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Leader
THE THE
Leader
Joanne Kuntz Publications Manager Lauren Wetherbee Editor Allison Jackson Graphic Designer Elisa Hitt Publications Intern Rich Brame Alumni Relations Manager John Gans NOLS Executive Director The Leader is a newsletter for alumni of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), a nonprofit school focusing on wilderness skills, leadership, and environmental ethics. Published three times a year, each issue is mailed to approximately 50,000 NOLS alumni and an additional 10,000 prospective students. NOLS graduates living in the U.S. receive a free subscription to The Leader for life. The Leader accepts paid advertising, and welcomes article submissions and comments. Please address all correspondence to the Editor at leader@nols.edu, or call (307) 332-8800. Direct address changes to the NOLS Alumni office at alumni@nols.edu or (800) 332-4280. For the most up-to-date information on NOLS, visit www.nols.edu or e-mail admissions@nols.edu. The Leader is printed locally on newsprint with a minimum 40% post-consumer-waste recycled content. A paperless version is also available online at www.nols.edu/alumni/leader. We are committed to continually exploring environmentally-friendly production methods.
wHo?s THis?
Recognize this person? The first 10 people to figure it out will receive a free NOLS t-shirt. Call the Alumni office at (800) 332-4280. Last issue?s answer to ?Who?s This?? is Emily Shoutis-frank and Louisa Hunker. NOLSies by birth, they are both NOLS instructors and the children of NOLS instructor couples.
mEssagE from THE dirEcTor
Lena Conlan New course offerings in 2008 included Sea kayaking in Scandinavia.
Fall
in the Rockies brings golden aspens, skis out of storage, and an opportunity to look back at the completion of our fiscal year. At NOLS, our fiscal year ends on August 31, at the end of the busy summer season, and I?m pleased to report that 2008 was a very successful year for NOLS. We educated over 13,500 students, selling out many popular courses. We awarded a record amount in scholarship support and our Annual Fund reached a new high, providing for that scholarship support. Among the highlights of the year were the successful additions of several new course offerings. While the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) has offered courses in Europe, this summer?s NOLS Scandinavia Sea Kayaking and Backpacking course was our first European catalog course. Our new Year in the Sonoran, consisting of a semester in the Southwestern U.S. followed by a semester south of the border in Baja, Mexico, has doubled our academic yearlong offerings. We also offered our first Instructor Course in New Zealand, which added significantly to our New Zealand and Australia staff. Of the factors that allow us to deliver quality educational experiences, none is more important than our instructors. While our senior staff, the most experienced group NOLS has ever seen, anchored courses, we also added many new faculty members, a group that brought great energy to their courses.
TabLE of conTEnTs
This fall has brought an escalation of concerns about our national and international economy and the impact on NOLS. The economic situation is sure to have an effect on our coming year and we are evaluating how to best mitigate the negative impacts that could occur. Past downturns have, in retrospect, always reinforced the importance of focusing on our core, while following a clearly chosen path. Our new strategic plan, Expedition 2013, lays out a great path for the coming years that will maintain this focus and still allow us to grow as an organization. In August I had an opportunity to get into the Wind Rivers for nine days with my wife and three children (ages 14, 11, and 8). We traversed the range from east to west, while catching fish, learning to map read, climbing Wind River Peak, and spending quality time together as a family. The trip was a vivid reminder of the many impacts of a NOLS education. I was able to experience the power, beauty, and awe-inspiring qualities of our wilderness classrooms through the eyes of my children, and to experience the many opportunities for skill development provided through these unique classroom situations. As I consider the challenges our country is facing, I know there are NOLS grads out there applying their leadership lessons to the challenges at hand, tolerating some adversity, and using judgment and decision-making skills that were honed in the wilderness. These skills will aid our graduates in their work and in their communities, and I believe that the same lessons from the wilderness will guide NOLS in the coming year. Our alumni are essential to our ability to achieve our mission and I want to thank all of you for contributing to the success of NOLS in the past year. Without our active alumni group, NOLS would not be the same organization. Thank You! John Gans, NOLS Executive Director
fEaTurEs
Expedition 2013: NOLS Plans Ahead for the Next Five Years .................................... 3 Surviving the Storm: Filmmaker Captures a Fresh Perspective on the 1996 Everest Tragedy .............. 6 Gorilla Passage: On the Trail in the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 NOLS on NPR: ?Learning to Lead from the Seat of a Kayak? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
dEparTmEnTs
Wild Side of Medicine: Snow Blindness and Sunburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 iSSue RooM: Thinking Clearly About Climate Change Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 filM RevieW: Storm Over Everest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Q&A: Judd Rogers, NOLS Patagonia Director .............................................. 8 AluMn i PRofile: Carl Rice, Professional Stuntman, Can Take a Fall and Make it Look Good ........ 9 AluMn i PRofile: Running Rapids and Climbing Mountains, Taylor Cote?s Up for the Challenge . . . . 12 Book RevieW: The Tactics of Hope: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing Our World . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Book RevieW: Where?s the Map? Create Your OWN Guide to Life after Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ReciPe Box: Testing Backcountry Cooking Temperatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 GeAR RooM: Patagonia?s Das Parka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 field noteS : NOLS Grads Win Mugs Stump Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 JA BBe RWo c k y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 AluMn i HAPPeninGS ................................................................18 BR A ncH noteS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Bel Ay off: Endless Winter: My Quest to Ski 12 Months a Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
