Then you meet someone like Nick Storm who doesn’t seem to have a comfort zone (or at least always surpasses it).
Nick has “been all over the place” and he really does mean globally. As a field instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School, he rattles off the countries he’s explored: “Chile, India, New Zealand…”
A human Atlas, Nick and the
NOLS (which Nick pronounces as “Nowles”) team are dedicated to making leaders and outdoorsmen out of, well, anyone.
How does one become a field instructor in the first place?
I got started in outdoor education in college. I studied anthropology but worked in a student-run outdoor program called Adventure Outings. We would take our peers on
adventure trips and hiking trips during the weekends. I developed an interest in adventuring with other people. From there, I started working for Outward Bound. I was a river guide for a few years. I took an instructor course with NOLS, did that and haven’t looked back. I really enjoy the school and find myself aligned with the mission and the values.
Does it take a lot to make the cut?
It’s like a 35-day interview. People apply for the course after having experience leading others and teaching others in a similar context. They learn the ins and outs of the NOLS curriculum and practice teach. It’s like the student course, but a little longer with higher requirements for performance. It was familiar to me, so I felt more confident than I did nervous. There are a lot of NOLS grads that end up becoming instructors later in their life.
How do you build leaders in a typical course?
We start slow. The instructors demonstrate and role model. On a typical 30-day course, students will take on more and more responsibility. They will become “leaders of the day.” They will get feedback on what they did well and what they could improve. Eventually that leads to independent travel where students travel away from the instructors during the day. If they perform well, they might do their own mini-expedition with supervision at a distance for the last 3-6 days of the class. Those are the most impactful experiences. They get to rely on themselves.
Do you see a huge change in people during each course?
It’s a really good learning model for folks to develop non-cognitive skills, like tolerance for adversity, grit, resilience...it’s fun to watch people go through that process.
It’s one of those things that people will always remember. They will look back at it as an event that shaped a part of who they are. A lot of students learn things they didn’t anticipate learning and things they wouldn’t learn in traditional education.
Do you really have absolute beginners or are most people marathon runners by trade?
If they are medically cleared, we can take them on the course. There are certain limitations to going in the wilderness and being remote. We can’t take a paraplegic or folks with severe cardiac concerns. But we have taken people who have never exercised in their lives. It’s pretty much open to anyone who is up for it.
What do you think is one of the most challenging aspects for most people?
The physical nature of moving your body for 8 hours a day. Every day. Living in conditions where you can’t escape into privacy. You have to deal with the consequences of your actions. You have to be prepared for the conditions that may come up. I think people find it challenging to adapt to a different style of living in the world. But after the first week, they feel much more comfortable carrying the heavy pack. They understand how to cook meals better. They start to grow and master the skills. It is common that by the end of the trip they don’t want to leave.
Any standout trips?
I was lucky enough to teach a course in the gates of the Arctic National Park up in Alaska. It was far North. We hiked for 10 days with backpacks and got canoes flown into a lake. We took them down the river for 26 days. It was a really remarkable trip. Remote and isolated. We saw no other people the whole time for 40 days. We caught salmon and arctic char. We
picked blueberries. It was marvellous.
How does someone who spends 8 hours a day communing with nature do sitting at a desk?
It’s something I’m grappling with currently. I now work an in-town job with NOLS. I build custom courses for clientele to use the expedition model to train their peers. It is a lot of
time behind the desk. I definitely still dream about being in the field and being away in the wilderness. I would be lying if I didn’t say that it crosses my mind on a daily basis. But there are other things that I value: my relationships with my wife and my family and my community.
You take the man off a mountain, but you can’t take the mountain out of the man’s heart.
