I have had the feedback a couple of times that climbing mountains behind a guide is almost buying success, or playing too safe, or overrating yourself, or being a pussy etc... Some of the people sharing this kind of opinion have never put crampons on, or have only played around on glaciers. So before telling me all about guided mountaineering and its flaws, they should probably try it themselves.
Guides give you access to a different dimension. You can pretty much climb and progress at the best of your ability, without much buffer. This brings two massive rewards: first, you are climbing routes you would never have dreamt of, you get to places very few people have been to. The motivations of alpinists to climb vary within a broad range of emotions, but in practical terms they tend to translate among other things into the will to access such unique places. Second, climbing long routes close to your limit makes you improve and learn faster than anything else would. For instance: if you start ice-climbing by yourself, you will make slow progress. With a guide, after a couple of routes you will find yourself climbing ice walls in altitude in the middle of a long mixed route, a whole different ball game and a different kind of fun.
Guides are inspiring. Beyond their experience and knowledge, it is probably the fact that you trust them with your life that makes the relationship special. They can take you on any route you pick, can get you out of virtually any situation, and when they climb without clients they achieve major mountaineering feats. My guide opened a ridiculous route in the North face of Les Droites the winter before I started climbing with him. The summer before that, he opened a route on an Alaskan summit. When we were together in a hut I picked two mountain magazines one after the other. In both of them there were articles with photos relating his climbing successes. Following this guy makes you feel special, a bit like playing football in your garden with a professional footballer.
There is a very particular relationship in a team of alpinists. The fact that you pay the guide to be roped with you can slow down the process of becoming climbing partners, and the share of responsibility is highly unfair. You can't really call a guide and his client "partners". But still, once you've been out on many routes with the same guide, he knows you in a way that nobody else ever will.
What a guide does when out on a mountain is first of all look after your safety. He interprets the route, the snow, the temperature, the weather, the altitude to adjust the climb to thes safety-affecting parameters. He accelerates all rope manoeuvers by setting up belays and placing protection like it's second nature, a bit like when we type a text message without really thinking about our fingers. He also makes sure you are still in condition to carry-on and finish the route, knowing what's best for you, slowing down or pacing up when required, choosing the progression mode, the length of the rope, the clothing to put on or take out.
A guide fee for a challenging route requires rigorous budgeting, but one must understand that the guide can only work when weather permits, and when people want to climb mountains or ski down them. Apart from the peak weeks of winter and summer, only week-ends are really source of revenue. There's no client to pay him if he's sick or incapacitated. The Lamborghinis you see in the palace villas of Chamonix do not belong to mountain guides! Additionally, the responsibility that the guide accepts has a price. He will not leave you to die alone, even if it means simply diing together like it regularly happens.
Of course leading a party of alpinists is the best experience ever, but unless both are completely nuts, you can only lead on terrain much easier than your maximum. The responsibility of the leader is tremendous, all those things guides do you have to remember and apply. You must evaluate objective dangers, make the calls and be able to lead your partner out of trouble, even if it means climbing an ice wall or jumping crevasses. Coming back to the initial comment about the "almost too easy" solution of guided tours, the picture above illustrates the meaning of it. The little rocky bits on the left is what I currently feel confident leading. The rocky triangle on the right is where I feel confident following my guide through. Different story, different fun. I have started taking my uncle or a friend on easy routes, and I must say breaking trail where there is no track is exhilarating (see below pictures). I would love to do more leading on manageable routes, but I'm missing partners. However, nothing will replace the undertaking of challenging routes with the support of the man that can make it happen.
