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  • The Snoqualmie Pass ski touring book is back; now with some new routes and nearly 50 additional aerial photographs. View the online book!
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Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I go with Pro Guiding Service?

Right from the start we made the commitment to guides qualification. Any guide who lands a job with us is a certified guide or in the process of becoming one. There are many great non-certified guides out there, but as a whole it makes a difference. Please check out our guiding qualifications in the about us page and or refer to www.amga.com for a more in depth explanation on what these qualifications mean.

We do a lot of ski guiding along with the other disciplines of rock and alpine guiding. Our guiding business was born out of a ski shop and it shows. Our lives are virtually ruled by ski touring and ski mountaineering for about 6 months out of the year. If we don’t ski or ski tour, we might be in the process of writing a book about it (Skills for ski touring and ski mountaineering), sell some ski mountaineering gear (Pro Ski Service of North Bend 425 888 6397) or test and develop skis for K2

A big part of our guiding season happens in the Alps, partly because it is a world class range with incredible access and partly because some of us are from there. We know people and customs there, possibly went to guides training with some of the hut keepers and speak the local dialect. This ends up making a big difference in terms of communication, trip options and general trip quality.

Compare our client to guide ratios with that of many other guiding companies for instructional courses. The difference in what you are buying is right there. The participant number dictates to a large extent what you can accomplish on a course.

How should I train for my trip?

Ski mountaineering, rock and alpine climbing is strenuous. We understand that finding the time for fitness training can be hard to come by, but if you want to enjoy your trip, make sure that you are physically prepared. Please refer to the detailed information about client requirement. It is safe to say that large portions of mountain climbing consist of low to medium intensity and long duration physical exertion. This means that you should (for example) be able to hike up a mountain with a pack on for about 1500 feet of vertical without having to take a break. On a typical trip we might cover about 4000 feet of vertical gain per day and might do this for several day in a row. Some days are easier, some are harder.

If you are trying to get ready for a ski touring or ski mountaineering trip, make sure to get out a few times before the trip. Not only your lungs and legs need to be conditioned, but your feet as well. We spend a lot of time taping up people's feet, so try to spend some time in the footwear that you will be using.

If you are trying to get ready for an alpine climbing trip, it is almost imperative that you have had you boots on before. Even if you do not live in the mountains, you can wear you mountaineering boots around. We recommend that you wear them many days for short periods (maybe in the yard even), as opposed to going on a couple of hard hikes. Ease your feet into the boots. If you are trying to get ready for a rock climbing course or trip, maybe work on your flexibility and forearm strength a bit. This is especially useful if you are going on a guided multi pitch route, where running out of strength can really ruin the fun.

Do you recommend any other guiding companies or guides?

Absolutely. Below find a list of guides that we recommend people to if we cannot make the trip happen for you for whatever reason.

• Mark Houston and Cathy Cosley at www.cosleyhouston.com
• Freddy Grossniklaus at www.swissrockguides.com
• Howie Schwartz at www.alpineguide.net
• Rinaldo Borra at www. grindelwald-mountainguide.com
• Rob Hess at www.jhmg.com

You state that you do not cook for your clients. Do you have any food recommendations?

Yes; we have recommendations. Many of our guides purchase food with weight in mind. It may seem a bit counter intuitive, but foods that are high in fat content will keep your pack lighter. The reason for this lies in the simple fact that one gram of fat contains about 3 times as many calories than a gram of protein or carbohydrate.

We are not saying that this will optimize your performance, but it will help you bring down your pack volume and even some of the pack weight. Dehydrated foods are obviously very popular and we have to admit that they are tasting better all the time. They are easy to prepare, but dehydrated meals are expensive. If you are bringing "real food", please be aware that organic food without any preservatives spoils quicker. This tends to be more of a problem on summer trips.

Here are some food items that seem to make sense in terms of calories, pack weight, pack volume and taste.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal Packs, Bagels, Grapenuts or Granola, Peanut Butter, Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Powdered Milk.

Lunch:
Bagels, Tortillas, Cheese, Salami, Peanut Butter, Nuts and Trailmix, Granola Bars, Candy bars, Gatorade Powder.

Dinner:
Instant Soups in pouches, Dehydrated Meals (Mountainhouse etc.), Cous-Cous or any instant pasta or rice, Tuna in a pouch, Olives (they work great in winter and spring).

On average, our clients bring too much food. On base camp trips this can be nice once you are in camp, but on traverses this can turn quickly into a burden.

Do you offer trip cancellation insurance?

Yes, we work with a company from Vancouver BC. Generally the amount to insure your trip comes in at around 5 to 6% of the total trip cost. Please check out their program at.

www.globaltravelinsurance.com/quote.htm

Phone: 604 351 5278 or 800 232 9415; contact David Tompkins