Hobart and William Smith Colleges

13 February 2007 Wilderness Education group honors Alumnus Powers

Phil Powers '83 recently received the 2007 Paul K. Petzoldt Award from the Wilderness Education Association.

The association annually recognizes and acknowledges outstanding achievements in outdoor leadership with this award, named after one of those who founded the group in 1977.

Powers, a history major and member of the track team while at HWS, joined the American Alpine Club as executive director in May 2005. His experience in outdoor leadership includes 17 years as a course leader, chief mountaineering instructor and development/partnerships director with the National Outdoor Leadership School, where he learned and taught outdoor skills within the basic framework developed by Petzoldt, who died in October 1999.

Powers has led dozens of expeditions to South America, Alaska and Pakistans Karakoram Range, including ascents of K2 and Gasherbrum II without supplemental oxygen. He made the first ascent of the Washburn Face on Denali and named it in honor of longtime AAC member Bradford Washburn, whose photos contributed significantly to the planning and route research of Powers many Alaska climbs.

He is author of two books, Winter Mountaineering and Climbing: Expedition Planning. He can be heard paying tribute to Petzoldt on National Public Radios This I Believe series in his essay, The Practice of Slowing Down, which conveys lessons for everyday life. Read it or hear it at Essay

Powers' award will be presented at the 2007 National Conference on Outdoor Leadership at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colo., when he will also deliver the keynote address.

Details on the Wilderness Education Association are available by visiting WEA. Details on The American Alpine Club are available by visiting Alpine Club