White Otter Outdoor Adventures

Equipment Sales

Employment Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in working for WHITE OTTER OUTDOOR ADVENTURES for the summer of 2008. We have been in the outfitting business for 30 years and operating in Idaho for 25 years and are one of the largest outfitters in Idaho. You might want to check out our website at whiteotter.com to get an idea of the services we offer.

We offer a wide range of river trips on the Salmon River near Stanley from May through September and the Snake River near Twin Falls in April, May and June We have half day, full day, and deluxe dinner trips. Rafts trips are available with oar or paddle boats. For the more adventurous we have inflatable kayak trips. These self-bailing open boats are fun and easy, even for the complete novice. Both whitewater and scenic sections are available to satisfy any interest. Float fishing trips are offered. We also have a complete line of rafts and kayaks for rent for those who want a do-it-yourself trip.

We offer guided day hikes and mountain bike tours and guide gold mine tours, although these are a very small part of our business. The clients of these activities are almost always guests who have been on a river trips with us and want something else to do. The Gold Mine tour offers a chance to learn about Idaho's rich mining past and present. Included in the tour is the opportunity to see an active mining operation, as well as the chance to learn to pan for gold. We GUARANTEE our guests will find gold!! We customize our day hikes and Mt. bike trips for our guests.

Our two major considerations when choosing staff are finding friendly and competent staff. We are involved in the entertainment business as much as providing safe guided raft trips. While we do have high water in June, the majority of our business come in July and August when the river we float is technically easy, class 3 water. WHITE OTTER also rents boats to anyone and has had very few problems. After a safe trip, fun is our major objective. We are looking for new staff that are motivated, dependable, and above all willing to provide exceptional customer service. Thus we require a personal interview with every potential staff before we would ever make the offer of employment. Guides need to be available in the first part of June through the last week of August.

Among the characteristics we are looking for in our employees are:

willingness to work long hard hours, as work is seldom a typical workday, be willing to work flexible schedules
be willing to "go out of your way" to provide a superior level of service to our guests and take pride in their work
be a team player, flexible and willing to help on anything anytime
possess a high level of initiative, be a self starter, prompt and responsible
guides that are physically fit and enjoy participating in rigorous physical activity
having the desire to meet and interact with new people daily and not tire of this easily
people who are comfortable living in a communal situation, have respect for the rights and privacy of others and take pride in keeping their living area clean.

While guiding experience is desirable, it is not an absolute requirement for employment. We highly favor those applicants who have quite a bit of personal boating experience, so our need to train is minimal. We generally run our staff training in late May or early June. If we do train staff, we expect to be compensated for the our time spent with a fair number of free trips. Guide salary varies with the type of trip guided and the experience of the guide. We open for business in the last week of May and have part-time work at that time. Staff can expect to have work every day from June 15 until Aug. 20, part time untul the end of Aug.

WHITE OTTER provides staff housing which includes the bunkhouse, a tepee or two, and possibly a yurt this coming summer. The cost of this housing can be paid for by warehouse work during the pre or post season or by maintenance or repair on days we are not busy during the season.

To become a licensed boatman in Idaho, a person must have at least the Red Cross standard course and White Otter also requires CPR certification. It is very difficult to obtain these locally at the beginning of the boating season, so it must be obtained before coming here. Idaho also requires that each boatman have a given number of training trips on the river they are guiding on. This number varies with the difficulty of the river. On our section of river, only one trip is required for licensing, but we require many more for familiarization.

As a general rule we will give preference to applicants who are experienced boaters and can guide both oar boats and paddle rafts. Previous guiding experience is desirable, but not a requirement. To train a complete novice boater is very expensive and time-consuming and not everybody can learn it. I will also give preference to those who are at least 21 years old. This is due to our vehicle insurance which does not cover anyone 20 or younger driving the trucks or vans. Finally, all applicants should know that all the buildings, premises, grounds and vehicles of White Otter are no smoking zones. If you smoke at all, IT IS PROBABLY NOT WORTH APPLYING. We have a zero tolerance policy on drug-use.

If you are interested in working with White Otter, please send your resume emphasizing your boating experience to the address below.

White Otter Outdoor Adventures
PO Box 2733
Ketchum, ID 83340-2733
phone: (208)726-4331
fax: (208)726-2429
E-mail us at whiteotter@sunvalley.net