Lander, WY – It’s never been a better time to be an Outdoor Leader, or, even better, Professional Instructor at Wyoming Catholic College. For as WCC and its arms, the Outdoor Leadership Program and COR Expeditions have grown, both in size and reputation, it just so happens that the leaders who put on these trips have been increasing in reputation themselves. Now, we thought it would be at best decades before businesses started taking notice of this, but the reputation of WCC’s outdoor trip arms has been so great, apparently, that gear companies are lining up to sign endorsement deals with the school’s Outdoor Leaders.
Jack Bernard, a 20-year old junior and a professional instructor for COR Expeditions and the OLP, for example, was revealed this week to have signed a “lucrative contract to appear in promotions for Patagonia expedition gear”. Bernadette Heithoff, another junior, recently appeared in a TV-spot advertising and endorsing Timberland hiking boots while a sophomore, Charlie Cudd, is set to appear in advertisements for Columbia fishing rods.
“We’re very impressed with out students and especially our student leaders,” says the director of COR Expeditions and the OLP, Dr. Matt Remmiz. “Even I, who have decades of experience on ski patrols, on a rescue team, and as a raft guide, haven’t been asked to even be in a radio commercial once. Well, let me tell you about the one time that almost happened. I was working in…”
While individual contracts and deals are, of course, private, IIT intelligence sources were able to estimate that between twelve and fifteen WCC Outdoor Leaders have signed endorsement deals, and there is heavy competition among companies to sign deals with the top leaders, such as Jack and Theo, who are estimated each to have between five and ten pending endorsement deals.