad led to French Alps
• Found a perfect job description from school's mailing list which combined scientific research and playing outside
• Realized that she didn't have to go far to find great alpine environment - Eastern Sierras
• Bishop days
• Climate changed wiped guiding work out
• Started writing for a local paper
• Always in back of her mind, thinking of something to augment guiding or potentially replace guiding
• Entering the next phase: moving from CA to WA
• Her single mom was a huge inspiration to Lyra
• The love of art flows in the family
• The next phase: bringing coaching and personal training into guiding
• Talking about career longevity for guiding: self care, connection with clients … etc
• A ill-fitted backpack on Denali almost ended her guiding life
• After years of rehab and self study Lyra finally gained back her footings
• Used the knowledge she gained from years of self-discovery and recovery to help other mountain athletes
• Talking about mental health
• What happened when the pandemic hit?
• Different mentorship structures
• On the board of the AMGA
• Her talk at Mountaineers Leadership conference
• And more …

Episode Intro:

Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday and Happy New Year of 2024. This is Ting Ting from Las Vegas. I am very excited to announce a new series, Spencer Huffman and I are creating, which we call Everything SPI. SPI stands for Single Pitch Instructor and is one of the certification programs the AMGA, American Mountain Guides Association, offers.

Both Spencer and I are AMGA certified Rock Guides and SPI Providers. We co-taught an SPI course back in October 2023 and found that our teaching style was quite compatible and complimentary. Therefore, we decided to do this podcast series to create supplemental material related to the SPI programs. Hopefully it will help our past and future students and potentially anyone who is thinking to enter the field of climbing instruction.

Spencer and I both have deep roots in climbing education. We have over 20 years of field instructing experience and are confident that we can provide valuable insights; we also recognize that the field of climbing instruction is dynamic and we can't possibly know everything. So, if you have any questions, feedback, please reach out to us and help us improve. Thanks! And now please enjoy the very first episode of Everything SPI with Spencer and Ting Ting.

Show Notes:

Elise’s links:

• Desert Accents’ Etsy shop: www.desertaccents.etsy.com
• Desert Accents Instagram @desert_accents

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas and today’s guest is Elise Clausen, another Vegas local.

I met Elise in 2019 when we both worked at Origin climbing gym in Henderson. I learned that she also guided in Red Rock for Mountain Skills. In 2020 the gym changed ownership and the pandemic hit. Elise lost her job and had a lot of free time on her hands. A crafter at heart, she started making jewelry and handbags, selling them online. Her business Desert Accents took off quickly, and within months it replaced her full time income.

I admire Elise’s art work and was curious about her career change, so I invited her on the show to learn more. We talked about how she started her path in outdoor education and guiding, found her specialty in programming and coordinating large groups, and how she transitioned to entrepreneurship and craftmanship.

These days she still does some guiding, and is continually working to improve both her craft, and her business. Now please enjoy this interview.

Things We Talked about:

• Elise’s entry to guiding
• Went to Univ of Idaho and managed school’s climbing gym and assistant managed school’s outdoor programs
• Came to Vegas, found a job with City of Las Vegas and settled down
• Worked at adaptive programs with kids (12~17 years old) who were cognitive impaired
• Traced back to Elise outdoor work history
• Specialized in programming and coordinating large groups
• Pandemic changed Elise’s career path
• Founded Desert Accents and created nature-inspired accessories
• Used to apprentice blacksmith and had always enjoyed making stuff
• Would Elise come back to guiding?
• What did Elise think about her current lifestyle?
• What would Elise want the listeners to take away from this episode?

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. I'm your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today's episode is different from all the previous ones, and we also have our first male guest. This episode is the first episode of the new series, called Guides' Beta. There are many things guides want to know other than getting certifications. There are many questions guides want to ask. And this is my attempt to collect wisdom from the community.

In today's episode our guest Jed Porter talks about "independent guiding." Jed is an IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide. He writes articles and yearly reviews to help demystify guiding as a profession on his blog. He serves as the president of the CGC Board. CGC stands for Certified Guides Co-op. He guides more than 100 days a year and makes most of his income through guiding.

We talked about the definition of independent guiding, the mindset of treating guiding as your business, whether guiding can feed a family of 4, the ins and outs of the CGC, its vision and mission, its cease of operation since Feb, its potential future.

Should we be pessimistic or optimistic about guiding? Should we go find a so called real job? Should we always have backup plans? Can we find creative ways to pivot guiding? None of the questions has an easy answer. And I hope this episode can help you navigate through some of the challenges guides often face.

Oh! Rest assured we will keep featuring amazing female guides. Now please enjoy this interview with Jed Porter.

Jed's Website:

https://www.jediahporter.com/

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, Happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from sunny Las Vegas. Today's guest is Kelly Fields.

Kelly was exploring, scaling mountains, and trad climbing with her family all over the country from the tender age of two. She got her first climbing job in a gym when she was 13. When she was 18 she began her apprenticeship with Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides and found her calling as a climbing guide.

At one point she proposed a women's only course to the guide service and soon realized not only was there a need for that, but she also felt empowered by teaching other women and seeing them grow. She then founded Athena Rock Climbing in 2012 with the goal of hosting climbing events designed to help woman advance their skills. Now Kelly lives her dream guiding year round - half year on the east coast and half year in Joshua Tree.

Kelly described how working for multiple guide services and operating her own business, has been scary at times, but overall a fulfilling journey. Guiding has been Kelly's only means to support herself since 18 and from our conversations I could sense clearly her devotion to climbing and, in her words, "helping others see a different way to live lives."

We talked about the ups and downs as a guide and as a business owner, her passion towards creating space for woman climbers, how proud she was to assemble an all-female guide team and to apply all she learned from climbing to the real world. There are still uncertainties and there will be difficulties and it is not that Kelly doesn't have fear but I know she will stay calm and keep pushing forward. Listening to her stories give me courage and I believe you'll gain strength from this episode as well.

Kelly's link:

www.athenarockclimbing.com

Things We Talked About:

• Created work for herself when women tended to get less work than male colleagues
• What women's only courses meant to Kelly
• Started her own business. And business names carry power
• From working for multiple guide services to working only for herself
• A push from her life coach
• Established her footing in Joshua Tree
• Compare the pros and cons working for other guide services and working for her own
• Athena Rock Climbing course offering
• Mentorship programs developed by Kelly and Athena Rock Climbing
• Are women underperforming? Should women "brag"?
• PCGI and AMGA certifications
• The guiding eco system in Joshua Tree
• Kelly believes in free market and friendly competitions but also worries that the vibe of Joshua Tree guiding would change
• The cost of a guide service; the cost of being a guide
• How did Kelly start guiding?
• Kelly's view in job security
• Kelly's proudest moments
• What Kelly wished listeners to take away

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting and our guest today is Julia Niles. Julia was the first woman to solo the Grand Traverse in a day as well as part of the first all-female ski descent of the Grand Teton. She has guided Denali and Aconcagua, climbed El Cap multiple times, and put up first ascents and descents in the Canadian Rockies, Wyoming, and South Africa.

Julia’s mountain prowess eventually earned her the title of Certified AMGA/IFMGA guide. She was the 5th American woman to reach this status. Right now Julia lives in Squamish, BC with her two children. She is an athlete for Arcteryx and splits her time between guiding, parenting, and her new counselling business: Mountain Mindset.

I had heard impressive stories about Julia, about her gnarly achievements in the mountains and about her toughness, so I was nervous to even contact her for an interview. But I was so glad I did. She was fabulous. During the interview, she offered thoughtful answers, shared relatable life experience. Listening to her calm and soft voice I could sense this inner strength and her love towards mountains and the people she worked with.

I loved this interview. We talked about guiding of course, but at the end I realized what we really talked about was life. I don't even know how to summarize it and I think it’s totally worth your time to listen to this episode from the very beginning to the end. Trust me on this one and enjoy.

Links:

• Julia's website for her guiding and counselling business: www.mountainmindsetsquamish.com
• Julia's Arcteryx's athlete page: https://arcteryx.com/ca/en/athletes /julia-niles