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Founders of Modern Wilderness Movement
Honored in “Clan of the Hand” Ceremony
Redcliff Ascent
Enterprise, Utah
800-898-1244
www.redcliffascent.com
By Mitch Cole, Information Manager, mitchc@redcliffascent.com,
RedCliff Ascent recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony
at the Outpost, a newly developed skills camp that
will also serve as a graduation facility and ceremonial
area. In keeping with the ceremonial intent, an authentic
replica of a Chaco-era Kiva has been built on site.
Many hours of labor went into the rock laying and backfilling,
and the end result is breathtaking: a true representation
of what an ancient Kiva was really like.
 In conjunction with the completion of the Outpost
project, RedCliff established the "Clan of
the Hand", an honor society of the men and
women who have made the most significant impact in
the industry
of working with troubled youth in a wilderness setting.
The first honorees were the five most influential men
behind the modern wilderness movement: Larry
Dean Olsen, Ezekiel Sanchez, Dave Wescott, Doug Nelson,
and Larry
Wells. Each honoree was presented with a beautiful
chief's blanket and taken to the Kiva for a special
ceremony inducting them into the "Clan of the
Hand". There, they left their handprints in red
ochre on the stones of honor inside the Kiva.
Larry Dean Olsen, a graduate of BYU with a degree
in Education, is the author of numerous articles and
the book Outdoor Survival Skills, which has been on
the bestseller list for over 30 years. He is also a
founding member of the National Association
of Therapeutic Wilderness Camps, and the ANASAZI
Foundation, a non-profit
wilderness treatment program for troubled teens and
their parents. Most of us in the wilderness field recognize
Larry Dean Olsen as the "father" of the modern
wilderness movement.
Currently Larry Dean Olsen runs ANASAZI with Ezekiel
Sanchez. Ezekiel, the oldest of 16 children, attended
BYU on a scholarship where he met Larry Dean Olsen,
who invited him to participate in a wilderness survival
course that Larry had organized. Ezekiel's talents
for wilderness survival were quickly appreciated and
Larry invited him to join him on his staff. Ezekiel
worked with many BYU survival groups, and later also
taught seminary classes at a Navajo reservation
in
Arizona. He acted as the Director
of training at the
Missionary Training Center in Provo.
He and Larry Dean Olsen established the ANASAZI Foundation
in 1989, and
to this day they are still involved in its operations.
Ezekiel and his wife Pauline were named the Arizona
Parents of the Year in 2001, and won
the Excellence
in Parenting 2002 National Award from the
National Parents Day Council.
 Larry Wells was first introduced to the wilderness
concept through his own experiences as a former inmate
in the Idaho Corrections System. Early on Larry realized
the therapeutic value of the outdoors and began to
work hard to make outdoor therapy a viable alternative
to incarceration after his release. Ultimately he became
the volunteer coordinator for Volunteers in Corrections
in Idaho. After Larry Wells read Larry Dean Olsen's
Outdoor Survival Skills, he was so impressed that he
contacted him and sought advice on how to start an
outdoor program in Idaho. He began a non-profit program
to help corrections youth and began taking youthful
offenders out in the wilderness to help them work out
their issues. Larry Wells worked with many youth programs
through the years doing contract work. In 1988, Larry
began Wilderness Conquest, now called Wilderness
Quest.
Larry Wells has helped thousands of youth achieve better
lives through his efforts.
Dave Wescott was first exposed to the Wilderness program
idea through Larry Dean Olsen's "480" course
at BYU. He rapidly developed an interest and began
helping to run programs for the BYU outdoor department
then eventually went on to the University of Colorado
where he finished his graduate work. Then he went to
Stillwater, Oklahoma to develop a National
Indian Recreation Training Program and worked
there for two years before moving to Rick's
College to head the new Outdoor Department.
Five years later he struck out on his own, purchasing
the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) from
longtime friend, Doug Nelson. Dave ran BOSS for 12
years, ran the first
Aspen Health Services therapeutic
program, and also helped create the Alta Training
Systems to develop
a national standard for youth program instructors.
Dave still runs the Rabbit Stick events
and has a turn of the century village, which teaches
skills such as
blacksmithing, timber framing, and boat building, at
Teton, Idaho.
Doug Nelson got involved in the BYU 480 program in
1971and stayed with it until it was no longer offered.
He began Boulder Outdoor Survival School in the spring
of 1978, running it successfully until he sold it 8
years later to Dave Wescott. He also began Aspen
Achievement Academy along with some friends and colleagues: Keith
Hooker, and Doug Cloward. Doug has given numerous lectures
and workshops on Wilderness Survival/Treatment programs.
 There is no way we can completely tell the tale of
all the many thousands of lives these men have touched
or the significance of the impact they have had on
the wilderness industry as a whole. The best we can
do is say a heartfelt "Thank You" and express
our deepest gratitude for a job well done, and for
lives which have exemplified service in its highest
form. The Clan of the Hand ceremony was truly a moving
experience for all who participated, and holds a special
place in the history of RedCliff Ascent.
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