Guide vs mountain guide

The differences between guides and mountain guides can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a guide and a mountain guide. Additionally, a mountain guide has an average salary of $47,584, which is higher than the $34,479 average annual salary of a guide.

The top three skills for a guide include brand awareness, product knowledge and safety rules. The most important skills for a mountain guide are CPR, responder, and safety procedures.

Guide vs mountain guide overview

	Guide	Mountain Guide
Yearly salary	$34,479	$47,584
Hourly rate	$16.58	$22.88
Growth rate	28%	-
Number of jobs	1,195	851
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	34	34
Years of experience	2	2

Guide vs mountain guide salary

Guides and mountain guides have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Guide	Mountain Guide
Average salary	$34,479	$47,584
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $68,000	Between $12,000 And $187,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Salesforce	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between guide and mountain guide education

There are a few differences between a guide and a mountain guide in terms of educational background:

	Guide	Mountain Guide
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	Environmental Science
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Guide vs mountain guide demographics

Here are the differences between guides' and mountain guides' demographics:

	Guide	Mountain Guide
Average age	34	34
Gender ratio	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%	Male, 75.9% Female, 24.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 9.9% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 10.1% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between guide and mountain guide duties and responsibilities

Guide example responsibilities.

Manage kayaks, guest and guide gear and repaired/ordered as needed.
Lead VIP guests on guide tours of the property and facilitate their involvement in special events, productions, and conventions.
Manage payroll - specifically manage overtime.
Provide hands on experience in stream exploration, plant identification, and survival classes.
Wrangle horses, clean fish, and elk.
Generate high quality reports in the form of listing, HTML, XML, RTF and PDF formats using SAS ODS.

Mountain guide example responsibilities.

Manage payroll - specifically manage overtime.
Instruct clients on techniques, equipment, leadership, and decision-making in mountain environments.
Advance leadership abilities, and constantly double-check tasks for correctness and safety
Facilitate a therapeutic outdoor adventure experience for teenagers struggling with a variety of behavioral, mental health and substance abuse challenges.
Manage commercial whitewater rafting outfit.

Guide vs mountain guide skills

Common guide skills

Brand Awareness, 26%
Product Knowledge, 12%
Safety Rules, 12%
Customer Service, 8%
Safety Procedures, 5%
CPR, 5%

Common mountain guide skills

CPR, 41%
Responder, 34%
Safety Procedures, 25%

Guide vs. similar jobs

Guide related careers

Guide related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse personal care and attendants jobs