Love and EB: a NOLS Valentine Story

Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, is the one day on the calendar dedicated solely to love and connection. It conjures up cards and gifts, candy and flowers, time spent together, and—in some circles—questions about relationships’ origin stories.

At NOLS, I learned when I sat down with a few couples, more than a few romantic partnerships begin at work, jibing with the statistic that claims one in five people met their partner on the job. It makes sense: the people we work with are the people we spend time with and often share interests with.

Spending a month in the wilderness with other instructors (who also love to hike, fish, ski, kayak, and, in general, adventure) is common at NOLS, so finding a partner on the trail isn’t unusual. And for those who work in town at any of NOLS’ locations, the same is true. The person in the next cubicle who invites you to rock climb or mountain bike after work and helps reboot your computer when it goes on the fritz could be the perfect match.

In 2011, Clair Smith, currently serving as NOLS Special Projects Manager, was a fulltime instructor who sought a job at NOLS Headquarters in Lander for two reasons: she wanted to own a dog, and she planned to train for an Ironman triathlon, both more easily done when based in town.

“Turns out there was a guy in the IT department—Steve Smith—who had done several Ironman competitions, and he stopped by my desk to offer advice. We were on different triathlon levels, his being much more competitive than mine, but he was fun to talk to and made me laugh.” Clair remembers.

Soon, Clair and Steve, a multi-course NOLS graduate, started rock climbing and mountain biking together and discovered other commonalities, too: both loved the outdoors, enjoyed Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, hailed from Virginia—and attended rival universities there.

True, says Steve. “We started chatting, we started climbing together, and we never looked back.”

They began dating in 2012. Less than two months later, when Clair led a five-week course in the Wind River Mountains outside of Lander, Steve ran miles into the mountains to meet the course with bacon, fresh fruit and vegetables, and chocolate.

“Students fell in love with him immediately,” Clair remembers. The pair married in 2015.

“There’s something nice about having all your outdoor-play buddies at work,” Clair says.

Instructors bond over that, too.

Andy Blair and Jacki Klancher were full-time NOLS instructors in 1996, scheduled to lead a course together in the canyons of the Southwest, but they had never met.

When they showed up in the lobby of the Noble Hotel, NOLS’ student dormitory, to get acquainted ahead of the course, some strings had already been pulled behind the scenes: the manager of the hotel helped facilitate the meeting at the hotel on Andy’s behalf.

“I had heard a lot about Jacki,” says Andy, now the John Gans Director of Public Policy at NOLS, agreeing that he was very much on board with the set-up.

Jacki was a bit in the dark but liked Andy upon meeting him.

Andy remembers thinking, “This is going to be fun!” And they spent the next month getting to know one another as they taught together.

But the thirty-day trip in Canyonlands wasn’t without challenges. The pair and their students were dropped off at a different trailhead than their maps indicated, and both Andy and Jacki were stricken with giardia, though they can’t agree who was responsible for the unwashed utensil that caused the illness.

“That was also the course when I laid your Therm-A-Rest on a cactus,” Jacki says as Andy nods.

When asked if lessons learned at NOLS influence their relationship, Jacki became thoughtful. Did bringing home to one’s personal relationship the concept of Expedition Behavior—working as a team, being kind and open hearted, sharing, acting honesty and accountability, and more commonly known as EB—make it better?

“I wonder if working for NOLS provided us with a set of parameters for communication,” she said. “Maybe EB frames what’s acceptable behavior—or at least helps partners stay within parameters.”

Andy compared two instructors working a NOLS course together to the frontcountry maxim of wallpapering a room together. “If you can do that, you can make a relationship work,” he says.

Jacki, noting she and Andy have been married for a quarter of a century, said she hoped they would have another 25 years together. “I’d work any course, anywhere, with him.”

Andy smiled.

“It has been the absolute joy of my life to spend time with Jacki Klancher,” he said. “I’d do it all over again.”

Clair Smith agrees about the influence of NOLS on a relationship.

“At NOLS, there’s a prioritization of work-life balance shared by coworkers and supported by the organization,” she said. She pointed to a shared sense of adventure, a love of travel, a focus on communication, community, and Expedition Behavior, “which is engrained in everyone at NOLS,” she said.

Because, in Clair’s words, whatever you’re dealing with, it’s nice to have someone with good EB right by your side.

“Steve is the one I want next to me on the expedition of life,” she says. “No matter what obstacle comes: river crossing, ailing parents, joint surgeries, or house remodels, Steve’s expedition behavior is second to none. He will always prioritize us and what the group needs to succeed.”