Meet Our Instructors
The Adventure Treks instructor team is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do. They’re more than just instructors—they’re role models, mentors, and friends to our students. Because we don’t take this responsibility lightly, we have a rigorous and selective hiring process. All instructors have significant prior experience working with youth in the outdoors, and they participate annually in a minimum two-week training (senior staff attend three weeks of orientation). The five- to six-instructor dynamic on each trip not only provides a variety of personalities to match our students, but also leads to better decision-making, as risk management is our top priority.
The instructors were top-notch, positive, enthusiastic, and made the entire trip fun, which we so appreciate because it must have been an exhausting job. Bravo to them for exceeding expectations on all levels and giving Aiden such a memorable experience. I did not personally meet any instructors but he loved them all, and I have faith that they were excellent role models for him. – Heidi Toole, first-year parent from Japan
Our instructors at a glance:
- Minimum age: 21
- Average age of instructors: 26
- Average tenure is 3.6 years, but many have been with us for longer
- 95% have a bachelor’s degree
- 30% have, or are working on, an advanced degree
- All are, at minimum, medical certified as wilderness first responders; some are EMTs or wilderness EMTs.
- Our hiring process includes at minimum 3 interviews, 4 reference checks, and complete background checks.
- Our instructor return rate has exceeded 60% every year for the past 20 years
- Each year, we receive more than 800 resumes to fill about 25 spaces for new instructors.