NOLS Custom Education

Real challenges. Real solutions.

Design a Course
Credit: Kirk Rasmussen

Prepare to Lead in a Changing World

Your team needs confidence, resilience, and leadership to accomplish your goals. Experiential learning on a custom NOLS expedition will deepen your bonds, strengthen your decision-making capacity, and prepare you to lead in a changing world.

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COURSE TYPES

Custom Wilderness Expedition

Far from the noise of modern life, your group will learn to travel, lead, and thrive on a 7- to 30-day custom expedition in the outdoors. The wilderness is a dynamic classroom, and provides immediate feedback on decision making. With the guidance of experienced NOLS faculty, your team will learn impactful lessons from facing real-life challenges together.

 

Leadership Navigation Challenge

Get out of the office and take your team to the next level. Built around an urban geocaching adventure, the NOLS Leadership Navigation Challenge is a one- to three-day exercise in leadership development that distills the lessons we teach in the wilderness. You'll work with your team to navigate a challenging course, pausing to reflect on group functionality and to give and receive crucial feedback. NOLS faculty will guide your learning and provide relevant, impactful curriculum to build a more cohesive team.

Students backpacking past wildflowers towards mountains in the Wind River Range.
Adventure students join hands while backpacking out in the Big Horn Range of the Rocky Mountains.
A student fly fishing by a glassy lake in Wyoming's Wind River Mountain Range.
Students work with an instructor to determine their location on a map.

Who We Serve

Corporate Teams

Prepared flexible teams have the edge. Groups from GE, Salesforce, Timbuk2, and Mountain Equipment Co-op have improved their communication skills, practiced decision-making techniques, and coalesced around community values with NOLS. The same lessons NOLS uses to prep NASA astronauts for the unpredictable rigors of space will help your team stay focused on the goal in the chaos of business.

 

Student lead navigation on a course in the Yukon.

Secondary Schools & College Prep Programs

To succeed in college and beyond, teens need the skills to lead themselves, their peers, and their communities. A custom NOLS expedition will give your students a pause from their hectic school lives, a chance to build connections with their peers, and the opportunity to develop skills that will serve them long after graduation.

 

Cornell Leadership Expedition for NOLS Pro Leadership trip in Patagonia.

Military

NOLS expeditions for military clients provide hands-on small team leadership experience and training in technical fieldcraft techniques. From service academy students to test pilots to the special operations community, military teams come to NOLS to improve interpersonal skills, practice leadership in a remote, resource-limited environment, and learn alternate strategies for risk management and group decision-making.

 

Students cross a glacier river in Alaska with towering snow-capped peaks in the distance.

Graduate Programs

Success in the business world depends on effective leadership in the face of uncertainty. Five of the top 10 U.S. MBA programs in the U.S. partner with NOLS because living and traveling in a dynamic wilderness environment teaches students to collaborate and thrive when they aren't experts.

 

Students enjoying sailing out in the Pacific Northwest.

...And You

Our customized courses can be adapted to fit the needs of any team, from college orientation programs and summer camps to retail operations and restaurant management. Combine your organization's goals with time-tested NOLS curriculum to unlock your team's potential.

An instructor teaches students a lesson on maps in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest.

Who we work with

Universities, College Prep programs, secondary schools, corporations, and government agencies

Explore what we do for current clients

Business Schools

Universities and Colleges

Government

  • Military
  • NASA
  • Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship Program

 

 

Scholars Programs

Corporate and Executive Education

Camps and College Preparatory Programs

Secondary Schools

Cultivate your team

Design a Custom Course

Credit: Eric Page