Present-Day Guiding in the Adirondacks

After reading Adirondack Murray's stories and encountering many professional climbing guides over the course of the year, I felt like doing a little comparing between the two. Just like the 1800s, guides today are primarily locals who were hired by the wealthy for adventures in the wilderness. These days, a 1:1 day with a guide will cost anywhere from $250 to $500, depending on the certifications of the guide (Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides). Guides today must go through a rigorous and expensive certification process, something that was absent during the era of Adirondack Murray. Last year I had the fortune of attending a presentation by Emilie Drinkwater of Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides in the Adirondacks. She touched upon the difficulties of entering the industry today, and the advantages of being a female mountain guide. In Adirondack Murray's time, there is no mention of any female guides, and it appears that any local could christen himself a guide. While the websites of present day guiding companies have some grand descriptions of what a day in the wilderness is like, it is nothing like the exaggerated and sensationalized ramblings of Adirondack Murray.