NOLS Dream Expedition Video Contest

Hey everyone and anyone, make sure you check out the NOLS Dream Expedition Contest, you could win a NOLS course or some great gear from NOLS and Patagonia!!!! Here is the link to the official contest on the NOLS site:

NOLS Dream Expedition Contest

And of course my example submission! I cannot win since I work here at NOLS, but you could!!!!!

We Bid Thee Farewell!

Ahhh how time files... It feels like just yesterday we were new to NOLS RM, learning people's names and about the projects we would be working on. Enthusiastic to start and hit the ground running. Now after just 10 short weeks, today is our last day as the spring NOLS RM interns. We have had a great time here in Lander, and will miss everyone we have met along the way. Thank you for the amazing experience, the laughs, and the wonderful time we spent here, our sojourn will be missed and never forgotten.

As for the future, Whitney will be heading south on Sunday to her new home in Boulder, Colorado. Whit will be working for the Women's Wilderness Institute for six months as the Program Coordinator Intern helping manage course logistics (rations and gear), coordinating with other interns and volunteers, and helping with pre- and post-season administrative duties (permits!!). She's looking forward to her new job working with some amazing and inspiring women and girls, but will definitely be back up to visit (and climb in) Lander this summer!

As for me, I will be headed to NOLS corporate (more commonly known as HQ) which is just down the street, to start another exciting journey as part of the NOLS publications team. I look forward to the change and am excited to be in Lander for the summer months!

Thanks again NOLS RM for everything you have taught us!!

Thank You, Lander For a Successful Riverbank Clean-up!

Lander Community--

We wanted to thank everyone who came out to support our Community Riverbank Clean-up event this past Saturday, April 10th. We truly appreciate your time (on a beautiful Saturday morning) and effort (we collected A LOT of trash!). Take a look at some of the moments we captured from the event:

Volunteers of all sizes!

Success down along First Street.

Some strange trash out there...

Whitney and Paul, two of the event planners, with Jerry, Jerry and Keith of the Lander Lion's Club--our chefs extraordinaire!

Thank you to our event sponsors who helped make our event happen: Mr. D's, The Breadboard, Tony's Pizza, Pamida, Lander Lion's Club, Lander Journal, Wilderness Medicine Institute and our local musicians.

NOLS Rocky Mountain intern and event planner, Whitney Johnson, sporting her AmeriCorps gear.

Thank you for volunteering your time and helping make our community space look a lot better!

Event planners and supervisors enjoying the Community Riverbank Clean-up event.

We hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did. We can't believe that nearly 70 Landerites came to volunteer their time and that we filled up an entire dumpster with trash! Thank you all for coming out to support the Lander Community.

Press Check, Jackson Hole!!

I was invited by the publications team from NOLS HQ to accompany them to Jackson Hole to do a press check on the spring Leader. The Leader is a publication put out by NOLS 3 times a year and is distributed all over to NOLS alumni. The Leader contains interesting articles featuring NOLS alumn, updates about the school, and tons of other useful NOLS related information.

The guys at the press hard at work making the Leader look great!

Good thing we went to the press check, here is a before and after look at the Leader! The guys at the press in Jackson Hole were great and got the paper looking amazing!

We also happened to be in Jackson Hole for the World Championship Hill Climbing Festival, so town was clogged with people, snow machines, and big trucks! So needless to say, we spent the night, had a few beers, and promptly left early the next morning to avoid the chaos!

Moustache March... So Sad to Say Goodbye!!

According to Wiki knowledge a moustache (American English: mustache) is facial hair grown on the upper lip. The term implies that the wearer grows only upper-lip hair while shaving the hair on their chins and cheeks. The oldest portrait depicting a shaved man with a moustache is of an ancient Iranian horseman from 300 B.C. In more modern times the moustache was worn by military men, and denoted rank, with those in the higher ranks allowed to have more elaborate and bushier moustaches.

Since the days of yesteryear there have been great strides to protect the moustache as not only a style of facial hair, but as works of art. Organizations such as AMI or American Mustache Institute are out there "Protecting the rights of, and fighting discrimination against, mustached Americans by promoting the growth, care, and culture of the mustache." Competitions such as the World Beard and Moustache Championships are held yearly and draw competitors and dedicated fans alike.

Here at NOLS we don't mind if you wear a moustache on your upper-lip or not, but if you wanted to, well that's alright by us. In the spirit of Moustache March, which surprisingly has a few very dedicated hits on google, a few people around HQ and the RM donned that furry upper-lip hair. Well March is dwindling away and in the spirit of great facial hair I felt the need to pay homage to those I met and was allowed to photograph here at the office. Thank you Moustache March, how I'll miss my sweet lip slug until next year when we do it all over once again!

McLovin!!!!!!!

One is my friend Brooks, the other is the infamous McLovin. I cannot tell the difference....

Best part is he didn't even know he looked like McLovin and his party outfit was just a coincidence!!

Intern Adventures Part 2

Well the weekend came and went and the interns here at NOLS were off having fun once again. Some flew off to visit friends in far places, some headed to Jackson, and a few even found some untracked powder lines up on Togwotee Pass. Since I was part of the powder crew I thought I would post some pictures in hope they would motivate people to go have some fun!

The skies were blue, the snow was soft, and smiles were wide. Late March in the mountains of western Wyoming never ceases to amaze! Just as it seemed spring had arrived here in Lander we were treated to a short lived but heavy snow storm. I quickly pulled out my skis I had reluctantly packed away and headed out with a few friends. We were treated to knee deep snow and fresh lines, and with the mountain almost to ourselves we were able to bask in the peace and quiet back country skiing affords.

Although some of us are ready for the warmer temps and long days of summer, winter is still alive and thriving in the mountains, so get out there and enjoy these beautiful spring days! Here are some more pics, enjoy!

Intern Adventures

The weather has been great here in Lander, and with the sunshine and warmer temps came the temptation to play a little hookie and head into the great outdoors. As the clock rang 4, off 7 of us interns went, headed for Sinks Canyon to play on the rocks. We found a few great routes, everyone climbed well, and laughter resonated off the limestone walls. Our pack was near complete with 7 out of the 8 NOLS Lander interns in attendance, and as the weather continues to warm more adventures will ensue. Here are a few of the pictures we took, enjoy and stay tuned for the next Intern Adventure!

Changes in Rontoland

Well big changes for me, I took an internship position with NOLS. For those of you that don't know about NOLS, it stands for National Outdoor Leadership School. NOLS is a multinational nonprofit company that gets people out into the wilderness to learn outdoor and leadership skills. NOLS operates courses in 18 different countries as well as throughout the US. I was lucky enough to get offered two separate internships with the company and I jumped at the opportunity to work with the school. So as of last week I packed up my car and headed northwest for Lander Wyoming, home of NOLS worldwide headquarters as well as NOLS Rocky Mountain. I will be working in both the Rocky Mountain Branch office as well as over at HQ for the next 8 or so months. So stay tuned for more fun posts and pictures from my new home away from home!

To check out more about NOLS just click on the link above or just click on the title to this post!