Tales of the Untamed · Field Journal

Field reports, after-action reviews, and leadership essays from the ground.

Long-form writing from the people who actually run our expeditions. AARs from the Cordillera Blanca and Florida cave country. Essays on decision-making under fatigue. The honest debrief — not the highlight reel.

Read the latest Get the readiness PDF
SECTION 01
Latest field report
SECTION 02
After-action reviews
SECTION 03
Leadership essays
SECTION 04
Readiness & preparation
SECTION 05
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01 // Featured Field Report

The most recent debrief from the field.

FIELD REPORT · CORDILLERA BLANCA, PERU · 14-DAY INTERNATIONAL EXPEDITION

Day 3, 16,400 ft: How we made the call to turn back.

A six-participant cohort. A weather window closing faster than the forecast predicted. One participant whose SpO2 wasn't recovering between rest cycles. This is the actual decision tree we ran — written by the lead guide who called it — and what every cohort member said about it at the AAR seven days later.

Includes the inReach log, the go/no-go criteria we set at base camp, and the conversation we had at the evening debrief that night. No hero narrative. No "we summited anyway." Just the call.

// EXPEDITION LOG · EXCERPT
DATE    : D+3 0612 LOCAL
ELEV    : 4,998 m
WX      : WIND 45kt G62 / CEIL DROPPING
TEAM    : 6 PAX / 2 GUIDES
SPO2    : PAX-04 @ 78% / NO REC AT 20MIN
CALL: DESCEND TO C1.
REASON: PAX-04 ACUTE + WX WINDOW CLOSED.
// STANDARD HELD.

02 // After-Action Reviews

AARs from the last four cohorts.

Every expedition ends with a structured debrief inside seven days. These are the written versions — what worked, what didn't, what the participants said when nobody was holding a camera. The same format Derek learned in the military and refused to leave behind.

AAR · 10-DAY DOMESTIC

Colorado alpine traverse: what 4 days of weather delay actually teaches a cohort.

The objective changed three times. The cohort tightened anyway. A breakdown of how we re-planned in real time and why the participants rated the trip higher than the original itinerary would have scored.

12 MIN READ READ AAR →
AAR · ETP WEEKEND

North Florida ETP, Cohort 04: the participant who almost didn't pass the fitness baseline.

A 47-year-old engineering manager arrived 30 lbs over his goal and barely cleared the ruck standard. By Sunday night he was the cohort's de facto navigator. What the rest of the group said about him at the debrief.

9 MIN READ READ AAR →
AAR · CAVE OPS

Ginnie Springs EPC: the gas-management mistake we caught at the planning table.

An honest near-miss writeup — caught in dry planning, never executed underwater. Why we publish these and what it costs us professionally to be this transparent about them.

14 MIN READ READ AAR →
AAR · 14-DAY INTERNATIONAL

Belize jungle-to-reef: when two cohort members had a real conflict on day 6.

Two high-performers, both used to being in charge. A conversation around the evening fire that neither of them volunteered for. How we facilitated it and what changed in the team dynamic from day 7 forward.

16 MIN READ READ AAR →

03 // Leadership Essays

Long-form writing on decisions, standards, and the work of leading people.

Written by Derek, the lead guides, and occasionally a participant whose AAR was too good to leave in a private channel. Not motivational. Not corporate. Aimed at the disciplined reader who's already done the easy thinking.

ESSAY · BY DEREK MORRIS
22 MIN

The capability-over-comfort manifesto.

Why I left a comfortable engineering career to build an expedition organization. What I saw in the military and on the mountain that nobody is honest about in the corporate retreat market. The long version of the line we lead every conversation with.

Read the essay →
ESSAY · BY ADAM
17 MIN

Risk management is not risk avoidance.

A breakdown of how Untamed Tribe builds Emergency Action Plans, what "acceptable risk" actually means on an expedition, and why telling participants exactly what could go wrong is part of how we keep things from going wrong.

Read the essay →
ESSAY · BY DEREK MORRIS
14 MIN

What the corporate offsite gets wrong — every time.

Trust falls. Ropes courses. Catered lunch at the lodge. A direct comparison of what a five-day leadership intensive looks like at a hotel vs. at 12,000 ft — and why simulated adversity produces simulated growth.

Read the essay →
ESSAY · BY SAM
11 MIN

Re-entry: the week after an expedition ends.

Nobody talks about the Tuesday morning after you come home. The grief. The flatness of the inbox. Why we built the 7-day post-expedition AAR call into the program — and what alumni consistently say about the 30-day window after.

Read the essay →