Granite Arches Climbing Guides offers the only AMGA/USMGA/WALS certified rock and ice climbing guiding and instruction in the southeastern U.S. in the mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Our focus is to help you efficiently reach your climbing goals, while developing superior risk management awareness and technical skill proficiency. In short, our aim is to make you a better climber as quickly as possible. Our instruction can cover beginner and intermediate rock, ice and aid climbing, lead climbing, self-rescue, guide training and wilderness medicine courses.

Our courses:

Our guided rock climbing instruction and guiding is tailored to the client's goals, is highly personalized, and is loosely organized around the following knowledge suites:

Intro to Outdoor Rock Climbing: gear overview; basic climbing movement and techniques; belaying and ground anchors; basic risk assessment; and more.

Top Rope Setup: rock and tree analysis; rigging options; media selection and ERNEST analysis; cliff side safety systems; and more.

Lead Climbing I: single-point protection workshop (nuts, sliders, cams, etc.); rope physics/selection; rack selection and organization; reading routes, choosing placements and riggings; avoiding zipper, z clips and backclips; learning to control rope travel and drag; lead climbing psychology.

Lead Climbing II: advanced leading concepts, theory and practice (exploiting cam angles, wedge physics, building awareness of vector dynamics; utilizing multidirectional anchors as URPs while leading; identifying and managing critical curvature) and involves advanced mock leading problems.

Multi-pitch Climbing: complex anchors, macro-micro route finding, anchor selection and orientation, rope management, and more.

Self-Rescue I & II: belay escapes, directs, knot passes, raises, lowers, ascensions, pick-offs, rescue theory/planning, and more.

Guide Skills Course: client care, climbing with multiple clients, advanced belay systems, advanced rappel systems, transitions, and more.

Our guides
Our guides have climbed on three continents guiding rock, snow, and ice.
Swis Stockton: