50 YEARS LATER alumni share reflections on their OB experience:"I have worked at a great variety of jobs, both before and since OB, but it was by far the most rewarding and challenging work we have ever done. And yes, one of the greatest benefits of OB was the outstanding people we got to work with. OB not only attracts the best sort of people but it hones and develops their fine characteristics."
January 2015 Steve Wennstrom 1967-1973 Instructor, Program Director NWOBS "I attended the Outward Bound course in June, 1962, in Marble, first ever. That course did as much for my self-confidence as any advice or encouragement I ever received. It made me realize I could do whatever I set out to do, and I did just that. Went to medical school and became an emergency physician, still practicing." March 2012 James Boslough C1, 1962 "One of the main reasons I can assuredly point to as a key factor in my going from East Harlem, NY (the bottom of the socio-economic ladder) to Brookline, MA (somewhere near the top of that ladder), is OB. February 2012 Arthur Conquest III C2, 1962 Not sure how to sum up a life well lived other than to say NOBS gave me confidence in myself and a lifelong curiosity to venture out of my comfort zone. Wayne Hammerstrom 1968 NWOBS "...last course of the summer. As we broke down camp in Marble to a full moon....it was a life-changing month and moment!"
March 2012 Schultz Greenberg, C-16 "Outward Bound taught me that people of all different backgrounds and value systems can come together to work as a team to solve problems and create friendships. The bonds created were strong, and I’m still in touch with John Wolfe and Harrison Hilbert, who I worked with as instructors in 1968 and 1969." February 2015 David Hansen 1968-69 Instructor NWOBS "My chief memory of Joe Nold was his morning talk. The first thing of the day was the ridiculous morning run through the aspen trees to a cold stream, then doing full-immersion push-ups in the water. At first I did this wheezing in the high altitude because the instructors were shouting that no push-ups meant no breakfast. Over time I became very fond of this procession through the trees, and I would wear the clothes that needed to be laundered. We joked during the final expedition that we should get up and run to the nearest source of water and jump in. After the morning run, and after breakfast, we would gather under the trees, and Joe Nold would read from Thoreau. The tone of his reading of Thoreau has always stayed with me. Obviously he loved the words, but those I have forgotten. The tone is what stays, and the sense that the tone and its speaker gave of honor, uprightness, curiosity, ingenuity, awakeness, ... — you see, Kurt Hahn’s traits of character have more meaning to me now." March 2012 David Tresemer |
"My instructor was Joe Nold, assistant instructor was Andy Arnold. Joe read Thoreau to us each day: Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. C-2 was the course where the school ran out of food and, of necessity, the 3-day solo was invented by Tap. I spent time with Tap on my solo when he silently stepped out of an aspen grove and showed me how to catch frogs and cook them on a stick. I ate 44 frog legs in 3 days…and have not had them since. We spent about 3 hours together that day and he never said a word. It felt like training for a monastery…And that is just part of the story." January 2012 John Cooley, C2 1962 “The experience changed my life and I went on to become an avid climber and adventurer.” February 2015 Spurge, N-25 "I am happy to pass on that COBS was one of the really significant turning points in my life." March 2012 Van Wolf C3, 1962 "I can truly say I'm a 'better'man by virture of my Outward Bound experience." March 2012 Terrill Ashker, C-4 I remember eating squirrel and water crest salad. Outward Bound was life changing. March 2012 Bruce Abeyta C5, 1963 "I can truly say that I am a “better” man by virtue of my Outward Bound experience!"
March 2012 Terry Ashker C4, 1963 "As a graduate I find myself looking back to things in my Outward Bound experience that have led me to 35 years in public schools as a teacher, coach, central administrator and principal. I have now been retired for 13 years. A lot of what I learned about myself 50 years ago (it's hard to imagine) is what has propeled me to be as successful as I have been." March 2012 Roy Burley C4, 1963 I started my experience with Northwest Outward Bound School as an instructor in June of 1968 at Foley Ridge on the west side of the Three Sisters Wilderness Area between Bend and Eugene Oregon. I spent two summers with Mt. Jefferson Mobile courses and the summer of 1970 as chief instructor with the first courses in the North Cascades Wilderness Area. Those three summers changed my life for ever and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me." February 2015 Jerry Neyland 1968 Instructor NWOBS |