Ryan Jordan

Events and Private Services

Events

I’m now taking bookings for A/V presentations and keynotes for 2009-2010. I’m generally booked about six months in advance. Please contact me through Backpacking Light’s Contact Page to inquire about availability and rates.

All event packages include the following:
  • Free subscriptions to backpackinglight.com for all event participants/attendees.
  • Availability for pre- and/or post-event Q&A and/or private reception.
  • Book sales (signed copies) at discounts for event attendees.  
  • Materials and support to your event staff for promotion and marketing. 

All A/V presentations are narrative in nature and include high quality photography, film, music, and narration, and are as suitable for small audiences as for large auditorium events. Multiple screen synchronization or parallel presentations are available. Equipment used includes: high resolution LCD projectors, Apple computers and software presentation technology, digital images taken with Olympus DSLR and Digital PEN cameras and Olympus high-grade or Leica lenses, Sigma DP-series digital cameras, and Canon Vixia HD digital film cameras.

Available Events for 2009-2010
  • Remote Places. A presentation about the remoteness of wild places across the world, focusing on the Alaskan Arctic, the Tibetan Plateau, Antarctica, and the most remote wilderness areas of the Continental United States. Methods for calculating and establishing the remoteness metric are presented. The values and benefits to society of remoteness are presented, along with the threats to preserving remoteness from the perspective of resource extraction, sound and light pollution, suburban and rural development and sprawl, and roadbuilding, with a focus on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Presentation can be tailored for corporate audiences by discussing the value and context of concepts related to remoteness in the context of corporate team-building, communications, and product/service development.
  • Simplicity. A presentation that builds on the foundation of “going light” as a means of backcountry travel, but extending that foundation to a number of life and work applications. Concepts weave sustainable development, living, and capitalism with personal simplicity as a means to build social, familial, and corporate structures.
  • Wilderness Trekking. A presentation that focuses on dramatic expeditions taken during all seasons in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Focuses on backcountry skiing, packrafting, and trekking, often combined as multi-modal expeditions spanning entire wilderness complexes.
  • Thorofare. A presentation about the remotest spot in the Continental United States, located in the SE corner of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This is a video-rich presentation that focuses on the relationships between the people (hunters, law enforcement, fisherman, hikers, and guides) that make the Thorofare a tenuous “remote spot”. Blends in stories of Thorofare grizzly bears, wolves, and historic expeditions in the area with trips to Thorofare by the author, including his quests to find that magical single spot defined as the “Remotest Spot”.
  • Bob Marshall-Scapegoat-Great Bear Wilderness. A dual-screen multimedia presentation of stunning photography and video telling the story of one of the largest wilderness complexes in America, its history, and its threats. 
  • Backcountry Fly Fishing. A photographic and film tour of some of the wildest backcountry fly fishing in some of America’s remotest spots. The focus is on the quest for large trout in remote locations using minimal gear, along with the styles of philosophies of fishing ultralight.
  • Lightweight Backpacking for Scouts. A technique-oriented seminar with stories of scouts and their troops who have “gone light”. Discussions of weekend camping, the 50-Miler Program, and Philmont. Usually includes a 1-night trek spent with Scouts and/or Scout Leaders.

Private Services

Private instruction, expedition consulting and planning services, and privately guided trips are available. Rates vary significantly depending on the length and complexity of what is required, and the size of the group. Please contact me through Backpacking Light’s Contact Page to inquire about availability and rates.

Pro Bono Services

Pro bono services (not including travel expenses) are available to organizations affiliated with Scouting, churches, and wilderness advocacy groups on a very limited basis.