Golden Mountain Guides and COVID-19

We have been a little little slow and silent about our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While you’ve been getting an email from literally every company you’ve ever interacted with about the virus, we have been lost in what to say.

Not because we don’t care or don’t know what to do to protect our staff and clients, but because we have been hit HARD. Instantly. It has hit everyone hard, and we know that. We have been processing everything and what that means for us as a family and business.

We struggled with exactly how much we wanted to share, but we strive to be transparent and honest. We did want to share with you our feelings because it’s important in a time like this. Many small, family run businesses will be facing financial hardships throughout the entirety of this pandemic, including us. It’s just us, Ben, Whitney and little Layton running the show. We have a few loyal employees that it has affected as well. This is what we do to put food on our tables and it is so scary not knowing how long this is going to last and what will happen in the future.

While we do feel all the precautions are necessary to keep our family, town, state, county and the whole world safe, it is still hard to process and deal with. We never thought we’d see something like this in our lifetime, no matter how many zombie movies Whitney has watched.

We don’t know what will happen, even once we reach the end of the eight-week quarantine. There is so much unknown and that causes so much fear and anxiety in the world. We do believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel; it’s just a little dark while we’re inside. We hope that we as a society can band together to support each other and learn a new type of kindness.

Here’s what we’re doing currently:

-First and foremost, we care about the health and safety of our staff and clients and are doing what’s necessary to protect them.

-We are following the CDC and Governor Polis’ recommendations.

-We are connecting with our clients on a case-by-case basis, and handling all requests as quickly and as best we can.

-If you currently have a trip on the calendar between now and mid-May, we are honoring full refunds (or future reschedules).

-We will be posting fun and beautiful pictures on Instagram and Facebook to help distract for the anxiety inducing posts in your news feeds.

-We are encouraging others to follow the recommendations of the CDC, local governing bodies, businesses, outdoor areas, and cities as posted. I.e. National Parks are requesting you DON’T visit them right now to limit the exposure of their staff and places like Moab are asking visitors to stay away because they would not be equipped to handle a breakout if that happened. Elective travel is discouraged right now and it’s recommended you avoid crowded outdoor areas (i.e. I know you have a lot more free time right now, but crowding up your favorite crag is probably not the best idea). Now’s the time to find the “off the beaten path.”

-We’re staying busy preparing to be ready to take you climbing as soon as possible!

We encourage you to be kind to one another, to look for the path less travelled, and to find a distraction to get through these hard times.

We will get through this together! We have to.