I feel amazed that you are willing to teach novices to climb.

I want an experienced hiker because I am tired of teaching men to hike. Some men won't listen to a woman and do numskull, dangerous things in the mountains. They refuse to respect my 40-plus years of hiking and backpacking experience.

Also teaching novices to hike limits me to easy, low elevation hikes. I'm eager to get up to high alpine lakes with steeper ascents and spectacular views.

Often people ask me to take them hiking. My style of hiking involves negotiating lively creeks with slippery rocks and blow-downs in the creek, and hiking steep trails that often gain 1,000 feet in elevation per mile.

Experience and fitness are needed to: know what equipment, food and clothing to pack, safely hike steep, hazardous trails, pace yourself and prevent falls and injuries.

At my level, hikers are strong, self-assured and independent. We are good at quick decision-making and rapidly evaluating hazards with every step.

For example, in an extremely steep, snowy descent, choosing whether to glissade or plunge-step, and using an ice axe and/or crampons makes the difference between hiking safely, or getting injured or killed.

A Pea is a climber ?