Overview
Responsibilities: During “Powder Term” (January 21 to February 27, 2026) you’ll:
– Work and live alongside a staff of 5-6, on-site at Black Diamond Lodge, to implement the Powder Term experience for 24-30 teenagers
– Guide skiing for Powder Term participants 3-4 mornings/week, and free-ski 2-3 days/week
– Assist in the transport of the kids to/from Purgatory Resort (3-minute drive in shuttles)
– Rotate with other counselors in helping with proctoring study halls, leading social studies projects, overseeing the kids’ cleaning responsibilities at the lodge, and assisting the chefs at dinners
– Attend bi-weekly meetings with on-site staff
– Serve leftovers for lunch on Sundays and have pizzas delivered/pick-up for dinner on Sundays
– Attend a 2-3 day training event with Powder Term staff before the students arrive
– Have fun with the kids and ski your brains out in beautiful SW Colorado
– Free season pass to Purgatory and partner resorts, $3k-$4k salary for the term plus potential $600 bonus, travel to/from campus is reimbursed, free use of rental gear if needed. Free private room and board at Black Diamond Lodge is included as well.
Qualifications:
Very strong skier, must love working with teenagers and evidence/references showing you are a good team player and easy to work with.
Required Skills:
- Are a team player. Are willing to jump-in wherever and whenever for the support of the whole group - staff and students while maintaining a positive attitude.
- Must love and have experience working with students ages 11-15
- Have a strong background in skiing. Must feel confident in ability to ski every run within the resort at a moderate pace, under control (video evidence of skiing ability may be required)
- Evidence of creative problem-solving experience
Preferred Skills:
- Summer Camp Counselor, Alternative Education or Outdoor Program Teaching/Guiding (ex: NOLS, Outward Bound, Ski Instructing), Hospitality industry
- Embody an active, healthy and curious spirit and lifestyle
- Traditional teaching and classroom experience
About Discover Term www.discoverterm.com (Powder Term and Surf Term)
Discover Term is a 5-week adventure for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that’s physically, academically, and emotionally rigorous and fun, where teens can escape the strains, pains, and distractions of everyday life and take part in an electronic-free alternative education program designed around accelerated learning, developing mastery on the ski mountain, building self-awareness, confidence, leadership skills, and forming personal relationships that will last a lifetime.
We offer teenagers a space to breathe, where unnecessary distractions (cell phones, video games, junk food, tv/computer, internet, social media, lectures) are cut from the environment and replaced with: 34 days of skiing/surfing, 4 field trips, 1 mastery course, 1 leadership course, 2 classic books, and top-notch experiential social studies and science projects... and life-long friends.
We provide the essential tools, experiences, relationships, rigor, and fun that offers teenagers an opportunity to carve their own path
