Meet Camilo Gomez | Mountain Guide

We had the good fortune of connecting with Camilo Gomez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Camilo, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is an integral part of my daily work as a mountain guide, almost by definition. My job is to take my clients into situations that are inherently risky and then to use my expertise to mitigate that risk to accomplish some objective. No matter what safety gear is in place, hanging from a rope on the side of a cliff carries a certain level of risk. So too does hiking to the summit of a Colorado 14er, where exposure to storms and potentially dangerous terrain is simply part of the deal.

Subsequently, as avoiding risk is indeed unfeasible in my profession, there are two other factors that play heavily into my risk management calculations: consequence and reward.

For clarity, risk may be defined as the degree of likelihood something negative will happen. Consequence is that “something negative” that may happen and to what degree I find that outcome to be negative. Reward is the positive outcome of the endeavor where consequence has been avoided.

For example, an experienced hiker is hiking along an uneven trail at a cliff edge to reach a summit. This hiker considers this endeavor to be of moderate risk, high consequence, and high reward. The risk is moderate in that the hiker is on a trail and has hiked miles of such trails and never has fallen, but the trail is uneven, and a slip and fall is a possibility. The consequence is high in that if the hiker were to fall, they would tumble off the cliff and likely die. The reward is also high in that the hiker greatly desires to reach the summit. The hiker chooses to proceed, comfortable with the moderate risk despite the high consequence due to their experience and the degree of the reward.

Similarly, the same hiker is walking from their house on a sidewalk along a main road to reach a local brewery. The speed limit for the road is 40 mph and trees are spaced between the road and sidewalk. The hiker believes this walk is of very low risk, potentially high consequence, and high reward. The risk that a car could come careening off the roadway and strike the hiker is very low. If this unlikely occurrence did somehow happen though, the consequence could easily be fatal and is therefore high. The reward is high: a cool refreshing IPA for the thirsty hiker returning home from their alpine summit. The hiker continues on their walk due to the low risk and high reward despite the high consequence.

Risk is unavoidable in life, as in guiding, we deal with it every day. Most of our risk calculations happen intuitively without conscious thought. When the risk and consequence begin to increase, however, I have found thinking about the situation in this framework to be helpful.

Once, guiding clients up Longs Peak, we reached a high saddle, hours behind schedule. We had been moving slowly and would likely keep moving slowly if we continued, ultimately putting us high above tree line and exposed to lightning when afternoon thunderstorms arrived. The reward of continuing to the summit could have been high; my clients had paid for just this experience. The risk of getting caught above tree line by a storm was very high; we were moving slow and still had a long way to the summit. The consequence of getting caught in such a storm could be very high. Lightening strikes are often fatal. I chose to turn our group around and descend. This was disappointing to the clients, but the potential reward was not worth the high risk and consequence.

Alternatively, starting any business is a risky endeavor. There are a million decisions to make, things to go wrong, and the chance of failure is high. The reward can also be so high as you begin your own enterprise. In our case, we found the consequence of failure to be relatively low. Our business has a low overhead and has not been difficult to scale. I have another part time and flexible job that provides a steady paycheck. Should the business flop we believe we will only lose the time spent working on the project and even then, we will walk away with our experience. High risk but with low consequence and a high reward equaled a green light to go ahead and give it our best.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is called Sojourner Mountain Guides. We are a full service mountain guiding company based in Northern Colorado offering custom and individual group trips in hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. We work primarily in Rocky Mountain National Park and the surrounding areas.

We are a new business only launching at the end of 2019. Our focus is on making deep and authentic connections with our clients while also providing them with an excellent service. We want them to feel known and we want them to leave feeling like they have pushed themselves toward their goals.

Launching a business has been exciting. I have worked in the guiding industry for over ten years but owning a small guiding business is still such a learning process. Besides the baseline skills of being a guide I have been learning to do our own advertising, accounting and multiple other administrative jobs. My biggest surprise is that I actually enjoy figuring out these other jobs; though I would still rather get out to the field ;).

We have been fortunate so far in the amount of business we have been able to do and one of our biggest challenges is actually a good one, we have more work than I can always handle. Now we are looking to scale up which I am sure will continue to be a great learning process!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Fort Collins and do most of my work in Estes Park.

Our trip would begin with an evening at Krazy Karl’s Pizza in Fort Collins — literally the best pizza I have ever had.

The next day we would get up early and head up to Cameron Pass for some backcountry skiing and then grab a late lunch on our way back down the Poudre Canyon at the Mishawaka. If we had energy that night, an indie film at the Lyric or beers at one of FOCO’s breweries would be in order.

Day 3 we would start a little later and drop in on Everyday Joes Coffee shop for the morning brew. From there we would head up to Estes Park to stay the evening at the Kokopelli Inn and rest up for another day of backcountry skiing.

Another early start on day 4 would see us skinning to the top of the old Hidden Valley Ski Area in Rocky Mountain National park for some more backcountry turns. Happy Hour at Ed’s Cantina to refuel and then the illusionist show at the Stanley Hotel for the evening.

Our last day we would head down to Boulder and, weather permitting, climb one of the Flatirons. Dinner at the Mountain Sun and a stroll down pearl street would wrap up this week of Colorado adventure.

Till next time chap!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to my parents, Javier and Maria Gomez, who have always loved and supported me. They taught me many of the values that define the work ethic I strive for: Integrity, excellence, patience and joy. Most of all, they believed in me and gave me room to grow and experiment in finding my path. I am forever grateful for them.

Website: www.sojournermountainguides.com

Instagram: sojournermountainguides

Facebook: sojournermountainguides

Image Credits
Chelsea Gomez