Employment
Interested in joining the KWG family?
Kennicott Wilderness Guides is a locally owned and operated, off-grid Guide Service located in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
We are a small team of approximately 20 adventurous people offering custom packages to locals and tourists alike. We specialize in Glacier Hiking, Ice Climbing, Packrafting, Alpine Hikes and Bush-Plane Assisted Backcountry Trips.
KWG offers competitive wages, housing, and extensive in-house training. We are currently accepting resumes for the following full time, seasonal positions.
Guide
- Description: Guiding Glacier Hikes, Ice Climbing, Flatwater Packrafting, Alpine Hikes and Bush-Plane Assisted Backcountry Trips.
- Qualifications: Wilderness First Responder Certified, professional leadership and/or guiding experience in the backcountry, proficiency with anchor building, rope systems and belaying.
- Alaska experience preferred.
- Schedule: 5+ days a week, variable hours depending on trip
- Dates: Training: May 11-26. Season May 27-Sept 9, Close Down Sept 9-15 (some flexibility in start and end dates possible with prior discussion)
Intern
- Description: Guiding Glacier Hikes, Ice Climbing, Flatwater Packrafting, Alpine Hikes and Bush-Plane Assisted Backcountry Trips.
- Qualifications: Wilderness First Aid Certified, personal outdoor experience.
- Alaska experience preferred.
- Schedule: 5+ days a week, variable hours depending on trip
- Dates: Training: May 11-26. Season May 27-Sept 9, Close Down Sept 9-15 (some flexibility in start and end dates possible with prior discussion)
Office Staff
- Description: managing our local office including scheduling, emails, phone calls, taking payments, merchandise sales, client interface
- Qualifications: experience working in customer service and/or hospitality and administrative work.
- Schedule: 8hr shifts/ 5 days a week
- Dates: May 11-Sept 15th (some flexibility in start and finish dates is possible with prior discussion)
Operations Manager
- Description: Work with owners, office staff and guides to manage gear, food, grounds, scheduling, and backcountry systems. Limited interface with clients.
- Qualifications: Experience managing 5 or more people in a professional setting, organizational skills, basic administrative skills. Professional experience in outdoor management preferred.
- Schedule: April 15-30 training (work from home), May 1-Sept 15th in-person in Alaska, Sept 15-21 post season wrap up (work from home or in-person)
If you are interested in any of these positions email mail@kennicottguides.com with a resume and cover letter. If you are applying for the guide position also add an outdoor experience log.
Before you apply, read below!
Living in Kennicott:
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest park in the National Park System. Our office and guide housing is located in the heart of the park in the town of Kennicott. The community is entirely off-grid and is full of great music, food, arts and lecture series, and of course ample adventure opportunities. Our housing is walking distance from our office and consists of individual wall tents with access to a large kitchen and communal living area. We provide logistical support such as food delivery throughout the season and transportation to and from Anchorage at the start and end of the season.
Expectations:
Expect to work full time and expect to work hard. Working in the guiding industry, and living off-grid, are both extremely rewarding but also mentally and physically demanding. On any given day you will be learning new skills ranging from maintaining solar systems, to best practices to camp in bear country, to how to navigate an ablation zone glacier and fix a flat tire. Staff who excel within our company are eager to learn a diverse skill set and are self starters.
Compensation:
Compensation varies depending on experience level. All positions include round-trip transportation between Anchorage and McCarthy at the beginning and end of the season, housing, pro-program, and in-house training.
