Make your reservation today • 888.232.9559
Maine's foremost climbing school and one of the most sought out and respected leaders of climbing instruction and guide education in the United States. Our strength is in designing unique and personalized experiences for individuals, families and small groups. Take a tour!
2013 Summer Youth Camps

Notice: The late formal opening (May 16) of Acadia National Park due to budget reductionsdoes not effect climbing and guiding in the park.

Video and Scenes from Untamed New England Adventure Race - June 20 - 23, 2012

Acadia Mountain Guides orchestrated the set up and operation of the ropes portion of Untamed New England Adventure Race on June 20-23rd over Grand Falls on the Dead River. Over 200 participants rappelled, paddled, ascended and and completed a 300' rope traverse as part of the 200+ mile 3 - 4 day human powered racing journey across remote Maine. The Untamed NE race was a qualifier for the upcoming adventure racing world championships and was won by the current world champions - Team Thule of Sweden. Congratulations to all who stepped across the starting line.

Enjoying a day of guided climbing on the South Wall, Acadia National Park.

Integrity • Competency • Personal Service

Since 1993 AMGCS has been providing climbing instruction and guiding to discerning clients from around the world. Our diversity of clients and programs speaks to the quality and value provided by our premium service.

Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School is Maine's only full service, year-round climbing school. We are committed to sharing our passion for the mountains with you throughout the seasons from the shores of coastal Maine to the peaks of the world's greatest ranges.

Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School offers a complete selection of beginner through advanced rock and ice climbing programs in our home areas of Acadia National Park, Camden, Clifton and Katahdin. AMGCS also provides instruction and guiding in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. If you are looking for more adventure then consider a climbing, mountaineering or skiing trip to the western states, South America, Europe, Canada or Asia. Whatever your mountain dreams are, AMGCS can help you reach them!

Acadia Mountain Guides is the only Maine accredited climbing school that has been consistently accredited and reaccredited by the American Mountain Guides Association since inception nearly two decades ago. In 2007 Acadia Mountain Guides also became the first school in New England to achieve accreditation by the Profession Climbing Instructors Association. We remain the only school in Maine with this distinction. The school was founded by and is owned and directed by Jon Tierney. Jon is an AMGA certified Rock Guide, Ski Mountaineering Guide and Alpine Guide making him the only fully certified and internationally licensed IFMGA mountain guide working regularly in Maine.

All of our staff are friendly, seasoned climbers who have invested a great deal of time into professional training courses and certification exams to further insure you of a high quality and memorable experience with the utmost attention to your safety. Acadia Mountain Guides is based on Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park where dramatic cliffs and vertical granite walls rise from the sea to offer some of the best rock climbing and scenery in New England.

For those interested in alpine climbing, nothing else in the east rivals the approach, setting and quality of routes on Katahdin - Maine's highest peak.

Our mission is to provide state-of-the-art instruction and guiding that maximizes your experience and minimizes physical and emotional risk and environmental impacts. We seek to continually develop and share cutting edge methods with our peers that improve the delivery of instruction to clients and that promote responsible guiding, recreational climbing and wilderness use.

Save15% on outdoor gear and clothing. When you climb with AMGCS you also receive a lifetime discount on purchases made in our store and online at AlpenglowGear.com. Alpenglow carries a full selection of hiking, climbing, and backpacking equipment and clothing.

A few of our clients...

June, 2012: The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) selected AMG owner Jon Tierney to develop and teach a pilot course for their instructors who teach personnel to do road scaling and geo technical work on steep slopes and cliffs along highways.

April, 2012: Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School provided an advanced rescue training session to Acadia National Park Rangers and MDI Search and Rescue personnel. IFMGA guide Jon Tierney along with guides Dick Chasse and Jeremy Kupferman instructed the park staff and local volunteers on the use of simple mountaineering techniques to perform what could otherwise turn into complicated rescues.

September, 2012: The Princeton University Outdoor Action Program, one of the leading university outdoor programs in the U.S. chose Acadia Mountain Guides to train their climbing instructional staff. For the third year in a row our staff traveled to NJ (this year dodging a hurricane) to provide a PCIA Single Pitch Climbing Instructor course and a PCIA Climbing Wall Instructor Course.

Paramount Pictures selected Acadia Mountain Guides to provide technical safety rigging and a stunt climber in the production of the movie Shutter Island - filmed partly at Otter Cliff in Acadia.

September 2011: We returned to Japan to provide climbing instructor and wilderness medical training to the US Navy in Yokosuka.

April 2012: The Maine National Guard recently selected us to provide instructor training to their cadre of climbing instructors.

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc) chose AMG to oversee climbing site safety during production of climbing video and photography for a recent catalog.

February 2012: we spent a day ice climbing with Maine outdoor personality Bill Green. Check out the video on Bill's Green Outdoors.

June 2012: We are excited to work with the organizers of the Untamed Adventure Race to set up and manage the climbing related portions of the New England race which is a qualifier for the world championship. Sorry, we can't give away the location!

For the past several years, AMG has been selected to work with Teens to Trails, a Maine based consortium of high school outing clubs, to sponsor a climbing experience for high school students across Maine each October.

This winter AMG provided several field training courses in mountaineering, avalanche awareness and ice climbing to leaders of collegiate outdoor programs such as Dartmouth, Colby, Bates, and MIT.

For the fifth year in a row, AMG was selected by AORE (Association for Outdoor Education and Recreation) to provide professional climbing instructor training courses and skill clinics at the 2012 International Conference.

Reach your Peak with Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School. Reserve today.

Over 25 years of teaching through WMAI - the world leader in wilderness medicine.

AMG is the one of the original supporters and the oldest provider of AIARE courses in New England.

A founding supporter and accredited member of the Professional Climbing Instructors' Association

We are proud to work in cooperation with the National Park Service in Acadia National Park.

Committed to supporting the education of future outdoor leaders.