Guy Cotter, Top Himalayan Guide
High Altitude Guide from New Zealand Reflects On Twenty Year Career
Director of internationally renowned guiding company Adventure Consultants Ltd, the 47 year old New Zealand mountain guide was initially reluctant to take up his career because he saw so many of his friends in the profession put their own climbing aspirations behind them. But now he sees guiding in a different light.
"Becoming a Mountain Guide
Guiding may have saved my life," he says. "I was exposing myself to an ever increasing amount of risk and guiding stopped me going down the path of more and more difficult climbing. It took me into a different aspect of mountaineering which I discovered was very rewarding. I started to make decisions for others and I found this improved my mountaineering skills."
The son of Ed Cotter, a celebrated New Zealand alpinist in his own right, Guy was exposed to the mountains at an extraordinarily early age, climbing his first mountain at 11 years and making and ascent of New Zealand's highest peak (Aoraki Mt Cook) when he was 17.
After several years speed ski racing and raft guiding in the US, he returned to New Zealand at 23 to work for a heli-ski operation owned by a friend. He has lived and guided for the most part out of the southern town of Wanaka ever since.
"By the time I took to guiding I had already climbed in alot of places. This helped me see guiding as a career that could prove immensly rewarding and give me the opportunity to continue to travel to some amazing places."
"Since then my guiding has been mainly high altitude expedition guiding but it's given me opportunities that wouldn't have been possible otherwise."
High Altitude Guiding and Adventure Consultants
Certainly few climbers can claim to have summitted Everest (8850m) four times, climbed three other 8000m peaks as well as the highest mountains in all seven continents!
By the time he took on the Adventure Consultants legacy in 1996 after the tragic death of company founder Rob Hall on Everest, Guy was considerred one of the best high altitude guides in the world . This claim was strengthened in 1997 when he became the first person to guide three 8000m peaks in one season.
Since then he has brought the small guiding company from a "four expedition a year" operation to a world class venture running as many as 30 trips annually to all corners of the globe.
The Risks of Mountaineering
As for his views on the risk involved in mountaineering, he thinks the current media trend to focus on the tragic is unfortunate.
"The media gives the impression all mountaineering is dangerous because it only focuses on the accidents and deaths. But with guiding the focus is on safety at all times. You recognise the risks but it is possible to operate within good safety margins. Guides develop good skills and work to safe standards. It is possible to have a lifetime of mountaineering."
Although he had been successful on Everest four times, he has turned back from close to the summit on two other occasions to assist others in distress.
"With the David Sharp incident on Everest (in May 2006), people drew their conclusions without full knowledge of the facts. It drew the attention of the public and was blown out of all proportion.The media prompted the impression that climbers were scrambling over David's body on their way to glory rather than the fact that David had elected to climb the mountain very cheaply without any backup. He put himself in a very vulnerable position. He would have accepted the consequences of this. "
He believes different nations have their own approach to high altitude mountaineering and each is valid, so long as there is openess about the style and execution of the ascent.
"After all it's a sport. In the end it's about human endeavour, " he says.
To Keep on Keeping On
These days Guy would like to continue getting out, exploring new places, keep guiding in New Zealand and take the odd guiding trip overseas.
"I hope to keep adventuring until I can no longer walk."
He says one of his most memorable guiding experiences was taking clients to the Antarctic Peninsula.
"We were skiing down a glacier and there were humpback whales playing in the bay below us. Absolutely breathtaking!"
Guy Cotter
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