When to Let the Experts Do It: The Role of the Pro in the Outdoors

You're Too Old to Spend the Rest of Your Life on the Couch: Let's Adventure!

Photo by Yann Allegre on Unsplash

When is it time to hire a pro? As with all things, that depends

What’s on your agenda for 2024? For those who have decided to get a little more adrenaline into their lives, I have a few suggestions before we all head wholesale for the hills. While on one hand I most definitely want you to do just that, as with all things, there are some considerations.

This is not a detailed how-to about where to find a guide, what to look for in a guide and what to expect to pay. You can find plenty of those articles all over the Internet. Besides, the kind of adventure which draws you, where you are headed (overseas or local) and much more are all significant factors in finding the right guide, and this would turn into a tome.

Rather, this article is offered as a overarching way to think about whether or not to use one.

After that, it’s in your court.

Let’s talk.

I had a friend who worked as the wildlands fire manager in a remote part of Colorado. An EMT and an expert outdoorsman, he was once my roommate.

He used to regale me with stories about the people who insisted on hiking their gear into the extreme outback, putting on a Go-Pro, then launching themselves into adventures which only the world’s top experts could possibly do.

Like off spring runoff waterfalls so dangerous that they aren’t rated.

Invariably, my buddy told me, they’d been inspired by the cover of Outside Magazine. Handily disregarding, of course, that the pictured athlete was among the world’s best, had a full crew to support them and a full complement of emergency folks just in case.

Because “just in case” happens to the world’s best, too. Ask any NFL player.

Those adventures didn’t end well. Part of it can be blamed on hubris, part on ignorance, and part, perhaps, on the need to do something epic before we’re ready. Impatience, in other words.

All of which is perfectly understandable, but for this:

I want all of us to come back from the wild in the same, or better, shape than we went in. With dirtier sneakers, smellier shirts and epic stories, but all in one piece. Please.

Also, let’s not seriously endanger the very folks who have to hike in and rescue us, simply because we didn’t take the conditions seriously.

On one hand, getting out in the wild in one way or another is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. On the other, for those with no training or experience, it can be worse than just disorienting.

Here’s a perfect example which, as a Colorado resident for fifty years, I saw time and time again:

A day hike up one of Colorado’s fourteeners without proper gear can leave hikers stranded in a blizzard - in August.

Bad weather whips up in seconds, and a T-shirt and shorts won’t help in knee-deep snow. I’ve witnessed it first-hand coming down Gray’s Peak myself while training for Kilimanjaro. The high country- most wild country for that matter- can be terribly unforgiving.

None of this is intended to put you off heading to the hills. Hardly. I’m a huge fan- just an even greater fan of your getting back safely, and eager to head out again.

You might ask, legitmately,

Do you need a guide for everything?

Certainly not.

However there are times it’s not only a really good idea but it might just save your life as well as save your trip. And save you lots of money, by ensuring that you get the most of what you want out of the time you have.

There’s that.

Then, if you have a partner who is averse to asking for directions, hiring a guide is a really good idea.

And there’s that.

Are all guides good? Of course not. There are trainings and certifications and requirements to update skills for those who operate at a high level particularly in sports where medical training is essential.

To give you an idea of what a good guide should have in their background, please see this article. That’s a good way for you to determine if a guide you’re considering has the right chops.

Overseas, that may vary widely as well.

With that as context, let’s set the stage before we head into the Great Outdoors, which I passionately hope you will do. Just wisely.

The author being guided by camel in Tanzania

You’re wise to have a guide if:

-You are venturing into unknown territory. If you aren’t familiar with the weather, wildlife, local dangers and the like, a guide is essential. They can help you get the most out of your adventure, avoid the not-so-obvious questionable areas and help you notice wildlife spoor and other wonders.

Too many of us can’t see these details because we don’t know how or where to look. That’s also how you can head off a cliff, step on a rattler, or any number of mistakes which can be deadly or at minimum, debilitating.

-Your skills are less than advisable for the adventure you want to take. Be it kayaking, skiing, climbing, doesn’t matter. Too many of us make inaccurate and frankly overblown assumptions about our physical prowess, and too often find ourselves in danger, if not in need of rescuing.

A skilled guide not only guides, they can also teach us better skills. Along with an adventure, we get an education. That’s priceless. Besides, with fewer and few rescue folks available, more and more noobs heading into the hills, the pressure on those services is considerable.

We can no longer assume rapid response, so that means either don’t go alone or get a guide to get you out and back safely. For example, more than one person has not come home from taking a summer hike in the increasingly dangerous high heat in the West, and failing to bring adequate water supplies. A guide likely won’t let that happen.

-It’s required by law. Certain adventures in the world require that you adventure with a guide, like Macchu Picchu, Everest, Kilimanjaro and many others. Many of those concessions hire local indigenous people who might otherwise be hunting in those forests, so guiding gives them an income and helps preserve the wildlife and forests for us and for future generations. Besides, guides delight in sharing their piece of the world with you.

Put in the time to protect your dime…and your life

While this may be obvious, please do your research first. The reason I say this is because those folks who got caught on Gray’s Peak at 11 am in a brutal blizzard hadn’t bothered. Every website addressing hiking in the high country warns about unpredictable weather and tells you what to pack along just in case.

The Internet makes preparation easy, perhaps too easy. So easy that we don’t take preparation seriously, especially when the day dawns bright and sunny without a cloud in sight. Or we head off in a new direction, utterly sure of ourselves.

Here’s a perfect example of what you’re likely to find if you research hiking in my old haunt, the San Juans.

The information is there, we just don’t always avail ourselves of it. Or worse, we assume that it can’t happen to me, until it does.

Worse, too many people assume that their phones work everywhere. Unless you have a satellite phone, your cell phones often don’t work in the back country.

My EMT buddy constantly reminds me that we can’t treat rescue services like an Uber ride. All too often, newbie hikers get tired feet and call in an emergency, using services which may be desperately needed to save a life elsewhere on the same mountain.

One person’s mild inconvenience may end up being another person’s death sentence.

That may sound like an exaggeration, but it isn’t. Hoards of people are now heading into the hills with insufficient water, limited skills and in a changing environment that can confound even the best of experts. Some don’t come out again. Familiar hikes can be deadly when temperatures soar or weather turns ugly without warning.

Even very experienced climbers get caught, when they assume they are up to the challenge. There are times, no matter how good we are or think we are, that we need to bring a guide, a capable friend or a sat phone.

Most places where people want to explore will likely inform you where you can’t go, shouldn’t go, and what areas have been closed off for safety reasons. You’ll know where there have been unstable rock slides, flooding, or other serious hazards. They will also let you know if you’re required to hire a guide or if one is strongly recommended.

These rules particularly apply for sports where you’re still a beginner, in places where the conditions could swiftly deteriorate. Kayaking, horse riding, rafting, all of them. Until your skills are good enough to get out of serious trouble, you’d be smart to hire capable help.

For example, just because you can kayak Class II rapids doesn’t mean you can put in on any river or big lake simply because things look safe where you are. Experienced paddlers know where the rapids and dangers are- the ones you aren’t qualified to handle- and how you can get out safely.

All I’m suggesting is that you do your research and make good decisions.

Photo by Taryn Manning on Unsplash

Hard cash or hard landings

So what does it cost? That varies widely, depending on the level of skill you want or need or both, and where you are. In plenty of places all over the world local assistance can be had for little, but you’d be wise to check around for who has the best reputation, not just the lowest prices.

For example, one of the last times I was in Tanzania, I interviewed a young man from Luxembourg who had only researched the cheapest ways up Kilimanjaro. Two days after his start, he’d been brought down on a stretcher. The only research he’d done was about cost, not about altitude sickness, proper gear and the like.

The best Kilimanjaro guides have medical training, they take every precaution and they don’t let the client push ahead when it’s dangerous. They cost more. He didn’t want to pay for the right skills.

He was lucky he lived. That’s my point.

Know the law

In America, there are lots of legal considerations which drive public access, and liability. There are always and forever hotshots who feel the need to show off their prowess and flaunt the rules. They head off into areas clearly marked, as in the top photo, outside ski patrol boundaries, or into avalanche danger, or head into known danger areas for large carnivores.

I would rather that you part with some cash to ensure a safe return than part with a family member, a limb or your mobility. While it’s true that even with a guide you could risk getting hurt, the chances are far less likely. That’s a chance worth taking.

The unexpected costs of rescues

Some places where someone has flipped off the local authorities and ended up being rescued may well charge the individual(s) the total rescue bill. Increasingly, taxpayers are fed up with recklessness that they have to fund, and there are more calls to put the responsibility for the cost on the individual.

Ouch. Bad enough to come home injured because of something stupid. Worse to have your life savings and more wiped out because of it.

Final thoughts

Should you get a guide? In many cases, that’s up to you. You have to answer the question as to whether the quality of your overall trip investment is worth having trained professional help. That begins with being brutally truthful about your abilities, and whether or not you really can get out of a jam when your jam turns ugly.

Getting back safely, with the added bonus of having learned a great deal as well as possibly improving your outdoor skills is worth having trained professional help. But that’s just me.

I hire guides wherever and whenever I am heading into territory I don’t know, when I am going to be using skills which aren’t at the top of their game in the environment, and any time I want the joy of understanding Nature more deeply. That additional investment has gotten me home safely after serious injury, given me educations in local culture, and ensured a far deeper appreciation for the magical places I’ve visited.

A pro better guarantees a rich, safe experience. For my adventure dollar they are worth every penny.

As you plan out your 2024, I hope with my whole being that you’re adding serious adventure to your agenda.

I also hope you’ll seriously consider hiring professional help to make sure you can come back and tell your epic tales.

Photo by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash

Thanks for spending time with me today! I hope this article got you thinking, and above all got you considering doing something epic this year, but safely. There’s much more to come. Please consider

If you know folks who are bitten by the adventure bug but aren’t sure about how to get going, please also consider

Either way I sincerely hope that 2024 is a dream-fulfiller for you!