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Female Guides Requested
Szu-ting Yi
54 episodes
1 day ago
The first plan for this podcast is to interview female guides to learn about their stories, pool their wisdom and advocate their presence. And to seek out resources and guidance from related industries to better the guiding profession and working environment for female guides and guides from other underrepresented groups.
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All content for Female Guides Requested is the property of Szu-ting Yi and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The first plan for this podcast is to interview female guides to learn about their stories, pool their wisdom and advocate their presence. And to seek out resources and guidance from related industries to better the guiding profession and working environment for female guides and guides from other underrepresented groups.
Show more...
Careers
Business
Episodes (20/54)
Female Guides Requested
EP 53 - Caroline George - To the Essence

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. I’m your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today, our guest is Caroline George. I’d say every active and want-to-be female guide should listen to this episode multiple times. Caroline’s voice was soft and comforting, but the words were incredibly impactful. The wisdom came from the essence she extracted from life events and decades of mountain climbing and guiding. The conversations provoked me to look into myself honestly and asked the ultimate question of “why.”


Caroline, an IFMGA mountain guide based near Verbier in the Swiss Alps, has faced many curveballs, but the mountains have always been her refuge—a place to find balance, reconnect with herself, and rekindle her inner light.


Most recently, she faced an unimaginable loss: her life and love partner, Adam George, perished in a helicopter crash in the Swiss Alps. Now, as the sole parent to their child, she is learning how to navigate the mountains in this new reality—both as a guide and as someone deeply connected to the peaks that have shaped her life.


Though the mountains remain unchanged, we experience them differently as life evolves. Caroline is discovering a new way of inhabiting this space, adapting to her shifting world while staying true to her passion. Guiding has become an anchor, offering both stability and a sense of normalcy as she forges ahead on this new path.


Now, please enjoy this episode.

Caroline’s Links:

  • Into the Mountains (website): www.intothemountains.com
  • Instagram: carolinewaregeorge

Quotes:

  • On this journey of grief and healing and rebuilding, I can see that the mountains is a place of grounding for me.
  • It’s like my life is constantly being forcing me to go deeper and deeper and to figure out the essence of my identity by stripping all the things that no longer belong.
  • I think it’s a really hard place for women…it’s violent when you have to adapt so much to who you’re not just to get a certification.
  • I feel like I have met that mold that whole time to really work myself into the ground…And now in my latest situation of survival, after having lost my husband and being the sole parent to my child, I’ve had to revisit how is it possible for me to be a guide.
  • As guides, we can do a way better job to protect our own lives with our clients by empowering them.
  • A good metaphor for that is all the technical skills you learn are a little bit like the walls and the roof and the bedrooms in a house unless they’re inhabited by people. They’re just walls, there’s no life to it.
  • You can’t say no all the time just But with critical thinking and your gut feeling and your intuition, your experience and your knowledge all combined, you have to have the ability to step out of this situation and say no.
  • I really want it to be a lifelong career should my body enable me…through that job, you’re forced to stay healthy, to have somewhat of a healthy lifestyle. And, it keeps you fit to be out there in the mountains. It keeps you smart and alert and not be a couch potato. So, on some form or another, I think I will always do that.
  • I think in life it’s about finding passion, finding a community that feeds your soul and from there everything is possible.

Show more...
3 weeks ago
1 hour 40 minutes 51 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 52 - Amber Smith - Affirmations

Amber’s Links:

  • Amber wants to share her writing with you! To sign up for her newsletter or to contact her, follow this link! https://linktr.ee/ambersaffirmations
  • A personal essay from 2018 all girls Mount Baker climb: https://mountainmadness.com/blog/among-women-in-the-mountains-a-female-guideâ-s-learning-from-an-all-girls-climb


Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today our guest is Amber Smith.

Amber is a femme-queer AMGA Certified Rock Guide with over a decade of experience. Most summers you’ll find her at the Yosemite Mountaineering School, climbing grandiose granite walls with her guests. She is passionate about playful, trauma-aware, and embodiment-focused instruction, and she views climbing as an opportunity for powerful personal transformation. If you go climbing with her, she will encourage you to craft a positive affirmation to hone your power.

Before landing in Yosemite, she guided throughout the western United States. She has led glacier mountaineering and alpine rock objectives in Washington’s North Cascades, ski descents in Wyoming’s Grand Tetons, sandstone crack climbs in Utah’s deserts, and girls’ climate science research expeditions on Alaska’s glaciers. In 2016, Amber earned a degree in Geography and wrote her undergraduate thesis on what she called “Feminist Outdoor Leadership: A Guide to Facilitation Strategies for Inclusion and Participant Empowerment in Outdoor Adventure.”

I enjoyed my conversations with Amber. Her thoughtfulness was evident when listening to her reflections on her life journeys. She is also inquisitive and not shy about experimenting with new ideas. She is keen on exploring her inner voices to facilitate her own growth and be tuned to others’ needs. Now please enjoy this episode with Amber.


What We Talked About

  • Amber’s current, past, and future plans
  • Amber’s Affirmation on guiding – be safe, have fun, try your best
  • Doubts and questions about guiding as a profession
  • Engrossed in the outdoor leadership program in college
  • Feminist outdoor leadership
  • From Oregon to Washington, stepping into commercial guiding and keep her foot in outdoor education
  • Transitioning to Yosemite and guiding full time
  • Loved the Yosemite climbing community
  • Yosemite climbing and work cultures
  • Hosted a webinar about working in Yosemite
  • Thinking entrepreneurial  – mental health and mindset fields
  • Learn to Lead with mindfulness clinics
  • Experiments / Curiosities on grief and climbing and guiding
  • Affirmation in life – exercise your weakness, leverage your strengths, don’t worry about the looks

Quote:

  • Keep my priorities clear. And its number one, keep yourself and your guests safe. If that’s all I do at the end of the day, nobody had a great time, but at least we were safe, then that was a successful day.
  • I’d say that’s the whole journey of this industry for me is building the confidence in my voice, trusting myself and figuring out how to be myself in these spaces while also still sort of meeting some of the expectations of what your employers and your clients may want from you.
  • I’m definitely not [the best climbers in the world]. But what I am good at is supporting people in their climbing goals. And that’s what the job is actually about..
  • I think that’s really rad that I’m an ebike commuter to my rock guiding job.
  • I think we get a lot of burnout when we’re not being intellectually stimulated.
  • I’m basically not like ingraining negative association with the experience. I’m keeping my association with the process positive. and by having these positive associations, then I want to keep doing it
  • One of the most important attributes of a guide is that you need to be intuitive with your guests. It’s very customer service type job. And we need to be intuitively listening to what they need all day.

... More


EP 52 – Amber Smith – AffirMATIONs – Female Guides Requested Podcast

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1 month ago
1 hour 27 minutes 16 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 51 - Lindsay Fixmer - Patience and Partnership

Show Notes:

Lindsay’s Links:

  • www.fixguiding.com
  • https://alpinist.com/newswire/womens-expedition-explores-new-routes-in-indias-zanskar-range/
  • https://amga.com/meet-amga-lindsay-fixmer/

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. Today our guest is Lindsay Fixmer from Bozeman, Montana.


Lindsay Fixmer is an experienced alpine, ice, and rock climbing guide who has been guiding since 2006. She is on the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) Instructor Team, develops and teaches outdoor programming at Montana State University, and also instructs at indoor facilities. Lindsay spends her winters ice guiding in Montana and Wyoming, spring and fall at various rock venues in the western U.S., and splits her summers between Bozeman and the eastern Sierra. As an AMGA Certified Alpine and Rock Guide, Lindsay brings her passion for climbing to her work, inspiring her clients to excel, build confidence, hone skills, and meet their goals.


We dive deep into the interconnectedness among all different forms of climbing and how learning one can inspire the learning of others, and vice versa. I explored in depth Lindsay’s mission statement, how she emphasizes educating and inspiring people through patience and partnership. We talked about the balance of work and play, mentorship, and more. I learned so much from Lindsay, and listening to her describe ice climbing made me want to pick up ice tools again.

Things We Talked about:

  • Climbing career started early
  • Indoor versus outdoor climbing
  • Potential side gig
  • Lindsay’s mission statement
  • A life-changing experience – 12 year old backpacked through Canyonlands
  • All women’s trip to India and first ascents in Northern Himalayas
  • Guiding and doing first ascents with Chicks Climbing and Skiing
  • “Ice is my life” – Lindsay’s ice climbing journey
  • The interconnectedness of rock climbing and ice climbing and all climbing
  • Work/play balance
  • Mentorship and Tom Hargus’s inspiring quote “the day I stop learning is the day I stop guiding.”
  • Performance anxiety?

Quotes:

  • If you enjoy watching people succeed and become more knowledgeable and more skilled, then it [guiding] is very rewarding work.
  • I’ve been teaching ice climbing for a long time, but you’re always learning something new and the way that people respond to the words that you’re using and also the descriptors and the movement, you continually learn how people differently see things and respond.
  • …even rock to ice. We say that they’re very different, but I don’t think that’s true because you’re either in or out of balance in life. So Our ergonomics don’t change. It’s just the medium.
  • It is very much a partnership. you have to feel confident that your guide is with you and they can relate to you and understand and help you.
  • Patience is a massive component of helping people succeed and opening that door to being more vulnerable and being okay with that.
  • …when you really realize how small you are and how large the Earth and the universe is. And it was pretty amazing.
  • Oftentimes you had to make adjustments based on the conditions and how to get off of something that you had climbed. It wasn’t always just V-thread really straightforward. There were some more interesting ways of getting off of things.
  • Ice is always changing. It’s never the same. The routes always change, which is pretty cool.
  • If you’ve shut yourself off to learning or just don’t want to do it anymore more. You’re on to something else in your life.

Show more...
2 months ago
1 hour 36 minutes 49 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 50 - Angel Robeldo - Holiday Guiding

Show Notes:

Angel’s Links:

  • Rock Iguana
  • Coast to Bluff Recreation Access and Conservation
  • Angel Robeldo’s Instagram


Episode Intro:


Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting. In this episode, I have guest Angel Robeldo from Rock Iguana, a guide service located in the Cayman Islands. Towards the end of last year, one of my SPI students told me he needed certification to work in the Caribbean, which piqued my interest. As soon as I knew the owner of the guide service was a woman, you can probably guess what happened next!

Angel was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She left Brazil in 2005 to discover the world and ended up discovering herself. She has climbed around the world and done a lot of high-altitude mountaineering, including in the Himalayas, Andes, and Denali. Angel has traveled through more than 80 countries but found Cayman Brac to be the perfect place to live and enjoy her lifestyle. Since 2013, she has promoted and helped develop rock climbing in the Cayman Islands. She also helped build a non-profit boulder gym in Grand Cayman where a climbing community started to grow. Angel is an AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor.

One might say Angel is truly living the dream, but I’d say that is the guaranteed result because she has always followed her mind and heart. Now please enjoy the episode of Angel Robeldo.


What We Talked About:

  • From ocean to mountains and back to both ocean and mountains
  • An injury changed Angel’s life trajectory
  • Fulfilled her dream of living in the Caribbean
  • Personal and Professional climbing journey in Cayman Brac
  • Growing up in Brazil
  • Fear of height | Fear of Exposure
  • Where are the clients from?
  • Climbing courses and adventure travel
  • Climb Iguana & Coast to Bluff Recreational Access and Conservation
  • Work & life balance
  • Being away helps strengthen the love of her residence Cayman Islands
  • Holiday guiding

Quotes:

  • I was terrified of heights. And that was one of the biggest thing why I stick to climb because I want to investigate that fear and I want to go over that fear.
  • I love to guide people afraid of heights. That’s my favorite because I know exactly where you are.
  • Have the fear and go for it. And then suddenly there is no more fear.
  • I keep doing what I love and what drives me and what makes me feel very alive.
  • When you owe a guiding company when it’s just you working it’s way easier because you just have to manage you when it started to get big and they have all the employees it’s just like sometimes it’s way more work and no more money
  • Most of the time what stop all of us doesn’t matter if you are on a female body, on a masculine body, all stop us is on our heads

Show more...
3 months ago
1 hour 24 minutes 17 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 49 - Amy Jo Shore - On Fifth Class

Show Notes:

Amy’s Links:

  • Fifth Class Climbing

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday! I’m your host, Ting Ting. I’m currently working and playing in the Pacific Northwest, escaping the heat of Las Vegas. Early this year, I finally caught up with Amy Shore from Fifth Class Climbing, based in Bishop, California! And I’m excited to share our conversations with you.

Amy grew up in North Dakota and spent her young adult years traveling the world while pursuing her college degree in International Studies. After finding climbing at the age of 21, it became her life’s passion and has been a main focus of her life for almost two decades.

Bouldering, sport & trad climbing, establishing big wall first ascents in the Sierra and Patagonia, guiding 14,000 ft peaks… Amy loves the vast array of disciplines that climbing allows one to pursue. Establishing Fifth Class Climbing School in 2016 allowed her the freedom to guide what really inspired her, which was not big mountain objectives, but rather women’s events and courses that focus on teaching women to be independent climbers.

In 2021, Amy became the lead safety manager for a National Geographic TV show, combining guiding with rigging and logistics, and traveling the world to do it.

Most recently, Amy became a mom and now has a 20-month-old son. She still runs and guides for Fifth Class and is currently most interested in a new pursuit: projecting sport climbs. The day after our interview, Amy sent her first 5.13.

Things We Talked about:

  • From Whitney Base Camp to Fifth Class Climbing
  • Wanted to work with different clientele to focus more on instructions
  • Instructed before she became a climber
  • Upbringing – explored outdoors and tried different sports
  • Travel and then Travel & Climb
  • From pebble wrestling to big walls
  • Mom & projecting single pitch sport climbs
  • Training entered her life
  • Guiding is an empowering profession
  • Started her own business in 2016 – Fifth Class Climbing and School
  • Rigging for TV shows
  • Changes and transitions after having a kid
  • Why Amy loves logistical challenges  

Quotes:

  • There’s a small amount that is a part of me that likes to suffer and push myself and see what I can do.
  • When you’re in that kind of mindset of doing big wall first ascents and alpine climbing and then guiding, you’re in a very much no fall territory.
  • I get to be the places I love being. I get to teach and I get to give people an amazing experience that is maybe once in a lifetime for them. maybe get them hooked so that they’re doing this all the time. and it was empowering
  • It’s nice to be able to facilitate programs that people are excited about offering and helping them make that happen through the permitting and stuff.
  • As adults, we kind of take ourselves seriously and as a kid, you just do what you want to do. 
  • That risk tolerance thing changing [has] been a really interesting part of it for me. And sometimes I think it’s good guiding wise because I do have a lower risk tolerance than I used to. And I think that I see things and maybe this is from spotting my son too, but I think I see things preemptively better than I used to.
  • That’s why I really like doing the rigging work and the TV work as well is that I think I logistics is kind of my jam
  • I love hearing that kind of feedback after guiding. And it’s a special industry we’re in. we get to help people realize their dreams.

Show more...
4 months ago
1 hour 9 minutes 47 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 48 - Alexis Krauss - Rise Outside

Show Notes:

Alexis’s Links:

  • @alexiskrauss – Alexis personal IG
  • @riseoutsidecollective – Rise Outside IG
  • @kinshipclimbingcollective – Kinship Climbing Collective IG
  • Rise Outside Website
  • The Transformative Power of Nature Connection | Alexis Krauss | TEDxBoston


Episode Intro:

Happy Wednesday! This is Ting Ting, and I’m currently in my home country, Taiwan, welcoming you to a new episode of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. I’m excited to announce that today’s guest is Alexis Krauss. Alexis wears many hats.

Alexis is a long-time lover of the outdoors and teaching, with a background in elementary education and human rights. She has been guiding outdoor adventures since 2016 and especially loves sharing the transformative power of nature with youth.

An avid climber, she is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, a Single Pitch Instructor, and a NYS-licensed climbing and hiking guide.

She is an outdoor educator with Wild Earth, a New York non-profit that provides transformative outdoor experiences for youth in the Hudson Valley.

Alexis is also a co-founder of Kinship Climbing Collective, a climbing and leadership program for New York City girls and gender-expansive youth, and Rise Outside, a New York-based 501(c)(3)dedicated to creating access to outdoor adventures for underrepresented communities through inclusive and qualified mentorship.

Additionally, Alexis is a working musician and one-half of the band Sleigh Bells.

Chatting with her was so easy and fun. Her dedication and passion for uplifting youth and sharing the love of climbing were obvious. Without further ado, let’s enjoy the episode with Alexis Krauss.


Things We Talked about:

  • Many hats – Sleigh Bells, Outdoor Education, Climbing etc. Things in different fields that connect
  • How Alexis discovered outside climbing and why was that experience intense and life-changing
  • Climbing and dancing
  • Want to share this special thing and love to her community
  • Alexis’s mentor at the Gunks
  • Alexis’s always has a passion for working with young people
  • Young Women Who Crush -> Kinship Climbing Collective -> Rise Outside
  • The mentor and mentee relationships
  • Time management
  • Alexis’s personal experience taking an affinity AMGA Rock Guide Course (All women)
  • Self and the community
  • Motherhood


Photo credit: Trevor Riley

Show more...
5 months ago
1 hour 27 minutes 45 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 47 - Emma Walker - Learner Centered Education

Show Notes:

Emma’s Links:

  • Emma’s website:  https://www.emmarwalker.com/
  • Emma’s book:   https://www.falconguides.com/9781493052783/dead-reckoning/
  • AIARE website:  https://avtraining.org/


Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, welcome back and happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting. Right now, I’m in my home country, Taiwan, teaching some rock climbing courses. Our guest today is Emma Walker. Emma spends a lot of time outdoors and currently serves as the Education Director for the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education (AIARE).


Emma is a career outdoor educator with a background in curriculum design and a particular interest in accident analysis. A jill-of-all-trades, she has worked as a raft guide, avalanche educator, and in numerous other outdoor jobs, and has also made ends meet as a waitress, horse groom, and kindergarten teacher. She lives in Spring Green, Wisconsin, with her husband, son, and two badly behaved dogs.


Talking with Emma was so soothing; she answered all my questions with thoughtfulness and compassion. I gained so much knowledge from our conversations and couldn’t wait to incorporate all that wisdom into my daily guiding because, as she said, ‘good guiding is education.’ Now please enjoy this episode with Emma Walker.


Things We Talked about:

  • The love of the outdoors stems from childhood
  • Teaching runs in the family. Emma chose to be an educator but wanted to make sure she could spend much time outdoors
  • The impact of the first NOLS course
  • From Colorado to Alaska
  • Place-based education
  • Macro landscape VS. micro landscape
  • What is Emma’s interpretation of experiential learning
  • Emma’s short river guiding career
  • Toughness doesn’t equate high risk tolerance
  • What do we want to be remembered?
  • What exactly does a curriculum specialist do?
  • What does that mean by “student-centered”?
  • How do we evaluate the effectiveness of a course?
  • Adjust the avalanche education based on travel modes
  • Why diversity is important in avalanche industry and other spaces?
  • Emma’s book – DEAD RECKONING: LEARNING FROM ACCIDENTS IN THE OUTDOORS

Show more...
6 months ago
1 hour 38 minutes 37 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 46 - Angela Hawse - Stay Curious

Show Notes:

Angela’s Links:

  • https://alpinist007.com/ (personal website)
  • Angela Hawse takes helm of American Mountain Guides Association board as group leans on women to foster change in guiding culture


Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today our guest is Angela Hawse.


Angela was the 6th woman in the U.S. to become an IFMGA mountain guide with a successful career spanning over three decades. She’s trained and examined aspiring guides for the AMGA for the past 19 years and served as the AMGA president for five. Angela’s led over 30 high altitude mountaineering expeditions to the world’s Greater Ranges and guided remote trips to the Arctic and Antarctic. She skied from Sweden to Norway across Lapland, reached the South Summit of Mt. Everest (500’ higher than K2) and has led numerous technical all-women’s ascents.


She’s currently on the board of the IFMGA and the 1st woman and non-European to join the Technical Commission. Angela has a Master’s Degree in International Mountain Conservation, is on the POW Alliance Team and a Black Diamond athlete. In 2011 she was awarded AMGA Guide of the Year and in 2022 received the AMGA Lifetime Achievement in Guiding Award.


I love that she considers herself successful in mountain guiding because she still loves the profession and is still in it for the same reason that she got into it initially. She established a lifelong love of playing in the mountains since she was a kid. Her curiosity let her explore all facets of life related to guiding, and she hardly found boredom. We talked about dealing with burnout, giving back to the communities, her AMGA work, changes in the environment and the industry in the past 30+ years, and making a guide career sustainable. I’m super inspired by all the wisdom Angela brought in. Now please enjoy this episode with Angela Hawse.


Things We Talked about:

  • Has been guiding for 3.5 decades and still going strong
  • Angele’s special sauce to keep her in the industry for this long
  • Stay curious
  • Diversify
  • Mental bandwidth
  • Childhood
  • Prescott college and first role model
  • Was a dedicated climber for many many years before thinking about guiding
  • Various jobs from Outward Bound, an adjunct position in Prescott, working for different guide services so on and so forth
  • Expeditions and giving back
  • All women’s expeditions
  • What was is like being one of few female guides back then?
  • Ways to develop confidence
  • AMGA president – what happened during those years
  • AMGA’s DEI work
  • Angela deeply cares about climate change
  • Trends and changes Angela saw in the past 3.5 decades in the mountains and in the industry
  • Being a guide in the US full time
  • What does Angela’s work consist of now?
  • Alpinist 007

Show more...
7 months ago
1 hour 53 minutes 40 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 45 - Holly Mackin - Impact and Network

Show Notes:


Holly’s Links:

  • Holly’s profile on The Mountain Guides
  • https://www.instagram.com/hollyismackin/


Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday! This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today, our guest is Holly Mackin.  


When Holly was little, no one would have ever assumed she’d find her pursuits in the outdoors. Mostly scared of bugs and raised within the traditions of Catholic culture, it seemed highly unlikely she’d commit to a life living in and out of a van or tent. Something changed in high school when she needed an escape from the drama of her peers. She started running outdoors and practicing yoga religiously. She found herself going on mission trips abroad, which gave her more purpose.


When she decided to go to college at the University of Colorado Boulder, she was exposed to backcountry skiing and climbing. Already a runner, she scheduled her classes around soloing the Flatirons so she could take her practice to more interesting places. Throughout college, she spent summers in Grand Teton National Park, where she later planted roots as a mountain guide.


Her passion for rock climbing takes her to the Southwest every spring and fall, frequenting areas like Indian Creek, Red Rock Canyon, and Joshua Tree. In the winter, Holly is usually found in the Tetons, hunting for untouched powder and teaching snow science. She coordinates all women’s backcountry skiing and climbing programs for The Mountain Guides under the Women’s Network. This program also works to support newer women guides on their journey to becoming mountain guides.


Holly followed her heart to become a guide, cherishes the connections she builds with her clients and fellow guides, and has big dreams to make an impact. Now, please enjoy this episode with Holly Mackin.


Things We Talked about:

  • From Kentucky to Colorado, following the love of skiing
  • Environmental Anthropology and skiing brought Holly to Jackson Wyoming
  • Inception of guiding and it all started at a juicery
  • In college, Holly maximized her time being on the ski slopes and rock cliffs
  • Got an internship at The Mountain Guides doing all sorts of chores and volunteering to shadow trips to get outdoors
  • Right now at Teton Valley guiding skiing and teaching avalanche courses
  • Feeling closer to her environmental goals guiding
  • Holly’s environmental takes and views and how she uses conversations to remind people that we are part of nature
  • Holly loves being outside and human connections
  • Women’s Programs with The Mountain Guides – guides development and clients long term progression
  • Outlook on guiding
  • Beyond guiding, Holly wants to be an entrepreneur

Show more...
7 months ago
1 hour 12 minutes 3 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 44 - Jessica Baker - The Ski Diva

Show Notes:


Jessica’s Links:

  • Ski Diva (website)
  • Jessica and Ski Diva’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skidiva
  • Going Greenland Film
  • RAD MOMS: JACKSON HOLE Pro Skiers Take on Motherhood and Skiing


Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today our guest is Jessica Baker.  

Former World Tour Freeskiing champion, professional mountain guide, and mother, Jessica Baker, has a knack for seeking out remote adventures. From a young age Jessica developed a love for wild and mountainous landscapes while growing up on a small farm in North Idaho. From the Arctic to the southernmost Andes, Jessica has spanned the globe with her ski and alpine endeavors and broken the ceiling for women in the mountain guiding profession. Jessica lives in Jackson, WY with her husband, a fellow mountain guide, and her two young daughters.  

I had so much fun chatting with Jessica. Her passion for mountains and guiding reinforced my belief in adventures and why guides love sharing these experiences. Her commitment to give back to the community and desire to break barriers for people to access the sport of skiing was inspiring. I also admired her energy. She sustains a busy guiding schedule, mentors students, plans big trips and film projects, and raises two kids. She really made me want to ski again. I can’t wait for you to listen to Jessica’s amazing life stories as well.

Things We Talked about:


  • Mountains have been part of Jessica’s life since young
  • Cut teeth guiding in 2004 and started full time guiding in 2007
  • Competition life – what is free skiing? It was judged by fluidity, speed, difficulty of line, and style
  • How and what does free-skiing share with guiding?
  • Came and settled down in Jackson, WY
  • Was asked “Do you want to be a guide?” and audited at Exum Mountain Guides
  • The meaning and the draw of guiding
  • Became a mom in 2013
  • Jessican’s time management strategy
  • The inception of Ski Diva
  • Does advanced skiing courses have a place in women’s program?
  • The financial barriers getting into skiing
  • Don’t want to let the sport of skiing die, so access is important
  • Giving back to the community
  • Going Greenland film project and climate change
  • Future plans

Show more...
8 months ago
2 hours 2 minutes 6 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 43 - Brigitte Denton - Beyond Toughing It Out

Show Notes:

Brigitte’s Links:

  • Beyond Limits Education Website: https://beyondlimitsedu.com


Episode Intro:

Happy Wednesday, my dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. In today’s episode, I’m excited to catch up with my good friend Brigitte Denton. We met at a National Outdoor Leadership School Instructor Course back in 2008, and I can’t believe it has been almost 17 years!

Brigitte has lived in the Eastern Sierra (Mammoth Lakes, CA) since 2007, moving from Southern California, where she grew up with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. She has a Bachelor of Science degree and teaching credential in Biological Sciences. Before moving to the Sierra, she spent 18 years as a Los Angeles County Fire Department Ocean Lifeguard and EMT, protecting the lives of beachgoers. She also spent seven years teaching middle school integrated science. In 2003, she became a Wilderness EMT and later left traditional K-12 teaching to pursue outdoor education.  

Since 2007, Brigitte has guided and instructed courses in mountaineering, backpacking, and sea kayaking, exploring areas of Alaska, the continental U.S., and Europe. These days, Brigitte works for Mono County EMS as an Advanced EMT. She also runs her own business, Beyond Limits Education (BLE), teaching a variety of medical courses and providing education consulting and instructional design services.  

Brigitte is an outstanding educator and passionate about helping people. She is tough and also has a very soft heart. In this episode, we dive deep into various topics related to education. She shares the twists and turns of her life, from school teacher to outdoor education and then to EMS. When I asked about how she dealt with burnout and depression, she opened up and shared her struggle and a slow recovery after a near-death accident. Fascinating stories! Now please enjoy this wonderful episode with Brigitte Denton.

Things We Talked about:

  • 10 years of active guiding
  • Pandemic changed Brigitte’s course
  • City influence
  • Connection with water
  • Accidentally became a K-12 teacher after college
  • From marine science to education
  • burnout at K-12
  • multiple jobs to make ends meet
  • the guiding days
  • longer expedition and group development
  • what kind of guiding Brigitte loves
  • what happened after pandemic?
  • An ankle injury triggered deep thinking
  • The EMS land
  • what did Brigitte come out of depression and what did she learn from the near-death accident?
  • Self-care

Show more...
8 months ago
1 hour 30 minutes 21 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 42 - Izzy Lazarus - Power of Metaphors

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast,

Happy Wednesday, and Happy Lunar New Year of the Snake! This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today, we have Izzy Lazarus as our guest. I’ve known Izzy for a while, but it wasn’t until last fall that I finally got to meet her in person when she came to Red Rock for her AMGA Rock Guide Exam. I knew I had to have her on the show.

Izzy grew up in NYC, playing hockey, skateboarding, and finding a connection with the ocean. Her mountain pursuits began with a pre-orientation backpacking trip in the thick Vermont woods, and she’s been hooked ever since. Courses in rock and ice climbing and outdoor leadership led her to work at the Colorado Outward Bound School after college. Izzy spent several years working multi-week climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, and backcountry skiing courses, both domestically and abroad. In 2017, she moved to the Tetons to work as an alpine and backcountry ski guide. Between Teton seasons, she traveled and worked in the Southwest desert region and various peaks in the Northwest and Cascades.

Several years later, life took her back to Vermont to work for the UVM Outdoor Programs Dept and guide on the side. Izzy has a passion for adventure that is only surpassed by her love of education, teaching, building connections with people from around the world, and cooking!

Izzy is a Certified Rock Guide, Assistant Splitboard Guide, and Apprentice Alpine Guide.

We talked about Izzy’s different transitions in life, from a big city to the great outdoors, from seasonal guiding to a full-time job. We discussed what ignited these transitions, how she managed the changes, and what she learned from her experiences. Izzy always seems to have a positive outlook on life and genuinely cares about the people around her, wanting to learn from them. Izzy’s energy and positive attitude towards life are truly radiant. I had so much fun chatting with her, and I bet you’ll enjoy our conversation too.

Izzy’s Links:

Izzy’s profile on AMGA website Setting the Track

Things We Talked about:

From a big city to the mountains The power of metaphors What guiding is about for Izzy Izzy’s first mountain experience From 13 years of hockey to finding identity in the outdoors The UVM outdoor programs West versus East for example Tetons versus Vermont Outward Bound years Nudged and mentored by other amazing female guides in the Teton Valley Female representation in the guiding / climbing community Seasonal guiding versus a full time job Sustainability Information gathering Izzy loves planning but also loves spontaneity Burn outs? Next phase? Best guide tool

Show more...
9 months ago
1 hour 35 minutes 40 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 41 - Laurie Watt - Challenge the Narrative

Show Notes:

Laurie’s Links:

  • @laurie_wattclimbs
  • https://linktr.ee/Laurie_Watt
  • https://www.mooneymountainguides.com/

Episode Intro:

Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, Happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. On the first episode of the new year, 2025, we have Laurie Watt as our guest. Laurie has just been awarded the “Best Guide of the Year” by the AMGA.

Laurie fell in love with hiking and skiing in the mountains as a kid, but it wasn’t until she had sent her kids off to college that she was able to fully embrace mountain life. While raising her family, she also cultivated a 32-year career in physical therapy. In 2006, she moved to Switzerland with her family for her husband’s job. Living in the Alps quickly reminded Laurie of her love for adventuring in the mountains. After returning to the States in 2011, she expanded her skill set to rock and ice climbing. Once the kids were off to college, Laurie decided to make a major career change and committed to becoming a guide. Through training, mentorship, and many days out, she is progressing through the American Mountain Guides Association’s rock, ice, and alpine disciplines.

Laurie works full-time as a guide for Mooney Mountain Guides in New Hampshire, guiding rock climbing, ice climbing, and mountaineering. In the summers, she travels to the Pacific Northwest and guides on the glaciers of Mt. Baker. She offers women-centered programming in rock, ice, and mountaineering. In addition, Laurie also works as a climbing coach for the Holderness School Climbing Team.

In this episode, we dive deep into how Laurie cultivated a great mentorship from the side of a mentee, how she challenged the common narrative on aging and used the life skills she accumulated from being a PT and a mom to enrich guiding, and how she sustained the physically demanding guiding career.

Things We Talked about:

  • Came in guiding late around age 50
  • had been living a “normal” life – college, job, family until the “pivotal” moment to regain the love of the mountains
  • back to the States went straight towards Mt Washington in winter
  • why does Laurie enjoy hardship?
  • when was the seed of becoming a guide planted?
  • what were the biggest doubts back then on career change?
  • what did she need as a mentee?
  • self awareness versus self perception
  • deep discussion on mentorship
  • might be late on the guiding profession but all the experiences accumulated beforehand were still valuable
  • skills Laurie didn’t think useful but turned out to be very useful in guiding?
  • how to stay employed as a guide in Northeast
  • taking care of a guide’s body
  • making guiding sustainable
  • was guiding the way she thought?
  • what kind of guiding does Laurie do?
  • how did the family react to her career change?
  • the narrative of aging
  • best guide tool: listening

Show more...
10 months ago
1 hour 10 minutes 5 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 40 - Joann Garbarini - Motivated for the Motivated

Show Notes:

Joann’s Links:

  • Ladies Weekend Out (website)
  • Golden State Guiding (website)
  • Sierra Mountain Center (website)
  • The Mountain Guides Red Rock branch
  • Joann’s instagram

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast,

Happy Wednesday and Merry Christmas! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. Today, our guest is Joann Garbarini, who also goes by Jo. We worked together on a Ladies Weekend Out event back in March 2024, but it wasn’t until months later that I finally got a chance to sit down with her and learn about her stories.

Jo grew up on the East Coast and began climbing in The Shawangunk Mountains as a teenager. She has been hiking and rock climbing for over 20 years all around the United States, Canada, and Europe. Jo spends her time bouncing back and forth between The Eastern Sierra and Red Rock. She loves living and guiding in these places because of the access to climbing. During the warmer months, she loves climbing long alpine routes in the backcountry. As the weather gets colder and snow appears, you can find her climbing in the Owens River Gorge in Bishop or on sandstone in Red Rock.

Joann is a certified Wilderness First Responder, holds an AIARE Avalanche Level 1 certificate, and has been trained by the AMGA as an Apprentice Rock Guide. Jo loves guiding clients and sharing her passion for the outdoors with them.

Jo started her career path as a high school teacher and is now transitioning to holding just two jobs—a realtor and a guide. She has found a great balance between these two professions, which leaves her enough energy and time to stay healthy and enjoy her own climbing.

Things We Talked about:

  • Jo’s playgrounds nowadays
  • Born and Raised in the East Coast. Got into climbing in high school and was mentored by a good friend’s stepdad
  • Moved to CA looking for better weather to play in the mountains
  • Stopped climbing for a while due to unfriendly atmosphere at the first gym she went to
  • Picked up climbing again due to a supportive Meetup group
  • From weekend warriors to living in Bishop
  • Teacher, realtor, guide – wearing many hats
  • enjoy working with motivated people
  • was afraid that guiding full time might lead to burnout
  • how to balance between two jobs, injury prevention, personal climbing and logevity
  • next step to advance her career
  • great experience in her AMGA Rock Guide Course
  • challenges and rewards in guiding
  • guiding is like running a business
Show more...
10 months ago
1 hour 15 minutes 3 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 39 - Genevive Walker - Stay True

https://femaleguidesrequested.com/podcast/ep-39-genevive-walker-stay-true/

Show Notes:

Genevive’s Links:

  • Website
  • Instrgram
  • Race to Survive Alaska
  • Finding Balance Off the Scale

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. Today, our guest is Genevive Walker. I first learned her name a few years ago when she stirred up a heated discussion on route names. This discussion quickly led to real actions within the climbing community to change inappropriate route names. I was thrilled that, through a mutual friend, I could invite her to talk about her life stories on the show.

Genevive Walker is a professional rock climber, rock climbing guide, and active lifestyle model with a passion for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoor industry. She began climbing in the Shawangunk Mountains in 2012, sparking her love for steep routes, roofs, and anything that requires kneebar trickery. After seven years in the sport, she started her career as a Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) certified by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). Being part of the first all-female SPI cohort in 2018 opened her eyes to the disparities and inequalities within the climbing industry and ignited her mission to build community and offer representation for BIPOC climbers. Genevive is an athlete for Mountain Hardwear, DMM, Sterling Rope, and Gnarly Nutrition. She was also an athlete on Race to Survive: Alaska along with climber Favia Dubyk.

I had so much fun chatting with Genevive. In this episode, you can hear laughter from beginning to end. We talked about how Genevive found climbing and guiding, how her family views her current lifestyle, what kind of guiding excites her the most, and how she manages social media. We also touched on more serious topics such as fear and her battle with disordered eating. Now, please enjoy this delightful conversation with Genevive Walker.

Things We Talked about:

  • Before Genevive found climbing
  • How does Genevive’s family views her current lifestyle?
  • Climbing let Genevive find another way to enjoy life
  • Genevive started as a trad climber because that was the only thing available
  • When did Genevive have the thought to become a guide?
  • Took the first all Women’s SPI course sponsored by the AMGA, Brown Girls Climb, and Flash Foxy
  • Keep expectation low and keep surprise herself
  • The guiding life
  • Love to work with women and climbers of color and that’s the reason she loves guiding
  • Gunks, current status
  • Route name debate and a movement to change route names
  • Identity as a climber, model, and guide
  • Excitement led to more work opportunities
  • Eating disorder
  • Wanting to fit in?
  • The social media
  • Mentorship with the ProTrack
  • Partnership with Favia Dubyk
  • Fear Talk
Show more...
10 months ago
1 hour 19 minutes 41 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 38 - Everything SPI 04 - Teaching & Curriculum Design I

Show Notes:

Related Resources:

  • AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Page
  • SPI handbook (2024)
  • EP 20 – Everything SPI 01 – Professionalism and Risk Management
  • EP 29 – Everything SPI 02 – Site Selection & Group Management
  • EP 34 – Everything SPI 03 – Current SPI Eval System with Andrew Megas-Russell

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas, and welcome back to another episode of the Everything SPI series. Today, Spencer and I will be discussing the important topic of Teaching and Curriculum Design. Both Spencer and I are thrilled about this episode.

We’ll start by discussing the types of courses that can be taught utilizing single pitch terrain. Then, we’ll dive into our guiding principles, RACK and FIRE. We’ll use a case study to explore the “F” in FIRE, which stands for Formulate, in detail.

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, Everything SPI, to create supplemental material related to the SPI programs.

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 help us improve. Now please enjoy!

Things We Talked about:

  • What can we teach utilizing single pitch terrain?
  • Guiding principles – RACK (Risk management, Ask questions, Collect information, Keep it simple)
  • FIRE Overview (Formulate, Implement, Reflect, Enhance)
    • Formulate:
      • Who are the students? Define ratio, prerequisites. (Potential trouble here, students’ level are quite different)
      • Course goal, objectives, outcome. Set priority.
      • Structure/visualize the day and write/prepare lesson plans
        1. Progression and regression (make sure we have the flexibility to scale up and scale down)
        2. Divide and conquer, break the whole course into different sessions and classes. Utilize overlaps, so people practice new skills based on the foundations of learned skills. Many times less is more
        3. Hands on practice and mini evaluations – Give students ample opportunities to get hands on. Ask questions to encourage reflection and self-evaluation. Also build in mini evaluation (this will help instructors to know where students are at and when to push to the next phase).
        4. Time management (check back with priority list)
      • Pack/gather gear
        • Client harnesses/helmets/shoes
        • Program ropes (how many??), etc.
Show more...
11 months ago
52 minutes 50 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 37 - Paloma Farkas - Follow Her Passion

Show Notes:

Paloma’s Links:

  • Paloma Farkas (website)
  • Paloma’s instagram

Episode Intro:

Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Our guest today is Paloma Farkas from Bishop California. Paloma is only 25 years old, but she already has 6 years of guiding under her belt. Right after she graduated from high school, her parents gifted her a NOLS backcountry rock course at the Wind River Range. Paloma then listened to the callings of mountains and followed her heart towards alpine rock climbing and started her guiding career.

Paloma grew up in Seattle, Washington where she discovered her passion for the mountains through family backpacking and climbing trips in the Cascades. In 2017 she traveled to South America and fell in love with the granite towers of Patagonia. Since then she has split her time between Patagonia, Chile and the US. Paloma spends as much time as possible climbing and some of her favorite areas are Patagonia, the Peruvian Andes, the Cascades, Indian Creek, the Wind River Range, and the High Sierras. Her favorite type of climbing is big wall alpine climbing, but Paloma also enjoys single pitch trad and sport climbing, bouldering and ice climbing. When Paloma isn’t pursuing her own climbing goals, she finds fulfillment in sharing her passion with others and teaching the skills necessary to be self-sufficient in the mountains. She is currently an AMGA Rock Guide, Apprentice Alpine Guide, Wilderness First Responder, AIARE Avalanche Pro 1, and Leave No Trace Trainer.

I admire Paloma’s attitude of going for it when she knows what she wants. She works hard and remains optimistic. We had so much laughter during our conversation and I know you’ll laugh with us too when you listen to this episode.

Things We Talked about:

  • Cross Country Running was already there
  • Family’s influence – climbing wall at home, backpacking and climbing trips in the Cascades
  • NOLS backcountry rock course changed Paloma’s life path
  • The year of 2016
  • Wanting to head out of the country, and wanting to go to the mountains
  • A powerful conversation between father and daughter
  • Why Patagonia?
  • From dirtbagging to hiking guide to weekend warrior
  • 2020 now what?
  • After AMGA Rock Guide Course, Paloma started technical rock guiding in Bishop
  • Comparing the work environment between the US and Chile from a female guide’s perspective
  • Paloma’s vision and business ideas – train climbers in the Sierras and bring them to Patagonia
  • Does Bishop has enough work year round?
  • How to make Bishop guiding career sustainable?
  • Favorite type of guiding?
  • The so-called “Gap Courses”
Show more...
1 year ago
1 hour 34 minutes 9 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 36 - Taylor Fragomeni - Keep Climbing Fun

Show Notes:

Taylor’s Links:

  • Tangent Climbing website: tangentclimbing.com
  • Taylor’s IG: @tay_frag
  • Tangent’s IG: @tangent_climbing

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday and welcome back to another great episode. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas and our guest today is Taylor Fragomeni.

Taylor started climbing in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY in May of 2011 and moved to SW Montana shortly after. She has 12 years of competitive and commercial routesetting experience and a decade of instructing/guiding/coaching experience. Taylor often works with coaches, routesetters, and guides to streamline their training plans to balance the physical demands of work and play that allows sustainable long term progress. Her coaching style is highly collaborative. She sees herself as a supporter and educator who empowers each individual to become an expert on their own athletic journey.

Taylor was my movement coach and helped me to write my own training plans. It is always fun to chat about climbing with Taylor. In this episode we focused on principles of how to train for your climbing goal while you have a physical demanding job. We also talked about how to help intermediate climbers get better with their movements and keep climbing fun. People who are interested in Taylor’s service can visit her business website: Tangent Climbing or get in contact with her via social media. Links to those resources are in the “Taylor’s Links” in Show Notes.

Things We Talked about:

  • Help people to train when they have physically demanding jobs
  • Being flexible and how
  • Prioritize rest and make high quality sessions
  • Listen to your brain but sometimes not listen to your brain
  • At the end of the day, it’s a giant experiment on yourself
  • Find the minimum effective dose
  • It’s okay to have fluctuations
  • Patience, patience, patience
  • Goal setting
  • Load management
  • Grade of a route and its RIC scale
  • Take notes and keep a journal
  • Make small changes to build solid foundation
  • Movement coaching
  • How to transfer indoor gain to outdoor
  • What does Taylor do?
Show more...
1 year ago
1 hour 26 minutes 42 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 35 - Kristin Arnold & Sheldon Kerr - Break Down Barriers

EP 35 – Kristin Arnold & Sheldon Kerr – Break Down Barriers – Female Guides Requested Podcast

Kristin’s & Sheldon’s Links:

  • Moxie Website: https://www.moxiemountainguides.com/
  • The indigenous organization Moxie supports in SW CO: https://store.southernute-nsn.gov/product-category/bgcsu/
  • All In Ice Fest: https://allinicefest.com/
  • DEI trainings Kristin and Sheldon have completed and activists from the community that have helped to support their learning: Check Your Privilege: https://www.checkyourprivilege.co/store & Habit Queer: https://www.habitqueer.com/about-me
  • These Colorado Women Are Reframing What It Means to Be a Mountain Guide – 5280
  • The Woman Who Is Pushing for Gender Equality in the Guiding World – Powder

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. Happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today we have two guests, Kristin Arnold and Sheldon Kerr, founders of Moxie Mountain Guides. I was super excited to finally pinned them down from their busy schedule to have this conversation. When I edited this episode, I paused multiple times to reflect and ask myself questions. What is a guide? What is a good guide? What are the so-called soft skills and how do they play a role in risk management? I learned so much from them and I’m so happy that they started Moxie.

Both Kristin and Sheldon are IFMGA mountain guides. IFMGA stands for International Federation of Mountain Guides Association, and their certification is the highest credential attainable by a professional mountain guide. As of spring 2024, they are 2 of 17 total women IFMGA in the US. Together they created Moxie Mountain Guides to align the profession of guiding with their values. Let me share a quote from their website “We guide for good. We believe representation matters. We want the mountain to be inclusive space for women, non-binary and trans-identifying backcountry athletes – no matter your body type, race, or gender.” Moxie strives to break down the social and financial barriers to accessing high-end technical instruction.

Kristin and Sheldon are also AMGA Instructor Team members. They teach AMGA mountain guide programs, including women’s Rock Guide course. I heard encouraging stories from their students and was curious to learn more about their philosophy and approach. In this episode we had a deep dive into what affinity space does, why inclusion is a fundamental component of risk management, how we should advocate equality and justice, and what professionalism means to guides. You will recognize their voices very quickly when you start listening, but to give you a head start. The first person talked was Kristin.

Without further ado, let’s go and enjoy the Moxie ride!

Show more...
1 year ago
1 hour 40 minutes 45 seconds

Female Guides Requested
EP 34 - Everything SPI 03 - Current SPI Eval System with Andrew Megas-Russell

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is the third episode of the "Everything SPI" series. And yes I'm your host Ting Ting from sunny Las Vegas. Today we have a guest from the AMGA office, Andrew Megas-Russell. Andrew is the AMGA Climbing Instructor Program Manager. He oversees the Single Pitch and Climbing Wall Instructor Programs.

The main topic of the episode was the new evaluation system. We talked about the background of transitioning from the old system to the new system and what the AMGA is trying to accomplish with the new system. We looked at the new scoring system and what factors would impact the score. We discussed how the new system has been received by the providers and candidates, etc. We also talked about other general topics such as high standard versus minimum standard, continuing future improvements on the SPI program, interesting stats, and exciting upcoming changes.

Links:

Official AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Page

SPI Program handbook

EP 20 Everything SPI 01 Professionalism & Risk Management

EP 29 Everything SPI 02 Site Selection & Group Management

Andrew Megas-Russell Instagram https://www.instagram.com/megas_sends/

What We Talked About

  • Andrew's role in AMGA. Why is he relevant to SPI programs
  • From the old eval system to the new eval system
  • Overview of the new system and major improvements of the new system
  • How to interpret the score? Addition? Subtraction?
  • How do SPI providers and SPI candidates feel about the new scoring system?
  • What's a strong written evaluation?
  • The different roles played by the post exam debrief and written evaluation
  • Is there an appeal process?
  • Is it appropriate to say that SPI is an entry-level course?
  • Are there too many SPIs out there?
  • Interesting stats

Show more...
1 year ago
52 minutes 54 seconds

Female Guides Requested
The first plan for this podcast is to interview female guides to learn about their stories, pool their wisdom and advocate their presence. And to seek out resources and guidance from related industries to better the guiding profession and working environment for female guides and guides from other underrepresented groups.