Familiar with employment at Xanterra- Yellowstone? (Cody, Jackson: apartments, rent, hotel)

[America097]

Hello,

My husband is thinking about applying at Xanterra as a regional operations manager. It is required that he live onsite. I have looked online to try to find out information or personal experiences regarding the position, but have only found antidotes from seasonal employees. I have a few questions for anyone familiar with Xanterra and the area.

1) Do managers live in the dorms or have a house/apartment where we would be allowed to live together with our two dogs? (even if I am not an employee) Do you know if the housing is included as a benefit or are the managers charged like the seasonal employees?

2) The jobs are in Mammoth and Canyon. Would job opportunities would be there for me outside of Xanterra? I am currently an elementary school teacher. Would it be feasible to drive to a nearby town or are they too far, especially with the winter weather?

3) There is a lot of mixed reviews from the seasonal employees as to working for Xanterra. Do you know if the year-round, salaried employees have a good job satisfaction and are happy with the atmosphere at Xanterra?

Thank you in advance for your time!

[GoshWyo]

You sure the job at Canyon is a year round position?

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by GoshWyo

You sure the job at Canyon is a year round position?

I sure doubt that.... The Visitor's Center is just open part of each day in winter for the snow coaches and snowmobilers to have a warm place to stop.


Mammoth Hot Springs is about 5 miles from Gardiner, MT, which is not very big. It is a bit over an hour from Livingston MT, and a bit over 1.5 hours to Bozeman. Gardiner has K-12.... very small school. Look up Park County MT schools for other schools in the area, like down at, or on the route to, Livingston.


They work pretty hard to keep the road open from Mammoth to Gardiner in winter, and on down to Livingston. It is the lifeline to the outside world for Mammoth and also for Cooke City MT. And the road elevation drops almost 1000' in that short distance from Mammoth to Gardiner, which helps keep the snow down in Gardiner. Some of the buffalo from YNP winter there.... so Gardiner is 'buffalo approved' for wintering LOL


You can see the snow at the Gardiner entrance to YNP here look for the 'North Entrance - Roosevelt Arch' camera. Also the Mammoth Hot springs webcam can be seen. Gardiner gets less snow than Mammoth, which gets a LOT less snow up on the plateau where the park lies.



Can't help you with the rest of the questions. Good luck!

[alaskaflyer]

Living in most of Yellowstone is mostly like living in Montana, not Wyoming, since shopping tends to be more convenient and cheaper in MT than WY. Yes you register your car and to vote in WY but most employees don't travel to Cody or Jackson Hole - they go to Bozeman, Livingston or West Yellowstone for necessities.

There are no Xanterra jobs that allow you to remain at Canyon the entire year. A manager position at Canyon with Xanterra means that you have to maintain two residences - move out in the fall and move back in the spring. Not sure if they provide you housing in Mammoth or Gardiner for the off-season, or if you are on your own for that.

I don't know if managers are charged rent or if it is a fringe benefit. If fringe, it is added to your income tax liability (still better than paying rent I suppose.) Manager housing varies from a fairly large single family residence with over 2500 square feet, to tiny-ish apartments - depends on your pecking order in the organization and geographic location inside the park. Managers don't live in dorm rooms.

Mammoth kids attend the K-12 school in Gardiner, MT. There is a school bus that picks up and drops off in Mammoth at various locations. It's a pretty good school - not as good as it used to be thanks to reduced funding but still better than many/most in small MT communities. Most people in Mammoth drive to Bozeman or Livingston MT or maybe Billings for major shopping and other city stuff. A fair number who can afford it have purchased a residence in these cities as an investment/future retirement home which is nice for weekend shopping. Also, many employees of the National Park Service and the various commercial entities maintain their residence in Paradise Valley or even Livingston and commute.

Xanterra is known as one of the better National Park Service concessionaires compared to some (Aramark I'm looking at you.) That said, thousands of seasonal workers = headaches for managers. There are drug and alcohol and mental health problems in the dorms just like at college campuses and large national parks everywhere. The federal authorities support an entire Federal Justice Center in Mammoth just for Yellowstone Park with a jail, magistrate judge, Assistant US Attorney etc. to handle the arrests over the summer season. Did you know that the park employees over 75 law enforcement rangers and staffs eleven ambulances and six fire stations in the summer?!?

In addition to the single-school Gardiner School District (Gardiner.org) there is the single-school Arrowhead School District further north and then Livingston Schools. There are seasonal and year-round low paying job opportunities in Gardiner (food and beverage, hotel, retail) and with other concessionaires (Yellowstone Park Service Stations, Delaware North/General Stores, Yellowstone Forever); or a wide variety of seasonal positions - and the occasional career opportunity - with the National Park Service itself or the US Forest Service in Gardiner (https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/?l=82190).

[America097]

It looks like the Canyon job is year-round but moves you to Mammoth for part of the year. He applied, but hasn't heard anything. Looks like we will look at other opportunities. Thank you for your responses. I appreciate your time.