By Cliff Agocs, the 2012 Marmot Scholarship recipient The pressure was on after receiving the Marmot scholarship. It wasn’t about my money anymore. Now it was about my reputation. If I fail, I reasoned, they’ll never give me another scholarship. I practiced rock-rescue all winter long. My climbing partners grew suspicious every time I suggested […]

Ian Havlick was the 2013 Mammut Scholarship recipient. Here is the account from his Rock Instructor Course.  In late April 2013, I made the drive from Crested Butte, Colo., in south Central Colorado, to central Oregon and Smith Rock State Park, where the American Mountain Guides Association hosted the entry-level course for the rock and […]

I would like to thank Gore-Tex for their support of American mountain guides. I was the fortunate recipient of the 2012 AMGA GORE-TEX® scholarship, which I applied toward the Ski Mountaineering Exam in Roger’s Pass, British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies, Alberta. With a unique blend of Alps-scale terrain, huts and helicopter access, combined with a […]

I wasn’t nervous going into this, my final exam. Having been through the Rock and Alpine disciplines, I figured this was old hat and there wasn’t any reason to get nervous. The rock exam had felt easy, but I almost let stress get the better of me on the last day of my alpine exam. […]