Jobs/Employment

Highside Adventure Tours is a fast-growing, guide owned and operated outfitter. Offering fun & exciting river rafting and outfitting services, HAT offers a lot of opportunities for fun-loving, hardworking and dedicated people. John Cantamessa started Highside Adventure Tours after working for some of the largest adventure tour companies in Colorado. After working for these companies for many years, he became frustrated with the quality of service they provided guests as well as the lack of fun and fulfillment in the workplace. That's when he decided to start a company with emphasis on caring about guests & employees and showing them the many wonders of this very special place we call home.

Highside Adventure Tours is hiring!

2010 Positions:

RESERVATIONS STAFF

We are looking for cheerful, intelligent, outgoing team players who enjoy talking on the phone with people from around the world. Responsibilities include telephone reservations, filing, data entry, responding to e-mail inquiries, inventory control, checking in guests, handling money and cleaning office space. These positions are available at all three of our offices: Summit County, Idaho Springs, and Buena Vista.

Requirements for position:

Position dates: Job starts in Mid May to early June and goes through Labor Day.

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RESERVATIONS MANAGER

Highside Adventure Tours is looking for a responsible, outgoing reservations manager to train and manage reservations staff at the Summit County location. Responsibilities include training and scheduling of staff to answer telephones and take reservations. Additional responsibilities include group sales, entering data into the reservations system, checking in guests, taking payments from guests, etc. This person will understand and know how the entire office should run and will act as assistant office manager when needed.

Requirements for position:

Position dates: Job starts in early May and goes through Labor Day weekend

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DRIVERS

We are looking for experienced full- and part-time drivers for our fleet of buses and vans. Our drivers are required to have excellent safety and driving records as well as be in good health. You must have a current DOT physical, Colorado CDL and be able to pass a pre-employment and possible random drug screenings. We will need a copy of your driving records. You will need to have a class B license with passenger and air brakes endorsements. Driving of buses does include the use a trailer. Minimum age 25.

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EXPERIENCED GUIDES

We are always looking for guides with commercial experience. Our experienced guides will be required to run both oar and paddle rafts. You must have accurate and up-to-date guide logs (including training and certification) to be eligible for employment. By Colorado law you will be required to have a minimum of Basic First Aid and CPR, but higher levels of medical skills and swiftwater rescue will improve your job prospects and daily pay. We hire only professionals and we expect the highest level of professionalism from our staff. You will be working for a guide-owned and operated company whose owner often gets on the river.

You must be available to work from mid-May until September to be considered for employment. HAT runs three different rivers and we expect our more qualified guides to train and be certified on all three rivers. Our more experienced guides must be willing to travel from river to river. We have a very close-knit staff and most of our guides return year after year, so we are primarily looking for new guides who are interested in more than just one season's work; this will be taken into consideration during hiring.

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INEXPERIENCED GUIDES

For information on how to become a professional certified Colorado State guide check out the certification program below held each year in May.

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PHOTOGRAPHERS

HAT is looking for photographers with experience in digital photography to set up and run the photo program for HAT. Responsibilities include picture taking, processing, sales and organization of the entire photo program.

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VISAs

Employees needing visas to work in the US need to contact us at 970-668-1228 or e-mail us your information at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Visa space is limited. If you are not an American citizen and already have a work visa please contact us for more information.

This program is not only for people wanting to become a professional guide but also for those looking to learn the skill of river running for personal benefit.

Highside Adventure Tours (HAT) prides itself on providing fun & informative Whitewater rafting trips on some of Colorado's most exciting and popular rivers. HAT's qualified training staff has years of river experience on rivers all over the United States and around the world. The goal of our certification program is to train and certify individuals who are interested in exploring the amazing world of whitewater. Our training will teach skills, techniques, thought processes, rigging, knot-tying and the safety/rescue techniques needed to become a professional river guide. We also cover river dynamics, characteristics of moving water, river hazards, an introduction to rope rescue, shallow water techniques, causes and classifications of rapids and self-rescue.
Click here for whitewater certification info
DATES: 5/22/10 - 6/11/10

Training will begin on the Colorado River with basic fundamentals and safety techniques. From there, we will then be challenging ourselves daily on Clear Creek and the Arkansas River. We will set aside time every day to conduct swiftwater rescue and recovery training. We will also have specific days with instruction in flips, swims, boat wraps, pins and much more. You will be expected to swim in the river potentially every day ... rain, snow or shine. By the end of training, trainees will have acquired far more than the minimum state requirement of 50 hours of on-river training (the average trainee receives 100-110 hours of training). It's important to us and it should be to you that your training exceeds the standards of the state and the industry.

Our instructors have thousands of river miles and years of experience. Their histories range from the US Army to the University of Oregon. We emphasize a variety of training styles, with one to fit everyone who shows up. We take training very seriously. It is the foundation of your rafting career, and the foundation of our business. Our pledge to you is that your training will be of the highest quality possible.

Training will take approximately 21 days depending on weather and individuals' ability to learn the necessary skills. Even though we hire most or all of our new guides from the training course, we'd like to emphasize that you are not guaranteed a job after the program is over. We plan on hiring all of the people that train with us, and if it doesn't work out with us, we will give you information on other employment opportunities in the area.

Highside Adventure Tours also offers a standard First Aid & CPR class during our training program. This class will be conducted during 2 evenings throughout the course and is not included in the cost of training. Typical cost for CPR & First Aid ranges from $25-$50.

*NOTE: Standard First-Aid and CPR is a requirement for becoming a commercially-certified guide. You may acquire certification on your own before arriving for school.

If you would like to participate in our professional certification program, please contact us to receive a guide school application or download the job application from this page. Full payment (non-refundable) is required to hold your space in the training program. Space for this course is limited to ensure personal instruction

Once again, participation in the course does not guarantee full-time employment with Highside Adventure Tours. After completion of the guide certification program, participants will have met all of the requirements for entry-level guide positions on rivers throughout Colorado. HAT will however, consider and give priority to those seeking employment that have trained with HAT.

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FEEL THE SPIRIT * EXPLORE THE BEAUTY * LIVE THE ADVENTURE!

Guide Job Description

JOB SUMMARY:

GUIDE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
Employees are evaluated on thoroughness in performing duties, pleasant attitude, dependability, punctuality, personal initiative, flexibility, mature judgment, willingness to learn and ability to be a team player.

QUALIFICATIONS:
Must be at least 18 years old. Must be willing to live and work at all of three offices in Colorado for the summer and must have a way of communication when away from the office (pager, cell phone or phone with answering machine). Must have a professional attitude, and be willing to learn and accept new ideas. Must be able to work long hours and not be subject to burnout and moodiness. Must work well under pressure and be a team player. Guides must purchase various gear such as a type III (minimum) lifejacket, a knife, whistle, cold weather gear (wetsuit or equivalent), a throw bag, dry bag, and personal cam-straps (purchases may be made through pro deals).