Golden State Guiding

I’ve been on a few trips with GSG, including splitboarding, ice climbing, and more. Every time has been an incredible experience. The guides are knowledgeable, professional, and genuinely great people, and the gear is always top quality. I consistently learn a ton, push my limits, and walk away with unforgettable adventures. Each year I expand my skills and get that adrenaline fix with this team. Highly recommended.

Recently, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to hire a guide from GSG for a weekend trip in Joshua Tree with two of my friends. We are all beginner climbers with varied levels of gym experience and our guide Rosa Padilla from GSG fixed us up with an amazing 1 and a half days of exciting, challenging and really fun climbing. Rosa was always there for help when needed, cheerfully setting up our routes, coaching us on our belay, happily answering all our questions about equipment, and providing everything we needed for the best days ever. Her calm presence and quiet coaching helped us over each challenge on the rock. I will definitely be hiring her again, and look forward to visiting her on her home turf at Smith Rock. Thank you GSG and Rosa!!

We had a great time out with Matt and he was very friendly and patient when he taught us the basics of outdoor climbing. We went over safe anchor building, cleaning and lowering, and also rappelling. Ryan was also very prompt with his emails and communication throughout the whole process. I highly recommend booking with GSG!

I did some very cool multi pitch rock climbing in Joshua Tree with Chad from Golden State. Chad is an amazing guide and picked the perfect routes for my level. I had so much fun climbing with him and learned so much info!

As a long time sport climber, trad was always intimidating to me. I contacted Golden State Guiding and Ryan was quick to connect me with one of their guides Patrick. He was incredibly knowledgeable and patient while teaching me about single pitch trad climbing. Would highly recommend Patrick and GSG!

We reached out to Golden State Guiding on short notice to do some climbing with my daughter right after Christmas. Ryan was very responsive and connected us up with Zach M. who is a fantastic and careful guide! Zach took us to some introductory routes in the Mission Trails Regional Park. I had a lot of fun and he provided great encouragement for my sometimes nervous daughter. She was super thankful for Zach's calm, safe, and validating instruction, and she came away wanting to do a lot more! It was all I could hope for to introduce her to rock climbing. Thank you Ryan and Zach!

Troop 616 of San Diego spent a full day climbing with Golden State Guiding in Joshua Tree (Indian Cove), and it was an outstanding experience from start to finish. We had 15 scouts and 3 adults, with experience levels ranging from complete beginners to a few who had climbed before. Coordinating with GSG was easy; communication was clear, and they handled all the logistics. They brought all the necessary gear and found an excellent location that offered both approachable climbs for new scouts and challenging routes for the more experienced ones. The guides - Dan, Daniel, Andres, and Joshua - were fantastic with the scouts. They struck the perfect balance between safety and adventure. They encouraged the scouts to push themselves, taught rappelling and climbing techniques, and even took time to show knots and systems to those who wanted to learn more. It was inspiring to watch scouts work through tough routes and succeed with the guides’ encouragement. The day was fun, educational, and confidence-building - exactly what we hoped for. I would absolutely recommend Golden State Guiding to any youth group, Scout troop, or family looking for a safe, professional, and rewarding climbing experience.

Had a blast with Spencer at El Cajon Mtn. Did my first multi pitch up Meteor route, then came back another day to cruise up Sleeping Giant. He even let me lead a few pitches. Nothing but good vibes and things to say about the experiences. I'll surely be back again 🙂