Jobs at Ace

ACE's History and Company Philosophy

ACE Adventure Resort began in 1980 as ACE Whitewater, which ran commercial river trips on the New and Gauley Rivers. For several years, ACE was among the smallest outfitters in West Virginia and, as late as 1986, took only 2900 paying guests down the New and Gauley Rivers. This past season ACE carried over 35,000 guests on the same rivers.

In 1987, the present ownership took over and began to aggressively grow the company. Within 8 years, ACE had grown to be the largest outfitter in the state. This growth has continued since then, culminating in being feature on the Travel Channel as North America’s Largest Adventure Resort in 2009! The resort has added to our adventure activities, Zip-Line Canopy Tours, ATV Tours, Mt. Bike Tours, Paintball Course, High Ropes Challenge, Mud Obstacle Course, Climbing Trips in the New River Gorge and most recently the Water Park. Ace Adventure Resort has become an end destination for most of our guests.

There are several obvious reasons for this unparalleled growth and success. First of all, we give our customers the best whitewater experience available in West Virginia. From our pioneering efforts with self-bailing rafts, smaller 12 and 14 foot boats, and private riverside lunch spots (with sanitary facilities and hot grilled lunches) to our relentless and continuing improvement of our offerings, we give our customers a whole lot more for their money than they can get anywhere else. Secondly, our 1500 acre ACE Adventure Resort facility gives our customers a “home base” with great lodging and use of the water park and other activities. Everyone, employees and customers alike, appreciate the miles of hiking and biking trails, the swimming beach and the stocked fishing lakes that are available to them free of charge. Our Lakeside Dining Area serves three meals a day beginning with a breakfast buffet, the “Bear’s Den” which serves short order food and salads, and dinner buffet during the season. This past year we added the “Hungry Mother” which serves family-style dining during the season. The Lost Paddle Lounge provides a lively nightlife scene for our guests and staff to mix and mingle. There’s simply nothing like the ACE Adventure Resort anywhere else in West Virginia and our customers keep voicing their approval by coming back in record numbers every year.

Mission Statement

Our philosophy is simple: give our guests the highest quality outdoor adventure and have a great time doing it!

With a choice of over 200 different trips and activities, we can provide a quality outdoor adventure for just about anybodyfrom easy family fun trips to world-class whitewater thrills. We charge a fair price and provide top-shelf quality in all of our offerings. We treat our employees as family…and we treat our customers as guests. That’s why we have very low staff turnover and very high repeat business…and that’s why ACE is in a class by itself as West Virginia’s #1 adventure resort.

What You'll Leave Here With

We understand that our guides are on the front lines in an effort to provide the best outdoor adventure experience anywhere. In order to attract the highest quality employees, we have to provide you with something more than just a summer job. Virtually all our outstanding managers started as guides, so there’s a career opportunity here if you want it. But even if you only stay for a few seasons, you’ll leave with a lot of invaluable skills…not to mention all the irreplaceable memories. Very few entry-level jobs allow you to develop leadership skills. Not too many people are rushing to follow the lead of the average burger flipper.

As an ACE guide, you’ll have control of a boat and a crew. It will be your knowledge and skill that allows these folks a safe and enjoyable experience…be it passage down the river or zipping through the tree canopy. It will be your decisiveness that demonstrates that skill and gives your crew the confidence to follow your lead. It will be you that leads them on their adventure. Many of your crews will be professionals. Doctors, lawyers, highly paid executives…they’ll put their trust in you and allow you to lead them in an exciting adventure. Think how few people ever find themselves in such a position. There’s no doubt that every ACE guide quickly develops the kind of leadership skills that most people will never achieve in their entire lives! Whether you make your career in outdoor adventure or go on to other pursuits, those leadership skills will prove invaluable throughout your life.

You’ll be amazed to discover that most of your guests simply can’t believe that you actually live and work in what has to be one of the most beautiful natural locations on earth. It’s a regrettable fact of modern life that most people live in cities and never get to spend much time in the undiscovered outdoors. Just spending a single summer in “God’s Country” will give you an appreciation for the finer…and simpler…things of life that will last forever. Sharing this gift with a boat full of new friends is priceless.

Finally, at ACE we can provide you with something that you don’t often find…while learning these skills, you get paid. With over 48,000 guests to care for, we need lots of help. ACE guides, even the new ones, get more work than do guides for many other companies. During the height of the season, it’s not unusual for our guides to work six or seven days a week if they want. We provide a variety of living styles for you at no charge. And there’s so much to learn while you’re here. Any of our activities: kayaking, ATV riding, mountain biking, climbing, zip-lining, high ropes challenge and of course rafting…they’re all available to you at no charge when space is available. With so much to do, you’ll find it’s easy to save money while you’re here.

Full-Time or Part-Time

Our employees are either full time employees or part-time employees. Many of our seasoned guides work in the “real world” during the week and come to ACE on weekends as part-time guides to play and have fun. It is also an easy way to make a few dollars while giving our guests the thrill of their lives. It is not unusual for our guests to request certain guides for their adventure. ACE tries to do whatever is best for their guest. Our guide training class for 2012 will begin May 21st and run the full week with Saturday off until you check out. If you are interested in only being a weekend warrior you will be assigned a mentor.

To be considered a full-time employee, you’ve got to be available for work at any time throughout the rafting season. We post the rafting schedule a week in advance so you’ll know your days off at that time. Once you are trained as a guide you can work as much or as little as you like. Because we need to count on our full-time employees being available, we can’t allow them to take extended time off during the season.

During the early part of the season, it’s not uncommon for us to have more off-river work than guiding work. Full-time employees have to agree to work in one or more off-river activities or assigned areas to complement their guiding days in order to fill a full week’s work. For example areas of off-river work might be in reservations, welcome center, grounds maintenance, equipment repair, food services, bartending, climbing/rappelling, zip-line, mountain bikes, kayak instruction, high ropes challenge, and ATV trips. During July and August, the vast majority of your days will be spent guiding on the river. But in the early part of the season you’ll need some off-river days to fill out the paycheck.

Full-time guides can, of course, choose the type of off-river work they’ll do. There’s hardy outdoor work like trail building and maintenance and grounds maintenance, office work, food service etc. You will need to interview with the appropriate manager to secure your off-river position. Here’s the most important thing to remember about off-river work: since fulltime guides are making an commitment to ACE, they get priority for river days. So doing off-river work actually gets you more days on the river! Any guide who doesn’t want to perform some type of off-river work is considered a part-time guide. We never require that you work off-river but we do give scheduling priority to those who have made the commitment to be full-time employees.

Benefits Include:

Unlimited river trips for staff based on availability. Each employee is entitled to six $20.00 trips for family and friends, some restrictions apply (approval by owner needed) per season. $25.00 Lodging rates for family when available (prior owner approval).

Use of water park facilities by immediate family members when accompanied by employee. Free camping and training (refundable deposit required). Meal discounts available at all dining facilities. Opportunity for PRO-purchases at AMS and AAG retail stores. Flexibility in scheduling. Training and skill development in the recreation industry. Leadership development opportunities.

Drug/Alcohol Free Workplace

ACE Adventure Resort is committed to a safe environment for its Team Members and Guests. Pre-employment and random drug/alcohol testing is required for CDL driver and guides. Post-accident drug/alcohol testing is required of all employees filing a worker’s compensation claim. Any employee allowing drugs or alcohol to affect their work will be terminated. Remember: West Virginia’s drinking age is 21.

Personal Appearance

A professional and well-groomed appearance is an essential ingredient in ACE’s success. We request that you have a maximum of 3 ear studs, no lip, eye, nose rings and no tongue studs. We rely on your good judgment and commitment to ACE to accept this basic condition of employment. Your conduct on the job, after hours, and in the community is a reflection of you and ACE adventure Resort. Please plan to respect yourself, your peers and ACE. Good personal body hygiene is essential to working with our guests.

Pet Policy

In consideration of and safety for our Guests, employees and your pets: PETS ARE NOT ALLOWED on ACE property. If you must bring your pet with you, please make other housing arrangement. ACE’s property has no housing facilities for your pets.

Housing

All employees using ACE Adventure Resort housing are required to participate in a maintenance and cleaning program for living areas.

Documents Needed

Upon arrival for employment at ACE be prepared to produce a valid passport or Driver’s License and one of the following documents to complete the employment process: Social Security card or birth certificate. Non US citizens must have a valid passport from country of origin and US work permit. For other valid alternatives see listings on an I-9 form which can be found on the internet.