Sleep In The Dirt

Category: Essays From the Field

SOS Outreach: Inspiring Youth Through Outdoor Adventures
Sponsorship and Non-Profit
With a brief window between winter and summer programming, the SOS team is currently hard at work making preparations for the upcoming season. First on the schedule is the annual Fourth-grade Colorado National Monument trips for nearly 220 Eagle County youth. Throughout the month of May, seven local fourth grades will participate in four-day, three-night camping, hiking, and rock climbing experiences. This trip allows students to visit the Colorado National Monument, explore local museums, and study the geology and natural history of Colorado while enjoying the outdoors. Read the rest

The Seventh Summit with Mark Pattison
Sponsorship and Non-Profit
"The mountains certainly have given me the serenity and peace to get my head clear, starting with Mt Kilimanjaro in 2013.  In the last six months, I have tagged Denali on June 7th, 2018 and recently came off Mt. Vinson in Antarctica (who goes to Antarctica except the Penguins?). Through the challenges each mountain has shown me, each has given me a purpose and a massive goal to keep training towards while learning more about my craft as I continue to go higher and higher." Read the rest

Adventure Not War: Skiing Afghanistan
The Campfire Chronicles
"With no lift access anywhere in country—with the exception of an enterprising motorcycle owner, who with the help of long rope and a buried wheel barrow, created a mobile rope tow while we were there—everything is backcountry skiing. Turns out the skiing in Afghanistan, regardless of where you go, is pretty incredible. The history in Bamyan is also fascinating, but if you go to Afghanistan, go for the people who made this trip truly wonderful." Read the rest

Noah Wetzel Navigates Nepal and the Himalayas
Essays From the Field
One evening, with my tripod over my shoulder, I wandered alone underneath a full moon. Serenaded by the faint and distant jingle of Yak bells, I watched clouds crawl up and over the glacier moraine and dissipate into the flickering stars slowly rotating overhead. This moment I will never forget, and I will return to Nepal once again. Read the rest