Articles

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.

How much do you really know about heat illness and dehydration? Test your skills with this first aid quiz from NOLS Wilderness Medicine.

Breaking the norms of leadership styles helped this NOLS grad grow on an all-women's sea kayaking leadership course in Baja California, Mexico.

How do you make decisions about evacuating a patient from the wilderness?

Check out a collection of stories from some of the expeditions and trainings instructors pursued in 2017 to continue growing as leaders and educators.

Don't believe everything you see in the movies! Get the real scoop on common myths about treating snakebites from NOLS Wilderness Medicine.

The term shock gets tossed around frequently, but what does it actually refer to in medical terms and how should you respond?

NOLS grad Maddy Eschholz reflects on the transferrable lessons she brought home from her outdoor semester in the Rockies.

Get ready for your next trip with these tips on how to pack your backpack.

Kathryn Wheeler reflects on the role of technology in our daily lives and offers advice on how to truly unplug.

Explore new NOLS courses for fall and into December of 2018.

A Columbia Business School student shares the lessons he took home from a challenging backpacking expedition in Patagonia with NOLS.

Do you know how to recognize and treat bites from fire ants, scorpions, snakes, spiders, and ticks? Test you knowledge with this quiz.

A NOLS grad, writer, and mother of two, Alyssa Walker reflects on how the expedition behavior she learned in Alaska applies to parenting.

In November 2017, climber Inga Booiman and three friends set out on 25-day "Girls Southern Traverse" in the mountains of New Zealand, funded in part by a NOLS grant.

Review the steps of the head-to-toe exam with this NOLS Wilderness First Aid grad's hand-drawn diagram.

Whitman College student Reza Darvish recently joined 10 fellow students on a week-long NOLS expedition in the Utah canyonlands, backpacking and canyoneering for the first time.

Test whether you know what to do in this case study of a storm brewing and a nearby lightning strike.

When her 14-year-old son went on a two-week backpacking NOLS course in the Wind River Range, Robin Noble realized that in a world of constant connection, there’s value in disconnecting. Temporarily unable to call, email, or text each other, both Robin and her son learned from the experience.

NOLS Wilderness Medicine grad Carina Ahlqvist will be the first Scandinavian woman to summit Makalu— but that's not why she joined the 2018 Climate Climb.

Struggling with the big city life she thought she wanted, Elena Rodriguez realized that what she actually needed was a NOLS course—or two.

If you're camping and someone gets burned, do you know how to help? Test your first aid skills with this wilderness medicine quiz.

Learning leadership doesn't have to wait till you're an adult—given the opportunity, teens show they're capable of good decision making and problem solving.

You never know when your first aid training might come in handy—you might even wind up using your skills to treat your pet!