Elizabeth Iobst, 18, of New Tripoli, recently completed a wilderness expedition traveling in the Pacific Northwest with the National Outdoor Leadership School.

NOLS says people thrive when challenged.

During the North Cascades Mountaineering course, students did not have access to modern conveniences and were challenged to step outside their comfort zones.

Mountaineering courses at NOLS include technical skill development, glacier travel, astounding views and teamwork development.

A NOLS education stresses leadership can be learned and is based on the belief that the outdoors is a challenging environment where students will learn technical skills and about themselves.

Iobst, her eight coursemates and two instructors spent 30 days mountaineering in the North Cascades.

Travel on this course progressed from trail walking to bushwacking and then challenging alpine terrain.

In this environment, students learned to practice good expedition behavior as well as develop tolerance for adversity and uncertainty.

Once in the snow, Iobst and her coursemates refined their camping skills.

Instructors taught curriculum focused on snow travel, self-arrest, hazard evaluation and leadership in the mountains.

During the second food ration, the group moved to Mount Baker to focus on glacier travel, where they learned about rope systems, crevasse navigation and snow bridge analysis.

The group summited Mount Baker twice using ice climbing, fixed line ascension and single rope team skills.

Finally, the course moved to Mount Shuksan to further develop their technical skills and leadership and learn alpine climbing systems.

On Mount Shuksan, the group used seven fixed lines and fifth-class belays to ascend a 1,200-foot steep cliff system with full backpacks.

Towards the end of this course, students were given more responsibility with glacier navigation.

One of the final technical pieces of the course was a fourth-class climb of the Summit Pyramid.

Overall, this course traveled 66 miles on foot.

All students learned snow camping, glacier mountaineering and leadership skills.

Iobst's North Cascades Mountaineering course was full of exploration and learning.

Iobst and her coursemates graduated as competent and responsible wilderness travelers and leaders.

They join the NOLS alumni network of more than 221,000 graduates.