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…
You Don’t Always Have to Know the Answer: Vulnerability in Leadership
Sometimes being a good leader means admitting you don't know the answer, a lesson Carolyn Highland learned on her outdoor educator course in the Absarokas.
What I Wish I Knew Before I Was a Camp Counselor
See why a former camp counselor thinks all camp staff should have wilderness medicine trainings!
Social Distancing Responsibly in the Outdoors
Now's the time to apply lessons learned outdoors, like practicing LNT, having a positive attitude, and managing risk responsibly, to the frontcountry.
Hiking Like a Girl
On an Alaska backpacking and sea kayaking course, NOLS grad Caroline Dooley realized that hiking like a girl is something to celebrate. Here's why.
Getting Down to the Basics: Wilderness First Aid Quiz
Take this Wilderness First Aid quiz to test your knowledge about basic WFA skills.
Expedition Science on the Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro
The NOLS Tanzania Scientific Expedition is a unique opportunity to design and implement a scientific research study—and summit Mount Kilimanjaro!
Northern Absorption: Backpacking & Canoeing in the Yukon
Katie Raymond relives the unforgettable day when she paddled for 13 hours in stormy weather on her Yukon Backpacking and Whitewater Canoeing expedition.
How Winning the Iditarod on Foot Started with NOLS
I had no idea I was going to work toward this masterpiece of a race, where I’d blend skills I'd spent years working on for 1,000 miles in the winter with a sled. But now I look back and I see it all come together, and NOLS was the conduit, the peephole.
Creating Space: Why All-Women’s Expeditions Matter
In many ways, an all-women's course is just another NOLS course. But it's also something more.
How Outdoor Adventures Set Teens up for Life Success
Mistakes aren't fun. But they might be just what teens need to succeed! NOLS courses offer an opportunity to make mistakes productively and learn key leadership skills.
Stepping into Action: First Aid on the Appalachian Trail
NOLS grad Kimberly Blazzard unexpectedly put her wilderness medicine skills into practice on a solo trip on the Appalachian Trail.
