Meet Nathan Perrault of Littleton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Perrault.

Hi Nathan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2010, Nick started Veterans Expeditions because he saw that the VA was not able to handle all of the needs of the veterans in this country. He used his passion for the outdoors and experience running outdoor trips to start the organization. I attended my first trip in 2014, an ice climbing trip to Ouray, and really enjoyed the ice climbing, but also the community of veterans the organization brought together. A few months later, I attended another trip to learn mountaineering basics such as crevasse rescue and rope ascension. After this trip, Nick pulled me aside and asked me to join the 2015 Denali team. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and attended several training trips to learn and grow with the team. In June of 2015, the whole team made it to the summit of North America and all of team turned into volunteer leaders for the organization. As the leadership team has grown, Veterans Expeditions is now able to run 40-50 trips per year which sees around 500 veterans outside with us per year. These trips range from single-day climbing, mountain biking, hiking, and rafting, to weekends of ice climbing, rock climbing, backpacking, etc. to larger-scale trips to climb the high peaks in North America like Denali, Mt Logan, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Baker.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There will always be funding barriers for nonprofits and, we are no different. We operate on a tight budget and argue that we run more high-quality trips on a smaller budget than any other veteran organization.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We run outdoor adventure trips for active duty military and military veterans. We have won several awards such as, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year (2014) and the Outdoor Inspiration Award (2017) being the most notable. We are known for running human-powered adventure trips around the country. Our rock and ice climbing trips around the country are our best attended and we will see over 150 veterans on 5 trips alone. These events draw a fun large crowd, campfire conversations, and adventurous climbing.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Find what you are passionate about and give back to that cause. Many join the military to be a part of something bigger than themselves, to give them a purpose and mission. Having a purpose after your time in the military is equally as important for those people and will help military veterans transition to civilian life.

Pricing:

• We substantially offset the cost of a trip for participants. Most trips have a nominal fee.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vetexpeditions.com
• Instagram: Veterans_Expeditions