KATHMANDU: Nepali mountaineer and outdoor education expert Jagan Nath Timilsina has been awarded the 2026 NOLS Alaska Merit Award. NOLS Alaska Program Manager Caio Poletti Romano presented him with the honor.

Romano said 2026 was a major season for NOLS Alaska, with 74 expeditions, about 900 students and 207 instructor positions. Courses ranged from glaciers in the Chugach and Talkeetnas to tidewater glaciers and open-water crossings in Prince William Sound, and the tundra of the Brooks Range and Alaska Range. The summer was not easy, with weather days, reroutes and evacuations, but instructors like Timilsina helped the program through, he said.

The Merit Award is voted on each fall by NOLS Alaska’s in-town staff and goes to instructors who stood out in the field and in the community. Romano said Timilsina was recognized for his performance and as a role model for other instructors.

“What you do matters more than you might see from the field. Students go home with more than skills. They leave with a sense of what they can handle, and a lot of that comes from how you showed up for them,” Romano said. He thanked Timilsina for his compassion, enthusiasm and hard work, and said he hoped to see him back in Alaska soon.

Timilsina said he was deeply honored and grateful, adding that the recognition meant much more than an award. He recalled a journey that began in 1998, when he started as a porter in Nepal’s mountains. He later moved into guiding, climbing, outdoor leadership, and eventually became an instructor and adventure tourism interpreter. His association with NOLS began in Alaska in 2016, and he said it has been important to his professional and personal growth.

“Receiving this Merit Award makes me very proud, but even more than that, it gives me a greater sense of responsibility,” Timilsina said. “I know that I am still learning. There is still so much for me to understand, improve, and contribute.”

Timilsina, who runs Freedom Adventures Pvt Ltd, said leadership is not only about reaching a summit or completing a course. “It is about serving others, continuing to learn, sharing knowledge, taking responsibility, and helping the next generation become better outdoor leaders,” he said.

He thanked everyone at NOLS Alaska, his fellow instructors, students, mentors, colleagues, friends and family. He said the award is not an ending. “For me, it feels like another beginning and a reminder that there is still a long road ahead.”