Compare Fall Semester In The Rockies by National Outdoor Leadership School vs Desert Escapes of California & Arizona 2022 End Phoenix Classic Group by Insight Vacations

Backpacking (FSR-1, FSR-5, FSR-7, and FSR-8)

• Duration: 12-24 days
• Route length: 40-80 miles
• Elevation range: 9,000-12,000 feet
• Average pack weight: 50-65 pounds
• Excellent wildlife and natural history
• On- and off-trail hiking near or above tree-line
• Notable wildlife: elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears
• Location: Wind River Range, Wyoming

Your semester begins in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. The Winds are glacier-carved mountains renowned for their sheer granite walls and world-class fly-fishing. No roads and few developed trails exist.

You’ll begin with basic camping and travel skills: cooking and stove use, map reading, Leave No Trace practices, and techniques for responsible hiking and camping in grizzly bear habitat. Later the group will move into more advanced topics: fly fishing, compass use, snow travel, first aid, expedition behavior, and leadership. This section builds the foundation of camping and leadership skills that you will use throughout your course.

Mountain (FSR-3 and FSR-4)

• Duration: 21-30 days
• Route length: 45-65 miles
• Skills: rope use and management, protection placement, and alpine-style rock climbing
• Location: Wind River Range, Wyoming

You’ll live in the Wind River Range for this section, a world-class climbing destination, known for its snowy couloirs and remote granite spires, and some of the few glaciers left in the Lower 48. Your focus here will be on backcountry climbing and wilderness  travel. This necessitates a shorter hiking route, heavier packs, and more base camping than a traditional backpacking section.

The section starts with the same basic camping and travel skills as a backpacking section, but with the addition of fundamental climbing skills: rope handling, knot tying, gear placement, belaying, and movement. As weather and time allow, you will apply these skills to top-rope climbing on short routes, possible multi-pitch ascents of longer routes, and summit attempts on high peaks. By the end of this section, you’ll have the technical skills to pursue mountain travel in a variety of settings.

Rock Climbing (all semesters)

• Duration: 16-22 days
• Opportunities for both top-rope and multi-pitch climbing
• Skills: climbing technique, natural anchor building and artificial gear placement
• Location: varies by course

Depending on the weather and time of year, your climbing camp may be held in Utah’s House Range; at Split Rock, Lankin Dome, Devil’s Tower, or Sinks Canyon, in Wyoming; or in Colorado’s Unaweep Canyon. Each area offers excellent rock and world-class climbs to challenge beginners and experts alike.

You will begin with the basics: climbing movement, knots, rope handling, and belaying. Soon, you’ll be placing artificial protection, building anchors, rappelling, and managing rope systems. More advanced topics, such as fixed rope ascension, direct aid, and self-rescue may also be addressed. If you are ready, you may have the opportunity to lead a climb. NOLS has standard criteria used to evaluate readiness and ability before allowing students to lead climb.

Climbing camps are base camps. You’ll set up your tents, establish a kitchen, and stay in one place for the duration of the section. You may stay in an established campground or at a backcountry site. You should expect to encounter other climbers not affiliated with NOLS on this section, and you may drive to and from the crag each day.

River Travel (FSR-1, FSR-3, FSR-4, and FSR-6)

• Duration: 16-18 days
• Watercraft used: canoe, kayak, and/or raft
• Combination of flat- and whitewater paddling
• Location: Green, Yampa, or San Juan Rivers, Utah

Your river expedition takes place in Utah on either the Green, Yampa, or San Juan Rivers. These waterways run through deeply incised canyons of multi-colored sedimentary rock. As you travel, you may see ancient petroglyphs on the walls or Fremont ruins tucked up into overhangs, testaments to the rich human history of the intermountain West.

You’ll begin by learning how to rig and load your craft, with an emphasis on river camping techniques. Early boating skills include basic strokes and maneuvering, river hydrology, and simple rescue techniques. Your instructors will then teach you to perform eddy turns, peel-outs, and ferries—skills essential to running rapids and swiftwater.

You will begin on flat water and small riffles, then encounter more challenging water as you move downstream. You’ll learn to scout the river and choose lines through technical water, all while drawing on your maturing communication and decision-making skills. As you move downstream, you’ll study the natural and human history of the area. The exposed geology makes a perfect classroom for observing plants, animals, and ecosystems. Water is a vital resource in the West, and rivers have long sparked special management and conservation concerns.

Note: Depending on water levels, time of season, and permit availability, you may travel by canoe, kayak, and/or raft. River volumes vary with dam releases, recent rains, and the previous winter’s snowpack. During high water levels, kayaks and canoes may be inappropriate for beginners, necessitating paddle- or oar-rafts instead. Each craft carries its own challenges and rewards, and all require you to learn to closely read the river.

Canyon (all semesters)

• Duration: 23-30 days
• Route length: 70-120 miles
• Explore the natural and human history of the desert Southwest
• Possibility of technical canyon descents
• Emphasis on environmental studies and student independence
• Location: southern Utah or northern Arizona

This section takes you through the unique canyon country of the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah or northern Arizona.

On this section, you’ll draw on your maturing leadership and navigation skills to find your way through complicated canyons a new terrain. Your days will often involve scouting for safe passage or lowering packs off of rock slabs. You’ll work hard to minimize your impact in an area where the soil is fragile and water is precious.

In addition to your outdoor skills, you’ll gain in-depth knowledge of the canyonlands’ human and natural histories. Exposed landforms show the land’s geologic past, while ruins of ancient cultures dot the landscape. Drawing on the library of resources you’re carrying, you and your coursemates will teach much of the environmental studies curriculum in this section.

Peer leadership is a critical component of your canyon experience. Student leadership teams are often responsible for planning the day’s activities, assessing and managing risk, and facilitating evening meetings. Some canyon areas have group-size limits that are smaller than the size of your group. In these areas, two groups of 12–15 students are divided into three hiking groups of 8–10 students for the duration of the section.

Solos

On this section, you may have the chance to do an optional “solo,” where you spend up to 36 hours alone. There is no hiking during the solo. The canyons can be a deeply spiritual place, and many students find this experience a rare and powerful opportunity for introspection.

Fasting may be an optional part of the solo. If the instructors feel that fasting is appropriate for the conditions and the group, students may choose to fast during their solo. Rations are carried to allow students to eat in the event of an emergency.

Independent Student Group Travel

At the beginning of the course your instructors will travel with you to teach travel skills including navigation, leadership, risk assessment, and decision-making. As you develop competence, instructors will gradually give you more responsibilities. Once you gain proficiency and demonstrate competence to your instructors, you may travel in student-led groups without instructors for up to a day at a time—we call this independent student group travel.

Student Expedition

After successful practice with independent student group travel and if your instructors think your group is ready, your course may culminate in a multi-day student-led expedition. Usually, for the Student Expeditions you will travel in a group of four to six students independently of instructors for two to six days (depending on location). This independent expedition caps off your NOLS experience and gives you a chance both to put into practice the skills you’ve learned and to appreciate the relationships you’ve formed with your expedition mates over the duration of your course.

Independent student group travel is carefully planned with your instructors and emergency plans are created for each group. Your instructors may be up to 24 hours away, but each group carries an electronic emergency communication device to alert the NOLS emergency response system in the event of an accident. Ultimately, on this course you will develop the competence to travel independently in the wilderness and with your family and friends.

Winter (FSR-5, FSR-6, FSR-7, and FSR-8)

• Duration: 11-15 days
• Route length: approximately 30 miles
• Skills: backcountry ski touring and winter camping
• Avalanche awareness curriculum
• Location: varies by course

Your winter section will take place in one of several Wyoming mountain ranges, including the Snake River, Absaroka, Gros Ventre, Wyoming, or Wind River Mountains. These ranges provide excellent opportunities to learn the intricacies of backcountry skiing and winter travel.

After outfitting winter clothing, alpine-touring (AT) ski equipment, and high-calorie rations at our base in Lander, Wyoming, you’re off to the backcountry. You’ll first learn the basics of skiing with a sled, snow camping, and winter ecology, as well as how to manage a group in avalanche terrain. You will sleep in elaborate, snug snow shelters you’ll, which you and your course-mates will learn to construct.

Camp chores will take up a big portion of your days. Melting snow for water, digging avalanche “test pits,” and staying warm and dry are time-consuming activities. Once you become efficient at these tasks, you’ll devote more time to teaching classes and skiing untracked slopes. If weather and snow conditions permit, you may have the opportunity for a winter peak ascent.

Classes on avalanche science and forecasting focus on the surrounding terrain, weather conditions and changes, and snowpack assessment; experience and practice are necessary to refine your judgment. A significant portion of the winter curriculum focuses on avalanche assessment and rescue techniques.

Wilderness First Responder (FSR-1 and FSR-2)

• Duration: 10 days
• Emphasis on judgement and decision-making in the wilderness
• Location: Lander, Wyoming

This 80-hour course, the industry standard for outdoor professionals, is taught by staff from NOLS Wilderness Medicine. You’ll learn to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote locations. Your time is divided between classroom case studies and outdoor clinics, where you’ll practice patient assessment, CPR, and injury care.

Wilderness First Aid (all semesters except FSR-1 and FSR-2)

• Duration: 2 days
• Emphasis on judgement and decision-making in the wilderness
• Location: Lander, Wyoming

Your semester includes a two-day Wilderness First Aid course (WFA) in Lander. This 16-hour course, the industry standard for outdoor recreationists, is taught by staff from the NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI). You’ll learn to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote locations. Your time is divided between classroom case studies and outdoor clinics, where you’ll practice patient assessment and injury care.

Day 1: Arrive in Palm Springs

Welcome to Palm Springs. A star-studded city nestled in the Sonoran Desert of southern California, it was the getaway for Hollywood legends Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin and Loretta Young in the 1950s and 60s. It now prides itself on its glory years with a nod to its glitzy past evident in its retro architecture. Once you have arrived at the airport a transfer will take you to your hotel where you will meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers at 18:00 for a Welcome Dinner.

Day 2: Out and about in Palm Springs

Start the day with a tour of Palm Springs’ mid-century architecture, guided by a history and architectural expert. Learn about the architects that have shaped the landscape of Palm Springs, including Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Donald Wexler and the Alexander brothers. This afternoon, board the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in the world's largest rotating tram car and journey along the breathtaking cliff tops to the pristine wilderness of Mt. San Jacinto State Park. As you ascend on your 10-minute journey, the tram car rotates slowly, offering amazing vistas of the valley floor below. A Highlight Dinner at a local restaurant introduces you to the best of what the area has to offer.

Day 3: Exploring Joshua Tree National Park

This morning you’ll depart from your hotel for an excursion to Joshua Tree National Park, which is characterized by the strangely shaped Joshua trees, rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes. The ecosystems of the Mojave and the Colorado come together here with a variety of plants and animals that thrive in this surreal environment shaped by winds and occasional rainfall. Your knowledgeable Travel Director will bring the park’s history and geology to life. Later, enjoy some time at leisure this evening as you get to know this desert oasis on your own terms.

Day 4: Palm Springs and Scottsdale

Join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience in Scottsdale as you join Local Experts for a guided tour of the Heard Museum. Established to both preserve and advance Native American art, the museum has a mission to be the most preeminent of its kind.

Day 5: Flavour of Arizona Relaxed Start

Start the day with a guided tour of your famous hotel, Valley Ho. Meet a Local Expert who will take you on a guided walk of the property while telling you stories about its glitzy Hollywood history and architecture. Later, meet with the chef of this evening's experience for a walk through the stalls of the Old Town Farmers Market. Explore Scottsdale with an Insight Choice. Choose to take a small-group tour of Old Town Scottsdale on golf carts. Alternatively, visit the Museum of the West. In the evening, you’ll be introduced to the authentic flavours of the region as you head to a cooking demonstration and hands-on experience. You’ll learn to cook classic Southwestern and Mexican staples such as enchiladas, spicy meat dishes and Spanish rice. Once you’ve learnt from the expert, sit and indulge in your tasty masterpiece.

Day 6: Gastronomic Tucson

Wake for a hearty breakfast at your hotel before joining a guided tour of Taliesin West, the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Afterwards move on to Tucson, which is known for its farmers' markets, annual food festivals and fairs that specialise in Southern cuisine. Meet a Local Expert who will guide you through the city on a foodie tour, with a lunch stop along the way.

Day 7: Tucson and Saguaro National Park

In the morning you’ll make your way to historic Tombstone, where a guided tour with a Local Expert will introduce you to the once bustling boomtown of the Wild West. This very spot once offered much-needed entertainment to the many miners that spent hours underground. This afternoon you'll visit Saguaro National Park, home to the largest cacti in the United States. Later this evening, toast to your travels with new friends at your Celebration Dinner before your trip comes to an end tomorrow. Following your meal, join a local professional astronomer for an evening under the stars.

Day 8: Depart Tucson or Phoenix

It���s time to say goodbye to your fellow travellers as your trip comes to an end. Take our organised transfer to Tucson International Airport at your leisure or Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport arriving at 11:00. You will also have the option to extend your stay at JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa.