Hello from the desert! Since transitioning from the mountains overlooking Moab, Utah, we headed down to Indian Creek, the mecca of sandstone crack climbing. After one week there, and a short canyoneering adventure, we finished our time in Utah camped by the Colorado River north of Moab. We have been focusing on learning traditional rock climbing […]
Coming to the La Sal Mountains overlooking Moab, Utah, we were promised relief from the bitter cold clutches of the Sawatch Range in Leadville. Instead, we went from balmy 37 degree weather to freezing teen-temps, suited for an ice box. An icebox is in fact, an excellent description of the campsites we occupied, which for
Hello there, parents, grandparents, friends, future gap students, and to anyone else reading! We just got back from our first expedition in the Sawatch Range outside of Leadville. We hiked around thirty miles over the span of eight days, with two days of climbing at a high alpine crag. We started the trip in unusually
The daughter of a family friend is graduating high school this year. Now, at the end of an extraordinarily successful high school career, her voice deepens with cynicism: “I just want to get it over with so I can start working to pay it off.” This defeatism is unlike what I remember feeling as a
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
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
“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.
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
Upon returning from our two weeks of backpacking and climbing in the Sawatch, we had two short days at the HMI campus in Leadville where we geared up and packed everything we would need for our month-long stay in Utah. It was exciting and also a little nerve-wracking meticulously calculating and planning our menu and shopping list
