It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

. . .these guys are having a fabulous course!  In good expedition style Mr. Kringle was visited by four fellows from the Fall Semester in the Rockies (FSR) 5.  Colin May reported that Santa made sure they'd been good this past year.  He even assured them that he's been making a list and checking it twice while they were out getting their WFA certification, hiking the Wind River Range of Wyoming, climbing their hearts out in Sinks Canyon and Lankin Dome, and exploring Utah's vast canyon country.

Hanging tough with Santa from left to right: Matt Hajost, Chip Faulkner, Colin May, and Adam Blond.

Share |

Welcome PeeBee!

                                           

Meet the new NOLS Three Peaks Ranch Manager, PeeBee Vanden Toorn!  PeeBee is a NOLS instructor who has been involved with NOLS in several different capacities since 2000.  Originally from California, PeeBee has quite an extensive resume, including service in the Peace Corps and overseas development work in El Salvador and India.  Fluent in Spanish, a farmer since her wee years, and an all around fun woman, we are excited to welcome PeeBee as the new Ranch Manager over in Boulder, Wyoming!

Share |

Alaskan adventure | LJWorld.com

Link: Alaskan adventure | LJWorld.com.

Nice article about an Alaska Sea Kayaking course from the Lawrence, Kansas newspaper. "It was pretty much the best experience ever."

Share |

Thanksgiving! (gobble, gobble)

Thanksgiving was great at NOLS Southwest! While students were in the field adventuring, the ultra-competitive staff at the Branch played Desert Bowl 2006. Everyone had been preaparing for weeks, culminating in a close game.

Since students were out during the traditional holiday, folks here at the branch put together a feast for students. Everyone was excited for the classic meal with an added southern twist from Elizabeth.

Fall Semester in the Soutwest (FSW2) headed out this morning. They are on their way to the Galiuros Mountains for the capstone of their semester, Independent Student Groups. As the nights here in the Sonoran Desert grow cooler and cooler, FSW2 and their Indepent Travel Section is the last course section of the season. Everyone seemed excited for reflection and a little more time adventuring together as their semester winds down.

Share |

Hiking in the Galiuros

The eight guys on the southwest semester are having a great course. They recently came home from climbing in Cochise Stronghold, where they were all climbing very well! While in town they had a chance to go out for dinner. Despite the comforts of the Branch, they were anxious to get back into the mountains and wilds. They spent Monday afternoon packing new food and equipment, planning routes and working hardm, preparing their next adventure. This morning, we sent them on their way to the nearby Galiuros Mountains. They will spend the next 9 days hiking on their own and reminiscing the adventures they've had so far. It was great to see these guys working so well together and in such great spirits.  

Share |

South of the Border!

The Sonoran Semester has migrated to more southerly climes.  They passed through town with enough time for a barbeque, a visit to the Desert Museum here in Tucson, and to prepare for their international travels. We caught this photo of Will and Yomi contemplating Agave and wearing Sombreros. Thursday Morning, they all left the Tucson Airport aboard a plane to Loreto, Mexico and are probably enjoying sunny ocean waters right now. Everyone was excited for the adventures ahead.

Share |

John Fitzgerald Passes the Phone

We said farewell this week to our beloved Evacuation Supervisor John Fitzgerald. John has worked for NOLS since 2002 following his Winter Outdoor Educator course in 1999 and won this year's Staff Award for his excellent service in a combination in-town/field staff position. As the original employee of the Rocky Mountain Evacuation Department (est. 2004), John re-wrote the Evacuation Protocol now used by multiple NOLS branches and has coordinated between 200-300 evacuations (he lost count). He is transferring to the Teton Valley Branch to work as a Winter Program Coordinator until April 2007, after which his only plans include some time as a field instructor. Earlier this week, John (right) passed the evac. phone to his successor Chris Brauneis, who is excited about his new Evacuation Supervisor position.

Share |

NOLS Tour de Flatlands

On Tuesday I met up with NOLS Word of Mouth Coordinator, Kary Sommers and Katie Price, our WMI/NOLS Pro Marketing Coordinator in Minneapolis. Kary had already been in the area for a week attending the Association for Experiential Education conference. It sounds like it was great event for NOLS with an opportunity to connect with college students who will be the future of outdoor education. Kary still has a dull headache caused by the drummer in the exhibit hall.

On Wednesday Katie, Kary and I spent the day at Macalester College where we had a table near the mailroom (it was good to see that even in this time of cell phones and email college students still check their snail mail, too.). We spoke with a steady stream of students and were occasionally updated on election news by passersby.

In the evening we did a presentation to a small but fun group of students on the Macalester campus. I hadn’t watched the NOLS video, The Expedition for a while. It was cool seeing how many of the folks who just happened to be in the video have stayed in touch with the school over the years—James, who stops in to visit whenever NOLS is in NYC; Logan, who introduced us to travel with used veggie oil a few years after his course; Zandy, who took a NOLS instructors course and ended up spending three months traveling on the NOLS Bus; Deb whose image graces the front of the NOLS Bus; and of course “Crazy Cool” herself, Kirsten, who now works in the NOLS development office.

Yesterday we were at Augsburg College, where we had a constant flow of traffic and plenty of great conversations. We also got to witness a fairly interesting sign of the times.

We were located in the student center at a table next to Larry and Jay, a couple of Army recruiters. Very nice guys, who we spent time visiting with during slow traffic times.

Soon after lunch I looked across the foyer to see a young man standing there holding up a sign that said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” I couldn’t resist and went over to talk with him a bit about what he was doing. Kyle is a senior at Augsburg and he stands there whenever a military recruiter is on campus. I asked him if he ever went over to talk to the recruiters. He said he hadn’t, that he thought that would be a bad idea. We talked a bit more and it turns out he is very interested in NOLS. So I gave him NOLS materials.

Our new friends, Jay and Larry, wanted to hear what I had found out. I told them that Kyle said, that he was “selling peace” and that he was interested in taking a NOLS course. That he seemed like a nice, sincere guy. Unfortunately Larry couldn’t resist now and headed over to talk to Kyle. I have no idea what his intention was, but a strident conversation ensued that was obviously going nowhere.

Jay, Kary, Katy and I kept an eye on the situation as we took down our displays, calling it a day. Occasionally, we could hear little bits and pieces of the conversation. “Billions of dollars for planes, while people starve.” “Fighting for freedom.”

By now we were ready to go. Jay, Katy, Kary and I walked in between Kyle and Larry and shook hands to say, “good-bye.” I reminded Kyle that he was late for his 1:30 class. And we were off. Kary and Katie to have lunch with a WMI instructor and me to do some paperwork. Hopefully Kyle and Larry reached a point where they could agree to disagree.

This afternoon we will be setting up for the  Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Expo. The Expo runs through Sunday. Have a great weekend. We will!

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

Share |

Climbing Community Loses a Legend

photo: Bill Hatcher

The climbing community is mourning the loss of world-renowned climber, Todd Skinner, a Lander local who was killed in a climbing accident on October 23rd. Skinner had a reputation for being one of the most generous and supportive of all the top rock climbers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Todd’s family. 

Share |

Public Radio Interviews Bus Team in Houston

Yesterday at Yes Prep North Central in Houston Texas, KUHF (Houston Public Radio) came to a NOLS bus event to interview Bus Marketing Rep. Curtis Tronolone  about the exciting technology that powers the bus with clean fuel.  The bus is traveling around the country as a part of the NOLS “ Creating a Climate for Change” tour educating people about carbon neutral technology and promoting the NOLS program of instructing its students in environmental ethics in its courses.  The NOLS bus has traveled over 50,000 miles all over the country running primarily on the waste product of restaurant’s grease and will be traveling to a number of events throughout the Texas area this week.    

To Hear Curtis’s interview with Houston Public Radio go to KUHF

Share |