…When it comes to wilderness medicine, theres so much more than tree branch splints. Explore the world of wilderness medicine with NCOAE!…

…Most healthcare professionals, including some pediatricians, would rather treat adults than children. That should come as no surprise. If you’ve ever had to draw blood from a young child, you know how heartbreaking it can be for everyone in the room. Maybe in the building. Those screams can be dramatic! The emotional pain we feel…

…NCOAE explores the full history of wilderness medicine, including it’s origins, key developments, and the future of wilderness medicine….

…One of the most important parts of proper wilderness medicine is the assessment process to determine the extent of your patients injuries….

…Over the past couple of decades, outdoor adventure enthusiasts have developed a growing obsession with speed — fastest climber (ascent/descent), fastest cyclist, fastest downhill skier or snowboarder, fastest BASE jumper. Fastest, fastest, fastest.  Whether you actively compete in one or more of these categories or prefer a less competitive approach to human-powered outdoor activities, you’re…

…Little in the wilderness experience quite compares to sitting around a warm campfire after a day on the trail. Crackling embers, shimmering luminescence, and radiant warmth have an almost primal attraction.  When you take advantage of our teen leadership expeditions, adult leadership expeditions, or our high school summer semester, you’ll experience many campfires. Whether you’re…

…According to some emergency medical professionals, including one of my early mentors, every emergency medical service (EMS) call involves a search. Even in urban settings where we’re given a home address for a patient, we need to confirm the location, find it, and gain access to the patient. And even after arriving at the right…

…Zac Adair, our co-founder and executive director, recently asked one of our courseparticipants why they signed up for a particular outdoor adventure. “It was a photo thatappeared on your website of a guy on top of a mountaintop with the blue skies above theglaciers in the background.” Picture yourself here. It’s a common tactic in…

…Years ago, I was working in wilderness-based setting with a group of gang members who were attempting to break away from the often-violent lifestyle in which they found themselves. During a break our programming, I asked a loaded question. “Anybody want to tell me about their tattoos and what they mean?” The 30 or so…

…Here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE), we’re known nationally and around the world for our consistency in producing highly impactful backcountry climbing, backpacking, kayaking and other outdoor adventures of an educational and team-focused nature. Our highly trained and experienced outdoor educators, field guides — along with our wilderness medicine and…

Editor’s Note: In this, the second installment of “The Three Bears,” we’ll hear from NCOAE staffer Stephen Mullaney tell yet another true tale about confrontations with bears. In this post, he’ll attempt to find the humor in a persistent bear taking up quarters in an NCOAE camp late at night. But let’s let Stephen tell…

…The final bell has rung and children at public and private schools across the nation have cleaned out their lockers and headed out the doors and hopefully, outdoors. Some of these children are departing schools that rarely allow their students to get down and dirty in the outside world — such as Polaris Charter Academy…

…If you’re at all interested in a career in outdoor or adventure education and just don’t know where to start, we’re here to tell you that there are whole slew of outdoor education conferences that you can attend – and other things you can do right now – to improve your chance of being hired…

…They say you never forget your first kiss. And while that’s very sweet and sometimes even true, the point I’m going to attempt to make is this: If you’re an avid surfer, rock climber, or backcountry enthusiast, there are times when you look back on your first epic outdoor adventure. Sometimes it’s with a grin,…

…In ecology, “sustainability” refers to one’s capacity to endure. It’s how biological systems remain diverse and productive for very long periods of time. The notion of sustainability applies also to not-for-profit organizations, and in our case here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE), to our ability to attract and retain support…

…The heat index read 110-degrees. Clouds were building, preparing to light up the sky with electric current and release rain by the bucket loads. It was still summer, yet parents were starting to ask questions about school, course loads, teachers and materials needed to start the year. Year-round schools were already weeks into the fall…

…In the 1997 film “The Edge,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, the pair find themselves lost in the Alaskan wilderness following a plane crash. The Hopkins character tells the other man that most people who become lost in the wild die of shame. “They say, ‘What did I do wrong? How could I have…

…Here’s an outdoor educator’s nightmare: You’re walking through the woods and you spot a bunch of teens climbing barefoot on a rocky cliff leading to water. Other inexperienced campers clumsily tend a campfire that is about to get out of control. Still others in this group stand waist-deep in a river, oblivious to the fast-moving…

…Here’s an exchange that recently occurred between a tourist and myself: “What kind of camera do you use?” “What?” “What kind of camera do you use to show people what you’ve done?” “I don’t,” I replied as I stepped onto the beach, board tucked under my arm, ready to paddle out to the surfline. The…

…Outdoor and adventure-based education programs are designed to take students out of their home environment and place them in outdoor settings where they can experience adventures — adventures that highlight challenges, the need for having empathy for others, as well as the need to develop characteristics that can result in a new generation of community…