As spring arrives and the days grow longer and warmer here at NOLS headquarters in Lander, Wyoming, I’m reminded they’re growing shorter and cooler in some of my favorite places in the world. Places like Patagonia and New Zealand, home to two of our NOLS locations.
While students, grads, and sta are the primary focus in our work and of this publication, NOLS locations are the unintentional undercurrent meandering through this issue of The Leader. The Winds, Alaska, Patagonia, Southwest, Scandinavia, and the Vernal, Utah river base are all strong supporting characters. Each story o ers a unique perspective on those places, even though the designated subject is usually a grad, a sta member, or a course.
On page 5, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Director Aaron Bannon looks at recent orders on national monuments—particularly Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante—how they a ect our operations in the Southwest, and what it could mean for other areas.
Former NOLS Marketing intern Shelby Cranshaw describes her Semester in Patagonia on page 11—what motivated her to go there, lessons she learned, and the raw beauty of Patagonia’s dramatic landscape.
A page-14 feature story on Mike Meekin, NOLS Alaska’s go-to pilot for re-rations and evacuations, is almost as much a tale of the challenges of that wild place as it is of the man who is a hero to many Alaska-based students—and all Alaska-based sta .
The Wind River Range—our original and busiest operating area—is the backdrop for NOLS instructor Dave Anderson’s cover story. In it, he describes his attempt, along with his wife and co-instructor Szu-ting Yi, to summit all 43 named peaks in the Winds. While their endeavor fell short, Dave’s story and photos capture the majesty of the Winds and the struggles even very experienced climbers can face there.
If any of this stirs up a desire to revisit the location of your course or explore exciting new ones, you can. Expedition courses, wilderness medicine courses, prime courses, and alumni courses are all options for graduates. The focus is still on leadership and skills education and exploring the wilderness with like-minded coursemates. The outcomes still change lives. But this time, you’ll step forward as NOLS grad, ready to take on the challenge.
THE LEADER
April 2018 • Volume 33 • No. 2 Published three times a year in April, August, and November.
Best, EDITOR
Anne McGowan
Emmi Laakso
Laura Gri ee
ALUMNI
Rich Brame PRESIDENT
John Gans
CREATIVE
Brad Christensen
ART
Eryn Pierce
EDITORIAL
Bruce Palmer
Gary Wilmot
Molly Herber
Postmaster: Send address changes to NOLS 284 Lincoln St. Lander, WY 82520
The Leader is a magazine for alumni of NOLS, a nonprofit global school focusing on wilderness skills, leadership, and environmental ethics. It is mailed to approximately 71,000 NOLS alumni. NOLS graduates living in the U.S. receive a free subscription to The Leader for life.
The Leader welcomes article submissions and comments. Please address all correspondence to leader@ nols.edu or call 1-307-332-8800. Alumni can direct address changes to alumni@nols.edu or 1-800-332-4280. For the most up-to-date information on NOLS, visit www.nols.edu or email admissions@nols.edu
The Leader is printed with soy-based inks in Los Angeles, Cal., on paper using 10 percent post-consumerrecycled content. The Leader is available online at www.nols.edu/leader
Cover photo: Dave Anderson
John Gans NOLS President
YOUR FEEDBACK | LETTER
Kay Harris was our re-ration guy on my Fall Semester in the Rockies in 2003, and I remember him as if it was yesterday. I remember him for a few reasons: that he hauled a trailer full of wood and supplies for our sweat lodge ceremony, that he started the fire with a bow drill (and encouraged us to do the same in the future), that he played a handmade flute during our sweat experience, and that he spent six hours with us on our sweat.
While all of this was a great experience during our second re-ration, it’s the first re-ration I remember the most. Kay surprised us with a fresh salad that we mixed up in a garbage bag. That’s the day I learned I was allergic to radishes. When you published a sta profile of Kate Koons in the Fall 2017 issue, the memories of this flooded back, as Kate was one of my instructors during this course.
That was one of the worst days of my life. We’d already sorted the food and packed up prior to Kay giving us that amazing salad, and we’d already left the re-ration site when I started to experience an itchy throat, and coursemates told me my face was swelling.
Kate filled me with diphenhydramine, but I still had to hike in what I remember as a nearly 100-degree day, in slot canyons, with a freshly filled food-heavy pack. Kate monitored my symptoms, and woke me up multiple times in the afternoon, evening, and night. I’m fairly certain I crawled in my tent as soon as we got to camp.
Thank you for providing me with these memories. I loved my NOLS experience. It started my career path and brought me to where I am today. My NOLS semester was going to be a stand-alone course, but it ended up being my first semester of college, and I went on to attain my Master’s in Recreation Administration. NOLS prepared me to persevere through challenges, step up and lead when necessary, and instilled in me a love of teaching others about getting outside and learning new skills.
I am now a recreation professional working for Cleveland Metroparks, working in our outdoor recreation department teaching others how to backpack, climb, kayak, stand-up paddleboard, and ski, among other things.
Thank you so much for continuing to publish The Leader
–Dan Sahli NOLS grad
Send your feedback, artwork, photography, or personal story to leader@nols.edu, post on social media, or give us a call at 1-800-710-6657 ext. 2254. Find past issues online at www.nols.edu/leader.
NOLS IN ACTION | NATIONAL MONUMENTS
By Aaron Bannon Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Director
National monuments hold a unique niche in both NOLS course offerings and the collective American consciousness. NOLS accesses them for opportunities to climb, canyoneer, and float, and many, like the canyon country of southern Utah, have been NOLS operating areas well before designation as national monuments. As outdoor enthusiasts’ gazes turn to public lands, national monument designation has become an effective conservation tool when others aren’t available.
The designation has been a unique power of the president since the passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906. Many presidents have designated national monuments, but the power to rescind a previous president’s designation has never been tested until now. In December, President Donald Trump announced plans to shrink Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by more than 50 percent.
Grand Staircase-Escalante encompasses a vast, sandstone-steppe landscape, stretching from Zion National Park to Capitol Reef. When the monument was designated in 1999, townspeople gathered outside the high school, releasing black balloons into the sky. Resistance to the designation remains stiff.
The sweeping country stretching from the Four Corners region through southwest Utah to Lake Powell holds an array of complex canyons and is rich in archaeological resources. The original Bears Ears National Monument designation encompassed NOLS core canyoneering classrooms and a unique river section along the San Juan. Continuous human existence for over 15,000 years is apparent to visitors and holds spiritual significance for Native
Americans today. Five tribes who trace their ancestry back through Bears Ears united to bring a single voice to protecting the landscape. Utah Diné Bikéyah formed to “preserve and protect the cultural and natural resources of ancestral Native American lands to benefit and bring healing to people and the Earth.” After their multi-year effort to have Bears Ears designated as a national monument, President Trump’s order shrunk it less than a year later.
NOLS has supported, and will continue to support, the original designations of these world-class national monuments. Our long history in this remarkable area confirms that it merits the protection of a national monument designation.
Given the language of the Antiquities Act, it isn’t clear a president can
un-designate a national monument, and it has never been tested in court. Interest groups including Native American coalitions, outdoor-retail companies, and conservation-advocacy organizations immediately sued the administration, asserting such an act exceeded the scope of power granted to a president. The final arbiter of this decision will be the courts.
Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. Anthony Fox
Aaron Bannon
Aaron Bannon, NOLS Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Director, is NOLS’ voice for public lands.
FEATURED LOCATION NOLS YUKON
By Jonny Hepburn Instructor
The whisper of gold first brought Europeans to Canada’s northern frontier. White prospectors found an enchanting and unforgiving place, home to a tapestry of aboriginal people and a kaleidoscope of landscapes: endless subarctic forest; deep, meandering rivers; glaciated alpine peaks.
The First Nations’ presence remains a defining feature—Yukon Territory is home to the most sovereign first nations anywhere in Canada. The land retains its grandeur. The Yukon provides NOLS with some of its most remote and pristine North American classrooms: a wolverine walks along the lake across from camp; a golden grizzly bear wades in the creek; hours of sunset blend into dawn in the land of the midnight sun.
NOLS’ Canada campus is located just outside Whitehorse, a city at 60 degrees latitude. It’s home to a strong, adventurous community of young Canadians, where people stake out a little piece of self-reliance to build a cabin, raise a dog, and plant a garden. Worldclass mountain-bike trails are minutes from downtown. The campus is nestled beside a hot spring at a former retreat center. It’s a simple place—wall tents for sta , two shipping containers for gear,
and a central building for everything else.
It’s our launch pad to Canada’s fabled north. The canoe is at the center of our program and we’re privileged to operate in NOLS’ most vibrant and diverse canoe classroom. Within a day or two’s drive, we can access more than a dozen freeflowing rivers. The water is cold, the routes are remote, the challenges are real. Our hiking routes quickly get up into the alpine—the flower meadows of midsummer, blueberries, grizzly scat— and provide an engaging mix of on and otrail travel, non-technical peak ascents, and pristine wilderness where the floatplane pilot who brings the re-ration is the only person you’ll meet.
It is a wild and remote place, with living ancient roots. The expeditionary spirit remains alive in those who live here, and in those who visit.
Jonny Hepburn
Jonny grew up in England and is based in British Columbia and Idaho. He loves to ski, paddle, climb, and travel.
Location
At NOLS Yukon, located in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, you’ll find a vast wilderness shared with caribou, bear, wolf, and migrating birds. Nearly continuous daylight in summer o ers chances to explore on foot as you backpack and mountaineer, or by boat as you whitewater canoe.
In-town Sta
There are seven full and part-time employees during the summer season.
Courses O ered
• Backpacking
• Mountaineering and Whitewater Canoeing
• Outdoor Educator
• Semester in the Yukon
Fun Fact
The Yukon is one of three territories and 10 provinces in Canada. It is close to the same geographic area as California but has 1,000 times fewer people.
Wilderness Quiz
QUESTION | Signed Sept. 3, 1964, the Wilderness Act designated 9.1 million of the 110 million acres that are protected today. When did NOLSies first travel there?
Answer on page 12.
Jason Punsalan 60° N, 135° E
When you’re on the phone with Pam Rosal, you can hear the smile in her voice. As she describes her fellow sta members at the NOLS River Base in Vernal, Utah, she a rms, “I observe a willingness to manage ego and self in support of a greater good.” For someone who pays special attention to human connection, the tightly-knit river base has been a place for Pam to flourish as a relationship builder among sta , students, and the community of Vernal.
After years of working at the U.S. Forest Service, Pam joined NOLS as the river base rations manager in 2007. Now the river base’s program manager and living only an hour away from her childhood home, Pam works to forge connections as much with the community of Vernal as with her sta . The skills she uses in leading her team “transfer for me as a leader when I try to put my leadership skills to work in the Vernal community, which doesn’t have a shared value or a shared language for those things.” Transferring leadership skills like these from the outdoors to the community “is something that
STAFF PROFILE PAM ROSAL
By Molly Herber Senior Writer
“I’m deeply motivated by human connection and had never known exactly how to manage that in outdoor environments.”
I get really passionate about because I believe we are o ering that to our student leaders as well.” Teaching her first expedition course in 2017, a river course, gave Pam the opportunity to apply these skills directly with students.
Pam credits NOLS Patagonia’s Spanish Programs Coordinator and instructor Patty Soto with awakening her to the possibilities of teaching community building in the wilderness.
As Patty described the human care and connection she witnessed in her climbing groups, Pam saw the pathway to develop her passion through NOLS: “I’m deeply motivated by human connection and had never known exactly how to manage that in outdoor environments. Patty’s perspective gave me permission to put that at the center of my motivation.”
The transference Pam focuses on when she’s teaching whitewater paddling also appears when she facilitates leadership seminars for sta and faculty development. As more sta participate, Pam has seen the language learned from cultural competency seminars appear in more everyday conversations, and in the growing emphasis on developing posi-
tive student course cultures. For Pam, these seminars are a way to invest back in NOLS what NOLS has invested in her. Adapting these skills—from seminars into work life, from paddling an oar rig to your home community—is how the germ of leadership grows from one individual’s experience into a far-reaching and lasting force for good in the community.
Molly is a NOLS instructor and writer. She loves the smell of her backpack and does her best writing before 7:00 a.m. When she’s not scouting the next post for the NOLS Blog, she’s running and climbing on rocks in Wyoming.
Wilderness Medicine Quiz
QUESTION | Which of the following is a recommended prevention principle for altitude illness? a) Climb high, sleep low. b) A high protein diet. c) Hyper-hydration. d) Mild sedatives to ensure good sleep. Answer on page 30.
Molly Herber
YALUMNI PROFILE SCOTT KELLY
By Dan Kenah Development Officer
“At NASA, we talk about ‘expeditionary behavior’.”
ou may not know Scott Kelly’s name, but you’ve probably heard of the American who, in 2016, completed a year-long mission in space. He volunteered to climb into a rocket, be hurled into space at 20 times the speed of sound, and remain in orbit around the earth for more than a year.
In his new book Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, Scott describes his journey from a failing high-school student, staring out the windows, to one of the most accomplished pilots among an elite group, gazing down from the International Space Station at the azure waters of the Bahamas, 254 miles below.
One of the most moving takeaways from Scott’s experience is not the decades of training, from maritime student to Naval aviator to Space Shuttle commander, nor the thousands of hours in simulators and poring over flight manuals. He continually impresses that success aboard the ISS required absolute reliance on his team, and they on him, for their sanity and survival.
“At NASA, we talk about ‘expeditionary behavior,’” Scott writes, “a loose term for being able to take care of yourself, take care of others, help out when it’s needed, stay out of the way when necessary—a combination of soft skills that’s difficult to define, hard to teach, and a significant challenge when they are lacking.” If it’s difficult sharing a tent with folks when EB
is lacking, imagine being trapped in a giant soda can with them for months.
NASA began working with NOLS in 1999 specifically for our expertise in expedition behavior. Their crews have extensive training and experience, and train together for their respective missions for months or years. But, as with other students, we take NASA crews out of their element, and often out of their designated roles, and give them a rigorous set of tools to employ for team dynamics, communication, and adaptability.
Scott writes that preparing for flight with NOLS was “meant to put us into high-pressure situations, somewhat like the ones we might face in space.”
Scott closes his book with some things he learned during 340 days in
space. One is that “an achievement that seems to have been accomplished by one person probably has hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people’s minds and work behind it, and I’ve learned that it’s a privilege to be the embodiment of that work.”
We’re proud to have played our small part in that journey.
Dan Kenah
Dan is a Baffin Island 2006 grad. He’s most comfortable on skis, wearing a pack, or in front of a piano .
Scott Kelly juggles fruit in space. NASA
Day Scott’s “aha” moment came in her mid-30s, after nearly 15 years as a technical writer. Staring at multiple monitors while creating user manuals, she had little interaction with others. “I read that spending time outdoors was good for the soul, and mine was in serious need of uplifting,” she said.
Day joined a hiking group in Los Angeles, and during her first outing into the San Gabriel Mountains became fascinated with “touching and smelling every plant, investigating anything that moved, and photographing each moment.”
After several more hikes, she took a Naturalist Certification course through L.A.’s Parks and Recreation Department, initiating her new career in the outdoors.
“I’ll never forget my first experience as a naturalist,” Day said. “Though I was only familiar with a few coastal plants and birds, I led a group of 12 kindergarteners on an interpretive walk. I took them around the nature park, pointing out things I knew and observing everything. It turns out 5-year-olds know even less than me about insects and plants.”
Now familiar with her leadership role, Day takes pride in creating fun, educational outdoor experiences for students. “I can show you California sagebrush, but if I don’t allow you to touch it, smell it or give you its uses, what can you do with the information? When I teach, I interpret so everyone takes away something meaningful to
ALUMNI PROFILE DAY SCOTT
By Ben Lerman NOLS Wilderness Medicine Marketing Coordinator
“I read an article that said spending time outdoors was good for the soul, and mine was in serious need of uplifting.”
them, and remembers it.”
Last summer, Day completed a Wilderness First Responder course with NOLS. The skills felt natural to her. “Providing patient care and practicing compassion for another soul gave me an empowered feeling,” she said.
Eight weeks later, Day served as medical leader for an overnight trip in the San Gabriel Mountains, where her interest in being a naturalist began. She prepared by reviewing participants’ medical forms and resupplying first-aid kits. “Adding the medical component to an outdoor trip made me a bit nervous and was a huge responsibility, but I was also confident in my skills,” she said. “I’m
happy to report there were zero injuries on the trip.”
Embracing new experiences, Day exemplifies tolerance for—and comfort with—uncertainty. In her own words, “When I teach, I open my mind, my heart, and my soul.”
Ben
Day at the Grand Canyon. Courtesy of Day Scott
Ben Lerman
is a NOLS WFR graduate. As a newcomer to NOLS and Wyoming, he is excited to hike and climb in the mountains.
ALUMNI TRIPS
Continue your summer adventures by adding a fall trip with NOLS Alumni to your calendar. Our trips are for both our alumni and their guests, and cater to the interests and maturity levels of our participants. Join a trip somewhere in the world that is new to you and
NOLS Alumni Reunions
Thanks for another fantastic reunion season last fall. From Salt Lake City to New York City and in eight cities in between, we gathered to build local NOLS communities nationwide. Whether you graduated from a two-day Wilderness First Aid course or a 90-day Semester in Patagonia, reunions o er a chance to reconnect with NOLS and make new connections locally. We’re already gearing up for spring, so keep an eye out for invitations in Seattle, Denver, and Los Angeles. Friends and family are welcome!
trust NOLS to run the show.
We have a wide variety of o erings every year and are adding more trips for 2018. If you don’t see what you’re interested in, contact us; we build custom trips as well. For more information or to sign up, call 1-800-332-4280 or visit www.nols.edu/alumni
Alumni Service Project—Northeast
DATE | June 24-30, 2018 (7 days)
COST | $595
Travel the Adirondack backcountry for camping, camaraderie, and service. You’ll complete a service project including trail construction, bridge maintenance, or campsite rehab. It’s demanding—you’ll use shovels, hammers, and muscle—but there’s also time for photography, backcountry skills, and possibly a peak summit.
Packstock or partners carry most of the group gear, but backpacking and trail building is hard work.
Wind River Hiking & Wilderness First Aid in Wyoming
DATE | August 5-11, 2018 (7 days)
COST | $1,295 (includes pre- and post-trip lodging in Lander)
Backpack in Wyoming’s Wind River Range while earning a 16-hour Wilderness First Aid certification. Granite slabs, backcountry cooking, map practice, abundant fishing, and classic peaks complement the wilderness medicine curriculum you’ll learn. Finish the trip with powerful mountain memories and real medical skills.
The trip’s modest mileage accommodates the medical curriculum, but backpacking is challenging.
Jared Steinman
Mauricio Clauzet
FEATURED COURSE SEMESTER IN PATAGONIA
By Shelby Cranshaw NOLS grad
When people say you can experience four seasons in an hour while traveling through Patagonia, they’re not lying. Known for unpredictable weather and challenging terrain, Patagonia is a bucket-list destination for many outdoor enthusiasts. It’s curious, then, why I began my outdoor adventures in this wild and demanding place.
The truth is, I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up for a NOLS Fall Semester in Patagonia. I’d just turned 21 and felt the need to push myself far, far outside of my comfort zone. I’d been studying Spanish and Latin American Studies in college and wanted to challenge myself in a way I never had.
I chose Patagonia because it’s a Spanish-speaking country—which convinced my parents it aligned with my studies—and because there was no rock climbing, something I was opposed to for a now-forgotten reason. Sea kayaking seemed manageable and though I had no idea what mountaineering was, I thought it would be easier than rock climbing. I was clueless. But if I had known what I
Insider
In this land that rewards a spirit of exploration, you’ll immerse yourself in a landscape of unclimbed peaks, rural ranching communities, and stunning, rugged coastlines.
was getting into, I might not have been brave enough to go.
Luckily, I remained ignorant until I arrived at the NOLS campus in Coyhaique, Chile, and the next 80 days challenged and rewarded me more than I ever expected.
Our group was entirely self-sucient for 30 days at a time. During our mountaineering section, we moved our cache ahead of camp, then went back to move our camp ahead of the cache. This piggy-backing over challenging terrain was tough, mentally and physically. Staying positive was a challenge, but I learned attitude can make all the di erence. Nobody wants to hear complaints about bad weather or a heavy pack when everyone is in the same situation.
I learned I’m capable of more than I thought I was. Also, I’m more equipped to deal with people at their best and worst. In the backcountry, everyone has bad days. Now, I can put things in perspective and realize my day isn’t ruined because something went awry.
Leaving Patagonia, I felt I could
conquer anything thrown my way. I believe my NOLS semester contributed to my personal development much more than another semester in the classroom would have. Almost three years later, I am still confident I can find my way through unexpected challenges.
Don’t go to Patagonia if you want to ease into the wild. But, if you are willing to dive headfirst, it just might be the place for you. I recommend diving headfirst.
Shelby Cranshaw
Shelby has returned to college after an unprecedented year-and-a-half as a NOLS intern. She still isn’t a fan of climbing but loves being in the wilderness in every other way.
Courtesy
ALUMNI IN ACTION | CRISIS RESPONSE IN PUERTO RICO
By Rebecca Backer NOLS grad & Instructor
Driving at night to Mariela’s small community church after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico felt dark and abandoned. We saw few cars on the road, and only the occasional faint flicker of candles or lanterns illuminated homes.
Mariela was a gracious host to our group of medical professionals from Heart To Heart International, a healthcareoriented humanitarian relief organization. She set us up in a large room filled with donations for the community. She had running water that day and suggested we shower, since it was an unpredictable luxury recently. We fell asleep on air mattresses to the faint roar of a generator.
Traveling south to Arroyo the next day, highways were lined with piles of debris and downed power lines, some literally snapped in half. Huge trees were entirely uprooted, wooden homes in
shambles. Policemen directed chaotic traffic at intersections since all stop lights were out. A group gathered around a leaking fire hydrant, filling plastic bottles to carry home. The more remote the village, the greater the destruction.
When we arrived, hurricane relief efforts were transitioning from acute disaster response to longer term disaster recovery. From a medical perspective, hospitals had stabilized and most smaller clinics had reopened. As the first medical relief group to arrive in Arroyo, the local health center’s staff assisted us in setting up pop-up clinics throughout the district, and sent us into rural neighborhoods to check on patients who were disabled, bedridden, or lost to follow-up care. While most patients that we visited were medically stable, all faced barriers to care post-Maria that made it challenging to manage their existing conditions, and often exacerbated their illnesses.
These included:
1. Communication issues, such as lack of cell service and WiFi, make it difficult for patients and providers to connect, and limit access to current news sources.
2. Transportation challenges due to debris and mud slides.
3. Lack of electricity means no lights or refrigerators, which creates issues for food and medication storage, and an inability to plug in electronic medical equipment.
4. Lack of clean running water makes hydration, hygiene, and wound care challenges for many. This is currently the most pressing public health issue.
ANSWER | June 1965. The Bridger Wilderness in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming was among the first designated areas of the act.
5. Damaged healthcare facilities and medical equipment (such as glucometers).
Every NOLS Wilderness Medicine course begins with a discussion about challenges healthcare providers face in wilderness environments that are uniquely different from the urban EMS world. These elements, which parallel the barriers to care listed above, provide the foundation for our curriculum and standard of practice.
By these criteria, many communities in Puerto Rico became “wilderness” territory virtually overnight. There we met incredibly strong individuals and families finding creative ways to redefine their daily routines and existence.
While I arrived in Puerto Rico expecting my role would be predominantly hands-on nursing, I found that for most people that I met, simply being present, listening to their stories, and dancing to their music became treatments in and of themselves.
Maybe that alone was enough.
After many years of river guiding, outdoor education and ski patrol, Becca now works as a pediatric emergency nurse in Oakland, Cal.
Homes in shambles after Hurricane Maria. Rebecca Backer
Rebecca Backer
Wilderness Quiz
RECOGNITION | NOLS AWARDS
Andy Blair
2017 In-Town Award Recipient
As a program supervisor and sta ng manager, NOLS Rocky Mountain assistant director Andy Blair has built and strengthened relationships with 30 land management agencies, accrued over 250 weeks in the field, and taught 52 wilderness medicine courses.
Corey Bunce
2017 In-Town Award Recipient
Corey’s leadership and hard work at NOLS Patagonia set a benchmark of quality for instructor engagement and student-focused program management. He’s accrued over 100 weeks in the field, working backpacking, mountaineering, and sea kayaking courses.
David Janney
2017 Instructor Award Recipient
David’s talent for instruction, good humor, and support of students, co-instructors, and in-town sta earned him the 2017 NOLS Instructor award. Working for NOLS Wilderness Medicine since 2011, David has taught over 70 wilderness medicine courses.
Felipe Alonso Ascuy
2017 Alumni Service Award Recipient
Felipe is a great NOLS ambassador who identified local scholarship candidates and helped our Patagonia program tap a tax exemption, opening doors for over 350 Spanish Programs participants over seven years.
Gibson McCullagh
2017 Alumni Achievement Award Recipient
Gibson came to NOLS and emergency medicine on a WEMT course as a high school student in 2006. As a freshman at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he created, trained, and administered the school’s volunteer student emergency medical service.
Patti Schwind
2017 Stewardship Award Recipient
Patti Schwind, U.S. Forest Service Recreation Special Services Permit Administrator for the Salmon-Challis National Forest, was honored as a principled steward of our natural resources who builds a culture of trust and respect in her interactions with stakeholders.
MIKE MEEKIN: RESUPPLY FROM THE SKY
By Anne McGowan Development Communications Coordinator
In the rugged and majestic wilderness of the 49th state, home to NOLS Alaska, bush pilots are essential.
“With few roads, aviation is what makes much of Alaska work,” asserts former NOLS Alaska director Don Ford. Though access to remote routes is challenging for NOLS, mitigating that is renowned bush pilot Mike Meekin.
“On my Alaska orientation tour with John Gans in 1989, John introduced me to people outside of NOLS who were crucial to our success,” Don explained. “Bush pilots—who deliver food and supplies, and evacuate sick or injured students—topped the list. Mike became one of the people most important to our success, and he remains that to this day.”
Owner of Meekin’s Air Service in Palmer, Alaska, Mike was raised “up the highway,” where his father owned a roadhouse and guide service. His childhood love of airplanes and the outdoors were melded when he became a bush pilot, shuttling his father’s clients and supplies into the wilderness.
Mike estimates he first flew for NOLS in 1981, evacuating an injured student.
“Jim Ratz, then the Alaska director, saw my plane and contacted me,” Mike recalled. “I flew the student out, then started re-rationing— resupplying food and retrieving trash—the next season.”
Originally re-rationing only in the Talkeetna Mountains, Mike took over NOLS’ Chugach Range routes in the 1990s. Last summer, he served 50 courses, some of them twice, for a total of about 75 flights. Evacuation numbers vary, averaging a handful per season.
Mike pilots a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, a two-seat, single-engine monoplane equipped with tough “tundra tires” to absorb the shock of uneven ground. Its high-lift wings and powerful engine make it ideal for Alaska’s terrain and for conversion to a ski-plane. The fabric plane can land on a runway just 300 feet long. Mike also flies a six-seat Cessna 185, switching between aircraft depending on conditions and weight of the
supplies and people to be transported.
One of only a handful of pilots who can land on glaciers, Don calls Mike “one of the most skilled pilots in all of Alaska.”
Mike credits his proficiency in part to NOLS. “I wouldn’t have chosen to land in some locations, but I did because it was my job,” he said. “And I gained experience because of it.”
Though technological advances like phones and VHF radios have eased some of Mike’s challenges, others—like narrow windows of good weather, courses that don’t reach a meeting point, and di cult terrain— are common.
Maggie O’Brien, NOLS Alaska evacuation coordinator and program supervisor, said sta appreciate Mike for his safety record and knowledge of course areas. “He always goes above and beyond, reaching hero status among instructors and students,” she said.
Program manager Ashley Wise recalled a time when Mike plucked an expedition o a glacier after their tents were shredded.
MINGLING WITH STUDENTS
FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE IS A FAVORITE PART OF HIS JOB.
“Mike pulled them off one-by-one with his Super Cub,” Ashley remembered. More commonly, Mike delivers ice cream with rations and entertains students with stories of Alaska’s history and unique geography.
Father of four daughters—two of them NOLS graduates—Mike appreciates NOLS’ high level of professionalism and quality of sta .
Mingling with students from all over the globe is a favorite part of his job. They appreciate him, too—he’s even received thank-you cards from some. The grateful father of an evacuated student once sent a gift certificate for a ride in a B-52 bomber.
“I never cashed it in, but I cherish it,” Mike said. “That’s the kind of stu that means a lot.”
Anne grew up camping and hiking with her family in Pennsylvania. A Wind River Wilderness - Prime grad, she left newspaper publishing to write about all things NOLS.
Left: Mike Meekin preparing to land. Brad Christensen
Students gather around Mike at a re-ration. Julia Sachs
Anne McGowan
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS NOLS?
By Mark Tozer Alumni Relations Coordinator
NOLS—as many know—began in 1965 in a small cabin in Sinks Canyon, near Lander, Wyoming as the National Outdoor Leadership School. Today, we are NOLS, a multifaceted, diverse, wilderness school offering unique outdoor learning experiences based in several U.S. and international locations to thousands of students each year from around the globe.
A Wales native who has worked for NOLS Wilderness Medicine for a year and since joined the alumni team, I’ve learned so much about the organization’s history and culture that I can confidently answer the question so often asked of my friends in the United Kingdom and Europe: Where in the world is NOLS?
When I first taught outdoor education on the Island of Mull, Scotland, in the early 1990s, I gained insight into NOLS from a co-worker, John, who was from Massachusetts and fresh o a 90-day leadership program in the Wind River Range. He carried with him a copy of Soft Paths, which highlights the impact of hiking and camping in wilderness areas. This text deeply influenced how we conducted our camping programs. When John described his time in Wyoming, the imagery was of a wild and majestic place. Who knew I would be living here 25 years later?
Initially, I considered NOLS just a U.S. entity, but through my professional development as a sea-kayak guide and mountain instructor, I became more aware of NOLS’ diverse backcountry operations and wider educational efforts in Europe, including the Leave No Trace initiative. Consequently, work increasingly connected me with people who, in turn, were connected with the school in Wyoming.
More recently, I learned NOLS instructors have been teaching wilderness medicine in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the U.K., Switzerland, Germany, and Ireland since 1995, and that NOLS has had a robust backpacking and sea kayaking program in Sweden and Norway’s northern wilderness since 2008. Additionally, NOLS runs courses in Patagonia. What I didn’t know is that we also organize alumni trip adventures in Italy, Croatia, Greece, Scotland, and Ireland.
received news of NOLS Wilderness First Responders aiding refugees along the Greek coast.
A key element is that as NOLS teaches internationally, we learn globally. We can discover new perspectives, learning styles, and worldviews from the diverse students and wild environments we connect with. A good example of this is NOLS Scandinavia students experiencing “friluftsliv,” the Norwegian philosophy of “open-air living,” and enjoying “fika,” the Swedish philosophy of “to have co ee and not be hungry.”
A KEY ELEMENT IS THAT AS NOLS TEACHES INTERNATIONALLY, WE LEARN GLOBALLY.
Though we mostly teach North American students who travel to our European programs, we have connected with a diverse swath of Europeans. Over 3,000 students from dozens of countries have completed Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder certification courses. These educational e orts mean NOLS skills and abilities are slowly percolating into that continent’s own outdoor consciousness.
As someone whose outdoor path began in the United Kingdom and has spanned almost three decades, I believe NOLS has much to o er wilderness enthusiasts and leadership practitioners in Europe and beyond. There will always be a strong interest in and a tradition of adventure pursuits in these countries, and NOLS programs can only help to enhance individuals’ knowledge of expedition life and ability to apply their skills. Our recent instructor training programs have seen enrollments from Switzerland, Finland, and Denmark. We’ve also
Although the number of students we’ve reached throughout the world is only a small fraction of that populace, I know NOLS lessons can make a di erence on moonlit beaches of Tuscany, along rugged Scandinavian ords, or among the mossy mountains of Wales.
So where in the world is NOLS? As it turns out, everywhere, in some form or another. We strive to support growth in our students and help them step boldly into the wild, no matter what that wild looks like or where it is.
of
UK,
A
Top: Mark Tozer sea kayaking in Sweden. Jason Montelongo
Left: Students display a NOLS summit flag in Scandinavia. Oscar Manguy
Mark Tozer
A native
Wales,
Mark’s made Wyoming his home since 2016.
qualified mountain instructor, sea kayak coach, and outdoor education teacher, Mark is NOLS’ Alumni Relations Coordinator.
SOUTHWEST INSTRUCTOR COURSE REFLECTION
By Andy Notopoulos NOLS grad and instructor
Last spring, I spent five days alone, hurtling down the highway with my hands gripped on the steering wheel of my station wagon.
I was headed to NOLS Southwest in Tucson, Arizona, where I was registered for an Instructor Course (IC) that could lead to the opportunity to work for the organization. I sat in silence for most of the drive, thinking, “Why do I want to do this?”
I found myself on the phone with my mother, who o ered a response to my soul searching: “It’s not that complicated,” she said. “You’re doing it to find the wonder of being alive!”
The night before my course departed for the field, my instructor, Je Wohl, took our cohort of twelve IC students to the sandy wash behind the campus and set us free. “Play, build, create,” he said, “and be in wonder.” We spent the next hour constructing sand castles, stacking stones, and dissecting plants. We worked silently, smiles on our faces, weaving our creations together into a spiraling mosaic. When we were done, we crawled around on our bellies to admire our work, toes squishing in the sand. “This is wonder,” Je said. “Keep this with you.”
We began the next month backpacking from rushing, spring-melt
rivers to sandy, pine-lined mesas of the Gila Wilderness. Then, we transitioned to a base camp for climbing and canyoneering at Cochise Stronghold, exploring the granite domes that rose from the horizonless desert. On some days, we paused on trail more often than moving so we could watch the birds of the desert perch and zoom across the sky. We made games to see who could first spot bear-claw signs on the piñon pine. We picked apart scat to see where the animals were finding their sustenance. We counted stamens to draw the tiniest of flowers. We watched in reverence as elk moved across the mesas.
As I wound between the desert walls, climbed its plateaus, scurried up its rocks, and sat beneath its sunsets feeling ever so small, I found wonder.
IN OUR OWN WAYS, WE EACH FOUND WONDER.
I re-encountered the little kid who once wandered for hours collecting stones along the beaches of my New England home. And, as I walked and climbed and laughed alongside an expedition family of students and instructors, I remembered why I had become so inspired to light the spark of inquisitiveness in others as a teacher. I feel such gratitude for the opportunity to have taken an IC, to have spent the month learning among a community of invested peers, and now to have the chance to bring my learning to the students of NOLS courses.
I instructed my first course for NOLS last summer with a group of amazing students who formed their own family while backpacking in the Absaroka Mountains of northwest Wyoming. We watched the solstice sun set over mountains with snowcaps shining pink, heard thunderstorms tumble into valleys as they lit the sky with electric charge, and laughed together as we settled around the campfire to tell stories. In our own ways, we each found wonder. My mother’s words echoed with me as we reached our route’s highest summit and I stood gazing at the students’ elated faces. “Find the wonder, and you will find joy. That’s what life’s all about.”
Andy Notopoulos
Andy hails from New England. She currently splits her time between the mountains of the East and West, running, climbing, Nordic skiing, and—always — finding wonder.
Top: Cacti reach as high as tents in the Southwest desert. Eryn Pierce
Left: Changing of the day on the Arizona granite. Jared Steinman
EXPOSE
WIND RIVER
TRAVERSE:
33 PEAKS IN 20 DAYS
By Dave Anderson NOLS grad, former instructor
Istomped my crampons into the bare ice while skirting around an open crevasse on the way to the col south of Mount Koven. Above us, the massive flank of Gannett Peak, the highest point in Wyoming, rose out of its namesake glacier and pointed south toward the rest of Wind River Range. The air was heavy and thick, full of smoke from fires still burning in Montana. I climbed out of the shadows of the east side of the Continental Divide and was greeted by a series of large, shark-toothshaped boulders guarding the ridge. We had to find another way.
We dropped into the northern tongue of Gooseneck Glacier and started downclimbing the near-vertical couloir. As the temperature fell, the glacial ice became more rigid. We struggled to keep ourselves connected to the sun-cupped slope with our ultra-light aluminum crampons and ice axes.
“I’m out of water,” my wife Ting Ting announced when I caught up with her at the bottom. “Me too,” I replied. We were surrounded by millions of tons of water in the form of glaciers, but at 13,000 feet, it was locked into a frozen matrix.
Ting Ting and I were four days into our attempt to traverse the length of the Winds and summit all 43 named peaks along the Continental Divide. Despite having worked many courses in the Winds for NOLS, I’d underestimated the rugged nature of the terrain. We were running low on food and fuel for our stove—and still had seven peaks to climb before our re-ration point. “If we have to go all the way down there,” I said, motioning to the alpine tarn thousands of feet below, “our expedition is probably finished.”
In 1989, an elderly man pushed hard on the arms of the leather couch he was seated in and stood up to address the crowd. “So, what do you want to hear?” he asked, rocking on the balls of his feet, slowly scanning the faces of the confused looking students. Silence.
WE HADN’T SEEN A PERSON IN THE NORTHERN WINDS SINCE WE GOT DROPPED OFF AT UNION PASS, YET THERE WERE SIGNS OF HUMANITY ALL AROUND US.
Paul Petzoldt had been invited to give a talk at the University of Maine. Even at 82, Petzoldt’s large physical presence had most people in the room looking down at their laps instead of making eye contact. He stood patiently waiting for someone to ask a question, unafraid of the silence or the awkward atmosphere filling the room. Although I didn’t know anything about Petzoldt at the time, I got the feeling he wasn’t afraid of much.
“How did you get started climbing?” shouted a voice in the back, popping the tension. Paul smiled, looked up at the ceiling and launched into a stream of animated tales lasting nearly two hours. He talked about climbing high on K2, training the 10th Mountain Division, working for Outward Bound, founding NOLS and the Wilderness Education Association. However, he started off by recounting how, as a headstrong 16-year-old, he climbed the Grand Teton. “We were completely ill-
prepared,” he said, covering his face with thick hands to hide from the memory of climbing in jeans and cowboy boots, and nearly dying of hypothermia. In the end, the piece of equipment that enabled Petzoldt to summit and survive the Grand Teton was not what he carried in his backpack. It was Paul’s ability to learn from his mistakes and use what he had to solve the problems in front of him.
“Do you hear that?” Ting Ting asked. I jerked my head up and listened. Water. Ten minutes later, we found a small rivulet next to a huge flat boulder, our bivy site for the night. Wrapped in our down quilt, the only light source was from the stars and the preharvest moon overhead. We hadn’t seen a person in the Northern Winds since we got dropped off at Union Pass, yet there were signs of humanity all around us. The temperature was warm, much warmer than I’d ever experienced this time of year. Scientist don’t know the exact date when all the glaciers of the Wind River Range will disappear. They do know the glacier in front of us, Dinwoody Glacier, lost, on average, 38 percent of its surface area during the latter half of the 20th century. What effect this loss is having on the local environment
Left: Szu-ting Yi walking through the wildflowers while descending from Knife Point Mountain. Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson and Szu-ting Yi, excited to be on the summit of Bailey Peak with Pronghorn Peak in the background. Dave Anderson
and surrounding watersheds is still being debated.
Stable high pressure continued for the next few days and we ticked off Gannett Peak and several others. While setting up our tent on a small rocky moraine in the western pocket of Dinwoody Cirque, I made an interesting discovery. Tucked neatly against a boulder were a couple rusty tins and a cracked drinking glass left by climbers long before the age of plastic. “Check this out,” I said holding up the glass, “it could have belonged to the Underhills.”
“Who?” Ting Ting asked.
“Robert and Miriam Underhill,” I repeated, pointing to Miriam Peak and Bob’s Tower above us. “You kind of remind me of Miriam,” I said.
Miriam O’Brien Underhill was born in Maryland in 1889. She caught the climbing bug while on vacation in Chamonix, France. In the 1920s, women followed behind men, but Miriam wanted to be out front, making decisions. She completed several challenging climbs in the Alps with other female climbers. Later, Miriam and Robert shared numerous climbing adventures, including first ascents of the two peaks above us bearing their names.
Ting Ting and I met while instructing a rock-climbing course for NOLS. We shared the passion of climbing, but there were differences: race, culture, age, education, and life experience. When we first went on expeditions together, we struggled. I was overprotective and overbearing. She was uncompromising and overconfident. I wondered if Robert and Miriam had similar issues standing in this very spot 80 years ago. I’d like to think they, like us, acknowledged their differences and embraced their commonalities to overcome their challenges. The impetus for our expedition, to traverse the Wind River Range, was born out of one such challenge.
On Dec. 27, 2016, I squeezed Ting Ting’s hand before the nurse pushed her wheelchair into the operating room. Two hours later, she was wheeled out on a gurney. The surgery had removed two fibroid tumors the size of grapefruits, and her uterus. Later, a biopsy came back negative for cancer and we started planning for the future. I proposed the idea of traversing the Wind River Range in late summer. While the trip would involve some technical climbing up to 5.8 rock and 75-degree snow, the majority would involve off-trail hiking and scrambling.
WITHOUT SOME UNCERTAINTY, LIFE WOULD BE BORING, BUT HOW MUCH RISK YOU’RE WILLING TO ACCEPT, OR WATCH YOUR LOVED ONE ASSUME, IS A CHALLENGING KNOT TO UNTIE.
We trudged up Bonney Pass. I followed behind Ting Ting as she worked her way along the exposed ridge line of Miriam Peak. The terrain was only 4th class, and we were well within our abilities. We could get out our rope, but that would take time better spent hiking toward our re-ration at Indian Pass. For me, the concept of risk versus reward has always seemed like the tangled ends of a climbing rope I am trying to stack in the correct order. Without some uncertainty, life would be boring, but how much risk you’re willing to accept, or watch your loved one assume, is a challenging knot to untie.
We continued into the Middle Fork drainage past Pronghorn Peak. Flocks of songbirds, mountain bluebirds, American robins, and yellowrumped warblers migrated south using the Continental Divide as a handrail. Below Texas Pass we heard bugling elk and followed the fresh tracks of wolves in pursuit of a meal. I could empathize with the wolves as my stomach growled, the result of rationing our food.
Climbing up the north side of Overhanging Tower in the Cirque of the Towers, we followed lime- and pumpkin-colored swatches of lichen. On the summit, a strong wind caused us to bundle up in our Gore-Tex jackets. We prepared to rappel toward Sharks Nose and Block Tower,
Szu-ting enjoys the early morning reflection of Jackson Peak in Indian Basin. Dave Anderson
the last two technical peaks on the traverse. The remaining peaks were easy walk ups, culminating with the iconic Wind River Peak. As Ting Ting flaked the ropes, we heard the low rattling boom of a distant thunder clap. I knew the storm was coming, but I’d purposely kept my view focused on the climbing holds in front of my hands and feet, trying to ignore the building clouds. Now, when I looked to the west, I had to accept the angry rows of black clouds marching in our direction. The lightning and hail caught us as we retreated back to our camp at North Lake. The storm lasted for three days. When it cleared, the peaks were decorated in beautiful but treacherous layers of snow and ice. The season had changed from fall to winter, and like the flick of a light switch, our expedition had gone dark. We were completely out of food and still had to follow 20-plus miles of snow-covered trails to get back to Lander.
As we hiked down from the mountains, we noticed the storm had driven almost all the other campers out of the Cirque. There was only one group remaining, camped below Warrior Peak in familiar-looking grey and blue tents.
“Dave Anderson,” a voice called out. I looked up and saw Galen, a former student from one of the last NOLS courses I taught six years prior. We traded some personal updates, but we always circled back to our time in the Wind River Range. He described the NOLS course he was leading, and Ting Ting and I shared a few of our tribulations climbing in the Cirque.
On Sept. 19, we crossed Bruce’s Bridge and hitchhiked back to Lander. In total, we traveled 162 miles, lost and gained over 68,000 feet, and summited 33 peaks. The energy needed for these accomplishments came at a cost. I’d lost 17 pounds and Ting Ting lost 14 during our 20 days in the Winds. Part of me clung to the regret of not summiting all
43 peaks. But the real satisfaction lay in the overall experience, especially working together with Ting Ting to overcome the challenges we faced along the way.
In the end, I feel like I’d completed a much longer trek than just the traverse of the Winds. The spark for the journey began nearly 30 years ago with the chance meeting with Paul Petzoldt. I carried that ember at NOLS for a dozen years, passing it off to Galen and others who will continue to explore and introduce new generations of adventurers to the magic found in the Wind River Range.
Dave and Ting Ting are already planning a trip to attempt a new route on Mount Hooker that they spied during their traverse.
Dave Anderson is a writer, photographer and adventurer who seeks out unexplored regions of the world, but Wyoming maintains a special pull on his heart.
Dave Anderson
Szu-ting looks out at Bewmark Lake while hiking down from the summit of Kagevah Peak. Dave Anderson
CURRICULUM | RIVER EDUCATOR NOTEBOOK
By Helen Wilson Curriculum Publications Managing Editor
NOLS is excited to announce the release of the River Educator Notebook. Written by Nate Ostis, edited by Helen Wilson, and contributed to by many, this notebook hosts chapters on teaching, coaching, leadership, outdoor living, group river travel, river rescue, canoeing, rafting, kayaking, and packrafting. Following is a taste of the content found in its pages.
RIVER KITCHENS: LARGE AND SMALL
It’s a relatively common occurrence to have another river party pass by and say, “Are you with NOLS? I thought so based off how well your camp is organized.”
Key considerations
Creating a functional kitchen is an important component to a successful cooking shift, and sanitation plays a key role in avoiding the passing of communicable diseases. Dishes done in the dark can result in poor sanitation, lost items, and improper storage methods. Cooks should wear hats and shoes for hygiene
and to avoid injury, and long hair should be tied back.
Sell students on presenting meals with style. Meals serve as a platform for strong social connections during a course. Be creative and spontaneous to make it fun and enjoyable. Offering a pleasant or meaningful reading prior to serving dinner is often a well-received routine.
The group kitchen scene can be a delicate balance between experiential education and tasty, edible meals prepared in a reasonable time frame. Encourage teamwork. Efficiency in packing the group kitchen is paramount, especially in the morning, when oar rigs require the kitchen and pantry boxes early on in the rigging sequence.
Stove operations
A level stove minimizes hot water accidents and helps with even cooking. The hose fixtures and plumbing are made of soft brass. Sand will destroy the threading of connection housings quickly. Keep the ends of the regulator hoses out of the sand.
Make sure pots and pans are clean of sand prior to placing them on the stovetop.
Additional thoughts on small group kitchens on the river
Keep the stove sand-free using stove boards or rocks. Use a ground tarp for food bags, pots and pans, and kitchen items. Create a kitchen that includes shelves, seats, canyon views, etc. Isolate fuel in a devoted dry bag and/or rocket box. Don’t use small stoves on tables, as they are prone to spilling.
Cooking on a fire
It is important to consider local Leave No Trace practices. If not using a fire pan, dig fire pits in mineral soil below the high-water mark. Bury ashes by covering the fire pit. River corridors below tree line have plenty of driftwood, while tundra, above tree line, or glacial river sections have very little wood. Consider your route before ditching the stoves, and carry one emergency fire-starter kit per instructor and one per cook group. Collect firewood, and keep it under a tarp. In groups of two students, one is the head chef, and one is the fire attendant. To handle soot on cookware, pack an extra plastic bag per cook group, or try rubbing a thin coat of soap on the outside of the cookware before each use.
Helen Wilson
Helen has over 15 years of writing and editing experience. A sea kayaking instructor and a yoga teacher, her passions include skiing, hiking, and hanging out with her husband and two dogs.
RESEARCH | ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEM SOLVING
By Shannon Rochelle Research Project Manager
Tr acy’s group arrived at the Antler River first. What had been a kneedeep river in a broad meadow last summer was now a moving lake. All of Farley Meadows was under deep water. Yet getting to the other side was essential if the course was going to reach the re-ration site in time. As Tracy and her team began scouting areas where a crossing might be possible, the other hiking groups arrived and joined the search. After four hours of scouting, including getting several scout teams into chest-deep water and sending teams both upstream and downstream to look for Tyrolean traverse sites, the course was no closer to the far side than they were when Tracy’s group first arrived. They decided to camp there for the night, then travel upstream until they could find a better crossing site.
As society becomes more complex and diverse, the ability to solve illstructured problems, those with unclear goals and incomplete information, is an increasingly valuable skill. NOLS students have numerous opportunities to practice this skill as they encounter unexpected weather and travel conditions, and health and communication challenges. Research by Rachel Collins and Jim Sibthorp at University of Utah, and John Gookin at NOLS, has shown that practice leads to measurably stronger ill-structured problem (ISP) solving skills among NOLS semester graduates than among a comparable group of college students in a classroom-based semester-long leadership course. The researchers created two hypothetical campus leadership scenarios and tested the students’ abilities to solve problems. They rated the students’ success in five subscales of ISP-solving at the beginning of the semester with one of the scenarios, and at end of the semester
Collaboration is a key to ill-structured problem solving. Kirk Rasmussen
with the other (which problem each student saw first was random).
The Five Ill-Structured ProblemSolving Subscales
1. Representing the Problem
2. Developing Solutions
3. Making Justifications
4. Monitoring and Evaluating
5. Problem-Solving Stages
Students who participated in the NOLS semester showed significant growth in all five subscales at the end of the semester; their peers in the classroom leadership course showed no change in any of them. Researchers cited three reasons wilderness education offers a well-suited environment for learning to solve ISPs:
1 | Immediate relevance of the learning Problems that are immediately relevant do not go away on their own.
2 | Changes in cognitive equilibration
For many students, wilderness education
is novel and they don’t have preestablished frames of reference. Being in an unfamiliar setting encourages truly creative thinking.
3 | Supportive and collaborative nature of the small group expedition
As a result of remoteness and necessary group functioning, expedition groups tend to become supportive and collaborative networks for accomplishing group goals.
What happened with Tracy and her course?
After two and a half days of upstream travel they encountered a section narrow enough for a Tyrolean traverse and arrived at the re-ration.
Shannon Rochelle
Shannon has been a NOLS instructor since 1999 and NOLS research manager since 2014. She spends her free time running across the mountains and plains of Wyoming with her dog.
HOW TO | A LESSON IN PACK PACKING
By Anne McGowan Development Communications Coordinator
As NOLS alumni, you know you should keep your sunscreen and water bottle or hydration system close at hand while backpacking, but what about your ultralight sleeping bag or weighty cook pot? Do they belong at the bottom, middle, or top of your pack?
Former NOLS field sta ng director and senior instructor Marco Johnson knows all the tricks for packing your pack in a way that emphasizes the ABCs of pack packing—accessibility, balance, and compression—and he walks through them in an easy-to-follow video.
For step-by-step instructions, check out Marco on YouTube (search “nols how to pack a backpack” on YouTube).
For a quick refresher, follow these tips:
• Squish your sleeping bag into a compression stu sack, making it as small as you can, and push it to the bottom of your pack. You won’t need it until the end of the day, so the floor of the pack is a good place for it.
• Follow up with a fuel bottle: its weight will help balance your pack, and keep-
ing it below your food keeps rations from being ruined by leaked fuel.
• Your sleeping pad and rolled-up camp chair go in next to protect the fuel bottle from possible puncture.
• Stu as much food as possible into your cookpot, close it, and place it in the pack so it’s flat against your back. This helps ensure balance, and your pack’s padded back piece should eliminate any discomfort from the cookpot. Stu additional food that doesn’t fit in the pot into empty spaces in your pack.
• Remove your shelter from its bag and use the shelter to fill any other dead space at the bottom of your pack. (My instructor used a technique she called Ninja fingers: hold fingers and thumb together, keeping them straight and sti , then use them to jam fabric into empty spaces in your pack). Shoving your shelter deep into the pack also helps waterproof your sleeping bag.
• Wrap your warm layers (jacket, hat, gloves) inside your rain gear and store them in an outside pocket. This keeps your warm layers dry
and readily accessible.
• Sunscreen, first-aid kit, trail food, water bottle, lighter, knife, compass— all the things you want to be able to access easily—should be stored in outside pockets, at the top of your pack in its “brain,” or in the pockets in your pack’s hip belt.
• Last of all, place center poles for your shelter in an outside pocket and lash them securely.
Marco, who has 635 weeks in the field and swears by the ABCs of packing, points out these tips come in handy whether you’re packing a backpack, a sea kayak, or horse-pack panniers.
Anne McGowan
Anne grew up camping and hiking with her family. A Wind River Wilderness - Prime grad, she left newspaper publishing to write about all things NOLS.
Pack packing is taught at the start of many NOLS courses. Trip Davis
HOW TO | PLAN AND GO ON A CANYON TRIP
By Allie Maloney Instructor
As a NOLS instructor, a car camping vacation is the height of luxury. As a grad student in central New York, I wanted to take advantage of my first spring break since 2009. Which is how I found myself flying to Salt Lake City for a week of canyoneering in North Wash.
My partner in crime, Dave Durant, met me with the adventure truck and we drove down to Hanksville, UT, stopping to fill the truck with fresh produce, blocks of cheese, eggs, chicken sausage, and black beans. For canyon rations, we bought date rolls, habanero almonds, and honey mustard pretzels. I flew with only a carry-on and two sets of clothes: one set of road trip chic, and one set to be dedicated to the muddy, gritty canyon gods. In the truck we had appropriate safety gear for rappelling, a mattress on a platform under the cap, and a tiny kitchen built into the side toolbox.
In between studying for mid-terms, I had researched and planned the trip. Online, I looked for slot canyons that would be half-day adventures, out of the usual NOLS course areas, and nothing so tight that 6’2” Dave would get stuck. North Wash has plenty of technical slot options, close to a lonely desert highway: perfect for car camping.
There was sunshine, deep blue sky, and snow covering the nearby mountains. The days were warm, the afternoons almost too hot. There were minimal bugs and other visitors. The rock glowed red, and the desert springs were surrounded by greenery.
Each morning we chose a canyon to venture down, stemming and down climbing, wriggling through fantastic cracks in the soft sandstone. Then, after debating whether to descend a second slot, we would eat lunch, play chess, and go in search of water: desert springs, cold
creeks, the mighty Colorado, and even snow at the end of a long dirt road in the Henry Mountains.
I would recommend everything except for the last. We got the truck stuck in some very sticky mud for several hours with little hope of rescue and I would have missed my flight back home, but for some manual labor laying down a sagebrush corduroy road (and some fine driving).
HOW TO | CANYONEERING
Canyoneering is a technical sport, and there are local guide services and outing clubs to help you learn how to be safe in this unique environment. NOLS also offers canyon expeditions. They are one of instructors’ favorite course types to work.
1 | Find your canyon
Slot canyons need navigational tools above and beyond the trusty USGS Quad. A detailed written description is needed in order to plan for correct rappelling and safety gear. I do most of my canyoneering research via the internet. There are several excellent websites where enthusiasts share inside information. Also, there is a legendary author, Kelsey, who has written several guidebooks. But beware: he is notorious for his delicate understatement.
2 | Find your campsite
Free campsites can be found on Bureau of Land Management land. Forest Service land also offers free “dispersed camping” and more developed (read: bathrooms and running water) campsites, for a fee.
3 | Pack your gear
Canyons are tough on your gear, and the sandstone and limestone rocks will scrape and stain everything you bring,
including yourself. A small backpack that can be worn or clipped to dangle from your harness, sticky rubber approach shoes, and a pearl snap button down from the thrift store are my top three gear recommendations. If you choose to venture down a “wet” canyon in March, a cheap wetsuit can make swimming in the dark, cold, muddy water more enjoyable.
Allie started her career in outdoor education at 16. She currently attends graduate school, pursuing an M.S. in Recreation Management.
Allie Maloney
Slot canyons require navigational tools beyond USGS maps. Brian Hensien
REVIEWS | BOOKS
IN OUR HANDS: HANDBOOK FOR INTERGENERATIONAL ACTIONS TO SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS
By Wilford H. Welch Former NOLS Board Chair
als, it does paint a bright future that is valuable when the vision ahead is unclear. Free downloads of In Our Hands are available for NOLS graduates and sta by contacting alumni@nols.edu
In Our Hands, by former NOLS Board Chair Wilford Welch, paints a concise picture of the future of climate change. Welch o ers his view of our planet’s extreme paths—what he refers to as “two futures”—that society could create, based on whether action against climate change is pursued, or aggravated by our inaction.
THE NOLS COOKERY 7TH EDITION
Edited by Claudia Pearson NOLS Rocky Mountain Rations Manager
The book’s first chapters address global damage caused by carbon pollution, political inaction, and societal paralysis. This confluence of negatives predicts that if our current course doesn’t change, our world will end in a mess of pollution and death. Wilford then imagines an opposite future path, where his optimism for already imagined, but yet to be implemented solutions—such as a carbon tax, greener technologies, and the common acceptance of climate change science—o er hope for a healthier global future. Chapter five provides a simple checklist to organize and activate personal involvement on climate change—a common goal for many members of the NOLS community.
end pollu
Welch’s belief that people, not the government, will be the source of positive change is a theme throughout. He writes that success can be created by “an organic, grassroots process driven by millions of deeply concerned individuals.” Whether or not this perspective is overly optimistic, and puts too much of the responsibility on individu-
With over two million meals prepared in the wilderness, NOLS speaks with authority on the art of backcountry cooking. The first edition of NOLS Cookery was published in 1974, and this year celebrates the release of the seventh edition of this classic guide to backcountry cooking.
NOLS Rocky Mountain rations manager Claudia Pearson has been the editor of this tome since its fourth edition hit bookshelves and wilderness kitchens in 1997. Every summer, Claudia and her Gourmet Gulch sta send approximately 10,000 pounds of food into the field each week for NOLS courses, and educate students and instructors on its preparation and consumption. NOLS Cookery plays an important role in this process.
Classic NOLS favorites like pizza and cinnamon rolls are included in this seventh edition, as are new recipes for lightweight backpackers, an expanded nutrition chapter, recipes from NOLS campuses on six continents, and Claudia’s own recipe for Gulch Bites.
NOLS Cookery o ers readers everything that they need to eat well, and therefore to live well, in the backcountry. It can be purchased from the NOLS online store.
Do you recognize this person? The first ten people to contact us with the correct answer will receive a prize in the mail.
The answer to the Fall 2017 issue’s “Who is This?” is past field and wilderness medicine instructor, Tucson Program Director, and executive team member Del Smith. Much of Del’s lengthy field career centered in the canyons and slickrock country of southern Utah. Del’s particular passion was teaching Leave No Trace curriculum and courses.
GEAR REVIEW | KATE’S REAL FOOD
By Caleb Walker Marketing Representative & Americorps Advisor
Tram Bar
Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate
IStash Bar
Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate
t’s 4 a.m., and you’re staring into the cupboard, trying to decide what to stuff into the backpack before your ride shows up to make first tracks.
The majority of us have had this experience, and it usually leads to some “okay” staple choices. Kate’s Real Foods Bars are here to change that.
Kate Schade is a self-proclaimed ski bum who started making bars on her days off to enjoy while riding the first tram and throughout the day at her home base, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
Eventually, she shared them with enough friends around Jackson to acquire a solid fan base who insisted she start selling these tasty treats. We are pretty stoked she did just that.
We had the good fortune to try out some of Kate’s bars during a few alpine starts of our own, splitboarding and skiing on Togwotee Pass in Wyoming.
In short, all the bars we tried tasted superb. The subtle hint of sweetness from honey combined with the punch of delicious dried cherry in the “Handle Bar” was exactly what we wanted during transition periods before starting back up the skin track.
The texture was just right too, hitting that perfect spot between crunchy and chewy. There’s a solid crunch we found to be reminiscent of Rice Krispies; meanwhile, honey combined with peanut or almond butter gave it a pleasant, chewy texture.
Handle Bar Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond
We found some of the bars had a lingering salty taste, great for being out in the backcountry getting in some miles. A few people, however, found it slightly less desirable for snacking in the frontcountry.
Overall, out of the myriad of granola bars on the market, we highly recommend Kate’s Real Food Bars for a trip in the backcountry. A plus we discovered while on the skin track in 12-degree weather: these bars don’t freeze while sitting in the brain of a pack. Their taste, texture, light weight, and convenience will keep us reaching for these bars whenever the 4:00 a.m. alpine start ride is honking outside the house.
Available from www.katesrealfood.com
Walker
When Caleb is not at the office, he’s usually somewhere in the backcountry with his dog–trying to decide what to cook for dinner.
Caleb
NUTRITION | CHEESECAKE
Adapted from the NOLS Cookery
This one-pot cheesecake recipe doesn’t require baking, just enough heat to melt butter and sugar with granola. That’s one reason it was named a
Serves 4 (12-inch fry pan)
Crust Ingredients
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups Grape Nuts or granola
• 3 to 4 Tbs. water
Filling Ingredients
• 2 cups cheesecake mix (3/4 lb.)
• 6 Tbs. powdered milk (regular, soy, coconut, or Nido)
• 1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
• 2 to 2 ½ cups water
1 serving =
• Calories 629
• Carb (g) 81
• Protein (g) 29
• Fat (g) 23
• Fiber (g) 4
NOLS Favorite! Another reason: it can be made with chocolate, fresh or canned fruit—or both!
Recipe
To make the crust, melt butter and brown sugar in fry pan. Add Grape Nuts or granola and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add water and stir another minute. Remove from heat. Use the back of a spoon to press the mixture evenly over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Set aside to cool. For the filling, combine all ingredients except the water. Add the water slowly, blending to remove lumps. Pour into cooled crust. Put in a cool place to set.
Variations
• Chocolate Cheesecake: Proceed as directed, but add 1/3 cup chocolate chips if desired.
• Drain some liquid from canned blueberries or other fruit and mix 1 to 1 1/2 Tbs. flour into it. Pour fruit and remaining juice into pot. Heat; stir in flour mixture. Cook until thick, stirring frequently. Cool. Pour over set cheesecake, or drain liquid from berries and spoon some berries over each serving.
• Substitute instant pudding for cheesecake mix and make according to the basic recipe.
No-bake cheesecake is quick and delicious. Kirk Rasmussen
MASTER’S IN LEADERSHIP
Use your leadership skills to be a force for positive
change
NOLS and Saybrook University have partnered to o er an innovative M.A. in Leadership that prepares students to be leaders.
Study leadership theory through online courses and conferences
Put theory into action on three multiweek wilderness expeditions
Prepare for a career in international and domestic businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, or consulting
