Becoming a career climbing guide?

To have any success working as a guide in the US, you need to be AMGA certified in one or several disciplines. There are many grades of certification, with the highest being Rock Guide, Alpine Guide, and Ski Mountaineering Guide. The ultimate certification is to hold all three of these distinctions and earn the IFMGA Guide, which is recognized internationally as the epitome of guide certification. Here is a link to the flowchart showing certification progression:

http://amga.com/images/misc_PDFs/Program_Flow_Char...

Here is a link to the AMGA Programs site, which shows you detailed requirements and pre-requisites for certification in any of these programs. I will warn you ahead of time... these are not just a show up, climb a couple pitches, take a written test, and get your stamp of approval type of programs. They will require a significant commitment of time and money and will take several years, depending on which and how many programs you elect to enroll in. Consider it a commitment similar to college, as the time and funding could be on a comparable scale.

http://amga.com/programs/index.php

Once you achieve certification, many guides work through guiding services, such as RMI, Alpine Ascents, EMS, Exum Guides, or one of the many other local guide companies. Others work free-lance and get work through AMGA or their own advertising. The pay is pretty low from what I have heard, especially after all the gear costs (many guides replace all/most of their technical gear each season, depending on how much use it got). However, you would get to climb for a living and travel to great destinations that many climbers will never have a chance to experience. Good luck.

Well, ive been skiing in the French Alps for over 7 years now and all the guides i have been with are professional alpine climbers, rock climbers, skiers, mountaineers ice climbers and so on... The group i usually go with is called 'Summit'. They usually climb mountains like Mt. Blanc and so on. Check them out, very extensive program and very successful as well. In general people that go into such a profession are working within organizations. I find it to be more efficient as well, as opposed to a private work style.

Good luck nonetheless.

Cody gave sage advice. I would add as a resource that NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) would be a great place to go for training and certification.