[pct-l] New Mountain Education videos on YouTube!

[Matt Signore]

If I were guiding clients.  I would be required to provide what you ask.
 However, I am not a guide nor do I pretend to be one on the pct-l or even
TV.  Nor do I guide clients under the guise of a donation based guide
service.  I have taken 30 days of alpine mountaineering courses with
accredited guide services to learn the necessary training to safely travel
on in an Alpine environment.  However, just like Ned I am not certified to
lead clients, but Ned tries every year.   Every year someone falls for his
smoke and mirrors guide service.  This year someone really fell, and got
pretty busted up.  Busted up enough to need a helicopter rescue.  Yet Ned
is posting away about more course offerings, and avoids any comment on his
clients injuries and how they could have been avoided.

Really I have no personal issues with Ned.  Other than he takes food off
the table of starving guides that are certified and permitted in the parks
where Mountain Education guides illegally.

It is illegal to guide on public lands without a permit.  In fact, you have
to receive permission from the Federal Agency managing the lands even if
you operate on a donation basis.  This is for many reasons; permitted guide
services get ranges of dates they are allowed to guide clients in the
National Parks and USFS lands mostly for over usage issues.

Ninety - nine out of one hundred clients may return safely, but what about
that one person.  Why should that person suffer any injuries?  The only
thing that saved the guy's life at Harts Pass was not his guide, not the
rope team, but a fall into a tree.  His SOBO hike is now over because of a
few broken ribs and a scalp laceration.  Seriously a scalp laceration?
 Where was the clients helmet?  That is inexcusable!

Look at the gear list a credible guide service requires you to have before
you get in the van let alone start a snow basics course or alpine
mountaineering course then compare that to Mountain Educations gear list.
 I do not know of a single guide service that recommends a whippet and
micro spikes.  You know why because they are not meant for what he is
teaching.  They all require a helmet though.  Mostly for insurance reasons.
 Something else I am sure Ned is bereft in maintaining for his clients.

The helicopter rescue Ned's client needed would have been avoided if the
client were roped up to a rope team or a guide.  It seems Ned won't even
carry a 10 lb rope to save a client fall.  What guide doesn't care about
client safety?  The answer is all guides do, and Ned is not a guide.  No
matter what he is telling you about not needing his certification to guide
clients.  The AMGA sets the standard for guiding clients safely, and Ned
lacks the commitment to himself and his clients to spend the necessary
money to gain AMGA certification.

Imagine going in for surgery, and the person isn't a doctor. He or she
might be a veterinarian, and has a few scalpels some alcohol swabs.  You
still ready for surgery?  Because I would guess there are as many people
dying in the mountains as there are on operating tables.

Matt Signore


On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 3:02 PM, Dave Fajer <davefajer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Wow!  If you have credentials...you didn't list them......can you?
>
> I have taken 3 courses from Mountain Education...All perfectly safe but
> challenging IMHO and perfect for preps for my intended forays.
>
> I see some rancor in your words for sure......perhaps some personal issues
> and experiences too!.  Please help me understand better where you are
> coming from.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Coastal
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Matt Signore
> Date:06/30/2014 12:38 PM (GMT-08:00)
> To: Ned Tibbits
> Cc: johnmuirtrail at yahoogroups.com, pct-l
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] New Mountain Education videos on YouTube!
>
> I would rather see the video of the guy plummeting down Harts Pass breaking
> 3 ribs and his scalp laceration.  You know the guy that should have been
> roped to you as his guide. he as your client.  Especially since he didn't
> know how to self arrest yet.  His blood is literally on your hands.
>
> No credible guide service would allow a client to travel un-roped with the
> objective hazards Harts Pass can present.  If you cannot teach roped
> travel, and manage a rope team you should reconsider guiding clients.  You
> could more safely teach snow basic courses at a ski resort and eliminate
> the risk to your clients?  That would cost each person a lift ticket at
> most.
>
> Instead of linking Youtube videos I would rather see a link to the permits
> you have gotten from the Federal Land Agency where you are offering
> classes.  Maybe even an AMGA guide certificate.  Because if that same
> incident would have occurred with an AMGA certified guide I am quite sure
> the AMGA would revoke his guide's license.  You just don't seem to care
> enough to carry a rope.
>
> I hate to nit pick, but you obviously are not taking the necessary
> precautions to keep your clients safe.  A guide needs to teach and take
> necessary precautions to ensure your clients the best and safest possible
> experience.  Everytime you post about your guide service I will make sure
> this comes up.  You are not doing anyone any favors in this fashion.  You
> are putting them in harms way.  The client is just too blind to see that
> until it is too late.
>
> Matt Signore
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
>



-- 
Matt Signore
*http://www.yogisbooks.com/ <http://www.yogisbooks.com/>*