Christopher Barnes

Christopher Barnes brings over three decades of institutional leadership, educational strategy, and wilderness experience to NOLS. A NOLS alumnus (ADV 1983) and former field instructor (1992-1994), Christopher co-founded the High Mountain Institute with Molly Barnes, spending nearly two decades integrating rigorous academics with wilderness expeditionary learning. He later served as Head of School at Midland School (Los Olivos, CA) and Interim Head of School at Tahoe Expedition Academy (Truckee, CA). An active participant in the Wilderness Risk Management Conference for over a decade, his expertise spans risk mitigation, outdoor program design, and organizational strategy, grounded by personal expeditionary experience that includes co-leading a 36,000-nautical-mile ocean sailing voyage. Christopher holds a B.A. in Physics with a minor in Norwegian Studies from Colorado College. For Christopher, his NOLS course as a teen led to a life of relishing good telemark power turns, cooking great meals from what is at hand, and a deep belief that the answer to life’s greatest questions just might be “All EB, all the time…”