AORE Attendee Wins NOLS Risk Management Drawing!

Congratulations to Center Activities at Humboldt State University for winning a free tuition for a NOLS Risk Management Training! Dave Nakamura entered a drawing at the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education Conference(AORE). NOLS hosted a Risk Management Training, and the NOLS Crisis Response Workshop this year at AORE.
    Center Activities intends to provides outdoor and social experiences emphasizing adventure, environmental awareness, education, challenge, personal development, safety and a sense of community and fun. Dave or another member of Center Activities will join a training in the next six months to work on taking their risk management plan to the next level. Using a structured approach, tested tools and templates, experienced instructors will guide Dave as he develops their risk management plan in alignment with Center Activities' mission.

Liz Tuohy
Risk Management Senior Consultant
NOLS Professional Training
307-335-2217
liz_touhy@nols.edu

Share |

NOLS Grads Blast Off

Last Friday night, a group of NOLS grads departed for an expedition. In itself, that's not an unusual occurrence, but these grads have an itinerary that will take them beyond terrestrial peaks and oceans--they departed Cape Canaveral on the space shuttle Endeavour, en route to the International Space Station.

The 8-person crew is exceptionally talented and has a wealth of knowledge, not the least of which includes the lessons they all learned on custom-designed NOLS courses from NOLS Professional Training. NASA sends its astronauts to NOLS to experience the leadership curriculum necessary for successful expeditions, whether on Earth or in space. Every single person on the shuttle has been to NOLS--some of them twice!

Read more about the shuttle's launch and the mission here. To learn more about how NOLS lessons are used in space, check out this story about astronaut John Grunsfeld.

Share |

Thank You CWC Students

It was great to have students from the Central Wyoming College (CWC) outdoor educator class come and take a tour of NOLS Rocky Mountain (RM). Coordinated by their teacher, Darran Wells, the students had the opportunity to see how NOLS orchestrates their largest wilderness base as well as visit different departments at our International Headquarters.  At the RM, Lara gave them the grand tour of the issue room, gulch, and briefing room. It was awesome to see so many people aspiring to be in outdoor and experiential education.  I hope everyone enjoyed the tour, and that people come back and see us again soon.  Thank you also to the new NOLS models/ CWC students David Wilcox, Mike McConnell, and Justin Wolf for sticking around for the photo shoot. We have some great shots, so keep a look out for the updates on the issue room web page.

Checking out the NOLS gear store.

Brandon Thielke (Issue Room Assistant Manager) giving David Wilcox, Mike McConnell, and Justin Wolf some tips on fitting boots. 

Seeing what the issue room is all about.

Share |

The cleaners

The cleaners
Originally uploaded by RyanHC

Looking straight out of the old west NOLS Southwest Sonoran Year students strike a pose in front of the official adopt-a-roadway sign for the NOLS section of North Soldier Trail near the NOLS Southwest base in Tucson, Arizona.

Share |

Thumbs Up

Thumbs Up Originally uploaded by RyanHC Students and NOLS Southwest staff teamed up to apply their Leave No Trace (LNT) Ethics to the front country by participating in a bi-annual clean up of N. Soldier Tr. in Tucson AZ.

Share |

NOLS Adopt-a-roadway

 

NOLS Southwest along with students from the Sonoran Year program took some time this morning to pick up roadside trash along North Soldier Trail in Tucson.  The NOLS Southwest base is located on North Soldier Trail and NOLS Southwest has been adopting this stretch of roadfor many years.  Donning Orange safety vests and gloves, staff and students set out to pick up any trash we could find along the road.  When we were done, we had a vote on the craziest most bizarre item found.

Items nominated for most bizarre item were:

NOLS Adopt-a-roadway
Originally uploaded by RyanHC

Guitar
Toaster oven
Batmobile
Donald Duck head
Fuzzy Duck Sticker
Can on a Stick
Air Filter
Emergency contraceptive & Pregnancy test
Just married sticker
2 Dirty movies
Metal pole with spoon attached
$1 in Monopoly money

Once the votes were tallied, it was clear that Drew Seitz, proctor extrodinaire had found the most bizzare and random item...

The Batmobile!

We congratulate Drew on his thorough collection of roadside debris and his keen eye for the bizarre.

Share |

Cold Rain & Hot Burrito Wraps

The NOLS Southwest Sonoran Year students are about half way through the Wilderness First Responder (WFR) portion of their year program here at NOLS Southwest.  This 80 hour course is focused on wilderness emergency care.  This mornings lesson was on Hypothermia, and two lucky(?) students were able to jump in a cold shower and then get treated for hypothermia by the rest of the course.  WMI of NOLS instructor Brian Barrett upped the ante by simulating a southwestern monsoon with  nearby garden hose!  Despite the deluge, the rescuers were able to get the patients securely wrapped in hypo-wrap "burritos" to aid in the rewarming process. 

Students are in town for about another week as they wrap up the WFR course then they head back into the field for the literature section of the course.

Share |

It's a Race: Stove Boil-Off Commences at NOLS Rocky Mountain

Part of being the  Program, Operations, and Marketing Intern at NOLS Rocky Mountain is the opportunity to carry out special projects around the base.  This week’s assignment happens to be a comparison of two stoves: the MSR WhisperLite and the Trangia Spirit.  The WhisperLite, which runs on white gas, has been the stove of choice at NOLS for years, and is often likened to a roaring jet engine.  In comparison, the Trangia, which runs on alcohol, is a superlight stove that is used on our lightweight courses.  We’re currently trying to determine the amount of time and quantity of fuel each stove needs in order to boil various amounts of water.  The results will help us decide which stove will better suit our needs in different seasons, with the goal of remaining efficient with our cook times while still carrying less weight.

The Trangia stove runs on denatured alcohol.

Collecting data in the Stove Room at NOLS Rocky Mountain.

Share |

Patient Assessment System

Someone is hurt. Someone is sick. The Wilderness EMT responds--but in the chaos of a rescue, it is easy to lose sight of the fundamentals. Emotions, weather, equipment malfunctions, and any number of other distractions can leave a responder confused about what to do.

Today, in WMI's California Wilderness EMT course, the Mariposa County Fire Battalion Chief weighs in on this issue. Thanks for the lesson, C.J.!

Patient Assessment from John Hovey on Vimeo.

Share |

Happy Halloween

Rocky Mountain Fall Semester Students, sections three and four  (FSR 3 & 4) headed into the canyons on Halloween. The Outdoor Educator Sections one and two (OES 1&2) have also entered into the canyons from their climbing camps at Red Rocks, and Indian Creek. They are in for a howling good time! Holidays in the field are often some of the most memorable times on a semester. Meanwhile at Rocky Mountain (RM) employees are staying festive for the holidays, and dressed up to celebrate Halloween.   Also Rocky Mountain has to say goodbye to our favorite logistics assistant Alia Brennan!  It has been wonderful working with her and we all wish her well in her new position as youth program assistant director at Grand Targhee Ski and Summer Resort.

Link and Princess Zelda are keeping the issue room safe, until the students return!

Alia The Candy Corn Princess, will miss you!           

Share |