The High Mountain Institute (HMI) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

educational organization located in

Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

. Founded in 1995 by Molly and Christopher Barnes, HMI focuses on educating teenagers through interaction with the natural world of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, South America. The school offers semester and summer programs for high school students,

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

programming for high school graduates, and short programs for middle school students and adults.

History

The High Mountain Institute is founded in Leadville, Colorado in 1995 by Christopher Barnes and Molly Peterson--soon to be Molly Peterson Barnes. The couple had met as wilderness instructors at Deer Hill Expeditions and spent the early 1990s working in independent schools including the Orme School and

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and out ...

organizations including the

National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions an ...

. Over that period, Barnes and Peterson conceived of what would become HMI--a

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

semester school A semester school is a school that complements a student's secondary education by providing them with the opportunity to step out of their regular school for half an academic year and step into a uniquely different educational setting while continu ...

that incorporates community and wilderness

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

central to the outdoor education industry. Encouraged to act sooner rather than later by

Peter Neill Peter Neill is an author and an editor on environmental and ocean issues, and the founding Director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place for education and information exchange on the health of the ocean. Previously President of the So ...

, who went on to become the founding

Chair of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of HMI, the Barneses incorporated HMI as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, purchased land in Lake County, CO, and broke ground on their new school in 1997. The High Mountain Institute officially opened its doors in fall 1998 with a cohort of 21 students forming the inaugural HMI Semester--then called the Rocky Mountain Semester. 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. The school has also added new programming including gap semesters for high school graduates, summer programs for middle and high school students, and

avalanche safety An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ea ...

and

wilderness medicine Wilderness medicine is a rapidly evolving field and is of increasing importance as more people engage in hiking, climbing, kayaking, and other potentially hazardous activities in the backcountry. The modern definition of wilderness medicine is "m ...

courses for adults. After co-leading the school together for fifteen years, Molly and Christopher Barnes departed HMI in 2013 and proceeded to sail around the world for three years with their two sons.

HMI Semester

The HMI Semester is the founding program of the High Mountain Institute and has operated continuously since fall 1998. The program is a single-semester

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

experience for high school juniors and seniors that combines

academics with extended backpacking and

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste ( Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which ...

expeditions. The student body, composed of 48 students, turns over every semester as graduating students return home to their four-year high schools and a new cohort arrives. Students enroll from various educational backgrounds including public schools,

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

, and boarding schools. As with all semester schools, the purpose of the HMI Semester is to offer a high school study away experience akin to a college study abroad semester where students learn by "stepping outside of their comfort zones". Students enroll in classes that largely align with the typical junior year

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; plural, : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to ...

. Admission to the HMI Semester is selective as the program receives approximately twice as many applications as spots. The HMI Semester is accredited by the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boa ...

and is a member of the Semester Schools Network, an affiliation of eleven established high school semester schools.

Wilderness

HMI Semester students partake in two or three wilderness expeditions in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and the canyons of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, specifically

Bears Ears National Monument Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land s ...

. Expeditions last from ten to eighteen days; students spend a total of five weeks in the wilderness over the course of the seventeen-week semester. Students backpack while on expedition, carrying their gear and food on their backs and covering three to seven miles on foot on any given day. Spring semester students participate in a twelve-day winter expedition on telemark skis. During this trip, students pull sleds behind them as they ski and construct quigloos for shelter. While on wilderness expedition, students complete academic assignments, learn backcountry survival skills, and study leadership theory and ethics.

Residential life

HMI students live in

off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...

cabins with

solar-powered Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...

lights and wood-burning stoves. In keeping with the school's philosophy of

collective responsibility Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...

, students are expected to complete daily chores that include cooking, cleaning, and chopping wood. Students participate in daily morning exercise and train to run ten miles at the end of the semester. Students visit the nearby town of

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

regularly and participate in volunteer trail maintenance on a local

fourteener In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...

HMI Gap Students Backpacking in Parque Patagonia - Edited

HMI summer term

Created in 2011, the HMI Summer Term is a five-week summer program for high school students. The program combines extended wilderness expeditions with field studies based on HMI's campus. About 30 students participate each summer.

HMI gap semesters

The High Mountain Institute offers gap semesters for high school graduates, ages 17-22. These programs take students on a three-month experiential and expeditionary semester through Patagonia and the American West. Students can earn college credit through

Western State Colorado University Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

and

Colorado Mountain College Colorado Mountain College (CMC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in western Colorado. Founded in 1965, the institution offers numerous associate degrees, seven bachelor's degrees and a variety of career-technical certificates ...

References

External links

Official website
*Th
Semester School Network
an affiliation of eleven established high school semester schools Semester schools Education in Colorado Education in Lake County, Colorado Alternative schools in the United States Schools in Colorado Buildings and structures in Lake County, Colorado {{Coord, 39.23836, -106.36901, format=dms, display=title, type:edu_region:US-CO