NOLS

I’d like to leave this review as a reference for anyone considering going on the two week women’s Alaska course. I hope I can give you a better idea of what my experience was like, so you can make an informed decision about if this course would be a good fit.

I had a really negative experience on the two week women’s Alaska course during the summer of 2022 (7/24-8/6). If you decide to take a NOLS course and go by yourself, I’d personally recommend not paying more than a couple thousand dollars for a course, and not take a course that’s longer than a week - that way if it ends up being a bad experience you can cut your losses.

On the two week women’s Alaska course, there was an issue with mean girls, specifically bullying. In groups of women, bullying commonly takes the form of gossiping and excluding others from the group. The instructors on the course did nothing to address this, and at no point in time even talked with the group about what NOLS policy is towards bullying/harassment. Looking back now, that was really bizarre, especially considering we were all strangers and didn’t know each other - this topic really should have been addressed.

One person in the course decided to gossip and say mean things about me to others in the group. Two of the instructors in the group realized the drama that was happening, and instead of addressing the group and reminding everyone that NOLS has a no bullying/harassment policy - they decided to instead gossip about the drama as well. Right in front of me. These two instructors were in their early/mid 20s and I guess didn’t have the emotional intelligence to understand that when a person in the group is being excluded and gossiped about, what you should not do is add to the gossip. It felt like I was in a sick reality TV show. In my normal life, the gossip and exclusion wouldn’t have bothered me that much and I could have just walked away from the toxic behavior. But because we were in a remote wilderness environment, there was a tribal element added to the dynamics, and being accepted by the group was subconsciously associated with survival.

The person doing the bullying/harassment went by they/them pronouns. The instructors had more than one conversation with the group about making sure we all try to get this person’s pronouns correctly. I don’t have a problem with that at all. But what I do have a problem with is the fact that there were no conversations during the course about NOLS having a zero bullying/harassment policy. Something doesn’t seem right about that.

Also, if you are neurodivergent or on the spectrum in any way I would recommend you not go on a traditional NOLS backpacking course. My experience was that the traditional backpacking course curriculum was not suited for my neurodivergence at all. My quietness was seen as ineptitude during parts of the course curriculum, and I was shamed and humiliated for being who I am as a neurodivergent person. It felt like there was this toxic environment on the course where loudness and aggressive/bullying behavior was viewed as competency and confidence. That’s not appropriate at all.

Additionally, I’d like to call out inappropriate behavior that happened in an insular environment with no accountability - one of the instructors acted completely inappropriately. In addition to gossiping about me with another instructor, she publicly read out my private feedback form, not respecting any kind of confidentiality. I hope NOLS can remind instructors that feedback forms are private and need to be kept confidential.

Another thing to note if you are considering going on this course - remember that anything can happen. Halfway through the course one of the women fell down a crevasse and fell a long way. When it wasn’t clear what state this woman was in, one of the instructors went down to try and help the woman, ended up getting hurt herself, and needed to be evacuated. There wasn’t an open weather window right away so it took a couple days for the plane to come in and do the evacuation. Keep in mind that if you take this course and get hurt, NOLS won’t pay for your evacuation unless you are an instructor - so before you commit to going, make sure you have money budgeted out in addition to the cost of the course - because anything can happen in a remote location only accessible by bush plane - and you just never know.

I would also recommend bringing your own garmin, and budgeting extra money for one, if you do decide to go. There was a point on the course where no one in my hiking group for the day had a garmin when we actually needed it (because the only garmin was in one of the instructor’s packs which was left at the bottom of a crevasse after she fell). Rescue gear had to be flown in to get the pack, where the garmin was located, out of the bottom of the crevasse. So bring your own garmin just to be safe, and if the instructors/organization try to tell you that’s not allowed, I would seriously rethink going on this course.

Looking back on this experience, it was not worth the cost. I regret spending several thousands of dollars on this course. If you do decide to take a NOLS course, maybe bring a friend with you in case group/instructor dynamics aren’t healthy or helpful for you. Two of the older women on the course went together as friends, and even then at the end of the course, one of the older women started crying during the group feedback session when she was talking about how scary the route selection was for the course. Which makes sense since two people fell, and the one instructor had to be evacuated.

I wish NOLS could have also given the option to complete feedback forms online after the course was finished - that way I could have given feedback knowing it was confidential, when I had time to decompress, and felt safe to give candid feedback outside of the unsafe and unhealthy group dynamics on the course.

My son did the 30 day mountaineering course outside of Lander Wyoming in July of 2023. He was hoping to receive serious training in climbing and mountaineering. He was massively disappointed in the trip for a variety of reasons.
1. Poor screening of participants: one of the girls struggled with the hiking, and had to be evacuated by the group. She was clearly not prepared and had no concept of the demands. The evac had serious implications on the course routing, and severely impacted the climbing curriculum for the rest of the group. A problem that could have easily been solved by some early screening activities.
2. While weather (and evacs) negatively impacted the trip, NOLS apparently uses caloric restriction as a tool… not exactly sure what the intent of that is, but my 145 lb 6 foot tall son lost 14 pounds on the trip and was constantly hungry… obviously difficult to feed a bunch of teenagers, but a third food drop should have been organized. Not healthy for a growing teenager to lose 10% body weight.
3. My sons goal was to focus on mountaineering skills. He received a lot of lectures on how land ownership is inherently wrong, toxic masculinity, and pronouns. It seems like NOLS has gravitated more to politics and not just climbing. Ironically there was no hesitation to let my son carry a 72 pound pack (above weight normalized load expectations) but then complained about toxic masculinity. Politics aside, disappointing that the content was not purely hiking/climbing oriented.
4. Pricing: The course changed price by something like $600 several months after we signed up… seemed somewhat disingenuous. Then we got a $10 bill for damage to a group tent rental due to wind damage. Silly nickel and diming.
Our son left NOLS, went to Switzerland and paid a guide $3500 for a week of climbing… Matterhorn, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Learned 10x the mountaineering skills for half the price. For a $6k course this NOLS course offers little value. If you’re into hiking and casual camping and talk about politics, probably a good course. If you are looking for true backcountry skills, NOLS is not the place to go.

If you are reading this, GO FOR IT! When I arrived in Lander, WY for the Spring Semester in the Rockies (SSR) course, I’d never even owned a backpack before—I was straight out of NYC, lived my entire life in NYC, and the only wilderness I knew, was Central Park. With the guidance and extreme patience and knowledge of the instructors, I learned to be completely comfortable, and even enjoy, living in the wilderness. Most of all, I learned to appreciate the power of the natural world, and become a steward. This experience set the path for the rest of my life. I went on to graduate college the next semester, and straight into (what would become) career as a civil servant in the national parks. Before taking this course, I didn’t know we had national parks. I always look back fondly on the memories and experiences I had with NOLS.

Though I love the outdoors, my young son with anxiety issues was bullied and humiliated by NOLS in the field until he was essentially forced out of the course after one month. The NOLS administrators swore to us they had trained, capable instructors in the field who could properly work with students with emotional issues. They lied. The lead instructor, a woman, was a bully who allowed our son to be harassed and humiliated, and then she and NOLS tried to cover up her abuses by shading the truth in their favor and never admitting to ANY faults. In the isolation of the field, there was no one our son could turn to for help and counsel when the lead instructor was the greatest source of his problem.
If you are seriously considering seeing your child to an outdoor course, why take a chance? I would strongly suggest taking NOLS off your list and looking at Outward Bound or an overseas service school instead; that is, if you want your child to have the best overall, and safe, experience.

If you're looking to be challenged, both physically and mentally, then this program is for you. I came into this trip without any prior hiking or backpacking experience and the instructors were very helpful in showing me the ropes and supporting me when I was struggling. I also really enjoyed the education part of the course. We had classes almost everyday on kiswalhili, the environment, or leadership, which were interesting and informative. We also had members of the Massai tribe hiking with us for most of the trip, so we really got an understanding about that culture. Making it to the summit of Kilimanjaro gave me such a feeling of accomplishment and was definitely worth all of the blood, sweat, and tears. If you're wanting to learn more about yourself, as well as be immersed in another culture, then I would highly recommend this program. I've made friends and memories that will last a lifetime.