Major bummer. Well-known NOLS leader, climbing guide and
activist Jim Ratz died in a fall in Sinks Canyon, Wyoming. The
52-year old mountaineer was off climbing by himself and was rappelling a rock face when the accident occured. No
witnesses saw the fall. Ratz was a legendary advocate of the outdoors. He was also a co-owner of
Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, a company almost all major climbers know
well, and he served as the executive director of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) from 1984 –
1995.