Posts Tagged ‘Bob Stremba’

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What Gives You Hope?

26/07/2012

Grafton Pond, NH

“The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world. 
Alfred Lord Tennyson

I started Mountain Spirit Institute in 1998 when we led our first trip to Peru, with the basic mission “to facilitate a deeper connection to the natural environment, each other and ourselves.”  Since then it has become ever more apparent how we need “nature time” more than ever. It’s good to see people out on the trail, and in kayaks these days, but National Park use is down in the U.S, and technology competes for the breath of fresh air. We just offered a presentation last night in a small town in New Hampshire called “Get Outside While You Still Can.” The piece below echoes a lot of what we covered in our presentation, and why we started MSI.

 By Eric Utne,
Founder, The Utne Reader

As I’ve said in this column before, I’m afraid it may be too late to avoid the devastating effects of global climate change. (more…)

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Posted in Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Environment, Experiential Education, Health, Holistic Living, Inner Work, MSI News, Power of Place, Spiritual | Leave a Comment »

“Get Outta Here”

20/07/2012

GET OUT! 

•    Get Out into nature that is
•    How do you view nature?
•    Find it hard to get nature time?
•    Technology Got ya?

How do you spend your time?……

Doing This?

Or Doing This?

Come and explore, with Mountain Spirit board members
Bob Stremba and Randy Richards,
Nature Deficit Disorder
&
Why we need to get outside while we still can!

GETTING OUTSIDE!
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25th , 7:00PM
Cost: Free

Lake Sunapee Bank Community Room
116 Newport Road
New London, NH, USA
For more information call 603-763-2668 or http://www.mtnspirit.org

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Posted in Environment, Experiential Education, Health, Holistic Living, Power of Place | Leave a Comment »

MSI Hosts Adventure Educator’s Sharing Symposium

06/07/2012

Learn and Share at MSI’s Symposium
Image: Participants in North Cascades, WA

Mountain Spirit Institute invites educators and interns to attend, share, and learn at the
Adventure Educator’s Sharing Symposium

WHERE: A Quiet, Rural Setting in the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region
WHEN: Sunday, July 22nd, 2012
WHO: Open to Students, Teachers and Outdoor Educators and Interns..See more below.
COST: No charge. The Adventure Education Sharing Symposium is provided as a professional service by Mountain Spirit Institute, its staff, and its donors. If you wish, you are invited to make a contribution to the Mountain Spirit Institute scholarship fund.

WHAT: Experiential educators and adventure facilitators have creative and involving ways to help people bring the adventure home—to make connections between adventure experiences and our lives back at home, work or school. This symposium unites adventure programmers to share, learn, and apply some of our best practices regarding processing, facilitation, and transfer of learning in adventure education.

The Adventure Educator’s Sharing Symposium is responsive to the training and needs of each participant. By sharing, demonstrating, and talking about the processing and facilitation techniques we use in our various settings, the content, outcomes, and much of the structure of this day is co-created by participants, but with a little guidance toward the primary goal of an expanded tools-of-the trade repertoire for all participants. So, take an active role in your own learning and share your knowledge with others. (more…)

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Elitism in the Mountains

27/05/2011

By R. Richards

The "Lodge" at Routeburn!

Fellow MSI board member Bob Stremba and I recently decided to spend a  couple of days on New Zealand’s Routeburn walk, one of the famous tracks in the Southern Alps. We did it last week, during the shoulder season so there were only a handful of people on the trail. But I can imagine the numbers grow exorbitantly during the summer months. Fair enough, that’s how New Zealand has decided to funnel foreign hikers, and showcase tourism into a few of the well-known tramps. Milford Sound not far away is another.

Hi There!

All went well, aside from a bit of rain. We met some nice hikers, one from Ireland, Australia, Switzerland and four from Canada. We stayed at the small Routeburn Flats hut, and the next day proceeded to the Routeburn Falls hut for a quick lunch break . That’s when something seemed out of place. First, the size of the Department of Conservation (DOC) hut was quite impressive, equipped to handle large amounts of hikers. I then noticed above me, and pondered what in the world, could the huge building possibly be that stood above the DOC hut? Since it was the off season, this larger upper building was closed, bit we could peek in the windows . As I approached,  a big wooden sign in front of the building called out  the “Routeburn Falls Lodge”.  I saw a smaller sign behind it, mounted on the wall stating: “Strictly Guided Walkers Only” adding “Independent walkers please continue on to the DOC Hut.”

Private Rooms for the Gentry

The irony of first class and coach system arriving in the mountains struck me immediately with the thought that there should be a sign on the DOC hut stating, “Strictly Independent Walkers, Guided hikers should continue on to the nearest Hilton”. Of  course I don’t really feel that way, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Better yet, maybe the cognoscenti should overthrow the highfalutin hut and invite the coach class to join them, (and possibly even have a food fight).

The only site I can remotely remember seeing like this was in the Alps. Of course high living gentiles are still staying in the hotels just below the faces of the Matterhorn and Eiger. The only class arrangement I can remember seeing was in the Alpine Club huts of the Alps where the mountain quide’s quarters, were separated from us chattel climbers. But this, here in New Zealand was a whole other matter. I’m sure Oliver James, author of Affluenza would be proud of most Kiwis who shun this sort of thing in their mountains. I then found my tolerance level further tested with another sign telling “independent hikers” to a) turn around, b)  march their little butts down to where they belong  c) and stay there, all with the Orwellian salutation of “Hi There!”  See the actual text in the image above.

Bob Stremba, overlooking the Backcountry (?)

I hope that “haute couture” in the backcountry stops with this hut. I’m assuming there may be others though.  Even  though this super-duper hut sits in the heart of the Routeburn,  in the real backcountry, we’re still all the same. The problem is, having such a lodge like this goes a long way in destroying the very experience the concession is trying to offer. By its very nature, it removes itself from the backcountry. It brings the virulent virus – the epidemic of affluenza to the doorstep of paradise.  Tell us what you think about allowing such multiple uses on government land such as  luxury lodges (such as this one  run by Ultimate Hikes) Is it a bad idea? Are we missing something about the land use plans of NZ?

If you’re thinking of taking a  guided hike, suggest to your guide that he put you up with the rest of us. You’ll find it much more inspiring. Also suggest that they could change their signs to a less snooty sort.

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Posted in Conservation, New Zealand, Room For Improvement, Sustainable Travel, Traveling | 7 Comments »

Hello. We’re back… but not in U.S.

27/12/2010

Greetings from Australia, Mate.
By R. Richards

Caution in Australia...

Sorry we’ve been a bit out of touch. We’ve been busy packing up our New Hampshire home, updating our programs’ webpages and heading to the Southern Hemisphere for a while. We’ve been on the eastern coast of Australia for the Holidays, and will be headed to New Zealand on January 10th.

We’ve got an exciting  drumming program in Jamaica with master drumming instructor Bob Bloom, and a Personal Sustainability program called Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle in Vermont this spring in the northern hemisphere.

This is my first time in AU, and my first impressions are that the people are very generous, sincere and welcoming. the power of the continent is overwhelming. My first time sitting down to meditate, I clearly heard the words, “It’s about time you showed up.” I take this to mean, not only arriving in Australia but taking the time to sit down since my arrival and sit quietly with the place. More on this in an upcoming post.

Anyway, expect to see posts more regularly from here on out. We’ll be posting from New Zealand of course. Rumors have it that board member Bob Stremba might even come down for a visit and recon some program areas with me.

Sydney Stopover

We had a stopover in Sydney for a week seeing Amanda’s friends, (my newly found friends), before heading north to stay with family for the holidays. A very expensive city but such generous people with a welcoming attitude. It’s Amanda’s ol’ stomping ground, and she still has to show me around a bit, when we head back there on our way to New Zealand.  We happened to arrive just as Oprah Winfrey was shooting a week-long segment of her show here. As it turned out, she was welcomed with opened arms, along with 300 of her audience members. I mention her because of some of the good work she’s doing, such as bringing Eckhart Tolle’s message to a broader audience, and encouraging more conscious living. The people and government of Australia were happy to have her here. The coverage will be invaluable for Australia’s tourism exposure.

The continent is proving itself to be powerful and beautiful. Although I’ve only seen a portion of it, I can feel its power taking hold.

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Posted in Animals, Focus on MSI People, MSI News | Leave a Comment »

MSI Presents at Education Conference

17/11/2010

MSI Founder Randy Richards and fellow board member Bob Stremba presented a workshop at the 38th Annual International Conference of the Association of Experiential Education in *Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference was loaded with keynote speakers, meetings, networking , and other events and activities, although the workshops are its foundation.

Outdoor instructors, program managers and administrators traveled from as far away as Japan and Ecuador to be at the conference.  Attendees that attend the workshops are rejuvenated and inspired to delve deeper into their practices.

Richards’ and Stremba’s workshop was about introducing spiritual practice into experiential education, and was well attended.

 

Krag shows video of his father, Willi Unsoeld

Bud Wilson of Sacred Passage, and Krag Unsoeld of Washington State (who also presented, see above) attended and added to the conversation during the workshop. This year the association featured over 120 workshops. For more information on AEE see their website at www.aee.org or Mountain Spirit’s website at www.mtnspirit.org

* A strange place for outdoor educators to meet. More on this in another post.
For more on Willi Unsoeld.

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MSI Adds Rock Climbing to Programs

01/10/2010

Rock Climbing is not new to the founder and other staff at Mountain Spirit Institute, but it’s new to MSI. R. Richards was a rock camp instructor for Outward Bound’s Semester Course  in Joshua Tree, CA, a staff trainer, and guide for Alpine Ascents in Seattle. He has been an individual member of American Mountain Guides Association since 1984, (which doesn’t connote certification), and MSI staffer Craig Cimmons has taught rock climbing for years in Vermont, and ran the Outdoor Program at Green Mountain College.  Bob Stremba runs the Outdoor Pursuits program at Fort Lewis College, and has been a long-time rock climber and outdoor instructor.

From MSI's Webpage on Rock Climbing

“I always thought it would be cost prohibitive to include insurance for rock climbing as part of our Worldwide Outfitters and Guides Association coverage, but I was wrong,” says founder Randy Richards, adding, “We should have added it years ago, and feel like we really want to take advantage of what we have to offer.”  Cimmons,  Stremba,  and Richards all place a high importance on not only safety but a comfortable learning environment.  “With years of teaching rock climbing, and many students with whom we’ve shared our skills, we feel we want to continue to get out on the rock!” says Richards.

MSI includes rock climbing not simply as an outdoor adventure activity, but uses the climbing as a metaphor for life.  The facilitators set the tone for participants to take a look at how they problem solve on the rock, and see what correlations they might make in how they solve problems in their daily life. Trust and team-building are also important elements of rock climbing.

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Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Experiential Education, MSI News | 1 Comment »

MSI Successful Board Retreat

16/09/2010

Burning the midnight oil

At MSI’s recent residential retreat, the energy was contagious. The board members worked on actively bringing Mountain Spirit to a new level of commitment and confidence. MSI was started in 1998, when R. Richards,  after having just returned from high alpine guiding in Peru, led a trip under the MSI name to the Cusco region of Peru.  Since then the non-profit organization has had numerous and successful programs and workshops ranging from a Peruvian Shamanic Studies program which ran over the course of two years, a wilderness experience educational program, author lectures, and a film series, ongoing programs to Peru, the teen healing adventure and the Peru/USA Music Exchange held in the Northeastern US in the fall of 1998.

“Becoming more sustainable as an organization, and building capacity to deliver programs ” has been the board’s goal for the last two years.  At each board retreat we’ve identified how we can move forward, and at our last retreat, we dug in and wrote our first grant together. Laptops were all over the room, crunching numbers from every program we have on the calendar.

We had a ball, put in some long hours and have some great results. Importantly, we have set a time to develop our annual program schedule where we’ll slate new programs for the coming year during our Board of Directors summer retreat. Also, as  a result of the great work every did putting together some great programs and an top-notch organization-wide budget, we applied for our first grant to the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Express Grant. We put in some serious hours, and suffered from a bit of what fellow board member Craig Cimmons calls “HBO”.  The acronym stands for “Haven’t Been Outdoors”.

Thanks to Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Bob Stremba, and Amanda Richards for all the work and energy that they put into the board retreat! Adelante!

Image: MSI Board Members LtoR: The beagle Daphne (not a board member), Randy Richards, Amanda Richards, Bob Stremba, dinner guest and author *Henry  Homeyer, Cindy Heath and Craig Cimmons. (*Who you’ll be seeing more about on this blog)

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Posted in MSI News | 3 Comments »

MSI Director & VP Present at Conference

16/09/2010

Assoc. of Experiential Ed

R. Richards and Bob Stremba, Ed.D, will be giving a presentation at the 38th Annual International Association of Experiential Education Conference on November 4th in Las Vegas, NV, USA.  The two will share MSI’s unique mission and how MSI blends the world of experiential education with practical spiritual facilitation.  Ther a number of presnetation categories, and the two are slated for a workshop during the conference under the Body/Mind/Spirit category.

The conference, bills itself as “Connecting Communities, Sustaining Educators” which brings together more than 900 experiential educators and practitioners for professional development and networking.

The title of the presentation, “Exspiriential” Education: Integrating Spirit with Experience, comes from the term coined by MSI Founder Richards, which combines Spirit and Experiential education.  The MSI website states: “We’re a hybrid organization – a cross between an experiential wilderness program and a holistic learning center, with elements of both experiential education and spiritual development.”

Stremba is a former board member of AEE, and continues to be actively involved in the association. He currently runs the Outdoor Pursuits program at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Richards has recently joined again as an individual member of AEE.

vegas_conference_head_template.jpg

November 4-7, 2010- Workshops

2010 Workshops (pdf)

2009 Workshops

2010 Workshop List (subject to change)


Adventure-Based Programming

3rd Annual Trends and Issues in Outdoor Education Programs Panel Discussion
Andrew J. Bobilya,  Tom Holman,  Betsy Lindley, John Gookin, Tim O’Connell, Nina Roberts, Bobbi Beale, Bob Stremba & Jay Roberts

Accreditation 101
Shawn Tierney

Adventure Education and Motherhood II; Are they Mutually Exclusive or Mutually Beneficial?
Erin Lotz

Building Respectful Learning Communities: Setting Positive Behavioral Norms through Adventure
Jane Panicucci & Larry Childs

Chiji Cards: Beyond Processing
Chris Cavert

Designing Skill-based Initiatives
Paul Nicolazzo

Developing a Self-assessment Study
Shawn Tierney

Facilitating Inclusion in Outdoor Adventure: Decisions in Management and Modifications
Alison Voight & Catharine Bishop

Girl, You Got it! Empowering Girls to Develop Technical Skills
Priscilla McKenney & Nadine Budbill

Good Judgment: The Ultimate Facilitator Skill
Chris Ortiz & Jim Grout

Into Thinner Air: More on Adventure Programming at Altitude
TA Loeffler

Intuition or Cognition: The Dual-Process Approach to Judgment and Decision-Making for Outdoor Leaders
Wynn Shooter & Nathan Furman

Leadership and Challenge Center ¡Lánzate! Empowering Agents of Change
Juan Carlos & Echavarría Flores

Outdoor Ethics – How AEE Members Can Easily Implement Effective Leave No Trace Education Programs
Catherine Smith & Sarah Folzenlogen

Project Venture – Evidence Based Prevention Programming
McClellan Hall, Bart Crawford, Neal Ferris & Heather Yazzie

Standards, Legislation, Regulations, Certification, New Technology. What Does This All Mean for My Challenge Course Program?
James Borishade & Bill Weaver

The Living History of Experiential Education
Tom Lindblade

The Ropes of Ecology
Shawn Moriarty

The Use of Emotional Rescue In Adventure Based Activities
Joel Cryer

Thematic Programming: Unifying the Experience
Patrick Torrey

What’s Nature Got To Do With It?
Jacquie Medina

Willi Unsoeld: Outdoor Education Philosophy and Practice From Risk Taking to Rites of Passage
Krag Unsoeld

Experienced Based Training and Development

A Foundation of Trust
Sam Sikes

Accountable Team Building in a Web 2.0 world
Jason Kipps

Alternative Mediums in Experiential Learning
Anand Upadhyay

Experience and Reflection to Inform Design:  Outward Bound and Professional Development for Educators
Billy O’Steen, Andy Mink & Jim LaPrad

Explore the World of EBTD: A World Cafe Experience
Marc Levy & Jonathan Clark

How To Hear What Is Not Being Said
David Kampfschulte

Is Team Building a Set Up?
Claudia Valle & Tim Arnold

Judgment and Decision-Making: How Our Brains Are Wired… and What We Can Do About It
Jeremy Johnson

Overcoming Language Barriers in Facilitation
Sarah Kauntz & Kathleen Day

Secrets of Successful Networking
Jeff Richardson

Spiritual Dimensions of Team
Al Wright

Using Personality Assessments To Become A More Effective Educator
Chris Gee

Facilitation/Processing

A Book of One’s Own: How to Make Books for Processing
Gretchen Newhouse Berns

Building a Sense of Community Experientially
Jeff Jacobs

Creating Transfer of Learning Through Intentional Program Design and Framing
Gregory Paninski

Dramatic Problem Solving
Steven Hawkins

Enhancing Flow in Classrooms Through Experiential Education
Marleah Blom

Focus Your Locus
Justin McGlamery & Mike Gessford

Going GA GA For Global Games
Rich Keegan

Got Tossables?  10 Team Building Games Using Tossable Props You Already Have
Michelle Cummings

Green Mentoring Program
Melinda Campbell & Maryam Davodi-Far

How to Turn Your Support Group from Mediocre to Magnificent
Lynne Downey, Jenni Jardine & Ian Prinsloo

Nature Experiences, Use Them or Lose Them
Francine (Frankie) Piela , Clifford E. Knapp & Mike Bingley

Raccoon Circles, 2010
Thomas Smith

Shifting the Paradigm: from Challenge by Choice to Conscious Choice – An Evolution in Ideology
Jody Radtke & Lizzy Slatt

Systematic Family Sculpting
Gary Hees

Team Interaction Mapping
Mark Rose

The Art of Experiential Group Facilitation & Teaching
Jennifer Stanchfield

The Assessing Matrix
Nate Regier

The Fine Art of Team Building
Adam Ames & Andrew Bordwin

Turbo-charging for Character
James Fish      

Mind/Body/Spirit

“Exspiriential” Education: Integrating Spirit with Experience

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Mountain Spirit and Simple Living

10/12/2009

by Bob Stremba, PhD
MSI Board Member

TV- Not all it's cracked up to be

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto the Simple Living Network and was reminded about what’s important in life. I don’t think it’s Thanksgiving day football games on a bazillion inch widescreen flatscreen high def LCD 1080p 120 megahertz TiVo Wifi iPod-enabled TV. What’s important, I’m convinced, is authentic connections to self, others and the environment, and that happens to be what Mountain Spirit Institute (MSI) is all about.

The Simple Living Network has its roots in a movement, which began in the 1970’s with publication of the book, Voluntary Simplicity, by Duane Elgin and Arnold Mitchell. Simple living, according to their website, is about living an examined life—one in which you have determined what is important, or “enough,” for you, discarding or minimizing the rest. Living in a way that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich. So I recently cleaned out some closets, donated more clothes to the local thrift shop, and got rid of more clutter. More stuff brings more stress.

Weaving in Willoc, Peru

It struck me that Mountain Spirit Institute is doing today what voluntary simplicity launched over 30 years ago. The values at the heart of a simpler way of life are…

1.    Material simplicity: Owning and buying things that promote activity, self-reliance, and involvement, rather than items that induce passivity and dependence.
2.    Human scale: A preference for human-sized living and working environments, rather than institutions and living environments that are anonymous, incomprehensible, and artificial.
3.    Self-Determination: Less dependence upon large, complex institutions whether in the private sector (the economy) or public sector (the political processes); a desire to assume greater control over one’s personal destiny and not lead a life so tied to installment payments, maintenance costs and the expectations of others.

Field/Lake near Chinchero, Peru

4.    Ecological Awareness: The interconnectedness and interdependence of people and resources. This awareness often seems to extend beyond a concern for purely physical resources to include other human beings as well. A preference for living where there is ready access to nature.
5.    Personal Growth: For many persons taking up a materially simple way of life, the primary reason is to clear away external clutter so as to be freer to explore the “inner life.” (more…)

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Posted in Books, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Inner Work, Power of Place, South America, Spiritual, Sustainable Travel, Traveling | Leave a Comment »

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