NOLS Blog
Stories from the field
Advice, stories, and inspiration from the wilderness
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 to explore the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu come from? Jorge Anhalzer, a NOLS instructor from Ecuador, and his friend Sam Husley, a NOLS instructor who lives in Peru, proposed it last year. It’s such a spectacular place. Most of our alumni…
Articles
Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund: Expedition Isla Wager y Mas
With dreams of personal adventures in Patagonian Chile, Dave Watson asked Nacho Aguilera and me to join him paddling in…
Articles
NOLS 1965 • 2025 • 2085
NOLS winter camping in the 1970s. It was December 1973, in the midst of a two-week winter course somewhere in…
Articles
How to Make Deluxe Mac and Cheese (and Fried Macs too!) in the Backcountry
Photo by Jordan Cranch Cheesy pasta is a staple for any expedition. This recipe for macaroni and cheese, made deluxe…
Leadership
Navigating the Path: the U.S. NOLS Instructor in Training Program
2024 US Instructor In Training Cohort at the start of their instructor course: top, left to right, NOLS field instructor…
Articles
Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund: Mountaineering in Rwenzori Mountains
This 15-day expedition began with an interest to take on a challenge we had not encountered before. One day, after…
Articles
Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund: Climbing in Kyrgyzstan
Thanks to the Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund for NOLS Instructors, Damaris Jaramillo and Nicolas ‘Nico’ Navarrete set out in June of…
Articles
Case Study: A Climbing Fall in Greece
While climbing in Greece with a friend, you witness another climber takes a fall. She swings hard, feet first, into…
Articles
Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund: Canoeing the Hess River
Four friends take to canoes on the Hess River in the Yukon.
Articles
Case Study: Fall from a Horse
You witness someone fall from a horse; they are unresponsive. How do you use your Wilderness Medicine skills in this…
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