Expedition Denali Team to Have Presence at Summer Or

This team of role models will inspire youth of color to explore and fall in love with the outdoors by making the first predominantly African American summit attempt of Denali, North America’s tallest peak. The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is spearheading the initiative.

The first public Expedition Denali event will be a party at the OR Friday, Aug. 3 at 5 p.m. The gathering, which will introduce these mentors and their mission to the outdoor industry, will be held at the booth of Expedition Denali supporter Deuter.

The following week, the team will embark on a training trip on Mount Baker in Washington State for two weeks. The expedition on Denali will take place in June of 2013, the 100th anniversary of the first ascent of the peak.

The focus of Expedition Denali is not the summit, but rather the inspiration and role models the expedition will provide to communities historically underrepresented in the outdoors. Outreach and mobilization efforts will include a national “10,000 steps to Denali” event on the day of the summit attempt and a nationwide tour by the team members in the years following the expedition.

The National Outdoor Leadership School
Founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer Paul Petzoldt, NOLS is the leader in wilderness education, providing awe-inspiring, transformative experiences to more than 15,000 students each year. These students, ages 14 to 70, learn in the wildest and most remote classrooms worldwide—from the Amazon rain forest, to 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.