Philip
Straub
Over the past 18 years I have worked across the mountain industry. From youth and college-level outdoor education, to research-based field science and technical mountain guiding, I’ve seen a wide variety of approaches to improving public understanding of the mountain landscape. Providing quality experiences to eager mountain travelers and creating opportunities for deep learning, both as a working guide and founder of a cooperative guide service, has been the greatest privilege of my career. I will draw on my background as a mountain industry generalist to help grow Washington mountain guiding and meet the challenges of an uncertain future.
The WMGA is well-positioned to acutely improve the lives of mountain guides and our communities in the Northwest. The gaps that exist between guide services, employees and land managers need to be filled in order to build and maintain a strong industry and keep caring professionals working in the mountains.
The WMGA can provide the industry voice that is needed to bring these groups together. Guides contribute to public safety, economic development, and environmental stewardship through the services we provide; this is of benefit to the public, land managers, local economies and the land itself. Improvements to the guiding industry can have a positive ripple effect across these interest groups. The WMGA should strive to be a resource to guides and guide services as they learn more about how to fit into the broader economic landscape of the outdoor industry and beyond. If the public and land managers understand the value of mountain guiding, the collective benefits to workers, clients and landscapes will carry the industry forward.
The guiding industry in Washington faces significant challenges that the WMGA has the opportunity to address. I see a lack of understanding about mountain guiding, by government entities and the public alike, as a primary issue for guides and guide services. Clear understanding of our work and its impacts is an essential first step for collaboration. Educational campaigns to expand public knowledge of what value guides offer, as well as advocating to land managers for improved access, will lead to a greater understanding of our industry.
The industry also faces high rates of attrition, which lead to a decline in the long-term institutional knowledge that we need to identify and address patterns in risk and adapt to a changing mountain landscape. I have left and returned to work as a guide on multiple occasions in response to the challenges of making this career viable. The WMGA could confront this dilemma from all angles by serving as a resource hub for guides and guide- services alike. The WMGA could assist companies in becoming more supportive employers, connect industry-literate business professionals with guides to address complex issues, and provide guides directly with resources to advocate for their worker welfare in an informed and effective manner.
I hope to help steer the WMGA in a direction that unites individuals within the industry while holding our differences with respect and mutual care about the direction of change in mountain guiding and the outdoor industry as a whole.