Karsten becomes first AMGA Certified Alpine Guide in Southeast

July 21, 2016

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Alpine & Ice Climbing AMGA Courses Guiding

Fox Mountain Guides strives to be on the pinnacle of the guiding profession. The founder of FMG, Adam Fox, came to Western North Carolina and saw a need for American Mountain Guides Association certified guides. Burton Moomaw and Bryan Haslam had become AMGA certified Level 1 Rock Guides (now Rock Instructor) in the 90’s and Adam decided he wanted to take the certification to the next level, the international standard.

Setting the bar high, Adam became the first AMGA Certified Rock Guide in the Southeast in 2001. A few AMGA certified Rock Instructors popped up following Adam’s lead: Ron Funderburke, Patrick Weaver, Karsten Delap, and Swis Stockton; three of whom were FMG employees at the time of certification. With the continued education that FMG presented to its employees, it was no surprise that Karsten Delap would become the next AMGA certified Rock Guide with Lindsay Fixmer and Ron Funderburke following closely behind. The bar had been raised to its peak for rock guiding certification.

In the alpine realm, only two individuals in Western North Carolina had pursued any training: Stuart Cowles and Josh Whitmore, both taking the Alpine Guide Course. Karsten, Ron, and Lindsay all followed suit, taking the Ice Instructor Course and the Alpine Guide Course. Karsten, however, was on a learning rampage, also taking Avalanche I, II and III courses and the Advanced Alpine Guide Course.

This Fall, Karsten finished accumulating the prerequisites for, enrolled in, and passed the Alpine Guide Exam, becoming the first AMGA Certified Alpine Guide in the Southeast. Once again, Fox Mountain Guides has pushed the educational boundaries of its guides to new limits, raising the bar for training and certification in the guiding profession. Check out the video that Karsten made for his scholarship from the Doug Parker and Roger Baxter-Jones Memorial Fund.

1993: Burton Moomaw becomes the first AMGA certified Rock Instructor in the Southeast

1998: Bryan Haslam becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2001: Adam Fox becomes the first AMGA certified Rock Guide in the Southeast

Jim Taylor becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2002: Swis Stockton becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2005: Patrick Weaver becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2006: Ron Funderburke becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2008: Karsten Delap becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor

2009: Kasten Delap becomes an AMGA certified Rock Guide

2010: Ron Funderburke becomes an AMGA certified Rock Guide

2011: Lindsay Fixmer becomes an AMGA certified Rock Guide

Derek Debruin becomes an AMGA certified Rock Instructor