| rev:text
| - I'm updating my review and knocking the rating down by quite a lot.
The problem is that they try to be all things to all people and that recipe may have them fail miserably when doing so.
Went on a hike today over 7 miles labeled as moderate and maybe should have been labed more difficult. They don't appear to do any vetting so the result is a mixed group of ability levels from both extremes of the spectrum which affects the pace considerably. The leader wanted to hike at 3 miles per hour (his pace, not the pace of all his group), mostly forgetting to check if his group was behind him and how wide the gap was becoming not once but all frigging day long. So you have part of the group that can hike 2.8 to 3 mph and then you have a major gap before the rest of the group that travelled at about the 1.5 mph range. And, because it's a narrow single track trail, one slow person means all behind them will be at the mercy of their pace, as well.
My issue is that if you're going to take money to guide, then guide appropriately. You can either label the hike as moderate to difficult and be sure to include the pace mph, or ask appropriate questions of the hikers before taking their money to be sure they're appropriately suited for the hike, or, once the hike begins and you have major (I am talking many minute) gaps, slow the pace, make more frequent stops for everyone to catch up, or break the groups into multiple groups if there are enough leaders (and there were). What is not appropriate is to take money and after not properly vetting out abilities not doing any of the above.
In this case, I really don't think the burden falls on the slowest of the group. I think the slow hiker(s) had good intentions and just didn't know what they were in for. They didn't stop; they didn't whine; they pushed on and finished. It is just that they were slow by a lot and I mean by several minutes by the time the leader would stop and wait. And once the slowest caught up, the leader most every time would take off right away, not giving the slowest a chance to catch their breath.
I'm a firm believer when leading a group of hikers that you keep your group together and don't leave anyone behind. Having someone to officially "sweep" behind the last hiker is not good enough.
I don't mind paying to be led by a hike leader. I do mind paying for incompetent leadership both in the VO office and on the trail.
As full disclosure, I also hike with the Pittsburgh Hiking Meetup Group and, they are a group of well-qualified leaders, it's free, and everything is posted in advance on their website so you know in advance who is leading, who is hiking, and the pace is usually posted. They do a great job of vetting out beginner hikers to make sure they can do the hike comfortably and having the hikes posted also allows hikers to post questions ahead of time of the entire hike's group -- leaders and fellow hikers.
I think there is definitely a place for Venture Outdoors but, honestly, is the money more important than having a group that is better matched for everyone's pleasure?
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