NOLS Gulch Makes Temporary Move

Over a period of two weeks in late October and early November, Gulch staff steadily packed up foods and sent them out the door. This time, though, their efforts were not for National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses, but the result of renovations at the Rocky Mountain (RM) Branch in Lander, Wyo.

As the RM building undergoes some demolition and subsequent construction, which will hopefully be complete mid-March of 2012, the Gulch store has moved up the street. For approximately six months, the store will reside at 388 Main Street in Lander.

“The community support for having a venue on Main Street has been phenomenal,” said Claudia Pearson, rations manager at the RM. The Gulch has always been open to the public, though its location off Main sometimes renders it forgotten in local shoppers’ minds.

Aila Brennan, RM logistics assistant, said Lander community members have expressed excitement over the new, convenient location and disappointment upon learning the Gulch will be returning to its Fifth Street location in a matter of months. However, she pointed out the renovated branch will include a door directly from Fifth Street into the Gulch, eliminating the sometimes “intimidating” walk through the oft-crowded branch to the store. She also hinted there would be sunlight shining in on the renovated Gulch.

Claudia said she hopes the location will remind non-NOLS customers of the Gulch’s existence. The Gulch has seen an increase in non-NOLS customers since it opened the Main Street location Nov. 7.

“Our goal is to generate a relationship with people, and then hopefully they’ll follow us back to Fifth,” she said.

In the meantime, the Gulch is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering all the usual provisions in a brightly lit, colorfully decorated space on Main, just in time for holiday sales.

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.