Thought this might be a good place to pose this question. I have some scholarship money still waiting to be used from a couple of Americorps jobs I have done. This can be applied toward NOLS courses. The cost would normally deter me, but it's free so what the hell. There are a couple of 23 and over courses that look cool, especially Alaska Mountaineering. Does anyone have any experience with NOLS?
I am a little worried it might be too slow for me, I do have good wilderness skills already, have climbed a few glaciated peaks and lots of other smaller peaks, and feel confident with the self arrest and crevasse rescue practice I have put in so far with friends and mentors. I guess route finding through large, heavily crevassed glaciers and roped travel over steep snow and alpine ice is what I'm lacking most. Not sure if that is a good enough reason to commit to a 14 day course though. Then again, I don't know when I'll be going up to Alaska on my own for some climbing. Any thoughts? What is the pace and attitude of a NOLS course generally? Maybe the money would be better spent on Wilderness First Responder.
