Paul Kiesow Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was an American

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and wilderness educator known for establishing the

National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions an ...

in 1965.

Early life and education

Petzoldt was born in Creston, Iowa. The youngest of nine children, he was raised on a farm in southern Idaho. From 1929 to 1932, Petzoldt attended the University of Idaho, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Utah but did not earn a degree.

Career

He made his first ascent of the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in t ...

in 1924 at the age of 16. He had a hand in creating the first guide service in the Tetons. In 1938 he was a member of the first American team to attempt a climb on K2. For the climb he did not use assisted oxygen; he learned to use rhythmic breathing. He and Dan Bryant, from New Zealand, were the first climbers ever to traverse the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

twice in one day. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Petzoldt served in the U.S. Army's

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to re ...

, fighting on the Italian Front. Petzoldt's other accomplishments in the outdoors are also considered major advances among wilderness enthusiasts. From 1963 to 1965, Petzoldt was the chief instructor for

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

Colorado prior to establishing NOLS, the

. Noted in his introduction to '' The New Wilderness Handbook'', his experience in NOLS, Outward Bound, and love of the wilderness evolved into the Wilderness Education Association. WEA courses, certification and knowledge are still helping many advocates of the environment learn to have low-impact adventures in the environment. (), Outward Bound, and his own NOLS. Among the early instructors in Petzoldt's Outward Bound programs was Vince Lee.

References

*Petzoldt, Paul, Raye Carlson Ringholz. ''The New Wilderness Handbook''. WW Norton & Company. New York: 1975. *Petzoldt, Paul K. ''Teton Tales and Other Petzoldt Anecdotes''. ICS Books, Inc. Merrillville, Indiana: 1995.

External links

National Outdoor Leadership SchoolWilderness Education Association
1908 births 1999 deaths American mountain climbers Outdoor educators {{US-climbing-bio-stub

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links