Written by RMI Expeditions Guide Layne Peters.
This fall, I had the chance to take the AMGA Rock Guide Course alongside a group of fellow RMI guides plus one colorado mountain guide. Spending a week immersed in climbing, anchors, and rescue systems with people I already work with on Mt. Rainier made the experience way more meaningful than I expected.
It wasn’t just another training course — it felt like an investment in the way we work together as a team.
Usually, AMGA courses bring together guides from all over — different companies, regions, and styles. But this one was different. Every participant, with the exception of one, was a guide from RMI. We already knew how each other moved in the mountains, how we communicated, and what it meant to trust one another with a rope.
That familiarity let us dive straight into learning. There was no awkward first-day feeling — just a crew of guides eager to sharpen skills we use every day on Rainier. Whether we were building complex anchors or running through rescue scenarios, the lessons always circled back to our work on the mountain.
It was cool to see how the systems we practiced on rock apply directly to glacier guiding. Belay transitions and rope management mirrored the efficiency we need during crevasse rescues. Anchoring principles connected perfectly to snow and ice protection. Every day, I found myself thinking, “Yeah — this is going to make me better on Rainier.”
One of the biggest takeaways was how much we learned from each other. When you guide together, you see each other at work — on summit days, in bad weather, managing clients — but rarely do you get to slow down and talk through the finer points of technique and decision-making.
The course created that space. We broke down systems, compared habits, and saw firsthand how each of us handles pressure. It was like watching a behind-the-scenes version of our guiding style — and it gave me a deeper respect for the people I climb with.
You can’t really fake trust in the mountains, and doing this course together reinforced it. I left feeling even more confident in my teammates — not just their technical ability, but their judgment, their calm, and their communication.
By the end of the week, it was clear that what we learned on the rock wasn’t staying there. The efficiency we practiced building anchors transfers directly to glacier travel. The rescue drills mirror what we do in crevasse systems. Even just thinking through client management and transitions has huge value on big alpine climbs.
It’s easy to think of professional development as checking boxes or earning credentials, but this course was way more than that. It reminded me that guiding is a craft — something you can always refine. And doing that alongside people who share the same goals and terrain made it all the more worthwhile.
I left the course feeling proud — not just of what we learned, but of the kind of guides we’re becoming together. There’s something special about learning with the same crew you’ll be roped up with at 14,000 feet on Rainier.
We came away better technically, sure, but also tighter as a team. More in sync. More thoughtful about how we move and communicate. And in the guiding world, that matters just as much as all the rest.
