The High Mountain Institute (HMI) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

educational organization located in

Leadville, Colorado Leadville ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, Lak ...

. 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 Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

and

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, 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 a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

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, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

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 (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

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 continui ...

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, who went on to become the founding

Chair of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 grou ...

of HMI, the Barneses incorporated HMI as a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

, 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 triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, other animals, and ...

and

wilderness medicine Wilderness medicine is a medical specialty concerned with medical care in remote, wilderness and expedition environments. The specialty includes prior planning, public health issues, a number of sub-specialties as well as responding to emergencie ...

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. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

experience for high school juniors and seniors that combines

academics with extended

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

and

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, freeriding 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 s ...

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 Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s, and boarding schools. As with all

s, 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 zone comfort zone is a familiar psychological state where people are at ease and (perceive they are) in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. Judith Bardwick defines the term as "a behavioral state where a p ...

s". Students enroll in classes that largely align with the typical junior year

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

. 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, board ...

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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and the canyons of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 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 ...

cabins with

solar-powered Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to conve ...

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

collective responsibility Collective responsibility or collective guilt is the responsibility of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed institutions, e.g., b ...

, 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 Leadville ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, Lak ...

regularly and participate in volunteer trail maintenance on a local

fourteener In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener (also spelled 14er) 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 Co ...

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 (WCU or Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 3,000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergradua ...

and

Colorado Mountain College Colorado Mountain College (CMC) is a Public college, public community college with multiple campuses in western Colorado, and headquartered in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1965, the institution offers numerous associate degrees, eigh ...

References

External links

Official website
*Th
Semester School Network
an affiliation of eleven established high school semester schools {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocky Mountain Semester 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