Air Travel Discount
Links of interest for your travel plans
Mountain
Guides
Mountain guides can take
two general shapes, as they can be either people or paper guides, both
ready to help you get up and down the mountain of your
choice. Both need to be of quality construction to get you up
and down safely, though which you choose will have to do with both your
own experience and your level of confidence when setting out on your
expedition.
Paper mountain guides can take many forms, from small government-issued
pamphlets about a certain climb to handwritten notes from friends to
full-length, pitch-by-pitch guides. They all have their own
strengths and weaknesses. Though a book offering full route
descriptions, detailed maps, and stories of past ascents may be a
valuable tool when climbing a mountain, it’s easy to rely too
heavily on these sorts of mountain guides. Heavy snowfall,
avalanches, or rock falls can change mountain faces significantly from
year to year, and though the guide may be current when it was
published, each year after publication makes it harder to
trust. Also, don’t think you can climb a mountain
by relying on the guide during the entire climb; you should have the
skills and experience to climb the same mountain without the guide and
get to the bottom safely.
Smaller, less formal guidebooks or even handwritten notations written
by climbers who have done the climb before can be a great boon to
climbers who are looking for up-to-the-minute information about a
route. Though these guides won’t give you
step-by-step instructions, they will usually highlight any major
dangers about the route or less-than-obvious characteristics that you
should keep in mind. Often these sorts of guides, in addition
to full-length route guides, are the best combinations for those who
have never climbed a certain route before.
Finally, in-the-flesh mountain guides are by far the safest and most
reliable way to scale new mountains and new peaks. These
guides, either those hired or contacted through friends, should know
the mountain and route you’re ascending and should have done
it before. Mountain guides, especially those hired through a
reputable guide service, will not get you to the top if you
don’t have the alpine skills to do so. However, as
long as you have the physical ability for the given route
they’ll get you up and down safely, putting your safety
before any other consideration on the trip. Granted,
they’ll be more expensive than a paper guide, but if
you’re new to mountaineering or unsure about a particular
peak they’re by far the best way to climb.