NOLS Blog
How to Make Hash Browns with Cheese
Hash browns have a well-deserved reputation as a delicious breakfast treat, but this cheesy version is great for lunch or dinner too—and that’s before you add nuggets of ham or bacon and a few shakes of hot sauce into the mix! This recipe requires a little forethought—both the hash browns and dried onions benefit from…
NOLS Picante Sauce
Picante perks up almost any savory recipe—try it on eggs, beans, in soups and coupled with anything on ...
Backpacking Among Giants: A Trip Report from Norway’s Jotunheimen Mountains
Photo by Amanda Klein In August of 2025, the inaugural NOLS Alumni Norway Backpacking Trip ventured into the Jotunheimen Mountains ...
Case Study: Altitude Illness While Trekking
The Setting You are on the trip of a lifetime hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal with one of your best friends. This trip has been in the works for over a year. You’ve spent countless hours training, reviewing maps, and daydreaming about being in the mountains. You can’t believe you’re finally here! You flew…
What a NOLS Risk Review Really Looks Like: A Case Study with NatureBridge
In the same year as NOLS’ 60th anniversary, we are celebrating 20 years since the formation of NOLS Risk Services. For 60 years, NOLS has operated in remote locations all over the world, and in 2005, NOLS Risk Services was formed to share what NOLS has learned about operational risk management in the process. NOLS…
Case Study: Dental Emergency while RaftingÂ
A member of your rafting party loses a tooth partway through a 4-day trip. How do you respond?
Where Play Meets Purpose: A Journey Through the Canyons
Since 2022, NOLS and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business have collaborated on a yearly weeklong expedition to the canyons in southeastern Utah. This expedition is the culmination of a semester-long leadership course for Ross undergraduate students. It combines concepts and learnings from the classroom course with the NOLS leadership curriculum in a…
Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund: Expedition to the Peruvian Andes
In the spring of 2025, we set out on an Alpine and ski mountaineering expedition to Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. As outdoor educators with experience leading students on NOLS courses, our team shares a deep commitment to learning through challenge and a connection to wild places. Our goals: explore new terrain, attempt several high peaks, and…
How to Make Oat Scones in the Backcountry
Oat scones taste delicious plain or with honey, peanut butter, wild berry jam, or cheese. They are also excellent with soups or casseroles and make good trail food. Oat Scones ½ cup butter 2 cups oatmeal 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder Pinch of salt (allows recipe to use less sweetener) ¼ cup honey or brown sugar…
The Top 3 Leadership Lessons You Won’t Learn in an Office or Classroom
NOLS instructor Liz Townsend believes the most important leadership lessons are learned outdoors—not in the business world (although they do apply there!)
Pay It Forward: How My NOLS Semester Helped Me Lead My Own Backcountry Trips
Carolyn Highland reflects on one of her favorite days ever—ascending an unnamed peak with a student-only team on her NOLS semester—and its lasting impact.
Case Study: A Hot Day Becomes a First Aid Situation
Test your wilderness medicine skills to see how you would respond to this first-aid scenario.
Snow in May: Leadership in the Face of Uncertainty
Sarah Delany reflects on the most impactful—and toughest—day of the customized NOLS course she took with fellow Bates College students in the Adirondacks.
Quiz: Treating Heat Illness and Dehydration
How much do you really know about heat illness and dehydration? Test your skills with this first aid quiz from NOLS Wilderness Medicine.
Learning a Non-Linear Leadership Style from Sea Kayaking
Breaking the norms of leadership styles helped this NOLS grad grow on an all-women's sea kayaking leadership course in Baja California, Mexico.
Stay or Go? Making Evacuation Decisions [Infographic]
How do you make decisions about evacuating a patient from the wilderness?
NOLS Instructor Expeditions of 2017
Check out a collection of stories from some of the expeditions and trainings instructors pursued in 2017 to continue growing as leaders and educators.
Snakebites: Myth vs. Reality
Don't believe everything you see in the movies! Get the real scoop on common myths about treating snakebites from NOLS Wilderness Medicine.
Shock: What Causes It and What To Do
The term shock gets tossed around frequently, but what does it actually refer to in medical terms and how should you respond?
What I Learned About Resilience from Swimming an Icy Canyon Pond
NOLS grad Maddy Eschholz reflects on the transferrable lessons she brought home from her outdoor semester in the Rockies.
How to Pack Your Backpack [Video]
Get ready for your next trip with these tips on how to pack your backpack.
