About ALICE
The Alaska Institute of Curiosity and Exploration, or ALICE, is a concept to help people see the reciprocal need for our reconnection with nature. We believe that deep nature is an important teacher in times of uncertainty and the confusion of our socioeconomic reality. Much of our suffering originates in our misguided perception that we inhabit an “otherness” from the natural world. The truth is that our senses are lost in technology and heartbroken over their recent (in the terms of human history) divorce from nature. ALICE aims to show as many people as possible how important it is to preserve raw land by helping them build a personal and visceral relationship with the Alaska backcountry.
ALICE was founded by Pat Gault, a former Air Force Pararescueman and Denali climbing ranger, and Kathryn Walsh, owner of Backpack Alaska and Denali guide. Both Pat and Kathryn wanted to offer something different for those seeking meaningful experiences in the wilderness. With the endless need for mental health options and the continued shrinking of wild places, they saw an opportunity to provide people with a doorway into a healing relationship with the backcountry. Multiple studies have shown that being present in nature, with no other ways or means necessary, increases both mindfulness and emotional intelligence. In other words, if you can access natural spaces, they are a ready-made medicine—no doctors, prescriptions, or healthcare needed.
At ALICE, there are no summits to reach, popular routes to complete, or other types of boxes to check. The value of our quests is internal for each participant. We facilitate challenging routes through unfamiliar terrain that demand mental awareness. Our guides are carefully chosen to be both on their own internal path toward awareness and experienced enough in the Alaska backcountry to know when to stand back and allow the landscape to engage our participants face to face. They also know when to step in. Each quest is a journey that cultivates transformation through struggle. We get wet, cold, muddy, hot, sunburnt, we get blisters and we feel small in bear country. Our participants are at the helm the entire time and if we get lucky, the land gives us moments of transformative awe.
It is time that we stop using nature as a backdrop for our human agendas. We are a lonely species because we’ve lost our ability to communicate beyond language with the diverse realm of sensory input. Ask yourself how often you notice a slight breeze or the direction a bird flies at a particular time of the day. Our bodies evolved to feel the ups and downs of the environment and to gather knowledge from the more-than-human world. ALICE is here to teach you how to re-engage nature on nature’s terms.
Our Faculty
Pat Gault - Founder
Pat was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ and joined the Air Force to become a Pararescueman (PJ) at 18. After spending a decade at other PJ teams, Pat moved to the unit in Alaska and was immediately absorbed by the Alaska backcountry. As a result, he became a climber and backcountry skier which eventually led to jobs in ski patrol, avalanche education, and as a climbing ranger for the National Park Service on Denali.
Toward the end of his career in the military, Pat attended Sierra Nevada College where he earned a MFA in creative writing. He also began to explore alternative treatment methods for PTSD and depression such as meditation. But it was his growing relationship with the backcountry that transformed his outlook on life and continues to do so. His efforts toward finding balance go on.
Pat has explored a good amount of Alaska but feels he has barely scratched the surface. ALICE is Pat’s experiment to redefine our understanding of nature as the original entheogen—as the temporal and spatial reality that links us to our spirit.
Kathryn Walsh - Founder
Kathryn was born in Nome, Alaska. Her father’s family came from Ireland to Nome in 1899 in search of gold…and stayed. The Walshes spent their summers around Nome and winters in Southern California. During those summers in remote mining camps, Kathryn and her brother had free range with a .22 rifle and a four-wheeler.
She completed her BS in economics at Northeastern University and entertained a three year career in finance. After the firm realization that this was not how her life was meant to be lived she drove up to Alaska in the dead of winter and arrived on December 21—the shortest day of the year. She has guided a diverse range of Alaska expeditions to include remote backpacking trips, backcountry skiing, and Denali.
Kathryn has explored far-flung corners of the state where incomprehensible swaths of land are only accessible by plane, if at all. She wants to make that land more accessible to more people through a steward-based mentorship. Kathryn founded ALICE so people can find their way back to the only grounding truth she has ever encountered - nature.
Brock Roden - Guide
Brock began guiding in 2002 for a university outdoor program in North Carolina. He took a 15-year hiatus from guiding to pursue a career as a Combat Rescue Officer with the US Air Force. He has been a search and rescue instructor and evaluator for over 10 years and has performed dozens of rescue missions in Alaska and Afghanistan.
In 2019 he kicked back into guiding and outdoor education teaching snow and avalanche safety with Alaska Avalanche School and mountaineering with Alaska Mountaineering School. For fun Brock spends most of his outdoor time backcountry skiing, rock climbing, and hunting in remote Alaska. He is also a woodwright and plays the banjo.
Brock and his partner enjoy the pursuit of outdoor adventures and cooking delicious homemade food together. He is a daily meditation practitioner and enjoys pursing experiences that cultivate consciousness and awareness. Brock is certified as a Wilderness EMT, Avalanche Professional Level 1, Rigging for Rescue Rock/Snow/Ice Technician, and a Naturalist Level 3.
Rob Bowler - Guide
Rob was raised on skis and wearing a pack in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. After attending forestry school, he started his 25-year career as an urban Fire Fighter / Paramedic and Air Force SERE Specialist (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape). Rob has also moonlighted as a mountain guide throughout Alaska, specializing in extended expeditions in the Arctic.
A veteran, current member of the Alaska Air National Guard rescue force, and a Johns Hopkins Master of Public Health working in disaster management, Rob has extensive experience moving teams through austere terrain and non-permissive environments.
Five years ago, Rob began a spiritual journey to make sense of all he has witnessed. In that time, he became a strategic interventional coach and studied meditation in India. Coaching principles, mindfulness, and the mountains have been an ideal blend for his growth and healing. Rob joined ALICE not only to share the healing powers of the natural world but also to experience communion and fellowship with others. The mountains have always been a source of solace and reverence. They are home.