Summit Ridge Guides is an international climbing and mountaineering guide service owned and operated by UIAGM / IFMGA Certified Mountain Guide José C. Iglesias.
Along with AMGA certified guides, we specialize in small-group and custom climbing and mountaineering trips in the Grand Junction/Moab area and expeditions to Europe.
Our programs include mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, expeditions, ski mountaineering and technical alpine rescue.
Along with AMGA certified guides, we specialize in small-group and custom climbing and mountaineering trips in the Grand Junction/Moab area and expeditions to Europe.
Our programs include mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, expeditions, ski mountaineering and technical alpine rescue.
WHY HIRE A GUIDE?
With more than 30 years of professional guiding and climbing around the world, and over 20 years of experience guiding in Colorado, José and Summit Ridge Guides can find the perfect destination or class for you, your family, or team.
Summit Ridge Guides offers you a variety of climbing, mountaineering and outdoor adventure activities for everyone. At only 15 minutes from down town Grand Junction, Colorado, we can take you to the granite walls of Unaweep Canyon or to the sandstone towers of the Colorado National Monument, a safe playground for beginners and experts alike.
With a ratio of no more than 1:3, we can help you to achieve your personal expectations. In a 2 hour radius we can find the best destination for rock climbing, ice climbing or mountaineering, always under the safety and control of an IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide. José Iglesias, lead guide and owner, is an IFMGA/AMGA/AEGM certified mountain guide as well as a UIAA climber instructor. Along with AMGA guides, you are in the most safe and instructional hands that you can be when you are climbing and playing in the mountains with us. We provide a diverse number of programs from individual or group classes to guiding trips. We also are open for demand classes or guided climbs at your convenience.
We can accommodate your schedule upon request.
We work and guide under the permits of the BLM, National Forest, National Park Service and the Western Slope Climbers Coalition.
QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING
UIAGM/IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations) is the highest license of Mountain Guiding available anywhere in the world. It is attained by completing the entire certification program of the countries' guides association that has been admitted into the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA). In the U.S., this means completing the highest level of certification in three disciplines, Rock, Alpine and Ski Mountaineering.
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AMGA guides are the soul of our sport, and they represent America’s best mountain and ski guides. Coming from different backgrounds and with various talents and ambitions, they can help you gain mastery of climbing and skiing technical skills or reach your ideal summit. And, with a combination of great personalities, a focus on maximizing client rewards, excellent teachin abilities, and an emphasis on safety, they will improve your mountain experience.
Best of all, our guides will introduce you to the culture of American mountain craft. The AMGA inspires and supports that culture through its courses, examinations, and other educational opportunities. But our guides also embody the culture through their love affair with climbing’s rich history, stunning natural landscapes, and ceaseless explorations. |
AEGM (Spanish Mountain Guides Association) was created in Spain, to be grouped into a single association the various professional associations existing in order to solve the issues related to training and professional development, as well as recognition and regulation the exercise of the profession representing this group with official bodies and institutions of the State and the Autonomous Communities. The qualification of all guides is ensured by the AEGM, IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations) and the UIMLA (Union of Mountain Leader Associations), associations to which the AEGM belongs and ensure the quality of training and professionalism of all the mountain guides.
All guides members of the AEGM have the official certification to allow then to perform tasks as mountain guides in the natural environment. |
We strongly believe in the value of guide training and examination. Mountain guiding is a highly technical and potentially dangerous activity. There are many specific skills involved that are not normally part of the recreational climber’s repertoire. In order to perfect these skills guides need to take training courses. And in order to be sure guides do, in fact posses them, they need to be examined. It's as simple as that.
While there are quite a few organizations that claim to train guides in these skills, the most reliably effective ones are those that have become members of the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations. These organizations have met the strict requirements for guide training and examinations established by the IFMGA, and have proven their quality through an extensive review process conducted by the IFMGA.
First, a few definitions. The International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA) and the Union International des Associations de Guides de Montagne (UIAGM) are one and the same, the former merely being the English translation of the latter. As the name would suggest the IFMGA is a federation of member guide associations. There are 21 different member countries.
While there are quite a few organizations that claim to train guides in these skills, the most reliably effective ones are those that have become members of the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations. These organizations have met the strict requirements for guide training and examinations established by the IFMGA, and have proven their quality through an extensive review process conducted by the IFMGA.
First, a few definitions. The International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA) and the Union International des Associations de Guides de Montagne (UIAGM) are one and the same, the former merely being the English translation of the latter. As the name would suggest the IFMGA is a federation of member guide associations. There are 21 different member countries.
IFMGA Member Countries:
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Argentina
Austria Bolivia Canada Czech Republic France Germany Great Britain |
Italy (national association)
Italy (Aosta association) Italy (South Tyrol association) Japan Nepal New Zealand Norway Peru |
Poland
Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland USA |
Candidate Countries:
Kyrgyzstan
Ecuador
Ecuador
The 21 member countries of the IFMGA all have agreed to recognize the training and certification programs of the other member countries. In so doing they try to offer to one another reciprocal rights of access to guides. It is because of the IFMGA that guides certified by the member associations can ply their trade with a minimum of red tape in other member counties. All member associations have guide training programs which have been inspected and approved by the Technical Commission of the IFMGA. These training and assessment programs produce guides who are called IFMGA (or UIAGM) Mountain Guides. If you ever travel to IFMGA countries you might see the guides with the little pewter and blue IFMGA guides pins.
All guides who are IFMGA licensed Mountain Guides have qualified through one of the member associations above. The training and examination process takes years, often as many as four or five and costs tens of thousands of dollars. It takes real dedication and their effort speaks highly of their commitment to the development of their own skills, as well as the profession.
All guides who are IFMGA licensed Mountain Guides have qualified through one of the member associations above. The training and examination process takes years, often as many as four or five and costs tens of thousands of dollars. It takes real dedication and their effort speaks highly of their commitment to the development of their own skills, as well as the profession.
