Photo: Nicholas Valentine
In the backcountry, every ounce counts—but so does every decision. At NOLS, we’ve spent more than 60 years preparing people not only to travel through wild places, but also to lead in them. That preparation begins not with packing a bag, but with building a mindset—one rooted in curiosity, adaptability, and interpersonal leadership. While the outdoor world has seen remarkable advances in lightweight gear, we know that effective wilderness travel—and transformative learning—requires far more than the latest lightweight gear.
NOLS courses are intentionally structured to guide students through a deliberate progression: from instruction early on to growing independence— from learning systems to leading with them. This begins long before the bus drops students at the trailhead. In the weeks leading up to a course, students receive course overviews, gear lists, and planning tools. This stage is not just logistical—it’s foundational. A good plan reduces uncertainty where you can and maximizes the ability to manage risk, letting students pack with purpose instead of panic. This early decision-making is one of the first opportunities students have to develop ownership over the journey ahead.
Photo: Antony Samaripa
When students arrive, they’re invited to examine their gear in context and with their instructors. Each item is considered not just for its weight, but for its function and role within a larger system. Learning to think in systems—how your sleep setup and layers are connected, how your food impacts your stove setup, how each component relates to the others—is core to how we teach. Backcountry travel, after all, is rarely about one piece of gear. It’s about how every choice ripples through the whole. This kind of modular thinking encourages students to move beyond checklists and into a mindset of interdependence and adaptation.
Photo: Liam Coyle
After transitioning to the field, NOLS courses emphasize hands-on skill development as the foundation for everything that follows. Within the first 72 hours, students dive into core competencies like map-and-compass navigation, shelter setup, layering systems, stove use, and risk management. These are not just technical checkboxes—they are the building blocks of self-reliance.
As students practice and apply these skills in real time, they begin to build trust in themselves and in their group. With each new challenge met—whether it’s finding a tricky campsite or lighting a stove in the rain—competence grows. And as that competence takes root, it fuels confidence and fosters deeper connection with others. Students begin to recognize that leadership is not about knowing everything in advance, but about being willing to engage, adapt, and support those around you.
Photo: Kyle Duba
At camp, students spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen. NOLS prioritizes bulk rations and shared cooking, even when those choices add weight. Cooking from scratch fosters shared responsibility, creativity, and real-time problem-solving. This approach is especially valuable for NOLS’s extended expeditions, where the flexibility of bulk ingredients allows for greater meal variety and creativity—helping students stay engaged and nourished over time. In these small, daily moments—deciding how to portion baking ingredients for cinnamon rolls, choosing spices together, or troubleshooting stove maintenance—students practice communication, equity, and creative compromise. These are not just outdoor skills; they are leadership skills.
Photo: Daniel Lay
Environmental awareness, too, is central to our approach. We teach students to tune in to the landscapes they’re moving through—reading weather, understanding terrain, identifying water sources, and choosing campsites with intention. This context allows you to adapt your travel strategy and gear choices in real-time, enabling you to adjust routes, camp locations, or travel plans long after initial gear decisions have been made. If stream crossings are frequent, students refill more often instead of carrying extra liters. If winds pick up, the course drops lower to set up camp or use terrain features as shelter. Conditions—not industry trends—drive decisions. And the better you understand your environment, the more you can focus on carrying the essentials.
Perhaps most critically, we emphasize the role of competence. Skills weigh nothing, but they offer the greatest returns. Knowing how to navigate without a GPS, improvise a splint, manage group risk, or repair a broken buckle reduces the need for extra gear and builds genuine self-reliance. When students carry less gear, they carry more responsibility—and that’s where the leadership curriculum deepens. Each choice becomes an opportunity to lead: in planning, in execution, and in reflection. And when mistakes are made (as they inevitably are), students learn to adjust systems, recalibrate expectations, and keep moving forward with clarity and humility.
Photo: Oscar Manguy
As the expedition progresses, students begin to take more ownership—planning routes, managing time, solving group conflicts, and making decisions in real-time. The learning becomes interpersonal, experiential, and often nonlinear. Students borrow ideas from each other: a clever packing method, a helpful leadership structure, or a creative use of a bandana. These small exchanges spark reflection and refinement. And perhaps most importantly, they cultivate a sense of shared discovery.
Many courses culminate with independent student expeditions, where small groups of students plan and execute their own trip for up to five days, without their instructors. This experience challenges them to use all their skills—navigating, managing risks, and working together to solve problems. It tests their ability to lead and collaborate, fostering self-reliance and confidence as they draw on everything they’ve learned to complete the journey successfully.
Photo: Molly Hagbrand
As they rejoin the rest of their course and prepare to leave the wilderness, students often find that their packs are lighter—but their confidence holds more weight because of the judgment and skills they have developed. They’ve weathered storms, shared stories, made tough calls, and supported one another through uncertainty. They’ve refined not just what they carry, but how they think, lead, and respond.
A backpack on a NOLS course will never rival those of hardcore ultralight backpackers or fastpackers. The two packs serve different purposes… and rightly so. Every pound in a backpack should be in service of something. At NOLS, shared stoves and cookware support group cooking, which builds community, supports creativity, and encourages collaboration. Sturdy shelters and extra layers make it easier to adapt to shifting conditions without turning around. Carrying maps, repair kits, and communication tools teaches students to be stewards of their own safety and self-reliance.
Photo: Kyle Duba
Lightweight travel, by contrast, is often the result of research, refinement, and repeated iteration. It tends to come after a foundation of backcountry experience has already been established. In fact, we’ve found that many ultralight enthusiasts build their systems after first learning the fundamentals—navigation, campcraft, first aid, trip planning, environmental awareness—through more traditional expedition-style travel.
At NOLS, we don’t just teach students how to move through wilderness—we teach them how to make decisions in the face of challenge, how to care for others while managing their own needs, and how to build systems that reflect both personal values and group goals. In other words, we teach them how to carry what matters. While gear is an important part of the equation, it’s only a small piece in the larger puzzle. Going light comes from mastering the skills, mindset, and adaptability that allow students to navigate uncertainty, collaborate effectively, and make thoughtful choices that reduce both physical and mental load. It’s about carrying not just less weight, but more responsibility and awareness—allowing students to move through the wilderness with purpose and clarity.
Photo: Oscar Manguy
