Wilderness Climbing Intern
Established on January 29, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park is a living showcase of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. The park embraces 415 square miles of pristine, uninhabited mountains in north-central Colorado and, as such, is the one of the most spectacular, yet easily accessible high mountain areas in North America. With elevations ranging from 7,800 feet at park headquarters to 14,259 feet at the summit of Longs Peak, the park has glacier-sculptured valleys, rugged gorges, alpine lakes, and vast areas of alpine tundra. Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved continuous road in the United States, stays above tree line for 11 miles and reaches 12,183 feet in elevation. Elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose, coyotes, and smaller animals are found throughout the park, as well as threatened and endangered species, such as the Greenback Cutthroat Trout and Boreal Toad. Due to the park's easy accessibility to the Front Range communities of Colorado, visitation exceeds 3 million visitors annually, which results in significant resource protection and visitor management incidents.
You will work as a member of the Park's Climbing Ranger Team. Upon completion of training, you will work independently and with other climbing staff to accomplish projects in backcountry/climbing areas and provide visitor education on current route/backcountry conditions and safe wilderness travel practices. You will also assist rangers in patrol functions, work projects, and preventative search and rescue. The area of patrol includes Longs Peak (elevation 14,259').
