What sets the Mountain Bureau LLC apart? Fair-Trade, Living Wage
“There are easy routes, and there are a hard routes. The choices you make will always have an effect on people’s lives. We just have to invest in doing the right thing.”
What is Fair-Trade, Living-Wage
The Mountain Bureau LLC is a Fair-Trade, Mountain-Guiding outfitter. We strive to create long standing working relationships by providing living-wages, supporting educational and practical standards in the guiding industry, advocating for the environment, and choosing equitable and sustainable business practices. What once was a feeling, steering our company’s principles, has now evolved into a firmly branded standard.
When you choose the Mountain Bureau for your next adventure, you can feel good knowing that you are supporting positive change in the guiding industry.
Fair Trade is a standard designed to help businesses achieve sustainable equitable long term working relationships. Members of the fair trade movement assign realistic value to their trade rates in order to align with social and environmental standards.
The goal of a Living-Wage is to allow a worker to afford a basic, but decent, standard of living through employment without government subsidies.
The Mountain Bureau’s Fair Trade, Living Wage Logo was created in 2014 and represents the unity and strength of the guiding community. There are hundreds of historical uses of the “raised fist” symbol, most recently in the Black Lives Matter movement. We recognize and show support for all of those that are oppressed around the world.
Author and client in the North Cascades. Photo: Luke Webster
In my 20+ years working as a guide there have been many great changes to the outdoor service industry. I have seen standardization and continued improvement of guide education, improvements to land management techniques, and the recognition for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoors.
Despite all of these great improvements in the guiding industry one thing has stayed constant throughout this time. It is still a generally accepted truth that being a mountain guide is not a particularly sustainable career. In fact, in 2013, The American Mountain Guiding Association published a report on the State of the Guiding Industry in America. This report revealed 50% of guides surveyed found guiding to be a sustainable career and despite being three times more likely to have a college degree, guides made roughly the same as Americans without a college education.
When I opened the Mountain Bureau LLC, one of my goals was to create a sustainable lifestyle for myself. As time has gone by, I have slowly expanded that personal goal of sustainability to all of the areas of the business. It is my hope that through these investments, we can have a positive effect on the lives of our guides, elevate the guiding industry, and improve the experience for our customers.
The Mountain Bureau invests in guides on a professional guide track through the AMGA, and we are proud to provide fair-trade, living wage work to all of our guides. So when you are online shopping for your next trip, think about how that service supports the guide’s life. The more training your guide has undergone, the longer they have been doing their job, and their ability to support their family, the better resource they will be for you and for the entire outdoor community. So support the fair-trade, living-wage cause and let us guide you on your next adventure.
See you in the mountains,
-Mark Allen
IFMGA Guide and Founder