http://www.nols.edu

http://www.nols.edu/alumni/leader

National Outdoor Leadership School - Index

National Outdoor Leadership School - brochure - Index

2
THE
THE
Leader
Leader
Joanne Kuntz & Cara Rudio
Editors
Rich Brame
Alumni Relations Manager
John Gans
NOLS Executive Director
Nicole Chilton
Editorial Intern
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 (307) 332-8800. Direct
address changes to the 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 is Lannie Hamilton, originally
a student in July 1975 and a former
instructor with over 290 weeks in the field.
Lannie is currently a licensed veterinarian
living and practicing in Lander, Wyoming.
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
NOLS Executive Director John Gans on a recent backpacking
trip with his family in New Zealand.
Autumn in Lander brings golden aspens, termination
dust (first snow in the mountains) and an
opportunity to look back at the completion of our fiscal
year. I’m pleased to report that our 2007 fiscal year
was another successful year for NOLS. We educated
nearly 11,700 students, which is a new high mark.
Feedback from students was very positive with amazing
stories, quality outcomes and great risk management.
We awarded a record amount in scholarship
support and our annual fund reached a new high,
which helped provide for that scholarship support.
This year was also marked by closure, completion,
and successful new starts. We successfully completed
the Base Camp Campaign, ending a couple of
weeks early and exceeding our goal. Thanks to all of
you for making that such a success. The Noble Hotel
renovation was also completed and reopened this summer.
Noteworthy new programs included a Semester
in India, a Semester in Brazil and our first academic
yearlong program which took place in Patagonia.
Partnerships were also a theme of the year. We expanded
the reach of NOLS through partnerships with
Summer Search, the Student Conservation Association,
the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy,
Girls Inc., and many other organizations. We also
commenced a new partnership with Landmark Learning
of Cullowhee, North Carolina. They are delivering
the curriculum of our Wilderness Medicine Institute
to students in the southeastern United States.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURES
Focus the Nation: NOLS Helps Turn up the Heat on Climate Change Debate . .....................3
A Different Breed of NOLS Course: Alumni Trips Provide an Alternative Educational Experience . . .9
Pedagogy of an Archipelago: Teachings of the Tongass, the Tlingit and Time Immemorial ............10
DEPARTMENTS
While there are many important factors necessary
to deliver quality educational experiences, certainly
none is more important than our instructional staff. I
am pleased to report that we had our most experienced
staff ever teaching at NOLS this summer. Our average
age for field instructional staff has now crossed over
to 35, which is far older and more experienced than
other outdoor programs.
External factors continued to provide challenges
for NOLS. The continuing decline in the dollar caused
challenges for financial management and staffing for
many of our non-domestic programs. The continued
natural gas/energy boom in the West also caused challenges
for our classrooms and staffing in Wyoming and
Utah. The visa and immigration challenges for our international
staff have also increased.
Word of NOLS and brand recognition also increased
significantly in the past year. We received significant
exposure on the Travel Channel and coverage in Inc.
and Fortune magazines. The NOLS Bus continued to
travel the country on recycled vegetable oil spreading the
word of NOLS, and our alumni representatives did an
excellent job of representing the school across the country.
Our presence on the web continues to escalate with
alumni driving the buzz in network areas from YouTube
to MySpace. Finally, our partnerships with colleges and
universities continue to grow.
I want to thank all of you for contributing to the
success of NOLS in the past year. Our alumni are essential
to our ability to achieve our mission. Without
your word of mouth, financial support, and active
demonstration of your own wilderness skills and leadership,
NOLS would not be the same organization.
As I look toward the future, I am both excited and
enthused. After a decade where screen time and indoor
time seemed to only increase, there seems to be a dramatic
desire to return to the outdoors, to return to the
power and lessons of the wilderness, and our more than
11,000 new graduates can tell you exactly why!
John Gans, NOLS Executive Director
WILD SIDE OF MEDICINE: How to Warm Up a Hypothermic Patient . . . .........................4
ISSUE ROOM: Patagonia’s Difficult Choice for Energy or Ecology ................................5
ALUMNI PROFILE: Chris Davenport and Kit Deslauriers are Dominating Ski Mountaineering . . ......6
Q&A: Latane Frank is Walking the Sustainability Talk ........................................8
ALUMNI PROFILE: Barry Leff Finds Balance Through Volunteering ..............................13
RECIPE BOX: Steve Goryl’s Super Cocoa ..................................................14
GEAR ROOM: AtomicTacoraTelemarkSki................................................14
FIELD NOTES: Backcountry Winter Safety Tips .............................................15
JABBERWOCKY .......................................................................16
ALUMNI HAPPENINGS .................................................................18
BRANCH NOTES .................................................................19
BELAY OFF: Connecting Past and Present ..................................................20