When you think of Mountain Guides and where their skills are best applied, naturally you think the mountains. That’s where they were trained, are the most comfortable, and where we see them there all the time. Those of you who follow us on Twitter and Facebook were probably watching Yamnuska’s role in the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundations charity rappel off the Calgary Tower and heard our account of how this event progressed. We were honored to be asked to set up and lead the event and as the weekend unfolded I saw another side of our mountain guides. Anyone who has spent time in the mountains with our team typically comes back with glowing comments. Over the years, this high level of guest satisfaction is something we have come to expect since we put a lot of effort into hiring our guides and ensuring they have the right skills. But last weekend was indeed different.
Standing 63 stories above 9th Ave on top of the Calgary Tower our guides Nick Sharpe, Steve Blagbrough, Matt Mueller, James Madden, Carl Johnston, Deryl Kelly, Dave Begg, Maria Cashin and Dave Stark did an incredible job of setting up an anchor station and coaching people to rappel off the tower. Having done the rappel myself, I can tell you it is unlike anything I have ever done off a rock or ice face and you only step over that railing if you have faith in the people who set up your system.
I am very confident in our mountain guides and their abilities to safely and professionally lead guests of all skill levels in pretty much any mountain environment and conditions – I have seen it done many times. After watching our team work in an urban environment and coaching nervous people down what is arguably one of the most intimidating things they have ever done in their life, I can tell you each person who rappelled witnessed first-hand the technical, leadership and coaching skills of our guides.
We were told the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation chose Yamnuska Mountain Adventures for this event because of our reputation for safety, technical skill and guide coaching capabilities. I couldn’t have said it better myself and I couldn’t possibly be more proud of our team.
Len
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