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…
Case Study: Heat Illness on an Early-Season Wildland Fire Assignment
Photo by Kirk Rasmussen The Setting You are working on a Type 2 initial attack handcrew in the ...
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
The Setting You are leading an early-season canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It’s mid-May, and while the days are mild, the water is still very cold. Travel involves frequent portaging and wading in and out of the canoe to load and unload gear. Despite good effort, everyone’s feet have been wet…
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…
“There Is No Limit:” A Kenyan Mountain Guide Advances Her Wilderness Training
Kenyan mountain guide and medic Carol Wanjiru shares her journey on a NOLS course for East African outdoor professionals.
9 Wilderness Medicine Acronyms You Need to Know
So many abbreviations, so little time! Take a look at these need-to-know acronyms for wilderness medicine.
Discovering My—Slightly Strange—New Normal on a NOLS Gap Year
Tricia shares her story of a gap year filled with glacier walks, ABBA songs, and Kiwi slang on a Semester in New Zealand.
Consultation with NOLS Risk Services: A 5-Step Risk Management Review
Check out our 5-step process to performing a thorough risk management review tailored to your organization.
Learning Expedition Behavior With Kids: Winter Edition
Winter is ripe for lessons in expedition behavior (EB) for everyone, especially kids.
Andrew Bobilya: Taking the Classroom Outdoors
Now an associate professor at Western Carolina University, NOLS grad Andrew Bobilya still treasures the lessons he learned on his Baja sea kayaking course.
Case Study: A Backcountry First Aid Mystery from the ’80s
Test your knowledge with a case study based on a real event in the '80s where Wilderness First Responders aided a hiker suffering from weakness and lethargy.
Everything You Need to Know About Winter Camping
NOLS instructor Katie Oram shares everything she knows about winter camping—we mean everything.
The Places that Scare You: First Ascents on Patagonia’s Northern Icefield
NOLS Instructor Willy Oppenheim describes the difficulties and exhilaration of a stunning first ascent of two peaks in Chilean Patagonia.
Case Study: Is That Frostbite?
The patient commented that their toes have been cold and numb all day, but thought they could get by until getting into their sleeping bag. Read the full case study to see what you know about frostbite.
A New Map: A NOLS Grad’s Journey to Walking Again
While recovering from a devastating injury, Jim Harris found himself returning to key life lessons he learned as a teen on a NOLS backpacking course.
Best of NOLS Instagram in 2018
Your favorite photos of wilderness, friendship, and leadership from the NOLS Instagram account in 2018.
