Who We Are
Mountain Desert Threshold supports the growth of rooted adults as stewards of land and community through the practices of personal exploration, soulful questioning, nature connection, and deep awareness.
What We Do
Mountain Desert Threshold fosters healthy growth through connecting local people to themselves, the land they live on, their community, their family and the local economy through wilderness adventure backpacking, community internship and service.
Highly Skilled
Guides & Mentors
Our team has worked for industry-leading wilderness therapy and guiding companies for many years and in various capacities. Together, we have accumulated decades of experience guiding adolescents in the wilderness.
Immersive
Experiences
Three-week backpacking trip, weekend intensives, and a spring week-long expedition that involve practices of connection to self, land and community.
Ongoing,
Community Support
After the three-week backpacking intensive, we will continue to meet monthly to ensure integration of newly accessed gifts and sense of belonging, as well as community service through internships and connection with local professionals and change makers.
Meet The Guides
Topher Finelli
Topher truly believes in each human’s potential to thrive. As a mentor and guide in the field of wilderness therapy for the past nine years, Topher is one of the most experienced and tender hearts working in the field with struggling youths. With an uncanny ability to see where a human may be stuck, he inspires courage and confidence in others simply by being his wild and humorous self. Topher has been a senior guide for the Anasazi Foundation and Open Sky Wilderness Therapy since 2013, and is a graduate of the Wilderness Awareness School’s"Anake" Program, designed to deepen the understanding of the self within the living web of nature. He is trained in non-violent communication through the Arbinger Institute and uses these skills to assist young people to build stronger relationships with their families and peers. He is also a certified wildlife tracker through the Wilderness Awareness School.
With a deep respect for the land and vast knowledge of primitive skills, he walks through wild places with humble confidence. With the natural world as his co-facilitator, Topher offers those around him the opportunity to see their relationship with the land and with themselves in a whole new way.
Shane Ward
Heart-centered, curious, and depthful with a strong sense of adventure. You can find Shane wandering desert canyons and mountain forests with a sense of ease in his step and a whistling tune. He walks with grace between worlds as he brings his focus and dedication to a masters degree in Counseling at Prescott College. Shane has been a Wilderness Therapy Guide at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy since 2015, approaching the work from a humanistic view and the belief that people are inherently good.
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On the trail, he is known for wild adventure, depthful group spaces, beautifully woven stories, and perspective-shifting conversations. He embraces creativity in many forms, especially wood carving and writing, and guides with a sense of ease and comfort in multiple ecosystems.
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Robin Wolthausen
Robin has loved the mix of being with people and nature since he was little. He grew up as a child playing in the ancient forests of California and riding horses. Robin has worked in the wilderness therapy industry for over 13 years, helping thousands of clients and families of all backgrounds to heal, become whole, find their passions, and actualize themselves. He has also worked in food service, cooking, event organizing, fundraising, nature education, natural home building, construction, facilitating rites of passage and as an outdoor recreation guide. He believes in everyone doing their part to make the world a better place. One day he wants to horse pack from Mancos to the Pacific Ocean. He is certified as a Wilderness First Responder, in crises de-escalation, and in post-traumatic growth somatic therapy and is currently a candidate for a masters of social work. In his free time, he likes to cook ancestral food, help seeds grow, make beauty with his hands, and to be with and learn from people and nature.