NOLS Blog
Stories from the field
Advice, stories, and inspiration from the wilderness
Everest—The Other Side: An Interview with the Film’s Director and NOLS Alumni Jimmy Chin
Everest—The Other Side is a National Geographic Documentary Film directed and produced by the Academy Award winning husband-and-wife team Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. It’s an intimate portrait of elite ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson as they fell in love and pursued the dream of climbing and skiing down the North Face…
Articles
Everest—The Other Side: An Interview with the Film’s Director and NOLS Alumni Jimmy Chin
Everest—The Other Side is a National Geographic Documentary Film directed and produced by the Academy Award winning husband-and-wife team Elizabeth…
Articles
Case Study: Asthma During an Introductory Mountaineering Course
The Situation You are leading a five-day introductory mountaineering course in the Sierra Nevada in early October. The course includes…
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Case Study: Chest Injury with Fall
The Setting You are on a climbing trip in Red Rocks, Nevada. You’ve spent the last week dialing in your…
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Backpacking the Vilcabamba Valley to Machu Picchu Alumni Trip: Inaugural Trip Reflection
An Interview with Kellsie Forbes, NOLS Alumni Trips Manager Where did the idea to create an alumni trip to explore…
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Alumni Spotlight: How my NOLS Course Impacted My Career
Almost exactly 10 years after coming to Alaska for the first time to take a NOLS course, Asa Darnell finds…
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The Wilderness Risk Management Conference: a Conference and a Community
An interview with Elyse Rylander, Wilderness Risk Management Steering Committee Chair The 33rd annual Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) will…
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Case Study: Bear Spray in the Face
The Setting You are almost done with a 3-day backpacking trip in the Wind River Mountain Range of Wyoming with…
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Case Study: Fishhooks
The Setting You’re on the first day of a twelve-day whitewater canoeing expedition down the Green River. Your group consists…
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When Everything Came Into Focus — Hiking Patagonia’s Torres del Paine O Circuit Alumni Trip
I first learned about the O Circuit in 2025, a year before I actually did it. My wife and I…
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