HMI Gap is officially on the road with USA Gap Year Fairs. We are traveling across the country to meet students face to face during Gap Fairs, High School presentations, and visits at local climbing gyms. This is a great way to learn more about the program, speak to our Program Coordinators and Lead Faculty, and get many […]
Last week, our tight-knit group said the inevitable goodbye and journeyed off to new adventures. Some students and instructors stayed in Patagonia to travel independently while others returned to college or home to return to “real life.” The last two weeks of our time in Patagonia was spent at a small estancia in the heart
It has been fifteen years since I was a “natural blond” summiting Mount Massive and experiencing what it was like to be in a (real!) cloud for the first time. From New York City to around the world and back—I have been incredibly privileged to spend the first decade of my career as an educator
As the winter dawns over Leadville, Colorado, we here at HMI decided to do something other than stay inside all day or freeze outside. On Saturday night we had Prom. The outfits ranged anywhere from super formal to sweatpants. The night was a hit with dancing, limbo, and musical chairs. On Sunday, we hosted a community appreciation
This essay was written in response to the prompt: “Cultivating a sense of ‘enough’ in a culture of more.” I owe the inspiration and space to let my creative juices flow to the young ladies of Semester 33 who were in my third expedition group. Today is clean underwear day and I am pretty excited.
“Slush Recycle” is a term that Justin, one of our instructors, coined on our most recent backpacking and climbing trip through Parque Patagonia and Reserva Jeinimeni. Walking around in wet boots is not as bothersome as it may sound; eventually, the water warms up, and you get to walk around on two small water beds.
Earlier this fall, Aaron Pomerance from Alpenclimb talked with Head of School Danny O’Brien about the role of outdoor adventure in education. Alpenclimb is an online community that makes the outdoors more accessible to those looking to adventure and go outside. Here’s some of what Danny had to say in his conversation with Aaron: “O’Brien
Group A had a blast in the canyons! After a fun-filled bus ride, we headed into this new environment. Even though it rained, we stayed in high spirits through constant singing. We also got to rappel into the canyon. Our layover days were filled with reading Into the Wild, doing our science field study, as well
These past three weeks have flown by and were packed with activity and adventure in Utah. After settling into the Castleton Tower campground, we began our service project with the Front Range Climbing Stewards rebuilding and maintaining the trail up to Castleton Tower. We split into three groups and each group worked on a different
This week has been very busy academically in preparation to leave for essentially three weeks (third expedition closely followed by Thanksgiving break!). Jacob’s history classes recently finished essays about the Revolutionary period last week—helped exponentially by Jacob’s periodic serenading with his own historical lyrical genius: songs such as “It’s All Over Now, For Me and
