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As a young adult, Mike lived in New York City from 1981 to 1991, working as a freelance illustrator. During that time, he spent one winter season as a ski bum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1986 and couldn’t get it out of his system. So Mike moved west permanently in 1991, eventually settling in Driggs, Idaho, where he spent a quarter of a century. He worked for NOLS in the Rockies, The Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska for 17 years. Mike taught backpacking, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, and rock climbing courses for NOLS. He also spearheaded the lightweight courses at NOLS. In those years, he divided his time between outdoor work and illustration. Mike is now living on Puget Sound near Seattle, focusing on his writing. Mike has illustrated or written at least nine books. All of Mike’s Book https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/570863.Mike_Clelland Mike’s current website  https://mikeclelland.com/

Steve grew up in Maine & New Hampshire and was an outdoor recreation major at Plymouth State College. He completed a NOLS student semester in 1993, and the rest is history. He has been an outdoor educator professionally since 1994 for many organizations, including Plymouth State College, Barnstead Elementary School, Tioga County Community Wilderness Project, Adventures Cross Country, NOLS, Alpine Ascents, Rendezvous River Sports, USFS Forest Technician, US Park Service, and he says he is probably missing a few more.    Steve worked for NOLS from 1997 to 2016 and has instructed rock climbing camps, backcountry rock, mountaineering, kayak/canoe/rafting, caving, hiking, canyon, Winter, Avalanche, sea kayaking, alumni, Outdoor Educator, Instructor, and many custom NOLS Professional courses over this time. He’s pretty much done it all. He has also worked in administrative roles with NOLS as a program supervisor (3-4 years) and assistant branch director at NOLS Southwest (2 years).   Currently, Steve has a small handyman business in Teton Valley and works as a Pro Ski Patrol at JHMR. Occasionally he guides paddleboarding and kayaking on the Snake River in Jackson and will most likely work a course for NOLS in 2023.   He says, “It's in my blood, and I will always be an outdoor educator.”

Steve grew up in Maine & New Hampshire and was an outdoor recreation major at Plymouth State College. He completed a NOLS student semester in 1993, and the rest is history. He has been an outdoor educator professionally since 1994 for many organizations, including Plymouth State College, Barnstead Elementary School, Tioga County Community Wilderness Project, Adventures Cross Country, NOLS, Alpine Ascents, Rendezvous River Sports, USFS Forest Technician, US Park Service, and he says he is probably missing a few more.    Steve worked for NOLS from 1997 to 2016 and has instructed rock climbing camps, backcountry rock, mountaineering, kayak/canoe/rafting, caving, hiking, canyon, Winter, Avalanche, sea kayaking, alumni, Outdoor Educator, Instructor, and many custom NOLS Professional courses over this time. He’s pretty much done it all. He has also worked in administrative roles with NOLS as a program supervisor (3-4 years) and assistant branch director at NOLS Southwest (2 years).   Currently, Steve has a small handyman business in Teton Valley and works as a Pro Ski Patrol at JHMR. Occasionally he guides paddleboarding and kayaking on the Snake River in Jackson and will most likely work a course for NOLS in 2023.   He says, “It's in my blood, and I will always be an outdoor educator.”

Andrew Cusack was born and raised in Sudbury, ON, and studied Outdoor Recreation and Natural Science at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, ON. He spent more than ten years working in outdoor education for organizations across Asia and North America, including NOLS Project DEAR, Asia Pacific Adventure, Hong Kong International School, Hong Kong University and Kingfisher Outdoor Education Centre. Upon leaving outdoor education, he worked the following ten years with the United Nations Refugee Agency, responding to humanitarian crises in multiple countries. In 2020 he left the agency and relocated to Victoria, BC, where he now works as a city planner for housing policy. In this episode, David Perry joins us, a former student on the course Andrew and I worked together in the Yukon's Ogilvie Mountains. As you will hear, David was a part of a significant medical evacuation on this course, and I thought it would be nice to bring him on and hear the story from a student's perspective. Currently, David has a unique business making 3D-printed violins, which we touched on in the conversation.  OPENFAB PDW https://openfabpdx.com/fiddle/ Full Circle Everst  https://www.fullcircleeverest.com/

Megan is currently living in Fairbanks, Alaska, on the lands of the Upper Tanana people, finishing up a Post Doctorate contract with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Megan has had an extensive career working in outdoor education. In 1992 she began the first of her eight years working for the North Carolina Outward Bound and later the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School. She also instructed for a few years with NOLS and held various coordinator positions with the North Cascades Institute.  She instructed backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, mountaineering, and educator courses in North Carolina, the Everglades, Costa Rica, Oregon, Washington, and Chile. In 2016 Megan earned her Ph.D. in, Education, focusing on Learning Sciences and Human Development. She will soon be leaving Alaska to pursue other opportunities in Washington State, where she can also be much closer to family.

Brady Robinson  Brady began working in outdoor education in the mid-'90s at a boy's camp in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. He went on to work with Outward Bound for over a decade, spent some time guiding, and instructed with NOLS for a few years. After leaving fieldwork, he has primarily worked in conservation as the Executive Director of the Access Fund for ten years and has positions with Tompkins Conservation and the Conservation Alliance. Brady is a gifted climber. Before having a family, he spent many years chasing bold rock and alpine first ascents in Patagonia,  Pakistan and other far-flung mountain ranges. Many of his partners were some of the most elite professional climbers, including Conrad Anker, Steph Davis, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin.  These days Brady is taking a few months off to focus on being a dad, working through life transitions, reading, taking online courses, and reflecting on what he wants to give to his kids, himself, and the world in the next chapter of his career. Ed Roberson Ed currently serves as Conservation Director at Palmer Land Conservancy, regional land and water conservation organization in Colorado. He is also the founder of Mountain & Prairie, a podcast/blog that has been recognized by groups including the Aspen Institute, High Country News, Montana Governor's Office, and more.  Ed was a student with NOLS during a 1999 Semester in the Pacific Northwest, in which Brady was one of his instructors for the backpacking and mountaineering section. He has stayed in touch with Brady over the years. Ed currently lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and two daughters.  

Brendan Madden is from Dublin, Ireland and has lived in Canada since I was 12. He is currently the head of Programs and Interim Director of a new Training Academy for Outdoor Professionals at Outward Bound Canada. He has been active in the expedition-based adventure education field for over 25 years, mainly as a program director and senior instructor at Outward Bound Canada and NOLS. Brendan has also been a risk management trainer and consultant at NOLS. Over the years, he has led expedition courses in white water canoe, backpacking, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, dog sledding, and international high altitude trekking. Brandan has also been an active presenter at the Wilderness Risk Management Conference for many years, working to increase the outdoor sector's capacity to manage work-related psychological trauma and stress injuries amongst our staff. He currently lives in Canmore, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies.

Henry Wood grew up in Atlanta but has lived in Boulder, CO, since 2005. He studied Philosophy and English literature at Georgia State University before embarking on a  10-year career in outdoor education, most notable with Outward Bound and the NOLS. While working in outdoor education, Henry led backpacking, mountaineering, canyoneering, and climbing courses while working in outdoor education. In 2008, Henry joined Matt Cutter and Dany Page to start Upslope Brewing Company as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Over the past 12 years, Henry has built and developed his sales team in order to successfully operate in 9 Western States. Henry is also a veteran of the United States Army and a volunteer for Trout Unlimited. You can often find Henry on his rare time off skiing, climbing or Backpacking with his wife and three children.

In this short "in-between" episode, Shawn shares a few stories from former Outward Bound and NOLS Instructor and, most recently, stroke survivor Geoff Kooy, who had emailed to the show.  

Paul's career in outdoor leadership began in 1995 when he began working with adjudicated youth in the desert of southern  Utah.  He started working with Outward Bound in 1998 and moved up to work with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 2000.  With  NOLS, he ultimately worked 265 field weeks as a mountaineering, rock climbing and sailing Course Leader in India, Mexico, Patagonia, and the  Pacific Northwest - with expeditions to the Northern Icefield of  Patagonia and the Waddington Range in British Columbia, among other locations.  Paul also served NOLS as mountaineering Program Supervisor in the Pacific Northwest and Patagonia and was an editor for the 3rd Edition of the textbook "NOLS Wilderness Mountaineering.”   In  2007 he started working as a professional mountain guide and leading high altitude climbs in South America, Alaska, and Tanzania, hut-to-hut ski tours, Matterhorn climbs in the Alps and climbs in the Sierra Nevada (including El Capitan and Mt. Whitney). Originally from Maine, Paul is based in Wawona, California, a small village in Yosemite National Park.   Paul became a certified guide by the prestigious IFMGA in 2017 and is currently an examiner. In addition, he serves as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the American Mountain Guide's Association.   After college, he was a Fulbright Scholar in (Germany from 1996 - to 1997) and speaks German and Spanish.

Tim Felt grew up in the suburban wilds of Northern California. His career in outdoor education started with him working in boarding schools 1991-94 running outdoor programs and teaching biology in New Hampshire and Arizona. He took a NOLS Instructors Course in 1993 and started work in the field immediately. For the next decade, Tim went on lead backpacking, rock climbing, and mountaineering course types in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Alaska, and Chile for NOLS.  During his transition away from the school, he spent two summers as the mountaineering program coordinator at the NOLS Alaska branch. At the time, Tim was also attending veterinary school in madison WI where I still reside with my wife Pam Foster Felt ( also ex NOLS instructor) and their two teenage daughters. Ultimately he decided veterinary medicine wasn’t for him, and he transitioned into a career as a residential remodelling contractor.

Rachel James Rachel James was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska. She started working at the NOLS Alaska branch at the age of 15, cleaning toilets and landscaping; this was also when she started ice climbing. Rachel took a NOLS Alaska Mountaineering course at 16 and started working as a mountaineering instructor after taking the first-ever NOLS Alaska Instructors Course in 2000 at 19. During her time at NOLS from 2000 to 2013, she mainly worked mountaineering expeditions while leading a few horse packing and hiking courses in Alaska, Patagonia, Yukon, and Wyoming. Rachel has also worked as a program supervisor at NOLS Alaska. Currently, she lives in the Chugach Mountains just outside of Anchorage and is working hard to defend salmon habitat in Alaska.