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…
Pursuing a Passion: Choosing an Outdoor Gap Year
Choose an outdoor gap year! Gap year parent Eugene Buchanan writes about his daughter's surprising decision to take a wilderness-based gap year.
Real Life Scenario: Helicopter Evacuation on the Bailey Range Traverse
3 days into guiding a 9-day trip on the Olympic Peninsula, my colleagues and I noticed that a 65 year old client was showing more fatigue than we thought normal.
Reflecting on the 2016 Wilderness Risk Management Conference
Walking through the Exhibitor Reception the first evening of the WRMC, I met and mingled with a lot of folks dedicated to that same goal of being a leader in crisis situations.
Blood, Sweat, and Cheese: The 10 Rules of Backcountry Living
23 days, 12 students, 4 instructors, and 1 epic adventure. This fall, I participated in an Outdoor Educator course with NOLS in Lander, Wyoming.
5 Gap Year Tips from the Wilderness
Check out these top 5 gap year tips and discover the transformative power of outdoor gap year programs.
First Aid Kit Advice for River Travel
When it comes to rafting down rivers, especially on multi-day adventures, we can usually go ahead and build our own comprehensive first aid kit.
No Barriers for the WRMC
WRMC participants from No Barriers reflect on the value of risk in learning.
Busting Popular Leave No Trace Myths
Learn the truth behind popular myths about Leave No Trace principles.
NOLS Historian: Just Close Enough
Meet the author of the book A Worthy Expedition: The History of NOLS.
I Crave the Quietness:Â What a City Dweller Learned from Two Weeks in the Wilderness
Growing up as a city slicker, I had minimal experience with backpacking and the outdoors.
Highlights from the 2016 NOLS Wilderness Medicine Staff Meeting
September 12 kicked off the 2016 NOLS Wilderness Medicine Staff Meeting, our annual gathering at the Wyss Campus in Lander, Wyo. Read on for highlights!
10 Things That Will Happen to You in the Backcountry
Number 1, You will remember songs that you have not heard in forever.
