We’ve just added video capability to our blog. Expect to see some educational, thought prevoking and maybe even enlightening content, all G Rated of course. We’ve decided to go this route rather than placing our videos on other services such as YouTube. It keeps it all under the same blog.
Archive for the ‘MSI News’ Category
MSI Blog adds Video Clips
02/08/2009Peru’09 Program A Success
31/07/2009
Peru'09 Group in Cuzco with Chimu Inka
Facilitators Guillermo Seminario and Randy Richards are back in Cusco after leading a truly unique 14-day program. “We set out to offer something that connects our participants with the culture, the people and land of Peru, and we did it” says Richards. MSI’s programs and mission are inspired from both: a) Outward Bound experiential education programs, where participants practice community building, self-reliance, compassion and “stretching out of their comfort zones”, and b) a holistic learning center such as the Omega Institute in Reinbeck, NY. However our version of a “holistic learning center” is mobile.
R & G all decked out on the Peruvian coast
The program went off without a hitch, and the participants left feeling like they not only learned immensely about Peru, its people and history, but also something about themselves. The image at right is the group with Guillermo Seminario and fellow band members at the Rettama Restaurant in Cuzco. Guillermo took time off from the band in order to co-facilitate the trip.
Stay tuned – Since Randall didn’t have time to do journal entries while on the program, expect to see details on the program’s stop-overs in upcoming entries. These will be posted on (roughly) a daily basis starting tomorrow. We will cover elements of the program the exemplify the tenets of MSI.
From Mt. Hood to Russia
16/06/2009
Bob Stremba
M.S.I. VP/Board member and fellow spirit adventurer Bob Stremba, EdD, is heading for Oregon and Washington State tomorrow to take a bit of time off between semesters running the Adventure Education Department at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He’s also headed north to climb on Mt. Hood’s southern route again. He’ll be climbing the route with fellow board members of the Association of Experiential Education. Over the years, Bob has also summited Mt. Rainer twice, as well as Mt. Baker and Mt. Adams.
After his trip to the Northwest, Bob will be flying to Russia where he’ll be going into classrooms, facilitating group team building initiatives for Russian students. When I asked how his conversational Russian was coming along, he said he’ll have a translator. However he is working on the written language a bit, I assume so he can write a bit on blackboards and flip-charts. Stremba applied for, and was selected to be the lead (and solo) facilitator for this program. At program’s end, Bob will finish in western Russian – which is only a two hour train ride to Finland, so he figured he might as well leave Russia from the western border. If we’re lucky, we’ll get some updates on this blog during his travels. We wish him the best on his program and further travels to Finland after program’s end.
Family Cari on Amantani Island, Peru
15/05/2009MSI and Family Cari
A Son Helps Build a Family Lodge on a Remote Island
There are times in my life when I’ve returned to a wonderful place in the world that I’m still getting to know, and by chance, I’ve end up camping in the same field or returning to the same hostel. Only when I walked into the place, do I remember having stayed there before.
Richard Cari with a Kantuta, National Flower of Peru
Richard Cari’s home and the Kantuta Lodge is one of those places. Since I’m on the subject of “chance travel”, the reader might be interested my entry on a similar instance where I was hitch hiking across France and ended up sleeping in the same field I had slept in 15 years prior. But for now, more on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca.
I’d come to Amantani Island a few times during my travels in Peru. The place and people drew me in. No cars, electricity only a few hours a day, not even cats or dogs, which made the place seem peaceful. There is hardship on Amantani. The small population living on the 3 mile by 1.5 mile island on Lake Titicaca live at 13000 feet in stunning but somewhat harsh environment. There sustainable crops of Quinoa, potatoes and herbs are rain dependent. There is no irrigation of the crops. People do go hungry, despite the tourism dollars that trickle in from visitors taking boats from the nearby (4 hours!) harbor or Puno, Peru. Most visitors stay at family homes on the island’s west side, who have formed a cooperative rotating schedule that spreads the wealth and visitor’s dollars so no one family is reaping the homestays.
At Outward Bound we learned as instructors the metaphors of community, and here on Amantani, the population, because of its environment is a clear example of community. The island people work together with the resources they have to create the best possible outcome for all.
Segundino & Marcelina Cari of Amantani Island
Segundino, the island’s vice-Shaman, if you will, and his wife Marcelina have what was once a small home like the other villagers near the boat docks. But their son Richard went to University in Puno and majored in Tourism. He has come back with a plethora of “tools” and ideas he learned at school, that have transformed their home into the Kantuta Lodge, complete a separate building dining room, with longer beds for Gringos and Gringas and the only hot shower on the island.
Amantani Island, Lake Titicaca
Richard has done a spectacular job with his new skills making a better life for his family. He is creating a market. I told him I would submit the family lodge Lonely Planet, and even though I’ve not followed through I suspect the word has already gotten out about his good work.
The last time I visited Family Cari, I enjoyed the stay thoroughly. I got to help Richard’s sister Wilma do some cooking and plant potatoes by digging trenches in the garden below the house. I didn’t do very well by the way. Wilma, showing me the digging technique with a short handled hoe, giggled as I’d dig for a few feet before feeling breathless from the altitude. Her mother and father looked on from the house with a wry smile. (more…)
Men’s Group
29/04/2009
Moving Years of Energy
Breaking with Convention of Pent-Up Emotions
More than ever, men are seeking help to get in touch with their feelings. In the wake of the 7-Award winning Australian film, “Men’s Group”, Phil Taylor of the New Zealand Weekend Herald, reports on the trend in men to seek emotional health. View the article in a pdf document on MSI’s website.
In general, American’s are thought of as a bit “touchy feely” by Australia and New Zealand standards, however I believe that Americans are confronting, and are confronted by their past, their situation in the world, and everything from the excessive materialism, Manifest Destiny and greed, to the huge per capita use of the world’s non-renewable resources. The US is at a turning point, in which, I believe, the mainstream population is becoming more compassionate and in the moment. A calm and lighter spirit is quietly arising, and people are taking action to change the world by changing themselves.
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- Men’s Group Movie
The fruits of inner work are starting to show through society’s fabric in every day life, on the sidewalks or commutes to work. People are awakening to the higher possibilities of who they can be. It’s my observation that New Zealand and Australia’s men have an opportunity to dip their toe in the water of healthy expression, and jump in. It’s a natural evolution from the stark existence that, less than a generation ago was the only allowed behavior. Likewise, not more than 200 years ago, one could get burned at the stake for stating one’s true feelings, if they deviated from the social norm in any way.
Regarding the Movie, Men’s Group – The author saw the movie last night here in Auckland. Be prepared for witnessing the stark extreme of the dark age of men’s pent-up emotions. Both my wife and I think it is an important movie detailing the most difficult cases of men’s situations, and at the same time, portraying the hope of change.
Mountain Spirit addresses this need in our communities by offering programs for both men, women and families in mountain and natural settings in the U.S., Peru, and New Zealand.
MSI Launches New Zealand Website
23/04/2009
R Richards, MSI's Founder, Director
Due to MSI Director, R. Richards’ plans to spend “a bit” more time in New Zealand, he is seeking concession/commercial use permits in order to lead programs in Mt. Aspiring National Park and other areas on the South Island. Department of Conservation, (D.O.C.), (a combination of Forest Service, and Park Service), have given a nod that the permit process could be a go for the organization, given all needed documents are presented and the prerequisites and qualifications are there to apply. A concurrent step is to investigate either setting up a New Zealand non-profit organization, or to continue under MSI’s U.S. status.
True to form, Richards has launched the New Zealand MSI website in preparation of launching the NZ programs, “to get the word out.” Says Richards, “We’re getting some good signs, responses from the public and D.O.C.” He adds, ” There seems to
Glacier & Mountain Experiences on the Horizon
be a strong interest and market for Peru. I can see MSI running trips in both directions, Kiwis to Peru, Utah, Alaska and New Hampshire, Chimu Inka Peruvian Music to New Zealand and Yankees to the South Island to see what Mt. Aspiring is all about.” One particular interest that Richards sees on the horizon is targeting youth in Auckland and Wellington who suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder. “There’s a strong need to get our youth connected to the mountains again.” Richards says, ” New Zealand is not immune to technology taking over young people’s concept of reality. I think we can help.”
Sunapee/Outward Bound Program:New Webpage
23/04/2009
MSI's New Webpage on Sunapee's OB Program
The MSI/Sunapee High School/Outward Bound Scholarship Program, now in it’s fourth year gets a new webpage. There is a host of information: past recipients, donors, an overview and goals of the the program and where to find out more. The program is gaining some traction both with students, the community and with Outward Bound’s scholarship department. Thanks to former Recruiter and Scholarship coordinator Charlie Reade who helped MSI’s Executive Director R. Richards set up the program, a number of students have had a trip of a life time.
Image: Brian Baily-Mountain Yoga
On the webpage are pics from Brian Baily’s Rock/Backpacking course in Colorado, and Hanna Baade’s sea kayaking program on the coast of Maine. Baade was the first recipient of the scholarship which was first supported by Sugar River Bank. More recently, Rotary International (New London, NH) and other organizations are aiding the effort.
The program is one of MSI’s first “service projects”, aimed at giving back to the community in which MSI is incorporated, and the director’s hometown. In all aspects of MSI, we incorporate a service component, whether it be a board meeting, a program to Peru or at the administration level. Again this inspiration comes from Outward Bound and Kurt Hahn in the first place.
On Rappel: North Cascades, WA, USA
You can check out the web page, and who knows, you may even be inclined to jump on the bandwagon and donate!
Donations can be sent to MSI’s office at:
Mountain Spirit Institute
POB 626
Sunapee, NH 03782
USA
MSI-Outward Bound-Sunapee HS Scholarships
03/04/2009MSI continues to coordinate Scholarship Program for High School Students
Student rappels, N. Cascades, WA
Now in its fourth year, Mountain Spirit has been coordinating scholarships for Sunapee High School (NH, USA) students to attend Outward Bound. R. Richards had worked for Outward Bound as a recruiter in colleges and high schools, and included his hometown school in his recruiting efforts. The program has sent a number of students on life-changing experiential wilderness programs designed to instill motivation, compassion, craftsmanship and a sense of community.
The Sunapee High School liaison Jeanne Circosta, has been coordinating the program at the student’s end, helping with applications and meetings and answering questions about Outward Bound. Says Richards, “Jeanne has been a huge help in finding qualified and motivated students for Outward Bound.”
©2009 Outward Bound
In the past students have gone sea kayaking in Maine, Rock climbing and backpacking in Colorado and Canoeing/Hiking in North Carolina. Two 16 year-old Junior students, Sean Reidy, and Linnea Circosta, will be applying and there may be a third interested student. Former Outward Bound and current Sunapee High School Student Brian Bailey has agreed to help with and fund raising efforts in Sunapee by speaking to such other organizations as the Sunapee Lyons Club or businesses that might be potential donors, allowing these students to go on this exciting program.
All funds received are dedicated to this particular program and are tax deductible as Mountain Spirit Institute is a 501-c-3 Non profit organization.
Brenda Dowst, MSI board member will also be helping in the fund raising effort by presenting the program highlights, selection criteria and goals to local organizations and businesses on an as needed basis.
Roped-Team Travel, N. Cascades
Mountain Spirit is proud to be presenting this program which is gaining traction in the community, and with Outward Bound’s scholarship administration as well. Because of MSI’s consistency in sending students to Outward Bound, and our reputation for building local partnerships for funding the scholarship, Outward Bound has committed to longer term, for future years, funding of a significant portion student’s tuition. This commitment from Outward Bound depends on continued local business and organization participation.
Hanna Baade, the first participant on this program showed pictures of her trip when giving an interview to the local paper. It made a huge impact on her life. Ben Bailey who was leaving for his program just as Baade had returned, listened with quiet anticipation, but after having completed his Outward Bound experience, said it was a huge and fantastic experience. He liked it so much his brother went the following year.
If you or your organization would like to donate to this worthwhile program, please contact R. Richards, Mountain Spirit’s Executive Director, at randy@mtnspirit.org/603-763-2668 for complete details. He will send you documents on the program description, search and selection criteria, and how you can help with a donation.
A Week at French Ridge
18/03/2009
The View from French Ridge Hut
I recently had the opportunity to volunteer at French Ridge Hut last week. We had an unusual clear spell of almost cloudless blue skies, day after day. More times than not, the wind can howl on this ridge, making it difficult to make the journey to the privy, perched on the ridge, (so helicopters can more easily pick up the poop canisters).
Near Mt. Avalanche-Gloomy Gorge
I recently heard of one fellow who was sent to his death when the hut he was in, was blown off the mountain. I’m sure some of the readers have been on a fire lookout tower in high winds, having complete trust in the structure. Hmmm. Makes one think. Be sure to inquire or check to see if the hut you’re in has tie-down cables. French Ridge does not. I trust the architect, up to a point. It depends on how strong are the gale force winds. This is a bit tongue in cheek, or ice axe in ground.
Waterfall Rainbow, Gloomy Gorge
French Ridge and the environs is a magical place. It’s getting a lot of traffic from hikers as well as climbers. I was there later in the season, (just last week), when traffic to and from the Collin Todd Hut, and Mt. Aspiring had been halted due to the Quarterdeck section of glacier coming down from the Bonar Glacier was breaking up too badly to allow passage.
Monkeying around on the "Quarter Deck"
We decided to monkey around on the lower ramparts of the Quarterdeck anyway, for a day of walking, crevasse rescue and rope team travel practice, and a little bit of climbing in some dramatic scenery. While we were rather restricted in where we could actually go, we still had fun. The dry glacier provided some great ice climbing practice. I love glacier ice, which is a far cry from New
More playing around on some "safe" broken up bits.
Hampshire’s Frankenstein Cliff’s. I’ve just read a piece on climbing on the Fox Glacier that has me interested in doing some glacial ice there.
Kea in Flight
At the hut and just above, Keas, which are amazing Alpine parrots, seemed our constant companions. I figuring out when they would take off, and got some snaps of them in flight. One, at the hut, the other with Mt. Avalanche in the background just above the hut. They are very personable and curious creatures, if not troublesome. When we arrived at the hut on Day 1, the door to the was open, and the keas had made themselves at home, leaving the place a mess.
Kea, Amanda, Mt Avalanche
Just across from the Hut, on the ramparts of Rob Roy, is an impressive waterfall. It’s interesting and beautiful because the water comes piling down and hits a flat plateau, shooting the water out into space, like a jet stream. Then when the sun is hitting the wall just right, a rainbow is formed.
Guillermo and Chimu Inka Host MSI Group: July 12th’09
11/02/2009
Machu Picchu
MSI is excited to be working further with Guillermo Seminario and Chimu Inka this summer. For anyone interested in joining us, a small group, (limited to 6-7) will be going to Cusco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca with Guillermo and Chimu Inka as our hosts. MSI has been running programs to Peru since 1998, (R Richards had been mountain guiding before that in Peru), and we are excited to be working with who we consider our dear family members Guillermo, Wachi and and Mario.
Amantani Island, Summit View
We will visit with locals, do a small service project, stay in the Sacred Valley, venture to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. There will be a base for a few days in Ollantaytambo where we will head to Willoc to study weaving in action. This area is known for it’s traditional weaves with mainly vegetable dyes. Of course, Guillermo and his band members will provide a strong musical influence, not only by performing, but sharing with us their history and love of traditional Andean folklore music.
There is still space available, airline prices are at an all time low to Lima and Cusco, so we hope you’ll consider joining us. For more information see MSI’s website at www.mtnspirit.org or contact Randy Richards at 603-763-2668 or by email at randy@mtnspirit.org .
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