Why Work at Sanborn?

  1. Great Kids
  2. Fantastic Program
  3. High Quality
  4. Spectacular Location
  5. Amazing Trips
We are looking for people who want to spend their summer working with children. Experience in camping and the outdoors is helpful, but not of utmost importance. A strong interest in and experience working with children is essential; as is the ability to communicate and interact well with others. Enthusiasm, a positive attitude, patience, understanding, high ideals, maturity and good judgment are among the characteristics we find most important in a successful camp counselor. In addition, your references must be excellent.

Being a camp counselor is not for everyone. It is an extremely demanding and confining job. With the exception of time off, you are on duty 24-hours a day. Coming from the freedom of college life, this can be a very difficult commitment for many people. Working in the mountains is quite different than simply being in the mountains. It is important that you understand the job thoroughly so you’ll be prepared for the variety of responsibilities, expectations and challenges that await you.

The Job
As a counselor, you will live in a tent or cabin with campers and possibly another counselor. It is a 24-hour a day job, demanding enthusiasm, a positive attitude and a sincere concern for children. The responsibility for the safety and well-being of campers is immense.

Counselors provide leadership and guidance not only in the living unit, but also in program ares and on trips. It takes a high level of dedication and effort to accomplish the camps’ priorities--ensuring a positive experience for every camper, building self-esteem and increasing awareness for others.

The rewards and benefits of this type of work are immeasurable: knowing you have contributed to a child’s life, building new friendships and having the opportunity to teach and learn in the beauty of the mountains are only a few.
   
The Lifestyle
Camp is a lifestyle. You will be spending 11 weeks learning, laughing and living with people in a rural mountain setting. The camp community is based on cooperation and communication. A counselor agrees to give up a lot of personal freedom in order to be part of the camp community. The transition from college or home, to camp, however, is a refreshing one. Televisions, telephones and sleeping late are sacrificed for a new and rewarding lifestyle — mountain sunsets, sleeping under the stars, working closely with others.

Program Variety
Our program includes many different activities frm horseback riding to mountain climbing. Each counselor may provide leadership in several different areas. This opportunity for staff to experience a wide variety of outdoor activities sets us apart from many other camps. The chance to gain new skills as well as develop existing ones is particularly appealing to most staff members.

Trips
Our active schedule and varied in-camp program mean that no two days are ever alike at Sanborn Camps. Most campers and staff spend more than a third of the summer on all days, overnights or longer trips. Each person’s schedule is individualized and each staff member has an opportunity for staff to experience a wide variety of outdoor activities sets us apart from many other camps. The chance to gain new skills as well as develop existing ones is particularly appealing to most staff members.    

Location
Sanborn Camps are located at an elevation of 8600 feet in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado, 35 miles west of Colorado Springs. The camps own over 6,000 acres and are surrounded by 35,000 acres of National Forest and the 6,000 acre Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The wildflower mountain meadows, open pine forests, and rocky bluffs are an ideal setting for horseback riding, camping out, backpacking and other camp activities. At this elevation, there are no poisonous snakes, poison ivy or poison oak.    

Quality
Sanborn Western Camps is recognized as one of the premiere summer camps in the country. The high quality of this experience for children and staff is evident in everything from excellent food to outstanding program and facilities.