Outdoor Advice + Tips: With Liberty and Adventure for All . . .

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

As I head to the 2012 Winter Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, where NOLS is receiving an Outdoor Inspiration Award for inspiring youth everywhere to pursue an education through a NOLS adventure, I am pondering what “adventure” really means, and what makes someone an “adventurer.”

When you think of “adventurer,” what do you picture? Me? I admit, I think of the image of a rugged leathery-faced mountain man in an old-timey wool cable-knit sweater, pocketed vest, and a canvas satchel replete with important adventure tools like a sextant, a treasure map, and a pistol. Clint Eastwood maybe? Or Harrison Ford? Oh, and he’s smoking a pipe.

What I don’t picture is the photo above. Yeah, that’s me on an adventure—35 days in the Wind River Range with NOLS. And I am pretty much the opposite of Clint Eastwood. I’m not leathery faced, although with age and exposure to the elements I’m definitely headed that way. But more important, I’m not white. And I’m not a man.

Outdoor Skills and Advice: What’s in Your Winter Day Pack?

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), with help from Lindsay Yost, NOLS winter instructor. Photo courtesy of Brad Christensen/NOLS

Oh adventurer, be not tempted this winter by the thought of lounging languidly on your La-Z -Boy in front of the hearth with a warm mug of liquid in your paws! Instead, strap on your skis and skins the head outside to shred the nar nar. Besides what we’ve already told you to stash in your summer and fall daypack, senior NOLS field instructor Lindsay Yost urges you to take these few extra items to beat the winter chill.

1. Chocolate
Sugar and calories are essential when you’re burning those extra calories to stay warm. So besides that hot cocoa you’re carrying in your thermos, take some extra chocolate. Lindsay prefers Chocolove Dark Chocolate with Peppermint. I’m a huge fan of the Lindt Touch of Sea Salt Bar. And then there is always the good ol’ Snickers Bar.

2. A multi-tool
Whether you’re on skis and skins or on snow shoes, a multi-tool (like the Black Diamond Binding Buddy) is always great to have on hand to fix any gear problems.

3. Avalanche essentials
If you’re getting vertical, you must take an avalanche shovel, probe, and saw, and keep an avalanche beacon on your body. Read here for more tips on how to be more avy savvy.

4. A puffy jacket
Light but toasty warm, a down or synthetic puffy jacket is a must pack for the winter.

5. Sunscreen, visor, and sunglasses with UV protection
What’s more dangerous for your skin than a sunny day? A sunny day on snow! (And don’t pack those sunglasses—wear them!)

6. A balaclava
“Just ‘cuz it’s fun to say,” says Lindsay. I suggest fleece.

7. A straw
To suck it up when things get cold and miserable!

Packing for more than a day trip in the snow? Check out what NOLS students take on a two-week backcountry ski expedition.

Snowboarder Jeremy Jones on Protect Our Winters

"Jeremy Jones is an alien. He's just inhumanly good at snowboarding." So lives the legend of this pioneering big-mountain rider. We heard this comment this week from an Alaska-based ski/snowboarding operator, but the sentiment is one that rings throughout the snowboarding world.

Once a pro rider hitting a different big-mountain location every week, Jones's ethos have evolved over the years. Instead of heli-assisted first descents, he now prefers to go the old-fashioned way—on foot or splitboard. "The reality with going on foot is that it can take days to go do one run. It’s definitely a quality over quantity deal," he says. His film trilogy Deeper is aimed to show that you can do world-class freeriding without a helicopter. Further, part two due out September 2012, shows some of the best riders exploring the backcountry the slow way, which makes for a more a richer, more personal snowboarding film.

This falls right in line with Protect Our Winters (POW), a foundation Jones started in 2007 to unite the snow-sports industry and fans to fight climate change. With 30,000 members and some of our favorite athletes as ambassadors, Protect Our Winters is taking their message to the classroom and to Congress.

To kick off skiing and snowboarding season, we caught up with Jones to find out the latest on POW, what it's like to talk to Congress about climate change, and his favorite places to ride. —Mary Anne Potts

Become a Protect Our Winters Member:
This year, Alamos Wines is spreading the love by gifting 1,000 people with yearlong POW memberships. The winery is getting involved because it relies heavily on the snowmelt from the Andes to irrigate its vineyards. Simply register on protectourwinters.org. Your fee will be waived by entering the codeword ALAMOS.

Adventure: What’s going on with Protect Our Winters right now?
Jeremy Jones: The foundation continues to strengthen and grow. We're becoming more educated in doing our job better and making sure that each dollar raised goes as far as possible.

This fall we have been busy with a Hot Planet, Cool Athlete tour, where we take professional athletes into high schools with a scientist. We have this really hip, upbeat presentation on the state of the planet and climate change. We break it down for them and explain ways that they can help. The in-school stuff is the most rewarding, uplifting thing we do at Protect Our Winters because it gives us a level of hope to see the next generation really rise to the challenge of climate change. They really want to make a difference—and they are not accepting defeat like some of the older generations.

A: What's it like to talk to Congress about climate change? Are there any skiers or snowboarders among our elected officials?
Jeremy: Well, there aren’t any snowboarders in Congress. But I have met some die-hard skiers...and general mountain climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. When we go to Congress, sometimes we meet with full champions on climate change who are really excited that we are there. They realize that they need our help, really. Although I would say the discussion on climate has gone the wrong way on Capitol Hill over the last couple years. But there’s hope on Capitol Hill that the ship will be righted and we can start feeling positively.

Adventure Journal: Congress Moves to Push Bikes Off National Park Roads

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal

If you’ve ever ridden a bike on the pavement at Arches National Park or Yellowstone, you know how liberating it can be. Cars are often jammed on roads that weren’t designed for the freeway-like crush that hits parks every summer, but on a bike you can cruise at a comfortable pace. And just like riding anywhere else, you’re more a part of the scenery, not walled off from it. But the current transportation reauthorization bill worming its way through Congress could make it illegal to ride a bike on any federal road that has a pathway running parallel to it, not just those within national parks.

If no parallel, alternative pathway exists, cyclists would have a right to the road. Reassured? Don’t be.

Continue reading this story and sign the petition

Outdoor Skills + Advice: A Challenge to Parents: Go Outside With Your Kids Every Day

By Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Field Instructor and Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School; Photograph by Julie Hwang

I had the trip planned for months. Reserved two llamas from Lander Llama Company. Made and remade my packing list ten times. Took my Deuter Kid Comfort II pack on some test runs. Mapped out the route and got permits. We would spend a night in a spot I call “Beaver Meadow,” where the Popo Agie River oxbows and creeps through beaver lodges and willow stands, the perfect evening snack spot for moose. Then a few nights in Stough Creek Basin, a high alpine basin on Roaring Fork Mountain. Then we would wander over to Deep Creek Lakes for a few days, leaving the llamas down at camp for the day, to summit Wind River Peak.

All in all, it would be eight days in the mountains with my husband, our four-year-old, and two llamas packing our gear. Not a hard-core adventure ... by any stretch of the imagination. Without the kiddo, Jamie and I could probably hike the whole route in a couple of days. But we knew better than to be ambitious. We would go at Kieran’s pace. If that meant stopping for an hour to admire a bug, or throwing rocks in the river for another two hours, that would be ok.

Kieran was beyond psyched.

“Amma [mom in Tamil]? Are we going into the Wind River Mountains with the llamas tomorrow?”

“No, not tomorrow. Four weeks from now.”

Same question the next day. Similar answer. The clock was ticking down to go time.

But that is when life got in the way, as it often does.

Video: In Spain, Climber Chris Sharma Preps For the World's First 5.15c and Settles Down

Chris Sharma: A Sense Of Place from Prana Living on Vimeo.

We checked in with the indefatigable Chris Sharma, known for rock climbing the hardest routes on Earth. Once a world-wandering rock hound, Sharma has now put roots down in Catalonia, Spain, the limestone epicenter for sport climbing. Far from resting on his laurels, the 30-year-old is quietly training for the world's hardest rock climbing route—a 5.15c—and marveling at the golden age of rock climbing that is upon us. —Mary Anne Potts

Adventure: Are you still deepwater soloing these days?
Chris Sharma: I am here in Mallorca [Spain] doing some deepwater soloing right now. I haven't been here for a while. I've really gotten into sport climbing over the last few years. I actually have some good friends from Santa Cruz, California, who are visiting. I've been giving them a tour. And we've been doing some deepwater soloing. It's really cool for me to come back to Mallorca. 

What does Spain have to offer a rock hound like you? 
CS: I live in Catalonia, the province of Lleida, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It's a really special place right now. In the 1990s southern France was the epicenter of sport climbing. Everyone around the world would go to the south of France. That was where the best competitions were. That's were the standards were being set.

And now that has moved to Catalonia. That has to do with me living there, establishing a lot of the hard routes. But then, just in general, it's really an international epicenter. Everyone goes there. It's where all the hardest climbs are right now. The grade 5.15, which is pretty much the highest level out there, there are a handful of these routes around the world. But 90 percent of these routes are in Catalonia in Spain.

Outdoor Skills + Advice: Zingy Cowboy Pickles and Jerky

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

Just as our short growing season ends in Wyoming, game season has arrived. This means more meat (yay!), but fewer vegetables (boo!). While cleaning out my freezer of last year’s game and picking the last few cucumbers from the community garden before the first frost hits, I’ve been trying to invoke the Martha Stewart in me to do something creative with this food, something to make it last just a little bit longer so I’m not stuck eating store-bought meat and potatoes all winter. Alas, I was unable to channel Martha. But I did get some ideas from Kary Sommers, a NOLS Field Instructor who has been hunting since she was 12. These zingy cowboy pickles and jerky are great snacks for your next adventure.

Outdoor Tips + Advice: What’s in Your Fall Day Pack?

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty Member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); Photograph by Brian Hensien/NOLS

Fall means school, changing leaves, football, holidays, pumpkins, and—for those of us in the Rockies—enjoying that last bit of mosquito-free balminess before winter descends.

Fall is also unpredictable. Even a planned day hike to Popo Agie Falls, not far from our office in Lander, Wyoming, can turn into a chilly, rain-sodden slog if you aren’t prepared. So besides what you normally carry in your daypack (which I blogged about a couple of months ago here), below are some additional items to stash in your fall pack.

1. An Orange Vest and Hat
If you are heading out on a hike in the Rocky Mountain West, there’s a chance you’ll be sharing space with hunters as the game season gets under way. Please don some bright colors so they’ll notice you.

2. Rain Shell
This item should be in any daypack, but is particularly important in the fall. Summer’s short afternoon thunderstorms have given way to perpetual mistiness. Better stay dry.

3. Warm Hat/Gloves/Socks
I felt a chill in my hands and sandaled feet this morning as I biked to work. Fall means the beginning of cold extremities, so keep those doggies, paws and ears warm. (I recommend a fleece-lined woolen hat—it’s not as itchy as bare wool.)

4. Thermos
What’s better than hydrating? Hydrating with a hot drink on a chilly day. Don’t let the weather dissuade you. Head out, but heat up some hot yumminess and take it along to treat yourself when you feel that chill in your bones. I prefer hot cocoa, but cider or tea also does the trick.

5. Camera
The aspen leaves are turning from green, to orange, to yellow. Capture those colors for your next Facebook photo album (and to make your friends who are sitting behind their computers jealous about all that deciduous delight you’re traipsing through).

Packing for more than a day hike? Check out what NOLS students take on Fall Semester courses.

Outdoor Skills and Advice: Ten Tips to Decoding Backcountry Weather Patterns

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); Photograph by Ashley Wise

A lightning storm had just struck, with bolts hitting the peaks less than a quarter mile away. After waiting it out in lightning position, my NOLS coursemates and I thought the worst of it was over, and headed to our tents, which were perched on a buttress below Mount Victor. As we started a class on leadership styles, we observed a dark cloud build-up over the peak. Halfway through class, the mass started to swirl ... fast. (Remember the sky in Ghostbusters, right before Gozer is summoned?) Minutes later, as we hunkered down in our tents gripping the walls as they flapped fiercely in 100-mile-per-hour winds, the funnel cloud touched down. A tornado? At 11,000 feet?

On a monthlong expedition in the backcountry, you are at the whims of the weather gods. Out there, the weather report isn’t a mouse-click away. And while adequate layering and gear can prepare you for the worst, there are also some ways you can predict what the weather gods might have in store for you today.

Outdoor Tips + Advice: How to Cook the Most Delicious, Cheesy Campsite Trout of Your Life

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); photographs, from top, by Andy Clifford, Rich Brame (3)

Oh, the things you learn about yourself when you spend 35 days on a NOLS course in the wilderness with a backpack and a fly rod—and without your family.

Such as, for example, how you were so looking forward to 35 nights of uninterrupted sleep and lazy mornings, only to realize that having a kid has made you a light sleeper and a morning person. 

Or, for example, how excited you are to be “living off the land,” catching and eating 14-inch golden trout every day, only to realize that you’re about as good with a fly rod as you are with knitting needles, or any other activity requiring dexterity and patience. That is, you suck at fishing.

And by “you,” I’m not talking about you, dear reader. I’m most definitely talking about me.

So let’s talk about that trout. Although I couldn’t catch one for the life of me, I’d like to think I could cook one up to delectable perfection with this easy backcountry recipe for Fresh Trout WIZNUT, courtesy of NOLS Instructor John Whisnant). “The WIZNUT appeared in 1966 as a miracle response to our desperate pleas for cheesy crunch,” reflects John. Over the years, the WIZNUT has taken many forms, but the common denominator in any recipe is a layer of fried cheese at the bottom of the pan.