WEA Paul Petzoldt Leadership Award Winner 1988

 

Tap Tapley is a legend in his own time.  

Drafted into the Army at 18, in 1942 in World War II, he was instrumental in forming the famed 10th Mountain Division, which fought on skis in the snow.  After the war he worked for both the U.S. Forest Service and the Parks Service, battling wildfires, managing timber, tending mules and horses, mountaineering, teaching.  In 1961 he was a founder of America's first Outward Bound program, and became an inspiration to thousands of young people taking the course.  He also was formative in the National Outdoor Leadership School, among other projects.