FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 13 , 2010

Contact: Jeanne O’Brien (307) 335-2236 Jeanne_obrien@nols.edu

NOLS PARTNERS WITH PATAGONIA®

FOR THE DREAM EXPEDITION CONTEST

Lander, Wyoming - This summer, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is partnering with premier outdoor gear and clothing company Patagonia® for the Dream Expedition Contest. Individuals 13 and older are invited to submit a video before October 31, 2010, answering the following question: What is your dream expedition, and how will you prepare for it?

Judges from NOLS will select a best overall winner, as well as winners in various subcategories, including most views, most creative, most inspirational, funniest, and most low-tech. The grand prize is the classic NOLS Wind River Wilderness course—30 days exploring the pristine lakes and rugged peaks of Wyoming’s Wind River Range. The grand prize also includes all the gear required for the Wind River Wilderness course, plus domestic airfare to and from Lander, Wyoming.

“Both NOLS and Patagonia recognize the tremendous potential that video has to tell our brands’ stories,” said Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director. “At NOLS we have invested heavily in creating both educational and aspirational video content for our website. While visiting with Rob BonDurant recently at Patagonia, we hit on the contest idea as a way to drive traffic to our site, obtain content, and give our alumni and potential students a way to have fun and possibly win a NOLS course. And as always, working with Rob and the team at Patagonia is great.”

“As a NOLS grad myself, I am always looking for opportunities to support my outdoor alma mater,” said Rob BonDurant, Patagonia vice president of marketing. “NOLS was a critical piece of my education and set me on the path that led me to work at Patagonia. When the NOLS crew decided to run with the contest idea, I was psyched to jump on board.”

All Dream Expedition Contest winners will receive NOLS and Patagonia® gear to play with in the backcountry. Entries are due before October 31, 2010. Watch the contest video on YouTube at and visit www.nols.edu/contest for more details.

ABOUT NOLS

Founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer Paul Petzoldt, NOLS is the leader in wilderness education, providing awe-inspiring, transformative experiences to nearly 14,000 students each year. These students, ages 14 to 70, learn in the wildest and most remote classrooms worldwide—from the Amazon rain forest to New Mexico’s limestone caves, from rugged peaks in the Himalaya to Alaskan glaciers and Arctic tundra. Graduates are active leaders with lifelong environmental ethics and outdoor skills. NOLS also offers customized courses through NOLS Professional Training, and the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS is the leading teacher of wilderness medicine worldwide. For more information, call (800) 710-NOLS (6657) or visit www.nols.edu.

ABOUT PATAGONIA®

Patagonia, with sales last year of over $330M, is noted internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism. Incorporating environmental responsibility in to product development, the company has, since 1996, used only organically grown cotton in its clothing line. With its most recent launch of synthetic fiber-to-fiber recycling, Patagonia is taking back worn-out polyester and nylon clothing and reincarnating it as new products, forever capturing the raw materials used in making virgin fiber. The company also advocates corporate transparency through its interactive website, The Footprint Chronicles, which outlines the environmental and social footprint of individual products. Patagonia was featured as The Coolest Company on the Planet on Fortune magazine’s April 2007 cover.

# # #