NEDERLAND - The Nederland Area Seniors (NAS) host many events at the Nederland Community Center, aimed at keeping aging adults in the Peak to Peak area healthy and sociable. There are, for example, weekly lunches, movie matinees, pickleball, and yoga.

And now, an event to be held the second Wednesday of every month will help to stimulate minds with exciting and often educational romps into new worlds beyond Nederland, and beyond Colorado.

On Wednesday, April 9, the first meeting of the NAS Travel Club met at 1 p.m. in the Senior Lounge right inside the Nederland Community Center.

The club, created by NAS and Nederland Lion’s Club member Jim Navratil, is set to feature a guest speaker each month who will present photos, videos, and memorabilia from their trips to various locations around the world.

John Mattson, local photographer and author of Dancing on the Edge of an Endangered Planet, was the guest speaker at the premiere of this new monthly gathering. Mattson’s beautiful photographs of stunning mountain landscapes have been entered into Nederland’s Art at the Center exhibition many times.

Just as Mattson’s memoir features funny and inspiring tales from his real-life adventures engaging in extreme sports across six different continents, Mattson delivered for a full crowd exciting, and sometimes harrowing, true tales from his kayaking and backpacking trips across Nepal back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

“I was fortunate to discover Nepal when I was still young enough to really enjoy it,” Mattson said, introducing himself and beginning to click through several slides showcasing his journey. “I love that country, I’ve been there three times. If you like to backpack it’s the perfect place.” 

Mattson’s photography highlighted smiling and curious local youth who couldn’t keep themselves from playing with the group’s kayaks. It showed the stark yet charming villages and campsites among the mountains and streams that Mattson and his crew were out adventuring in. 

Mattson told the crowd about how he traded his skis for a kayak back in the early 1980s after a friend had talked him into getting his feet wet by kayaking the Grand Canyon.

“I got addicted,” he confessed, and noted that he would be stuck on the sport for the next 20 years of his life. 

The group Mattson kayaked with traveled around Nepal in small planes and took bus rides through the precarious mountain paths, some of which were more frightening than the mountain crags they climbed or the foaming streams they kayaked. 

“This is probably the most dangerous thing in all of Nepal,” Mattson said, showing off a photo of himself and his crew climbing onto the roof of a rickety bus. “You’re on this narrow road and you’re on top of the bus, just lurching back and forth, and you look down at the bottom of the canyon and you can see the skeletons of three or four buses.” 

Porters and sherpas led the young adventurers from point to point as they kayaked challenging rivers, such as the Humla Karnali in Western Nepal, then camped on the riverbanks to rest between runs.

Mattson's skill at storytelling, coupled with his striking photography of such humbling natural scenes as Mount Everest and Ama Dablam, helped to transport those in attendance to the raging rapids and the icy pathways of the jagged, snow-covered mountains that he so bravely trekked. 

The next meeting of the NAS Travel Club will feature a guest speaker talking about their trip to Greece, and will be on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in the Senior Lounge at the Nederland Community Center at 750 Highway 72. 

For more information about Nederland Area Seniors and their In-Person meal programs, visit https://mountainpeaklife.org.

If you are interested in attending a lunch, email info@mountainpeaklife.org or call 303-258-0799. Please RSVP the Monday before lunch by 5 p.m. A $5 donation is suggested for all those aged 60 or older; guests under 60 pay $15.06.

For more about John Mattson’s adventures around the world, and more of his beautiful photography, check out his memoir, Dancing on the Edge of an Endangered Planet and visit: https://danceonedge.com .