NOLS Blog
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 climbing, swapping beta with new friends at the crag and soaking up the desert sun. Today, you decide to take a break from long routes and focus on bouldering. You’re chalking up, eyeing a new…
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 ...
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 ...
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 be held this fall, October 20 – 22nd, in Portland, Oregon. If you haven’t attended yet, the WRMC was developed from the work of multiple outdoor programs who wanted to create a space to foster…
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 two of your friends. You only have a couple miles left to get back to the car, and you’re already dreaming of the cheeseburger and milkshake you’re going to have once back in town. Prior…
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 of fifteen students and four instructors. Everyone is paddling close together down a stretch of flat water practicing strokes, building skills, and getting to know one another. Spirits are high. People are laughing, chatting, and…
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 were in Patagonia on a Road Scholar trip. It started with a cruise through the Strait of Magellan and the Darwin Passage, followed by a few days in Torres del Paine National Park doing short…
Case Study: Heat Illness on an Early-Season Wildland Fire Assignment
The Setting You are working on a Type 2 initial attack handcrew in the Deschutes National Forest during the early part of fire season. It’s one of the first assignments of the year, and while conditions aren’t extreme yet, temperatures have climbed into the mid-80s°F with full sun exposure on a south-facing slope. The crew…
Rothberg-Birdwhistel Expedition Fund: Panchachuli III Peak Climb
In May 2025, Bharat Bhushan, Prerna Dangi, and I took on a challenge to climb Panchachuli III (6,349m), believed by local residents to remain unclimbed. We aimed to approach it via the northeast route through the Meola Glacier. Despite occasional visits by military and paramilitary personnel, there was no recorded mountaineering information or documented route…
Wilderness Medicine for Mountain Bikers
To reduce the strain on local health care facilities during a global crisis, you can step up and use your first aid training to treat some injuries at home.
Case Study: An Injured Ankle on the Hunt
Test your knowledge with this case study about a patient with an ankle injury on a backcountry hunt.
Case Study: Breathing Difficulty in the Absaroka Range
Test your knowledge with this case study about a patient having breathing difficulty in a remote mountain setting
Case Study: Nauseous in the Heat
This case study focuses on how responders must be creative and thoughtful to adapt plans as they care for patients on a wilderness—not city—timeframe.
My Semester in Baja, as Told in Food and Sunsets [Photo Essay]
NOLS grad Claire Burgeson shares her study abroad experience in Baja through stunning photos of beaches and wildlife, local practices and food, and more.
It’s Getting Hot in Here: The Ps and Qs of Heat Illness
It’s important to be aware of the different types of heat illness, and their treatment principles, should an emergency arise—take a look at them in this post.
How to Make Deluxe Mac and Cheese in the Backcountry
Mac and cheese is a backcountry classic - use your favorite cheese and veggies for the perfect dinner
Meeting the Unexpected on a NOLS Gap Year Expedition
NOLS gap year expedition grad Luna Rosal gives insight into both the fun and challenges she experienced on a NOLS gap year.
How One Outdoor Educator Builds Sense of Place (and How You Can, Too)
NOLS Instructor Oscar Manguy shares the way he carefully builds a framework for sense of place in order to connect students to nature while on expeditions.
Climbing and the Four Basic Needs: Tuning Into the “Why” Behind the Activity
The more I understand my reasons for rock climbing, the better I can transfer the lessons to the rest of my life.
Lightning Safety for Anglers
Summer means it’s time to grab your fishing gear and head outside. But have you checked the forecast—and do you know how to manage risk from a lightning strike?
How Risk Management Training Improved Our Programming at Move United
Program Manager at Move United Julianne Mills shares how Risk Management Training creates opportunities to expand programming to people of all abilities
