Reality TV and Mountain Guiding

Last Thursday it came in an email.

I received a call this morning from an attorney friend in Seattle who is setting up interviews for guides who are interested in being part of a TV reality show on guides and guiding. The company developing this concept has previously done a variety of TV reality shows including Survivor, The Bachelor, and now new work themed programs like Ice Road Truckers.

A separate production company working with them is financing this and is currently funding:

--auditions for a series focused on guides
--the creation of a pilot

Woah! What's this? A TV show about mountain guides. Can you imagine how much fun people would make of the guides involved? Can you imagine how much goading and ribbing they would take from their peers?

Could this man be a reality TV star? (Dylan Taylor)

It's hard enough to tell people that you're a mountain guide with a straight face. It would be utterly impossible to tell people that you were both a mountain guide and a reality TV star without sounding like a complete doofus.

So after making fun of this all day, Dylan Taylor and I talked each other into going. AAI Guides Richard Riquelme and Dawn Glanc also participated.

The audition went well for everyone. Indeed, it sounds like if this thing gets off the ground we could all be on television. That would be both cool and incredibly embarrassing. Reality stars look like models. Mountain guides look like pieces of leather.

Anyway since we're all going to be stars of reality TV, I've started to work out my plan. I've already made alliances with everyone. Dylan and I are totally going to vote Richard off the mountain and Richard and I are totally going to vote Dylan off the mountain. Dawn's still neutral. I'm going to have to flip her one way or the other to win. It's going to be awesome!

Or maybe it will just be ludicrous. I don't think there will be any voting, but who knows...? It is reality television.

Here's a little taste of reality vs. reality. In other words, Reality TV, vs the reality of being a mountain guide. I've placed a few pictures of reality TV stars above pictures of our guides. You can decide which reality is more interesting...

The Bachelor

The Real Bachelor (Forest McBrain)

Hell's Kitchen

And the kitchen after hell froze over. (Coley Gentzel)

Dancing with the Stars

And Not Dancing with the Stars. (Alistair Turner)

The Girls Next Door

And Eric next door. (Eric Johnson)

America's Next Top Model

And America's Current Top Model. (Mike Powers)

--Jason D. Martin