We need you there and you will love it!

Here’s the deal: Since our start in 2022, Reno Inspiring Connections Outdoors (Reno ICO) has been wildly successful in getting participants out into the wilds on glorious and safe adventures.  Each year the number of trips, partner organizations, and participants increases. Our current need is trip leaders and volunteers for hikes, snowshoe trips, backpacking and camping trips. We need you at our leadership training retreat! And no experience is necessary – Just a willingness to learn what it is all about, join trips, and help out as you gain your own outdoor skills and experience. 

The Reno ICO Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT) is being recognized nationally by the Sierra Club as a top-notch experience for all who attend and an effective training method for trip leaders. Those who attend our leadership training retreats love them and some return year after year. So consider joining us on the weekend of December 5-7th and help Reno ICO continue to grow our impact!

We run the Outdoor Leadership Training as a weekend retreat. We begin with dinner on Friday evening and become a deep team with everyone being a learner, and everyone being a teacher. The event takes place at the Sierra Club’s 91-year old Clair Tappaan Lodge at the top of Donner Summit, with great food, a big fire place, and lots of room for sleeping. Days are filled with activities to learn about guiding safe and engaging trips with Reno ICO partner groups. One of the most enjoyed parts of the weekend is a snowshoe hike at the crest of the Sierra Nevada in which we simulate an ICO trip.  Another popular activity is working in small groups to envision and plan a trip in small groups. Several of these trips that were planned during retreats have taken place in the following months.

AND… It is all free! Starting with dinner on Friday night, you will enjoy family style meals throughout the weekend prepared by a professional chef.  We will sleep in beds in our own sleeping bags. Upon request, Reno ICO will supply you with a sleeping bag. We supply the snowshoes, and if you need boots or warm and waterproof clothing, we supply that too.  Reno ICO runs all trips and activities so there are no barriers to access and to ensure everyone is safe and has a good time. 

Here are some resources you can review to get a better idea:

• The schedule for the December 5^th-7^th Reno ICO Leadership Retreat.
• A Reno ICO Film Festival Invitation, which takes place on Saturday night, December 6^th.
• An article about the 2024 Leadership Retreat so you get a deeper sense of what goes on.

Who is invited? Basically everyone who wants to promote the ICO Vision:

• Current ICO volunteers and trip leaders who want to reinvigorate and foster our movement. (Even those who have attended past retreats!)
• People with an interest in safe and powerfully impactful outdoor adventure.
• Those who have no outdoor experience and want to get started in a supportive and warm environment.
• We have reserved 10 of the 25 slots for high school and post-high school youth who have been on an ICO hiking, snowshoeing, or whitewater rafting trip and want to develop their leadership skills. If youth are under 18, either their group leader or a parent must be present for the weekend.
• Experienced backpackers, whitewater rafters, rock climbers, mountain bikers and others who have begun to value the outdoor lifestyle.

Click here to download a registration form. You can either print it out or make an electronic copy and fill it out online.  Please return the filled-out form to shannamae.slight@gmail.com. 

Questions? Contact Reno ICO Volunteer Coordinator, Shanna Mae Slight at shannamae.slight@gmail.com