BUILT FOR SEASONAL GUIDE TEAMS
Guide teams in Alaska are often built seasonally, with new staff arriving each year and limited continuity from one season to the next.
Alaska Guide Performance provides a structured way to prepare guides before guests arrive, focusing on wildlife risk management, in-field decision-making, and professional guest experience.
What the Course Provides
We provide guides with clear, practical frameworks for managing wildlife encounters, making decisions in the field, and delivering a consistent guest experience.
Wildlife Risk Management
Decision-making during real encounters with bears, moose, and other wildlife.
Track & Sign Interpretation
Reading the landscape to interpret wildlife presence, movement, and behaviour.
Scenario-Based Training
Realistic field scenarios that develop applied skills, not just theory.
Guest Experience
Communication, awareness, and consistency in professional guiding.
5-Day Field-Based Course
Each day builds on the previous, moving from core skills into applied decision-making and scenario-based guiding.
Day 1: Track & Sign Interpretation
Reading substrate, aging tracks, interpreting movement, and applying track interpretation to guiding context.
Day 2: Wildlife Risk Management
Bear and moose behaviour, comfort zones, positioning, group control, and encounter decision-making.
Day 3: Wilderness Systems
Fire, shelter decisions, route planning, terrain use, and changing weather considerations.
Day 4: Guest Experience & Guiding
Communication, guest management, expectations, interpretation, and structuring a professional guided experience.
Day 5: Scenario-Based Field Assessment
A full-day scenario integrating tracking, risk management, guest handling, leadership, and instructor feedback.
What Guides Walk Away With
By the end of the course, guides will apply consistent frameworks for wildlife risk management and decision-making in the field.
These are practiced through real-time scenarios and assessed by the instructor.
At the team level, guides operate with shared language, shared frameworks, and a shared standard. This improves consistency, reduces operational risk, and strengthens the guest experience from the beginning of the season.
Built to Support Your Operation
- Reduced risk through improved decision-making
- Increased guide confidence in wildlife encounters
- More consistent guest experience
- Stronger team alignment before the season begins
- Practical training adapted to your terrain, wildlife, and operational requirements
Course Details
Duration
5 consecutive days of field-based training
Typically requiring 6 nights on-site, depending on logistics
Group Size
4–8 guides per course
Optimal group size: 4–6
Location
Delivered on-site using the lodge’s terrain and operating environment
Course Rate
5-Day Alaska Guide Performance Course
$7,500 per group
Designed for 4–8 guides.
Travel and accommodation to be provided by the host lodge.
Lead Instructor: Johan Nel
Qualified Professional Trails Guide — Southern Africa
Qualified Professional Field Guide — Southern Africa
CyberTracker Certified Professional Track & Sign and Trailing
3,000+ hours on foot with 350+ dangerous game encounters
Johan has guiding experience in Denali and Katmai, Alaska; Kruger National Park and the Kalahari region of southern Africa. He has also worked at multiple high-end safari lodges serving international clientele, including Dulini Lodge (Sabi Sands), Monwana Lodge (Thornybush PNR), and Senalala Safari Lodge (Klaserie PNR). The curriculum is built from direct guiding experience in Alaska and southern Africa, including high-end lodge operations and remote backpack-based trails, with extensive exposure to dangerous game.
2027 Pre-Season Availability
Courses are delivered on-site at your operation.
Available May 2027 dates:
May 1
May 7
May 14
May 21 — tentative
Dates are limited. Early booking is recommended.
Request Course Information
To discuss a course for your team ahead of the 2027 season, reach out directly.
Johan Nel
Email: jnel@alaskaguideperformance.com (Preferred)
Whatsapp: +27 71 637 7780 (Preferred)
US Phone: +1 207 512 6418