Joshua Tree’s Uprising Adventure Guides, Inc

An awesome experience! Sue’s expertise in climbing techniques helped my family to have an incredible time! My son was having difficulty with a challenging climb, this is where Sue comes in and saves the day with her vast knowledge of climbing technique coupled with knowing how to work through the «mental» challenge of rock climbing. To see my son successfully climb the route was priceless, and to see him feeling so proud and confident afterwards is something I will never forget. Thank you Sue and Uprising Adventure Guides for a great family experience!!!
Professional, Safe, and so much FUN!!!

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing! I can’t even begin to tell you how great my experience with Sue, Clark and Steve was over 3 days in December 2015. I would give them ten stars if I could and I’m super picky! Each guide that I worked with had years and years of experience (Combined over 65 years, seriously) and they are all still climbing hard. I am walking away with priceless skills and the most amazing climbing experience of my life thus far.
BOOKING: I came to Joshua Tree (JT) on my own and was very nervous about the fact that I was solo traveling so far and wanted to make sure that I had the best experience possible. Sue was so patient and kind to me during the booking process (I called many times) and she completely put my mind at ease. Sue took the time to understand my prior experience and we decided on three private half day lessons over the course of four days. I was even able to extend the half days to ¾ or full days at my discretion the day of and there was no pressure by Sue or any of the guides to do so when speaking on the phone or in person the day of the climbs. Sue even urged me not to book full days until I saw how I felt the day of. That proves where Sue and her company’s priorities are (on the client and the client’s experience). Like I said, AMAZING.
MY PRIOR EXPERIENCE: Indoor climbing v5 and 5.11a, lead/​sport class indoors, climbed outside one day.
WHAT I LEARNED:
All the basics of how to safely climb outdoors (lead, set an anchor, belay from the top, clean, and rappel down).
See below for more specifics:
–How to belay someone from the anchor at the top of a climb
–How to tie and use a clove hitch, French prusik, double figure eight knots etc.
–Multiple ways to set anchors with bolts and when there are no bolts
–How to set anchors when lead belaying (I’m super tiny so this was very important)
–Lead (Trad and sport climbing– learned how to set my own gear, cams and nuts) This was done on mock belay meaning I was on top rope and lead so I was able to learn in a completely SAFE environment.
–About the advantages and uses of different types of belay devices (ATC vs. grigri).
–About the intricacies of all the trad gear (cams, nuts, aliens) and what I might need for a starter rack
–How long until you can retire various types of gear
–Refined and built confidence in my lead belaying skills
–How to make and use a «third hand» for safety when rappelling
–Build confidence in my climbing ability and safety on the rock outside
HOW WERE THE GUIDES?
When I arrived in CA I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sue and local climbing legend Clark Jacobs were waiting for me when I arrived at the West Entrance of JT 5 minutes early. I have to say they were both so knowledgeable that I was blown away! I was completely spoiled to have two guides to myself each day! Sue had spent time before we met thinking about my experience and what was best for me each day. I mean look at everything that I learned! It was MUCH MORE than I expected or asked for. Each day was completely catered to me and my previous experience and climbing ability. When I was learning how to set trad gear, Sue spent time going over what the gear was then taught me to set the gear from the ground on rocks within arm’s reach and let me practice on her expensive gear. Then I went up and Clark was on a separate rope right there next to me watching me set the gear and helping me along– AMAZING. When I was learning to set anchors Sue either hiked or climbed to the top so when I got there (by climbing) she was at the top watching me practice and showing me what to do. Same goes for when I was learning to belay from the top, clean the anchor and rappel down.
On the last day, Steve and Sue let me pretend to be the guide and test the skills that I learned. They pushed my climbing, anchor setting, knot tying and rappelling skills and helped me to build confidence in what they had taught me over the prior two days. I am walking away with priceless skills and the most amazing climbing experience of my life thus far.
At the end of the first day I asked Sue about where I could get more information on anchor setting and where I might be able to find a «third hand» and cordelette. Sue explained that there’s a local store, Nomad Ventures, and instead of just sending me she and Clark took me themselves! Sue and Clark walked me through the store and helped me to pick out the correct mm of rope to get suited up for safe climbing on my own and a great book. WOW! I can’t imagine what other guide would take the time to do that for someone! Everything was also super affordable!
OVERALLL:
This was one of the most amazing and inspiring experiences of my life and one that I will never forget. Sue, Clark and Steve are so special to me as they represent the knowledge that I have to become a better and SAFE climber. THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH! I would have gladly paid double for this experience you can’t put a price tag on it in my opinion.

Our family had an amazing time with Steve. We booked a 4 hour rock climbing session with him a few weekends ago. We were camping in Joshua Tree and our kids (10 and 7) really wanted to rock climb so we did a last minute call and Sue was very nice and professional. Steve met us at the site in the park and taught rock climbing to our kids. The kids loved it and actually took to it so fast that they did several climbs within a short period of time (I guess it usually takes much longer). Steve was pretty flexible about this and even offered to let one of us parents do some climbs to use up the extra time (my kids were getting exhausted). Steve was awesome with the kids: fun, kind and encouraging. Our favorite part though was the hike he took us on at the end. It was amazing and our favorite part of the trip. Totally worth it! I’m surprised by any of the negative reviews but I can personally speak to Steve being very conscientious and a great guide and Sue being very professional.

My family and I had the times of our life! Sue and Steve are very professional. They make the experience very safe and exciting. Are family now has the climbing bug, everytime we look at a rock formation we say «how can we climb that? «Thank you.

Please please please don’t use this company! I booked a guide for my husband and I. Sue never showed up… So we waited 15 – 20 minutes and left the park to call… No answer. (No cell service in JT). We called, left messages, etc. went back in the park, never found ‘Sue’ or heard from her. When I finally got the lady to answer my phone call– mind you– one week later… She refused to refund money. Seriously. So I filed a claim with my bank. Luckily — they reimbursed me in full and fought with this company so I didn’t have to. (I had paid for a service that I didn’t receive.) Paid in full– That the lady was just going to keep. She had another thought coming. Please don’t book with these people.
I read other reviews– seriously they met you at your campsite? How nice! They never even met us at the climb site.
Luckily my guy and I found a gorgeous hike that day… And went to that little Pappy and Harriet’s bar. Because this almost ruined our trip!

I done some climbing in the past, but after climbing with Joshua Tree Uprising Adventure Guides (with Sue as my guide) I learned so much more about this sport. Sue is the consummate professional, and her encouraging instruction-​along with making safety foremost– made for the best climbing experience of my life. It’s so important to choose a guiding company that has skilled, professional guides who make climbing fun-​Uprising Adventure Guides provides it all and I can’t wait to come back for another visit. Another bonus: they provide extremely competitive pricing, and for all they include with their guiding experience it’s an amazing value.

We had a blast with Sue and Steve! They were extremely knowledgeable and encouraging climbing instructors. Great for beginners and more advanced climbers alike! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

We had an excellent climbing experience. Andy was a great instructor, he was patient with the kids and very knowledgeable. Highly recommend!

We travelled to JT as a group of three families, including a bunch of little kids (6 years +). WE HAD AN AMAZING TIME with Uprising! Sue set up a number of climbs of varying intensities, perfect of our group with diverse climbing experiences. (It was my first time ever climbing, and I really LOVED it! totally inspiring!) Carrie and Clark were amazing, including with the little kids. Sue was professional, super fun & responsive, including to my emails just before the climb. Can’t say enough awesome stuff about Sue and about Uprising! It was the BEST part of our trip to JT.

I’ve been climbing in rock gyms in the past, but I had never got the chance to do any real climbing until I made it out to Joshua Tree last weekend with a few of my friends who were in the same boat. Knowing a bit of the fundamentals of climbing (tying a figure 8 follow-​through, etc.), we didn’t really want to have to sit through a full class, so hiring a guide was our best option. After seeing how affordable Uprising is compared to the competition, and the relatively good reviews that I’ve seen here, it seemed to stand above the rest. After my experience with them last weekend, that opinion still stands.
Sue was very helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic on the phone when she was setting us up for our climbing adventure. It was very apparent to me that she loves what she does, and that just made booking my trip all the more exciting. She really talked up our guide, Dave, claiming he is the best guide in Joshua Tree and that we were going to have a blast with him.
Given my lack of experience with any other guides, I’m not really in a position to say that he was the BEST, but I can definitely say that he was a FANTASTIC guide. You could really tell that he knew his stuff and was eager to share it with us. After reading some of the reviews about the safety practices of some of the guides, I did take some notice as I was observing Dave. While putting up one of our ropes, I did observe that he was not wearing a helmet. This didn’t bother me too much, since he’s a grown man and his safety is his business. Every time my friends and I were on the rock, his helmet was on, so I never felt our safety was compromised by him.
One of my friends did complain that when one of us was up on the rock, sometimes he was more busy chatting with those of us on the ground with him than he was guiding the one climbing, but I personally wasn’t too put off by this. I felt that he did an excellent job of letting us figure out the climb as best we could on our own, and then jumping in to guide us when he saw we were struggling. He gently pushed me during my climb and, because of that, he got me to go further than I thought I could. I can recall several climbs when I thought I was through and could go no further but, through his coaching and encouragement, I made it further than I imagined I could. That’s the job of a climbing guide, in my opinion, not to babysit us the whole way, but to give that little nudge when it’s needed most.

Having had a previous guided climbing experience at Joshua Tree in the past, I can say that this was our (my son and I) best experience and that we were highly impressed. We were beyond satisfied with our guides preparation, safety consciousness and willingness to go the extra mile in explaining/​demonstrating things that we were trying to work on (anchoring mostly). The top ropes were already set up when we got to the sites and we were on the crag in short order. We worked most closely with Andy who is a joy to learn from because his enthusiasm is infectious. Kai and Carrie were fantastic also. The guides took what would have been a good learning session and made it an incredibly fun experience. Thanks guys!

TOTALLY AWESOME!!!
Where do I start? First, Sue (Susan) is excellent. Super nice on the phone and just a pleasure to deal with. Really responsive through email — I called her on the day of the climb because I was nervous about finding my way to the right place (no cell service in Josua Tree) and she was very reachable and helpful.
Next, David was our instructor. We did not know what to expect going into this, what kind of guy our guide would be and how much he’d care about what we got out of the day — But David was The best, just simply the best. Super friendly, super knowledgable and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, my girlfriend and I felt REALLY safe with him because he explained, in detail, exactly what he was doing, exactly what we were tied to, and how we were tied to it.
I would give uprising 100 stars if I could. If you’re shopping around, you can stop right here, Uprising is hands down the way to go, you’ll have an awesome day.

This was a gift certificate purchased for me some 3+ years ago. I didn’t get around to trying using it until a year after I received it. The GC says it is only good for one year but I called and Sue said I could still use it. After a couple of attempts and much time passed I finally was able to arrange a climbing session last November. Keep in mind, this is 3 years after the GC was purchased and they still honored it.
The instructor met us (family and a friend who was climbing too) I at the parking lot of Intersection Rock, he was early, ready and eager to go. He wanted to make sure we got the most of our time. The park and spot we started out was pretty crowded with climbers so Michael wanted to go in a little deeper to get away from it all. This took a little bit of a hike but it was worth it. Worth cause we had the spot to ourselves and as a rookie, it was perfect with no crowds watching and I could hear Michael’s instruction or tips easily on the rock. He picked a rock called Bankrupt that ended up having a variety of levels for us to try out so there was no need to move. I was a total rookie and my buddy had previous climbing in the Navy but wanted the rookie approach. Michael was very helpful, patient and motivating for the both of us. He talked us through everything first, showed us some tricks and things to look for but also kept it very hands on for us to learn and do it ourselves.
After some details on the gear, climbing lingo and some foundation foot/​hand work we got geared up and started. I had read the reviews below about safety and helmets, but Michael never NEVER compromised on safety. At one point on my first climb I was pretty much done… hadn’t reached the goal but Michael through experience or whatever seemed to know just the right way to ease back or push. With that help, I worked through the spot I was in and made it to the goal. That was just what I needed and it carried throughout the day and helped so much. Sue stopped by to see how things were going, she had a class scheduled that day but ended up they were a no show so she came out and spent some time with us. She really just watched, encouraged and talked it up with us. They both walked us out and we met up with our family and they were both so nice and friendly. Michael scored big points helping my son (3 years old) climb some rocks and talk with him as we hiked out.
I never felt like they wasted time setting up (this is rock climbing people it takes time to setup and do things right and safe). Never felt like they comprised on safety, always wore helmets and used the same safety techniques that they preached to us. I would have never guessed that Sue was the owner of Uprising, if I ever plan on climbing again or getting into the sport and need advice on gear or where to go… I’m talking to Sue.

Derek B raises some excellent points regarding the safety practices of Uprisings Instructors. I know these guys are expert climbs who have been doing this for decades, but it really does make me nervous to see someone climbing up the side of a rock without a helmet & harness, no matter how experienced.
Sue & Alexis were clearly having an amazing time as instructors, & their passion for climbing was definitely infectious. They obviously had very different styles of teaching which at times appeared to clash in front of all of us (Sue seemed the senior of the two).
Still, at the end of the day I had an amazing time & I had a great first day of climbing ever in one of the première climbing destinations in the country. Not too shabby.

This pains me… but it must be done.
If I were a total newbie to rock climbing I probably would have thought Uprising was the greatest thing since string cheese. But let the truth be told…
Rather than narrate my whole experience let’s just take a look at the good and the bad (which may turn into a narration):
Reasons this review started out at 5 stars:
— Service: Sue was eager to book our trip and seemed genuinely excited to instruct our group. She was flexible when I was booking which made it much easier.
— Price: For a group of 6– $ 95 each for a full day or $ 65 for a half day. Can’t beat that… especially when we ended up having two instructors.
— Convenience: The instructors came right to our campsite at Indian Cove which coincidentally had great some of the best climbing in the park.
— Attitude/​Helpfulness: When we were actually climbing, Sue and Alexis (the other instructor) were extremely encouraging and knowledgeable about technique.
Reasons this review slowly started losing stars:
— Efficiency: After we got geared up at our campsite and walked out to the climbing site, we had to stand around for at least 15 – 20 minutes while Sue and Alexis finished setting up our climbs. Not very efficient for a half day climb, they shoulda been ready to go on time.
— Value: Alexis was an awesome instructor but almost too awesome. He wanted to demo every climb for us and was constantly tinkering around with equipment… and it affected climbing time tremendously. My group with Alexis ended up doing 2 – 3 climbs, while the group with Sue each ended up doing 4 – 5 climbs. I paid $ 65 to do two climbs… seriously.
— Safety: Both instructors demoed climbs and demoed belaying without helmets. Talk about setting a bad example.
— Even worse safety: Demoing without a helmet with another instructor is one thing, but Sue actually belayed some of us without a helmet herself. A huge no-​no as far as I’m concerned. A rock coulda come down and knocked her out and that climber woulda been screwed. That’s pretty basic climbing protocol — everyone in the system always wears a helmet. Instructors should never be immune to the rules. That makes me not trust them.
So there you have it. The whole starting a little late thing didn’t bother me that much because we ended up going about 15 minutes past our ending time. But only getting to do two climbs because of a slow ass instructor and then seeing the instructors exhibit less than stellar safety skills — is enough to deduct two stars in my opinion.
Not sure what my final recommendation here is… I genuinely liked Sue and Alexis, but if I were going to climb again in Joshua Tree, I would keep my options open. If you do decide to go with Uprising, don’t be afraid to call them out on some of the things mentioned above.