Moab has long been known as an outdoor adventurer’s paradise. From the extensive network of mountain biking trails (including the legendary Slickrock) to world-class paddling on the Colorado River to nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks… There’s something for everyone in this rugged Utah town.
But the rock climbing around Moab is perhaps the most spectacular outdoor attraction the area has to offer. If you’re looking for a Moab climbing guide to take you up the awe-inspiring desert towers that dot the landscape around town, look no further.
From introductory towers like Owl Rock in Arches National Park to ultra-classics like Castleton Tower and the Fisher Towers, we’re prepared to help you tackle any objective on Moab’s pristine desert sandstone.
Novice or Expert? There’s Rock for Everyone Here
The desert towers around Moab harbor rock routes spanning a spectacular array of difficulties. Everyone from pros like Steph Davis and Alex Honnold to your college roommate who auto-belayed an indoor 5.5 one time in his 20s can find a worthy challenge here on the sandstone in Moab.
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While the soaring desert towers around Moab might seem daunting for a novice, even if you’re a relatively new climber, or someone who’s been climbing in gyms for ages but looking to make a transition outside, Moab is an excellent place to start. If you’re a longtime sport climber, it’s also a great place to cut your teeth on your first trad or multipitch route.
There’s nothing like the feeling of summiting a freestanding desert tower using only the strength of your own arms and legs, and many of these towers can be tackled via routes no harder than 5.5 or 5.6, so it’s a perfectly feasible objective even if you’re new to the sport.
Whether you’re an experienced climber traveling alone and simply looking for a knowledgeable local to rope up with or you’ve never led a pitch of rock in your life, our
will help you have the adventure of a lifetime.
Learning to Crack Climb? Moab is a Paradise
Don’t count a guide out even if you think you know your stuff on the rock. Crack climbing is a discipline of climbing all to its own. Even if you’re an experienced face climber, pulling into a crack line can feel like trying a new sport entirely, both in terms of the jamming technique and finding solid pro placement.
Luckily, Moab is one of the best places on the planet to learn to crack climbing. Generations of rock climbers have cut their teeth on these desert towers, and we can help you get set up on a variety of cracks to improve your crack climbing prowess, giving you the tools you need to send hard crack lines on your own in the future.
IFMGA-Certified Guides: The Ph.D. Of Mountain Guiding
Both lead guides at In the Company of Guides (ITCOG), Todd Passey and Tim Connelly, are IFMGA-certified (International Federation of Mountain Guides Association). This is the highest and most difficult level of certification any mountain guide can achieve and certifies the individual to guide clients in any country in the world. The certification takes anywhere from five to seven years to earn, and is essentially like completing a lengthy graduate program in guiding, where you’re trained and tested to an internationally recognized standard not just rock in skills, but ski and alpine skills as well.
“It’s the doctorate of the mountain guide world,” AMGA Guide Program Manager Jane Anderson told Men’s Health. “It’s as far as you can take it, and if you get there, you are in the elite of your craft and profession.”
“A track this difficult takes a lot of passion for guiding,” Anderson added. “It takes a lot of patience and perseverance. It takes dedication to getting out and being an active guide, as well as being active with your own personal experience and skills. This level requires commitment to training mentally and physically.”
Because of this, only a hundred or so American guides are IFMGA-certified today, and two of them are right here at ITCOG! We aren’t just highly-trained, however, we’ve also led trips on every continent on the planet, from Antarctica to the Swiss Alps to the Himalaya.
In short, when you climb with us, you’re climbing with the best of the best. There are few climbing guides as qualified to guide you through your next adventure in Moab.
A Truly Organic Climbing Experience
The ethos behind In The Company of Guides (and the reason behind our name choice!) revolves around the client experience.
We chose this name because, first and foremost, we believe the client-guide relationship is the most important factor when it comes to having a positive experience in the mountains. Guides can be physically fit, technically-skilled climbers or skiers, but if they aren’t crafting a relationship with the client… What’s the point?
We truly enjoy the experience of working with individual clients, understanding their unique abilities and goals so that we can design an adventure that suits them perfectly, challenging them just beyond their limits. Because of this, many of our clients return year after year, and many of our trips are with folks we have climbed and skied with for many years.
Given these goals, we also always keep our client to guide ratio as low as possible. Not only does this help ensure a higher level of safety and flexibility, but it helps cater the experience as much to the client as possible. If you get pumped out on our planned objective and want to bail to try something easier, we can do that. If you aren’t feeling challenged, we can ramp things up.
Our goal is to make the experience you receive roping up with one of our Moab climbing guides no different from heading out with a lifelong, trusted climbing buddy.
The style of adventure is totally up to you, we’re just there to help you get after it.
Learn More About Todd’s Journey to Becoming a Pro Mountain Guide
