Hot Drinks - Stories From The Field

Sep 04 2022 9

Hot Drinks - Stories From The Field Podcast artwork

Leading students on wilderness adventures make for some of the best stories. Join former National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) instructor and author of TEAMS ON THE EDGE Shawn Stratton each week as he interviews fellow outdoor educators from NOLS, Outward Bound, and other organizations to hear their most entertaining stories from leading expeditions with students around the world. Take a listen to these professional adventurers as they entertain you with stories of misadventures, wildlife encounters, first aid situations, challenging team dynamics, horrendous weather events, encounters with unique people, and, in many cases inspiring leadership.

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James "KG" Kagambi: NOLS - Mt. Everest in Detail

Sep 04 2022 90 mins

Today our guest is James "KG" Kagambi, Senior NOLS Instructor and the owner of KG Mountain Expeditions. He joined NOLS as a field instructor in 1987. KG has worked many curses types over the years but regularly works in NOLS mountaineering programs in Patagonia, Alaska, East Africa, and India. KG is not only a senior NOLS instructor; he is the most senior, having more weeks in the

(Rewind) Rachel James: NOLS - Storms from Patagonia to Alaska

Aug 19 2022 59 mins

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

Jeff Rose: Outward Bound - Losing A Co-instructor, Losing a Student and Getting Lost

Aug 05 2022 83 mins

Jeff Rose has worked as an outdoor educator for over two decades, including 19 seasons with Outward Bound. Besides Outward Bound, Jeff has worked for numerous colleges and universities, including the University of Utah, Davidson College, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and Indiana University. He also worked for Adventures Cross Country and various summer camps. As an inst

Steve Smith: Outward Bound - Value of a Near Miss

Jul 21 2022 60 mins

Steve Smith has worked in the outdoor industry for over thirty years, in the field, in the office, in the board room, and in national leadership roles, specializing in program leadership, risk management, and staff training. As a teen, he took a NOLS semester course in 1991 and for Outward Bound from 1998 through to today. Since 2008 he has run a risk management consulting company,

Travis Holmes: NOLS - Alaska Canoe Epic, A Love Story and Crocodile Bites Canoe Paddle

Jul 08 2022 100 mins

Travis Holmes was born in grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He lived most of his life in Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon; however, for the past 15 years, he has been living in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, with his wife, ten and 8-year-old kids. Travis worked in outdoor education for much of the 1990s and 2000s. His work lifeguarding in swimming pools led me to the University of Alb

Mike Clelland: NOLS - One Epic Alaska Mountaineering Course!

Jun 24 2022 88 mins

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

Steve Whitney (part 2): NOLS - Instructor Disagreement, Big Falls, and Grizzly Bears

Jun 10 2022 105 mins

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 Countr

Steve Whitney (part 1): Cameron Diaz Comes to NOLS and Other Wild Stories

May 27 2022 71 mins

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 Countr

Andrew Cusack (with David Perry): NOLS - $30,000 Blister in the Yukon

May 12 2022 88 mins

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 Educ

Megan McGinty: Outward Bound, NOLS - Students Engulfed In A Forest Fire

Apr 29 2022 65 mins

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