Rocky Mountain National Park Climbing Stewards

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Rocky Mountain National Park originally implemented a climbing steward program in 2016 to aid park staff in protecting resources from climber impacts. In the past, climbing stewards have helped to educate the local climbing community in Leave No Trace practices, resource protection, and have helped to inform climbing management decisions for Chaos Canyon and other popular bouldering/climbing areas in the park.

We have two volunteer climbing steward opportunities. While these positions are unpaid, they offer a significant amount of professional development opportunities, as well as park housing. These positions involve patrols of the wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park with a focus on heavily impacted bouldering and climbing areas. The volunteers will educate climbers on Leave No Trace and sustainable climbing and bouldering practices, help organize cleanup efforts for climbing and bouldering areas, assist with collecting trail monitoring data, and raptor monitoring. Climbing stewards will also help with formal public outreach through organized events and talks at popular climbing venues along the Front Range of Colorado. Climbing stewards will work closely with park staff to create content for social media to educate park visitors about climbing management topics.

This is an excellent opportunity for an individual interested in becoming involved with resource stewardship, wilderness management, or climbing management related fields. Mentoring on resume writing and entering a career path with the NPS and other federal agencies will be available.

Duration of Internship

The internship will run for 10-20 weeks, with the optimal time being from June through August or September. Please include your availability in your application.

Location and Housing

Work location will primarily be in the backcountry in the East District of Rocky Mountain National Park. Personal transportation to the park will be required, but stewards will be permitted to use the park's Climbing Ranger vehicles while on duty.

Housing may be provided in Rocky Mountain National Park for volunteers willing to work at least 30 hours/week.

How to Apply

In your application, please be as descriptive as possible about your climbing and backcountry experience. Following your initial application on Volunteer.gov, you may be asked to provide supplementary materials, including a resume of work and climbing experience. The application will remain open until positions have been filled.

Start Date - 2023-06-01

End Date - 2023-09-30

Activities include: Back Country/Wilderness;Natural Resources Planning;Other;Visitor Information

Difficulty_Level: Strenuous

Hosts Housing Amenities: Bunk House;Cabins;RV/Trailer Pads