Our son Louie called yesterday afternoon, after completing his NOLS Wind River Mountaineering course over the past 30 days. As parents we of course had to suffer through the old NOLS “no news is good news” style of communication, so it was quite the joyful moment to hear that voice. I had faith that things would go well, and sure enough they did. The group spent a week up on the glaciers, did a bunch of climbing including Gannett Peak, caught fish, learned skills and had that generally excellent experience that a NOLS course can frequently be. We’ll get the kid to file a blog report soon. I can report that one thing he said on the phone was “Dad, we’ve got to go back there with skis…” Meanwhile, it’s off to Lander, Wyoming for the happy and formerly anxious parents. We’ll head over to Svilars Steak House this evening for a celebratory dinner — I think that’s about 7 hours from here. Better get on the road. More later.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
