NOLS Crosses the Pond

September 20, 2007

1407076399_f84bbfce9d_bWe’ve just completed a multi-pronged first for NOLS— the school’s first foray into Europe, into Italy and into the Alps. Nine alumni trip participants (grads, friends and family members) and two instructors spent six hiking days exploring the steep trails and extremely beautiful peaks of the Italian Dolomites just south of the Austrian border.

The weather was outstanding while lodging in a series of mountain “rifugios” allowed us to lighten our packs and immerse ourselves in European culture. German and Italian were the primary languages, with a smattering of English often available. The trails were popular- we often ran into middle-aged (or older!) couples and small day-hiking groups. Part of our route traversed a portion of the WWI Italian/Austrian front lines- barbed wire, gun emplacements, and rustic shelters were still visible along the high alpine trails.

Most folks flew into Milan and spent a few extra days exploring the sites of northern Italy before the trip. See the NOLS Alumni Trips portion of the NOLS website for more information and our flickr group for more pictures.

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NOLS Alumni Trips are designed for the busy schedules of grads, their friends and families. Instruction is informal and tailored to participant interest.

If you’re a NOLS grad, you probably had pasta in the field. Maybe it’s time you tried the real thing on a future alumni trip in Italy’s Dolomite region.

Rich Brame, NOLS Alumni Relations

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Rich Brame

Rich Brame came to NOLS in the 80's as a Fall Semester in the Rockies student and worked his first NOLS course at Wind Cave National Park in 1984. Since then, he's worked varied NOLS trips and courses on five continents—with a few more on the way. Rich does some frontcountry shenanigans for NOLS, too. He's headed up NOLS' public policy, research, LNT, Yukon programs and most recently in the Alumni Relations Department.