The High Mountain Institute was founded in 1995 by Christopher and Molly Barnes. Experienced in classroom and outdoor education, Christopher and Molly realized that no opportunity existed to combine the two pedagogies during the academic year. As such, the two set out to create HMI, the place “where nature and minds meet.” The High Mountain Institute opened its doors in fall 1998 with a cohort of 21 students forming the inaugural HMI Semester. Enrollment grew steadily in the following years, reaching 48 students in 2014 where it has held since. The HMI campus has also grown, doubling in size from 40 to 80 acres in 2011, and increasing in number of academic, facilities, and residential buildings. After co-leading the school together for nearly twenty years, Molly and Christopher Barnes departed HMI in 2013, entrusting the school to the board of trustees.