Head Coach and Route Setter Hybrid

The Front Climbing Club

Ogden (UT)

Hybrid

USD 28,000 - 37,000

Full time

3 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

401(k)

Free gym membership

PTO

Discounts on food and merchandise

Inclusive crew culture

Job summary

The Front Climbing Club in Ogden seeks a Head Coach + Routesetter for a full-time, hybrid role at our Ogden gym. You will lead youth Recreational, Intermediate and Competition Teams and join the routesetting crew to build climbs for members and events.

You bring 5+ years climbing instruction and 3+ years coaching competitive youth, plus USA Climbing Level 1 (2 preferred), First Aid/CPR, and rope-access skills.

Qualifications

Minimum 5 years climbing instruction experience, including leading climbs.
Minimum 3 years coaching competitive youth climbers.
Leadership or supervisory experience with teams.
Strong communication with athletes and families; patience and clarity.
Certifications required: USA Climbing Level 1, First Aid/CPR; SafeSport; CWI training.

Responsibilities

Lead Ogden Recreational, Intermediate and Competition Teams with season goals and training cycles.
Plan practices, coordinate schedules and calendars with related programs.
Coordinate travel to local, regional, divisional and national events.
Onboard new athletes, manage rosters, attendance and billing in systems.
Oversee routesetting for youth programs and adapt for varying levels.

Skills

Lead climbing instruction

Youth coaching (competitive)

Team leadership

Communication

Belay audits

RGP/SharePoint

Adaptability

Feedback

Education

USA Climbing Coach Level 1

First Aid/CPR

CWI Certification

USAC Level 1 Route Setter

Tools

Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Excel, SharePoint)

Rope-access techniques

Job description

Head Coach + Routesetter (Hybrid Role)

The Front Climbing Club – Ogden

Build Lifelong Climbers in Ogden

A season on a climbing team teaches kids to climb hard, show up week after week, fall and try again, handle nerves on comp day and cheer on their teammates. At The Front, competitive climbing is how we develop strong athletes and how we teach lessons that carry into school, work and life. Our goal is to build lifelong climbers who are better people for the time they spend on the wall.

Come lead The Front Ogden's youth climbing teams. This role is for a coach who cares about results and about the kid behind them, and who wants to build a program families keep coming back to. Setting is part of the week too, so you'll get to build the moves your athletes are projecting.

About The Front

The Front Climbing Club is basecamp for Utah's climbing community. We opened in the '80s as The Body Shop, Utah's first indoor climbing gym, and we've been bringing climbers together ever since. Today we have three gyms along the Wasatch Front, and every one of them runs on the same promise: come as you are, and we'll send you home stronger. Stronger can mean a first top-out, a project you've been chipping away at for months or just a better day than the one you walked in with.

Our youth teams are a big part of that. Competitive climbing gives kids hard goals to chase, and our coaches use the training, the setbacks and the comp days to develop them as athletes and as people. We want them to leave stronger in both, and to keep climbing for the rest of their lives.

About the Role

This is a full-time, hourly, hybrid role based at our Ogden gym, paying $20–$27/hour depending on experience. Most of your time goes to Ogden's youth climbing programs. You'll be head coach for the Recreational, Intermediate and Competition Teams and run day-to-day youth programming. You'll also join the routesetting crew, setting boulders and routes for our members, competitions and programs. You'll report to our Chief of Staff and work closely with the Competitive Team Head Coach in SLC, the Ogden Programs Lead and the Head Routesetter.

What You'll Do

Coaching & Youth Programs

Lead the Ogden Recreational, Intermediate and Competition Teams. You'll set season goals, build training cycles and practice plans, and coach weekly practices.
Keep training standards and competition calendars aligned with our SLC and South Main programs.
Travel with athletes to local, regional, divisional and national competitions, including overnight trips.
Be the go-to voice for team families through monthly newsletters, GroupMe, email updates and answers about training and schedules.
Advanced understanding of USA Climbing's competition structure, rules, regulations, and policies, with demonstrated experience interpreting and applying these standards across multiple levels of competition.
Run tryouts, onboard new athletes and keep rosters, attendance and billing accurate in RGP and SharePoint.
Coordinate Send School, summer camp, youth clinics and private coaching, with lesson plans matched to each group's level and needs.
Manage the youth programming calendar and staff schedule, and act as point person for program questions.
Keep Ogden's youth curriculum current, and suggest new offerings based on registration data and participant feedback.
Plan team dinners, outings and other team-building events.

Leading the Crew

Hire, onboard, train, mentor and support Ogden's youth programming coaches and instructors.
Hold regular staff meetings and run belay audits for coaches and athletes.
Track and report attendance, retention and other program KPIs.
Keep the programming closet organized and stocked, and coordinate equipment inspections with our Risk Manager.

On the Wall (Routesetting)

Set and forerun creative, safe boulder problems and routes across a range of heights and wall angles.
Set movement that's fun and progressive for climbers of every body type and skill level.
Set for comps, youth programs and adaptive sessions.
Join forerunning and feedback sessions to keep improving route quality.
Pitch in on hold washing, inventory, hardware replacement and keeping the setting space organized.
Operate rope access and work-at-height systems safely.

What You Bring

At least 5 years of climbing instruction experience, including leading and teaching lead climbing
At least 3 years coaching competitive youth climbers (head or lead coach experience is a plus)
Leadership, mentoring or supervisory experience
A knack for building trust with athletes and families, plus clear, warm communication with parents
USA Climbing Coach Level 1 certification (Level 2 preferred), and SafeSport certification before your start date
First Aid/CPR certification before your start date, and CWI certification within 90 days of hire (we'll provide the training)
Comfort with climbing-specific tools and rope-access techniques, and working at heights up to 70 feet
Commercial routesetting experience, CWA Work at Height certification and USAC Level 1 Route Setter certification are all a bonus
Bonus points for experience with adaptive climbing systems or trauma-/fear-informed instruction
Proficiency with RGP and Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Excel, SharePoint)
The ability to give and receive constructive feedback
A love for checklists, systems and keeping things running smoothly
The physical ability to stay on your feet, work overhead for long stretches and lift up to 50 lbs
Availability for evenings, weekends and competition travel