Sandy Colhoun is the President of the National Outdoor Leadership School, also known as NOLS.
Founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer Paul Petzolt, NOLS is widely considered to be the world’s premier wilderness school, and its mission is “to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment.” NOLS operates in many of the world’s wildest outdoor classrooms, and it provides the highest quality instruction in many outdoor skills, including wilderness travel, mountaineering, rock climbing, sea kayaking, and more. But perhaps most importantly, through these outdoor adventures, NOLS students learn the foundational and all-important life skills of leadership, teamwork, humility, and responsibility.
Sandy was named the seventh President of NOLS in October of 2023, after serving as the interim President and, before that, as a member of the NOLS Board of Trustees. Prior to his work with NOLS, he had spent much of his career in the worlds of education and journalism, most notably leading a $750 million fundraising campaign at Colby College in Maine. Sandy is also a proud graduate of a NOLS Wind River Mountaineering course, and he’s no stranger to hardcore outdoor adventures– he worked as a ski patroller in Park City, climbed in Alaska, Nepal, and Bolivia, and cycled up and over the Himalayas from Tibet to Nepal. As you’ll hear in our conversation, he’s focused, driven, and lots of fun, and he’s s fully committed to leading NOLS into the future.
I’m a proud graduate of a 1999 semester-long NOLS course, which was hands-down one of the most formative and valuable experiences of my entire life. Yes, I learned plenty of outdoor skills that have served me well for nearly 25 years now, but the most important lessons were those that taught me the value of good exhibition behavior, being comfortable in uncomfortable situations, and keeping a positive attitude when life gets difficult. If not for that semester, I highly doubt I would’ve ever moved out west, worked in conservation, or started this podcast. So, I’m obviously a superfan of all things NOLS.
I was so excited to chat with Sandy, and we covered a lot in our hour-long conversation. We discussed the history of NOLS, what separates NOLS from other wilderness schools, risk management, exhibition behavior, expanding one’s comfort zone, a description of the ideal NOLS student, Sandy’s own leadership style, his vision for the future of NOLS, how he will measure success, leaders that Sandy admires, favorite books, and much more. Be sure to check out the episode notes for links to everything we discuss.
A huge thank you to Sandy for being so generous with his time and for everything he and the entire team at NOLS do to make the world a better place. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy!
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All photos by Ruby Jean Photography and courtesy of NOLS
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 4:00 – A brief history of NOLS
- 8:15 – What sets NOLS apart from other outdoor schools
- 10:30 – Discussing NOLS’ partnerships
- 13:00 – How NOLS manages risk
- 16:30 – The talent of NOLS instructors
- 19:00 – What “expedition behavior” is
- 22:15 – How NOLS recruits students in a world that prioritizes job opportunities and career advancement
- 24:45 – How NOLS expands one’s comfort zone
- 28:45 – The ideal NOLS student
- 30:15 – Determining the next chapter of NOLS in the early 2020s
- 33:30 – Sandy’s career pre-NOLS
- 37:00 – Sandy’s leadership style
- 42:30 – How Sandy got his mind around the task of taking the helm at NOLS
- 46:00 – Measuring future success at NOLS
- 49:00 – Leaders that Sandy admires
- 52:15 – Sandy’s book recommendations
- 58:15 – Sandy’s parting words of wisdom, and how you can support NOLS
Information Referenced:
- Sandy Colhoun
- NOLS
- Paul Petzoldt
- Morehead-Cain Foundation
- Wilderness Risk Management Conference
- Freeflow Institute
- Colby College
- It’s Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
- Jocko Willink
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Three Peaks Ranch
- Ian Symmonds
- General George Brown
- Jay Stroud
- Tabor Academy
- Jimmy Chin
- Stuart Harris
- The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
- 100 Years of Solitude by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Tribe by Sebastian Junger
- Wendell Berry
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Kristine Tompkins – Nothing to Lose
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- Rick Ridgeway – Purpose-Driven Adventurer
- Doug Peacock – 50 Years of Fighting for the Grizzlies
- Kami Bakken – How to Build a Life and Career in the West’s Wide-Open Spaces
- Mike DeHoff – Exploring the Colorado River’s Reemerging Rapids
- Corissa Busse – Tribal-Led Buffalo Restoration in the American West and Beyond
- David Gessner Returns – “A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”
- Chandra Brown, Part 2 – Teaching & Learning in the West’s Wildest Landscapes
- Mike Foote – Perfection is in the Process
- Douglas Brinkley – Exploring the Past to Find Inspiration for the Future
Visit the podcast page for a full, searchable list of episodes
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