We are excited that you are interested in following along with the adventures of our inaugural Andes Leadership Semester. You can expect to be updated on the progress of this semester every 2-3 weeks as much of the time students will be in remote settings with limited access to connectivity. Since this program is being […]
Written by: Pearl Just two days ago, HMI Gap fall semesters came to a close. At the end of every HMI program, students do a Solo, during which they write their Full Circle, a reflection exercise to consider what they want to carry forward with them. One of our students, Pearl, wrote the following poem
Written by: Kevin Sun and Jack Viergever Hello from Chile Chico, the cuidad del sol! We’ve just come off of our 21-day expedition in the Patagonia wild. We’ve hiked through forests, marshes, mountains and many rivers during our time in the backcountry these past few weeks. The group started our journey on a blue bird
Written by: Josh and Laria I’ve been horizontal for 11 hours and caught about 5 hours of sleep. The wind has been assaulting our “tent” for about 14 hours. It’s a good thing Flynn was running around all night keeping the tent on the ground, or it would been long gone. I deglaze my eyes
Written by: Flynn and Haley Hello from snowy Leadville! We just arrived back after a pleasant month spent under the desert sun. Since our last blog post, we recently spent 4 days working with the Front Range Climbing Stewards to improve the Scarface Wall approach trail in Indian Creek. Despite temperatures getting to the single
Part One: Enjoying Base Camping’s Little Luxuries Written by: Ky and Pearl This past week has been exceptional. We feel a lot more connected as a unit and to our environment. There were tons of new and exciting memories made. The I-team helped us get through it all. One of our highlights for the week
Written by: Lia and Emma Hello from Utah! Our group has spent the last week camping and learning how to crack climb in Indian Creek, Utah–which is home to some of the best crack climbing in the world. For the majority of the group climbing cracks is a new skill that has been exciting to
Rock Climbing Group (F-Rock) Our semester began at the Inn the Clouds Hostel in Leadville Colorado. We began bonding through games, short hikes, and laughter. All too quickly our days went from the luxury of heated rooms and mattresses to sleeping bags underneath a four person tent that rattled with the nightly wind. Our first
If you are a teenager, live with one, or have even ever been one, you probably recognize a fascinating paradox that characterizes adolescence: phases of seemingly intractable apathy, listlessness, and angst contrasted starkly by periods of intense focus, passion, and remarkable creativity. Ask any educator, and they’ll tell you that it is a wonderful gift
In the small town of Villa Cerro Castillo, in the valley below the jagged and fortress-like peaks of Cerro Catillo, we made preparations for our final expedition of the semester. Part of what makes the final expedition at HMI special is that we have the opportunity to earn “Independent Student Travel” or “IST” time. To make this
