Guides Do Good

They’re a tough crowd to keep up with, but we try.

We love to write about some of the cool things our guides do when they’re not guiding or teaching. We also love to tout their certifications and technical accomplishments. For example, this summer Redline Guide Arlette Laan finished hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail. She then went on to complete a Direttissima (hiking all 48 4000-footers on one continuous go). For those who can’t fathom this, it’s huge. Moreover, she did this solo, unsupported, and in only nine days (breaking her previous record).

And that’s not all. While Arlette was out there killing it, Redline Guide Rachel Ryan was out west hiking the 72-mile High Sierra Trail to Mt Whitney. And there’s more. While Arlette and Rachel were out there playing and broadening their experiences, Redline Guide Katie Vaughan reached out to Wilderness Medical Associates and earned her Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification. For those who don’t know, this class takes the normal Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course and ratchets up the learning ten-fold… perfect for professionals like mountain guides. Perfect for professionals like Katie.

But wait, there’s more, as the saying goes. While all this was taking place, Redline Guide Bill Robichaud was making a showing adopting every other trail in need of maintenance in the Whites — except Crawford Path which rests on Redline Guide Erik Samia‘s shoulders — as well as running through the forests of Canada during the Hurricane 65k race. During which, a couple thousand miles to the east, Redline Guide Ken Hodges wass hiking in Slovenia while Redline Guide Jeffrey Shutak was (and still is) a couple hundred miles south hiking and drinking lots of vino in Italy. Wow, you guys!

They’re a tough crowd to keep up with, but we try. Congratulations to Arlette, Rachel, and Katie, and to Bill, Erik, Ken, and Jeffrey, nice job guys! We are forever impressed with the Redline Guides! You guys rock!