NOLS Blog
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…
Rothberg-Birdwhistel Expedition Fund: Panchachuli III Peak Climb
Team selfie. In May 2025, Bharat Bhushan, Prerna Dangi, and I took on a challenge to climb Panchachuli ...
Case Study: Non-Freezing Cold Injury on a Canoe Trip
Two people paddle a canoe on a calm river. Photo by Craig Muderlak The Setting You are leading ...
Lou Gordon: Three Decades of Influence
Louise “Lou” Gordon’s office in the Wilderness Medicine wing of NOLS Headquarters is tucked into the perpendicular intersection of two banks of offices, in the center of the activity but quiet and a little reserved. Like Lou herself.
After more than 30 years, the last 6 1/2 as NOLS Wilderness Medicine’s Wilderness EMT Supervisor, Lou is cleaning and packing up her office in preparation for her retirement. Her last day is May 1.
Climate Medicine: Where Climate Change and Healthcare Meet
Springtime has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. Trees and grasses are greening up, flowers are blooming, and birds have returned to greet the morning with song. As many of Earth’s residents head into boreal summer, they know to expect rising temperatures. But what does that heat mean for human health? What happens when infectious diseases…
Summer Travel Programs for Teens: Why Wilderness Expeditions Offer More Than a Passport Stamp
Most summer travel programs for teens promise adventure. A select few actually deliver it. There is a difference between traveling through a place and learning to move through it with skill and intention. That difference is worth understanding before you commit to any program, and before your teen boards a plane. This guide breaks down…
Staying Power
Shari Kearney didn’t just find a place at NOLS—as our longest serving female instructor, she has worked over 424 weeks in the field and influenced generations of students. Shari Kearney is checking on Three Peaks Ranch’s stable of horses, kept on pastures outside of Lander, Wyoming in the offseason. Each autumn, the horses—dozens of them—are…
Connection, Resilience, and Dal Bhat: Manaslu Circuit Alumni Trip 2025
In November 2025, five gentlemen, one lady, three guides, and three support staff met in Kathmandu in preparation for a two-week NOLS alumni trek on the Manaslu Circuit in Nepal. Although we were all strangers coming from different parts of the world, our shared excitement for setting foot in the Himalayas was palpable. During those…
Best Summer Programs for Teens: Outdoor Adventures That Build Leaders
Most teens will spend this summer doing something fun, but maybe not so meaningful. Not because they lack ambition, but because the summer camps available to them were designed to center around fun, rather than building long-lasting skills. The difference between a summer that fades and one that becomes a reference point — something your…
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
Grad Set to Tackle 58 Peaks as NOLS Fundraiser
An intrepid WFR graduate sets to climb 58 peaks to raise money for NOLS
The Road Less Traveled: How a NOLS Course Changed my life
A snap, hasty decision in college led me to attend NOLS. Usually a calculated person, l changed my life course in about 60 seconds.
An Artist. An Adventurer. A Q&A with NOLS Grad Dori Bergman
National Outdoor Leadership School graduate and artist, Dori Bergman, talks about how her outdoor adventures inspire her artwork.
Learning Resources for Earth Day (And Every Day)
Join us in reading books, downloading apps, and following influencers who can help self-educate on all topics connected to Earth Day
Turning My NOLS Experience Into a Minimalist Lifestyle
Camper life comes with some challenges; however, it’s the most freeing thing I have experienced since my gap year, and I can’t recommend the experience highly enough to anyone interested.
Why I Trusted a NOLS Course during COVID
When I say 2020, what comes to mind? Pandemic, quarantine, fear, loneliness, job loss, online overload. It was February 2020 when I began my journey with NOLS, and I’m so glad that I did.
