03/04/2009 by mtnspirit
MSI 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.
Tags: adventure travel, Brenda Dowst, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Jeanne Circosta, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Outward Bound, Randy Richards, Scholarships, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sunapee High School
Posted in Experiential Education, Leadership, MSI News, Service, Supporting MSI | 3 Comments »
30/03/2009 by mtnspirit
Sunapee, New Hampshire, (US), is creating a day dedicated to cleaning up, and education. The mission of the group creating this day, ” is to start a new Sunapee tradition; a town-wide road side clean-up day that fosters community spirit & volunteerism; educates about littering & recycling; and is fun for all”. If you’d like more information on the Green-up Day, head to their website.
Community members present at the first meeting were Tony Bergeron, Rhonda Gurney, Kathy & Steve Gray, Heather Cantagollo, Patricia Halpin, Charlotte Brown, RoseMarie Batto, Scott Blewitt, Diana Wyman, Donna Gazelle, Ron Verblauw, Ellie Goddard, Meagan Reed, Barbara Cooper, Denise & Monica Preston, Greg & Kathy Meyer, David Rowell, and Barbara Chalmers. There seems to be good support by the numbers of people who attended this meeting.
Mountain Spirit and its board members are excited about this new development in Sunapee, and will support this event in some form.
Many thanks to the community members listed above.
Tags: Green-up Day, Mountain Spirit, NH, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
30/03/2009 by mtnspirit
From Global Dependence To Local Interdependence
MP3 Download by:
Jerry Mander & Helena Norberg-Hodge:
Jerry Mander in his book In Absence of the Sacred wrote so eloquently on the pluses of non-profit’s versus for-profit businesses, that we incorporated Mountain Spirit as a 501-(c)-3 non-profit organisation because of it.
In my meanderings on the internet today, I noticed he has collaborated with a new hero of mine, Helena Norberg-Hodge on a downloadable podcast. Below is some background.. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Books, Climate Change, Environment, Holistic Living, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
24/03/2009 by mtnspirit
The Earth's Mantle, The Crash Site! Cool
What you’re looking, at the image on the right, is not just a rock in Newfoundland. It tells quite a story. Uplifting of an ancient sea bed some 470 million years ago unveiled the underlying mantle of the earth. As one of the only places in the world where it’s possible to see the earth’s mantle, Newfoundland is of interest to scientists and geologists like.
Although I took this picture on a mountain, it’s a snapshot of an ancient Atlantic sea bed, that was flipped up, way up, as it smashed into the North American plate. Ykes. And here I was standing at the scene of the crime, the collision of two continents!
Newfoundland is one of those out-of-the-way places.
Glenburnie-Birchy Head Shoal area, Newfoundland
You have to want to get there. You have to make a special effort. It’s not part of the eastern megalopolis- small towns, quite roads, out there. It’s like New Hampshire used to be in the ‘50’s-safe, trusting and amicable. Not wired. I was there a few years ago, on a whim. I’d just finished an Outward Bound Professional staff training in Northern Maine and decided to take a trip. I made the decision at 5PM and started driving at 5:15, headed from Old Town, Maine for New Brunswick. I had my sleeping bag, but no stove, no tent, but a toothbrush. My friend and I had a van, but no mosquito netting, which proved problematic. We picked up on old reliable Coleman stove at a second hand store, and were in business.
When Plates Collide
Newfoundland has been the scene of a geological flashpoint. There’s a roadside pullout, with a beautiful half hour walk. At the pullout are some informational plaques explaining that the location was a meeting point where the Atlantic and North American plates met millions of years ago. As I stared at the surface of the inlay, I imagined it as soft muck on the ocean floor. I felt like a geological time explorer.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Environment, Power of Place, Traveling | 2 Comments »
19/03/2009 by mtnspirit
Extended Family's Mosaic & Feet
The Northfield Conference is the longest continuously running spiritual conference in the country. Started at the turn of the last century, it has developed into a strong network of devoted friends and colleagues and extended family. It’s one of the few instances where I saw whole families and people of of all ages being and acting like a true community. Many of the adults there now were children and then teens who grew up attending the annual conference held in Northfield, Mass every June or July. There is a morning meeting, then right after, small groups called families get together to debrief lives and share whatever is on the participants’ minds. At the end of our meeting we all felt like doing a goodbye group hug/”jelly roll” in which I was the lucky receipient of being in the middle. In the afternoon, after lunch there’s a plethora of workshops and activities, from painting and yoga to dance and informational lectures or discussions on everything from global warming to composting and family communication. After dinner, there is usually an non-denominational evening service in the Northfield Chapel. I got the play the 12-foot concert grand piano at one event there. That was fun. Around 7 PM, different activities may happen such as a talent show, or coffeehouse, or games, lots of games, in which children of all ages participate.
Getting stuck in the middle of a group hug
If you’d like to inquire about the Northfield Conference, check out their website. First time participants get a free ride, all expenses paid, if they give some sort of workshop in exchange. It’s a way of getting more people to check out the conference. If I weren’t in New Zealand, I’d be there this spring. If you decide to attend, you won’t be disappointed.
Tags: Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Group Dynamics, Holistic Living, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sustainability, Sustainable Communities, The Northfield Conference, True Community
Posted in Health, Holistic Living, Inner Work, Inspirational People, Leadership, Music, Service, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
18/03/2009 by mtnspirit
Animal-Guitar Lover
Another Study proves it, animals like music. Well, it’s not an official study, but an observation over the years. Watching birds come to the watering hole outside of Sedona Arizona years ago when I played my Native American Flute, and most recently-
Pied Kea Piper
I was playing my little Indian flute, which cost all of two dollars, and a Kea at French Ridge starting coming around, and singing on the off beat. He was perched on the roof for the longest time while I stood below, outside the hut looking up at him as I played.
I brought my “glacier guitar” up the crazy French Ridge Trail. (Maybe it was me that was crazy).
My Alpine Parrot Audience
So I put it to good use, and attracted three kea who stood and listened for about 15 minutes. Again they would caw on the off beats when I’d hold a measure or two for them. We all had a grand time.
Tags: adventure travel, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Guitars in the mountains, Holistic Living, Kea, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, Music Therapy, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Holistic Living, Music | 1 Comment »
18/03/2009 by mtnspirit
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.
Tags: adventure travel, Alpine Parrot, Brenda Dowst, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, French Ridge, Glacier Travel, Gloomy Gorge, Holistic Living, Ice Climbing, Kea, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Aspiring, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Quarter Deck, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Environment, Glaciology, MSI News, New Zealand, Power of Place, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
18/03/2009 by mtnspirit
I have taught map & compass for over 25 years, and never really knew there were different magnetic zones. If I were a round-the-world sailor I suppose I’d know that, but guiding in South America I only learned there were northern and southern hemisphere compasses. Not until I stumbled upon an article in New Zealand’s Wilderness Magazine (February 2009) on compasses, did I start to understand a bit more.
World Compass Zones
The article stated “Compasses are made to suit different geopgraphical zones. NZ and Australia fall into zone 5, the US in zone 1. If the wrong compass is used in any one zone, it can cause the needle to tip and drag on the base plate making for inaccurate or impossible readings. Global models that allow for these variances are available.
I read this after I had purchased what I thought was “southern hemisphere compass”. I returned the compass with article in hand and asked the store clerk if he was familiar with this. No. So we looked it up on the internet there in the store and found the following… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Environment | 1 Comment »
07/03/2009 by mtnspirit
Wet Socks in the Backcountry
The adventurers from Singapore, Shaun Lee and Karan Puri, (see earlier post) took me up on my offer in joining me in New Zealand’s backcountry. I don’t think the two would have ventured out in this territory on their own, in fact they mentioned the whole concept of “backcountry” didn’t exist in their country. Singapore is compact. Their eyes were wide when they first came up on the Rob Roy Glacier after a few miles up a steep trail, after a small swinging bridge. They then made the two hour trek to the Aspiring Hut with me. Their shoes were a bit wet after the hike, but after a warm meal they were feeling great. The following morning, they were on their way back to the trailhead, as they had reservations on the mountain shuttle. They were a bit nervous, heading out in the rain, but I assured them they would make it. I assume they did! I’ve not heard from them.
Tags: adventure travel, Aspiring Hut, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Karan Puri, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Aspiring National Park, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Peru, Randy Richards, Shaun Lee, Singapore, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Health, New Zealand, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
07/03/2009 by mtnspirit
Three cups of Tea
A Mountain Spirit Board member, plus a few others, have been telling me I need to read “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It’s a great story about persevering a dream of building a school for the children of Korphe, Pakistan. One passage, quoted below, reminds me of how gravitating back to sustainable cultures can make our lives saner. If you’ve not read Three Cups of Tea, I suggest you pick up a copy.
An excerpt from the book that caught my eye:
“A book he’d read , Ancient Futures, by Helena Norberg-Hodge, was much on Mortenson’s mind. Norberg-Hodge has spend seventeen years living just south of these mountains in Ladakh, a region much like Baltistan, but cut off from Pakistan by the arbitrary borders colonial powers drew across the Himalaya. After almost two decades studying Ladakhi culture, Norberg Hodge has come to believe that preserving a traditional way of life in Ladakh-extended families living in harmony with the land- would bring about more happiness than “improving” Ladakhis’ standard of living with unchecked development.
Ancient Futures
“I used to assume that the direction of ‘progress was somehow inevitable, not to be questioned,” she writes. “I passively accepted a new road through the middle of the park, a steel-and-glass bank where a 200-year-old church had stood…and the fact that life seemed to get harder and faster with each day. I do not anymore. In Ladakh I have learned that there is more than one path into the future and I have had the privilege to witness another, saner, way of life- a pattern of existence based on the co-evolution between human beings and the earth.”
Norberg-Hodge continues to argue not only that Western development workers should not blindly impose modern “improvements” on ancient cultures, but that industrialized countries had lessons to learn from people like Ladakhis about building sustainable societies. “I have seen,” she writes, “that community and close relationship with the land can enrich human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication. I have learned that another way is possible.”
Norberg-Hodge admiringly quotes the king of another Himalayan country, Bhutan, who say the true measure of a nations success is not gross national product, but ‘gross national happiness.”
Tags: adventure travel, Ancient Futures, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Greg Mortenson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Holistic Living, Ladakh, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Three Cups of Tea
Posted in Books, Mountain People, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | 2 Comments »
Mountain Spirit's Blog 