Students get ready for the cold...

In a previous post I mentioned how NOLS Rocky Mountain was working hard to prep for our NOLS Fall Semester in the Rockies winter sections. The day has finally come as three separate courses and instructor teams bag their food and try on ski boots in anticipation of the coming weeks. Posted below are some of pictures taken from today. Check out our Flickr site for more photos! 

 

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A Winter Wonderland

As the weather cools down in Lander, NOLS Rocky Mountain employees are busy prepping for winter sections for six of our Fall Semester in the Rockies courses. The winter section is the last section for these semester students and is a great way to conclude their adventure. Lasting anywhere from 11 to 15 days, students travel on skis through such environments as the Absaroka Range of northwestern Wyoming carrying packs and sleds up to 70lbs. They will learn the basics of snow camping, skiing, waxing, avalanche risk management, snow physics, cold- weather physiology, winter ecology, and of course, cold-injury prevention! 

 

 

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What happens in Vegas...

... stays in Vegas, but what happens at the 5th Annual Nevada Silverman Triathlon makes the NOLS blog. On Sunday, November 8, 2009, three NOLS Rocky Mountain employees will take on what is known as one of the toughest courses in North America.  Pascal Beauvais, Program Supervisor, Rachel Drayer, Evacuation Supervisor, and Pat Kearney, Program Supervisor, will be completing the Half Distance course that consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.2 mile run. I had a chance to catch up with Rachel and Pascal before they made their way to Vegas: 

What are you most looking forward to in Vegas?

RD: Sushi and Red Rocks.  I hear there's a triathlon too, but whatever. 
PB: Hanging out with my friend- the great triathlete Pat Kearney (aka "Death Magnetic")

What was your childhood nickname? If you didn't have one, what would you want it to be? 

RD: I didn't have one, but I always wanted it to be Scout, like the girl in To Kill A Mockingbird.
PB: I had one but it's in french and I would never share that information.

What do you never leave home without? 

RD: Coffee and my blackberry - so cosmopolitan.
PB: A tuque! (warm hat)

What do you plan on eating the night before your race? 

RD: Sushi, see above.
PB: Salmon, pasta, chocolate, Ibuprofen

Do you think you would be a good rapper?

RD: Have you not heard my skillz?!  I used to be big in the Baltimore underground scene.  I don't talk about it much. PB: Absolutely not. I'm french Canadian. We just don't rap. I'm good at chopping wood though.

How are you most likely to break the law? 

RD: Speeding.
PB: I'm always worried that the custom officer will realize that I have spent most of the last 5 years living in the US... 

In honor of PK down on the Rio Grande, if you had to write a quick personal ad for him, what would it be?

 RD: single white male, tall and wiry, height weight proportionate seeks woman of the same.  I like heelies, drinking out of jars, making jokes no one else gets, and long walks, but only on the south side of town. Sound like a perfect match!?  ichat me at "hellonheels."
PB: PK doesn't need an ad; he gets everything he wants, all the time. He's a real winner. An inspiration to many.

 

As the Nevada Silverman Triathlon website states: "You've had Iron. Are you ready for Silver?" Good Luck!
 

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Setting a NOLS Record

    Meet Kevin. Although he looks like an average NOLS student, many of us knew he was an extraordinary student the from the first time he laid foot at NOLS Rocky Mountain. Kevin is currently a student on a Fall Semester in the Rockies spending a gap year between high school and college. Originally from Wilton, CT, Kevin has been backpacking and making his way through canyons for the past few months- all while constantly wearing an orange safety vest. Fellow students comment that he wears it sleeping and taking showers, and it isn't rare to spot him walking through Lander showing off his look. It's a record in the making.

 

    Kevin is currently signed up for two more NOLS courses after completion of his semester this December. He will be taking a Backcountry Snowboarding course in January at our Teton Valley base, followed by a Semester on the Borders starting in February. 

 

    If Kevin chooses to accept, I challenge him to continue to wear the vest for the remainder of his time at NOLS. It won't be easy - it will take self-awareness, tolerance for adversity, and true vision and action. 

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Students Become Wilderness First Responders

The third section for the Fall Semester in the Rockies (FSR) groups is happening at Three Peaks Ranch. The students of FSR 5 & 6 are just a couple of days away from finishing up their Wilderness First Responder course. The completion of their WFR comes at a perfect time for these students, as their next section will be a month of hiking in the canyon country of southern Utah.

The WFR not only allows students to respond confidently to illness or injury, the knowledge also helps them understand the need to prevent illness and injuries while traveling in the wilderness. Tomorrow night sees the students of FSR 5 & 6 out on their night rescue scenario.

Post & Photo by Marco Johnson

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A Noble Floor

As a intern I spend a lot of time at NOLS' Noble Hotel, especially in the first-floor lobby. I get to meet exciting new people coming and going from courses while I wait for Gnat's delicious meals.  Despite all of the excitement, I often find myself looking at the floor. Its intricate tile designs give a rustic feel to the Noble but always get me thinking...

The floor is not perfectly symmetrical, and it has numerous inconsistencies and patches. I asked the knowledgeable desk staff about this, and they told me that Noble's tile floor was hand-laid since when it was built in 1918. Digging some more, I found that it was remodeled in 1930 upon purchase by Harold Del Monte and again recently. Had these remodels changed the floor?

Surely, the artist creating such an intricate floor would have left a message or at least an indication of his identity. I have yet to uncover who this might be or what he said but I took this picture from the second-floor balcony to study it. I've circled numerous oddities that have occurred to me. Click the image below for a larger view of the puzzle.

Can you help? What secrets lie in the Noble floor and who made them?  Though the Noble Hotel has always been a stepping stone for wilderness endeavors, perhaps we have something to explore right under our feet.

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Habitat for Humanity joins with NOLS...

On September 25th, as part of NOLS' commitment to service to our local communities, seven NOLS employees volunteered their day to help Habitat for Humanity complete their latest Fremont County project in Shoshoni. It was a motley crew ranging from directors to interns, but everyone possessed unique skills that helped make this house a home. We spent the day installing fiber-cement siding to the house, a mixture of sand, cement, and celluose (which is added to prevent cracking). It is durable enough to withstand the elements, unless you are Bam-Bam Bannon, who has the strength to break a piece in half.

Everyone should be very excited to hear that Habitat for Humanity is coming to Lander next spring for a project. This not only means providing a house for a family in need, but it's also another opportunity to use power tools. 

Photos courtesy of Kelly Sherwin.

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Twas' the night before NOLS

This morning, twenty-nine NOLS students successfully left NOLS Rocky Mountain and headed towards the Winds as part of the Outdoor Educator Semester (OES1 and OES2). This 94-day semester is filled with a backpacking, winter, canyon, rock climbing, and WFR certification.  One OES student was so excited for his adventure that he proclaimed, "It's like waking up on Christmas morning!!" So in the true spirit, we wrote a poem about our time with the OES crew of Fall 2009:

Twas the morning of OES, when all through the hall,
Not a student was sleeping, not even at all.
The backpacks were piled by the staircase with care,
In hopes that the I-Team soon would be there.

The visions were primed all snug in their heads,
Hopes of backpacking, WFR, and canyon ahead.
And mamma in her ‘gaiters, and I in my down,
Had just settled in after the hitting the town.

When down in the kitchen there arose such a smell,
Students sprang from the couch to make the breakfast bell.
Away to the food  they flew like a flash,
Eager to relish their final non-Whisperlite bash.

The sheen of the nylon on the new-boughten gear,
Gave conf’dence should wet days often appear.
When, what to their wondering eyes should arrive,
But a jumbo NOLS bus, ready to drive.

With a little old driver, so able to park,
They knew in a moment it must be Sir Mark.
Like kids before Christmas, they boarded the bus,
They whistled, and shouted, and cried out to us!

 “No cellphones! No texting! No Facebook or mail!
On summits! On saddles! On rockface and trail!
To the top of the ridge! To the top of the wall!
Now hike away! Hike away! Hike away all!”

To be continued...

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The 'Goods': Cans, Produce, and Community

The RM interns would like to give a quick shout out to the Lander community for their support of Tuesday's canned food drive.

Last Tuesday was the kick-off event for the local farmers' market, and the RM interns were grateful to  work in conjunction with the Lander food bank to help collect canned good donations.

Thank you to the people who came out to donate canned goods and support the local farmers' market.  The donations were much appreciated by both the Lander food bank and the volunteers involved with the event.

This event was just another opportunity to raise awareness for the food bank and the local produce available to the community.  The Lander food bank is always grateful to receive canned goods, and the farmers' market will continue to offer local produce every Tuesday afternoon, at the Museum of the American West, through the end of September.

We would like to thank the local farmers' market, the Lander food bank, and the volunteers that helped to make this food drive possible.  Thank you to Ximena, Chelsie, and Dustin for volunteering your time to help with this event.

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Horsin' Around at Three Peaks Ranch

The RM summer interns are back in Lander after two exciting days at Three Peaks Ranch.  We arrived to the ranch last Tuesday afternoon, in time for a quick tour and a short horseback ride throughout the surrounding open fields.

Three Peaks Ranch is a NOLS owned-and-operated horse ranch located in Boulder, Wyoming.  The ranch is used primarily to run Wilderness Horsepacking courses for NOLS students, and also doubles as a re-ration post for NOLS courses in the Wind River Range.

Last Wednesday was a fun-filled adventure as we had the chance to participate in a re-ration for a Wind River Wilderness course.  We started out early Wednesday morning, loaded the horse trailer, and drove up to the trail head above 8,000 feet.  From the trail head, we rode horseback 5 and half miles into the Wind River Range to our re-ration spot at Elkheart Lake.

The students of WRW 1-A 6/29/09 were all smiles as we arrived at Elkheart lake with their food rations.  This was their second re-ration of the course, and the students seemed to have the process dialed. 

   

As the students organized their rations, we found some time to relax and enjoy a quick lunch.  Pictured below is Nerren Pratt, a NOLS horsepacking instructor and Three Peaks staff member, taking a quick moment to relax alongside his dog Kiddo.

Our experience at the ranch could best be described as "work hard, play hard."  We had an excellent time at Three Peaks Ranch, and I would recommend to anyone to visit this wonderful place. 

In my short stay at the ranch, I found that the hard-working staff and their individual personalities all work together to help make Three Peaks Ranch truly an exciting place.

Ally, Meredith, and myself (Mitch) would all like to thank the ranch director Jen Sall, along with the entire Three Peaks staff for allowing us to visit their piece of paradise.

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