high mountain institute€¦ · touring on altai hoks—a powder ski with built-in skins and a...

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HIGH MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE

when nature & minds meet

ALUMNI UPDATES | SPRING 2020

2 | HMI ALUMNI NEWS SPRING 2020 3

SEMESTER 2This February, MARCUS WITOWSKI made his first trip to Japan for a ski trip, and ran into this guy (see picture). He had a great week reconnecting with Peter Biskind, and is looking forward to linking up with him next season for some of his guided trips. Look him up!!

—We are looking for a Class Coordinator for Semester 2! If you’re interested, email Barrett ([email protected]) for more information.

SEMESTER 4Semester 4, we’d love to hear from you! Send your updates to Barrett at [email protected]. We are also looking for a Class Coordinator for Semester 4! If you’re interested, email Barrett for more information.


SEMESTER 8As always, Semester 8 alumni have been quite busy with exciting news to report. EM POWERS wrote in four days after giving birth to Ayla Joan Ducharme. She writes that “everyone is happy and healthy and eating well.” Congratulations! It’s only a matter of time until she gets back to work as her private practice has been growing as she increasingly focuses on CranioSacral Therapy. JP BLEIBTREU, or should I say “Skipper JP”, recently got his Bareboat Skippers license. He writes, “It was the closest experience I've had to HMI but only a week long, and way warmer than living in a Quinzhee for nine days.” This May he’ll be heading to Croatia to cruise the Adriatic with Marci. ADAM KLAFFKY is still spending a significant portion of his time in the field working for NOLS. However, this summer he will also be moving into a more supervisory role. He’s living in Fort Collins, CO with his wife, Courtney, and their three cats. ODILE SCHALIT wrote in from the skies somewhere between KY and NYC as she headed home from a conference. And though Odile is modest in her update, with a quick online search, it’s clear that the nonprofit she founded and leads is doing really admirable

WELCOME TO THE ALUMNI UPDATES!Dear HMI alumni—welcome to the spring Alumni Updates! Every Spring Semester and Summer Term is up to

something super cool. Don’t forget to flip to the end of these updates to find out what former HMI apprentices

have been up to—it’s pretty inspiring stuff. As always, updates from fall semesters and former faculty will appear

in the fall. Happy reading!

Marcus Witowski & Peter Biskind (Semester 2) in Japan!

chasing his twin toddlers around. He was recently able to escape the Alaska cold for a trip to Hawaii. LIZ (BAGLEY) LEMOINE has settled into VT where she is spending lots of time with her two girls who are now three and on the cusp of one and is managing their short-term tourist rental. As for me, DAN LUSTICK, I started a job as a family nurse practitioner at a primary care clinic outside Boston. I love the mix of kids and adults, urgent care and chronic diseases. Thank you all for the great updates; I am always impressed by your accomplishments and milestones as well as your passion for all that you do. I wish you all the best in the coming year.

-—Dan Lustick ([email protected])

SEMESTER 10Hello from RMS X!!!! Well, considering it has been OVER 15 years since we were in Leadville, I’m pretty impressed with the updates! Thanks team, for making my job easy (and so much fun!!). PAUL-HARVEY WEINER (a very reliable respondent) is still in DC but has a new job, working for a firm that does energy and water analysis for the Air Force. He

work for reproductive justice. RUTH POLAND is surprisingly upbeat for someone who is raising two sons (2.5 years and 8 months), teaching high school science, fixing up her house with her husband, working on environmental activism with her ECO Team students and within the town, planning for summer camping with her kids, and dreaming of the days when they can do a family bike-packing trip. In a similarly busy fashion, MEGAN DENAULT got married last July, started working for her family business in Commercial Real Estate, started an MBA program at Babson, and is expecting her first child this July. Wow. Congratulations Megan! JOHN SHUBERT and his family are excited to be moving to Atlanta where both he and his wife have roots. He’s still working in marketing but will be at a new company. ISAIAH THOMAS also relocated. He moved across the country to take a position as the Dean of Residential Education, Housing Services, and Student Conduct at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He’s soaking up the sun and hoping to head over to Joshua Tree this summer. TED STARNS is just about to hit the decade mark as a geologist for ConocoPhillips in Anchorage on their North Slope Field. He’s been busy with his 7-year-old daughter and

FROM THE HMIARCHIVES Semester 8


and Solveig to hang out…(RMSLXXII???) Speaking of future HMI students…ALISON WARD (FRIZELL) just had a baby girl named Sadie who, by the time you all read this, will already be skiing, and EMILY CARSON and her husband are expecting their first baby girl in just a few weeks in San Diego!! MOLLY BLANCHARD got married in 2018 and is living with her husband in Houston—they are expecting their first kid in August! She has a new job with REI and continues to enjoy time with her two dogs, Burrito and Cholla. And ALI BOUCHER is still in VT working as a physical therapist and just had her second son, Forrest Irving!! KATIE CLARK is also in San Diego (I don’t know if she and Emily have seen each other!) and ALSO has an almost 2-year-old. She is completing training as a pediatric neuro-oncologist and won’t be on the West Coast for long—so catch her while you can! JENNY SHAW is closing in on a full year of living in Seattle, where she recently completed a software engineering boot camp and landed herself a new job!! JAMIE POSTER is in LA working as a private consultant in urban planning. She recently bought a house (IN LA!!!) and has invited everyone

has been keeping up with HMI alumni and will be heading to a wedding in Alaska in June, if anyone wants to join him for a solstice hike! GIDEON STEINBERG (a less reliable, but super exciting respondent) has closed his pub, and after a month volunteering at a refugee camp in Greece, is back in Sunndal teaching Norwegian to refugees at the international school. He has also started a local branch of the Norwegian green party and was elected to the town council. He’s formed a coalition government with the labor and socialist left parties and says he isn’t really trying to solve ALL of the world’s problems...but it sounds like he might be, one Scandinavian step at a time! He also now has 4 children! Sunniva is 9, Issac is 7, Olav is 4, and Solveig is 2. They keep him young and wake him up bright and early every morning! MICHAEL GREGORY spends more time in Leadville than the rest of us. He is still on the HMI board and lives in Telluride making films. He is working on a new book for the Noguchi Museum and continues work with a few environmental/conservation non-profits in Colorado. Henrietta, Michael’s daughter is also two years old and I would LOVE for Henrietta


touring on Altai Hoks—a powder ski with built-in skins and a universal binding. Lots of winter fun with our 2-year-old Teddy!

—Greer Scott Pearce ([email protected])

SEMESTER 14CLARE ASHBURN is living in DC and enjoying life in the HR world at a healthcare tech company. In her spare time she and her sister, Ali (RMS XII) coach a co-ed youth ice hockey league. LIA ENGELSTED is working remotely full time for a consulting firm called Personnel Decisions Research Institute. She still lives in Boulder, CO with her dog. She has been skiing a lot this season and looks forward to getting on her bike when the weather gets warmer. PAUL LANDSBERG started graduate school at the University of Kansas still on active duty with the Air Force for his eventual assignment to the Air Force Academy. He is studying the intersection of military and environmental history and has enjoyed transitioning to life as a graduate student.

—Paul Landsberg ([email protected])

to visit! SARA TOOKE and LIZ BUBRISKI are also in LA and they see Jamie from time to time for lunch (and the rest of us are jealous!!). As for me, DYLAN GRAETZ, I still live in Memphis and will be done with pediatric oncology training in July. I am getting married in May and am having a lot of fun traveling the world for work and spending quality time in the mid-south with my fiancé and our ridiculous rescue pup, Baloo. That’s all the news for now!! Lots of love to Leadville!!!

—Dylan Graetz ([email protected])

SEMESTER 12ASHLEY SAUNDERS is still in Texas teaching preschool. She and her husband recently traveled to Costa Rica, and last Easter she and her dad hiked angels landing in Zion national park. Ashley and her husband are expecting their first child next month—a boy named Jackson! DEXTER LOCKE and his fiancé Katie Pazamickas are getting married in October of 2021. They live in Baltimore, MD and met at a climbing gym they still frequent. I (GREER SCHOTT PEARCE) am still living in Ipswich, MA. My husband and I recently got into ski

Greer Pearce (Semester 12) ski touring with her 2-year-old Teddy in Ipswich, MA.


in England. She and David are expecting their first baby in March! SYDNEY CHUN is still living in NYC and working in Product Management. She got engaged this past August and is now wedding planning. She spent New Year’s in the Sacred Valley of Peru hiking around and checking out all the Incan ruins. LAUREN MCDONALD is enjoying life up in Maine working on vegetable farms and is getting married in August! NUBIA GALINDO married Tom in October in Estes Park next to Rocky Mountain National Park. They adopted their second pup, a Samoyed named Douglas Fir at the beginning of 2020. JUDSON PACKARD is alive and well in NY, and finished school. DYLAN STEWART is living in Portland, Maine with his wife Kati and dog Izzy. He runs Bold Coast Burns (@BoldCoastBurns) where he creates artwork for clients with a focus on the marine environment. In his free time you can find him free-dive spearfishing, skiing and mountain biking. He still finds himself in CO several times a year. CORI MCGINN is training for her first Ironman 70.3 in Santa Cruz this September. Along the way she will be continuing to embrace her new found love for ocean swimming and has been working with an organization called One with the Ocean—athletes who train hard and clean beaches along the way. She is also running her first half marathon in Zion in February. She has also gotten certified with her dog Lola as a Therapy Dog Team and they really enjoy helping kids learn to read and build confidence. TEDDY FRANCIA is still working for Peloton but has expanded her role into Production Supervisor manager a team of 14 people, and prepping a move to a new studio in Spring. She lives in NYC with her husband, Joe, and they will be celebrating 10 years together this year with friends and family and a fur baby (a kitty named Isis). DAVID WILDER is working as an outdoor educator at Sargent Center in Hancock, NH. Last summer he spent three weeks on the Appalachian Trail in ME (it was his longest trip ever!) He’s currently in Ecuador, but he’s headed back to Atlanta to run a marathon (classic D Dubs). JENNIE KRESS just finished her Master’s in Public Policy at USC in 2018 and has been working as a Research Analyst at the CA Charter Schools Association. She lives in LA with her girlfriend and pug! I, ALEX WINGERT, am still in Denver working for an Oil & Gas company as well as going back to CU to get my Mechanical Engineering degree. My husband and I have three golden retrievers and they take up the rest of my life. We try and take one big international trip abroad, this year we plan on eating & drinking our way through Italy. Cheers!

—Alex Wingert ([email protected])

SEMESTER 20HANSON SMITH is still living in Boulder and still studying math. Changes are on the horizon though. He is defending his thesis this semester! He has applied to postdocs and

SEMESTER 16JUSTIN SILVERMAN and his wife, Rachel, recently had a baby boy named Isaac. Justin finished his PhD in Computational Biology and will finish his MD this year. He and his family will move to State College next year, where Justin will start as an Assistant Professor in the College of Information Science and Technology as well as the Department of Medicine at Penn State University. They bought a farm nearby, where they hope to raise goats and chickens. JOY SHURE lives in Boulder, Colorado and recently returned from surfing in Mexico and is planning another post-ski season surf trip to the Dominican Republic. Joy works in the sports nutrition realm and would be happy to help folks with strategies and samples for their next adventure! Not far away in Durango, Colorado, TERRENCE WORD bartends at a Mexican restaurant and plans to go to grad school for Social Work in the fall. Terrence keeps busy in the great outdoors and is currently working on his mustache game (pictures regretfully not included). He plans to hike the Colorado Trail this summer is anyone wants to join! HILARY BURT lives in Bozeman, Montana and is a mental health therapist working for Montana State University’s Counseling and Psychological Services. She’s currently plotting summer excursions back east, possibly to Scotland, and definitely to Colorado for the Trans Rockies Run in August. After resisting for several years, CAM DEAMER-PHILLIPS is back in school getting his Masters in Communication Leadership at the University of Washington (essentially a graduate school version of HMI). When he’s not in Seattle for classes, he’s generally trying to keep up with his dog on Wenatchee’s trails or trying to convince himself he’s a handy homeowner (one is more successful than the other). He’s patiently waiting for Ben Hayes to come visit.

—Hilary Burt ([email protected])

SEMESTER 18YSABEL DEVITT is living in Charlottesville, VA although she has plans to move this year. After 10 years of cooking she left kitchens and works for Whole Foods —recently she’s been traveling to help them open a new store. On her days off she makes wire wrapped jewelry (@DesignsByYZZY) and hopes to continue to grow that venture. After living in New Zealand for parts of 2018/2019, HILDY SCHOTT, moved to San Francisco! She’s looking forward to meeting a new group of HMI alums out west! ALI WANG got engaged last May and getting married in August! They got a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy named Maple. CAKEY WORTHINGTON & CLARE BOALS are headed to Big Sky Montana to ski together in March. LAURA CASTLEMAN recently moved to Albany, NY after spending a year and half in Boise as a trauma therapist. Last year she also did two walking trips

partly excited for! LAUREN MARICLE is living in Seattle and working from home as a 3D artist for indie video games. She currently spends all of her spare time with her three month old lab, Pippin. She's looking forward to a summer of camping trips and adventures with her new pup! JACK TETER is the political director for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, where he leads policy work in the legislative and regulatory space, and independent expenditure electoral work during campaign season. He lives in a cooperative house with seven people, and is getting married in 2021. EMMA KATZ is living in Denver working as an emergency veterinarian. She spends every weekend in the mountains with her bloodhound, Hank! She is also 'training' (aka hoping to survive) a triathlon in Yosemite in May. KATIE is living in Connecticut working on her second year of law school at Yale, where she focuses on national security policy. She visits Colorado as often as she can and is looking forward to spending the summer in Denver. BECCA JOSEPH is still living in Boston and is now in her second year of a 4-year Family Medicine residency. She is looking forward to an upcoming rotation in Guatemala and is hoping to return to warmer weather in Boston! CASEY LILLIS

tenure-track jobs all over the place, and he’s waiting to hear back to see where he will end up next year. When not doing math, he is still climbing as much as possible in case he ends up somewhere without mountains for the next few years. KERRY LAWSON (previously Sullivan woohoo for getting married!) became a momma this year and has an awesome little sidekick, Sophie. Kerry, her husband Ty, Sophie, and two labs are loving life in Missoula, MT. She finished grad school last year and has a MS in Resource Conservation that she’s excited to use in the future, but for now, she’s loving life as a stay at home mom and living close to the Rockies! HENRY MCKENNA is still a sports writer, based in Boston. Over the last year, he got engaged with his longtime girlfriend, Lucy Sudekum. He also skied Corbet's Couloir at Jackson Hole, and has developed an affinity for trail running, mostly in the greater Boston area. WILL GYORY (Willy G) is living in New York and is smack dab in the middle of his PhD program (hopefully). He divides his time happily between physics, friends, and girlfriend for a pretty nice balance overall. But he’s moving to Texas this summer where he’ll finish his PhD, which he’s not thrilled about, but



cashews have tasty fruit and beef is the biggest driver of deforestation in the Amazon. Over the summer, he wrangled kids at Camp Lanakila in Vermont and led a five day canoe trip to the Rangeley Lakes in ME. He is currently living in Boston, working as a policy analyst for Frontier Group, a think tank focused on environmental and public interest issues. MICHAEL JORGENSEN was leading a backpacking trip for the Alzar School in Patagonia at press time, and continues to live a life of adventure. LIZ MARTIN opened her first restaurant, the Stuffed Olive, in Boise, ID this winter. This past year, SUSANNAH CONWAY, EMMA ROUSE MYERS, and ROWAN “PANTS” LARSON were married to their sweethearts! Rowan continues on in their role as a Minister for Christian Formation and Parish Administrator at an Episcopal Church in the Boston area while continuing to seek ordination. They’re looking forward to their second annual youth group service trip doing trail work with the AMC this June and keeping up that HMI spirit. If you’re in New England and want to go camping, hiking, or have a Thoreau moment at Walden Pond, let Rowan know—they’d love to see any of you, as always!

—Rowan Larson ([email protected])

reluctantly just moved back to San Francisco after stints in Alaska and Sacramento and works in the thrilling world of insurance. Recently fulfilling his lifelong dream of renovating a truck camper and driving it down the coast from WA he has been keepin it traveling, biking, surfing, and things. If you’re in the Bay Area hit him up. ZOË SOLOMON is living, working, and playing in Boulder. She teaches first grade and loves her munchkins. At least half the staff at her school own Meles. When not working, Zoë takes advantage of being so close to the mountains!

—Henry McKenna ([email protected])

SEMESTER 22Eleven years after we arrived in Leadville, RMS XXII is all over the map! KIRK SEAMAN backpacked and hitchhiked from Norway to Singapore as a volunteer carpenter last year before relocating to Seattle, WA with his soon to be wife. When he’s not working as a hydrogeologist, he’s continuing to make choices that would earn him a delta for preparedness and high marks for EB in the backcountry. If you’re ever in the PNW, Kirk would love to host you. ADRIAN PFORZHEIMER spent last spring working for Forest Fund, a reforestation project in Mato Grosso, Brazil. He learned that

at Cook Street culinary programs in Denver and is still whipping up a storm of DELICIOUS food. JORDAN LOVINGER just moved to Denver and is jumping right into the ski routine. He is working remotely for a Capital Venture company and started a consulting LLC called "Budsfeed". He's keeping up with his music gigs and trying to pivot into a singer-songwriter project. ANDREW SPINA is currently deployed and is living in sunny, beautiful Savannah. He's enjoying his job and flying a lot. Through the grapevine, MAEVE O'CONNOR-BETHUNE just got back from what looked to be an incredible trip traveling in India and Sri Lanka!

—Maggie Harwood ([email protected])

SEMESTER 26ELLEN SMITH has lived in Missoula, Montana the past 2.5 years, and she recently completed her Masters in Science degree in seismology/geophysics at the University of Montana. She is now planning to move to Quito to be with her partner and to work for a software consulting firm. She is looking forward to exploring South America! HALEY ABBOTT lives in Fowlerville, MI and is in her first year of vet school at Michigan State University. It's been super challenging, but also very rewarding. She also adopted a wonderful cat named Meena who loves snuggling and helps Haley study. Because studying is all Haley does now. ANNIE PRESTON recently moved to Boulder, CO where she just started a new job as a global e-waste policy consultant. She has been actively exploring the area on foot and on skis, while reconnecting with old friends and meeting a few new ones! DAN NORTON was living in Los Alamos, NM, working at the Los Alamos national lab, skiing and biking to his heart’s content. He’s now back in Denver getting an MS in Cyber, moved in with his girlfriend, and got a derpy doge named Cleo. KEVIN CHUN still lives in NYC and works as a Credit Research Analyst. His city living is now much better with a newly rescued puppy, Quesadilla! His time is now happily occupied with long walks with many adventures to come. MARIAH FOLEY is still farming veggies in the Roaring Fork Valley. Recently she up-graded her house's bike, kayak and ski storage to a real living room by purchasing a comfy couch, so she can actually offer a place to stay if anyone wants to come visit (shout-out to SCOTT BERKLEY who slept on the concrete floor in the fall). After finishing his second season working as a field instructor for High Trails Outdoor Education Center this fall, CHARLES NUNZIATO started working as the Riding Program Manager for Sanborn Western Camps in Florissant, CO. He is very much enjoying living in the mountains and being part of a community of passionate outdoor educators. SAM FOX just moved back to her home state of Vermont! She’s back in school pursing a PhD in Bioengineering at Groovy Uvy (aka UVM). She’s enjoying snow and views of mountains… in other words, she’s free! Also, before leaving Philly this Fall,

SEMESTER 24The XXIVers have been busy being active, studious, and making big life moves! CHRIS DUDA is living his best life applying to business schools and taking the one and only version of a Duda Gap Year traveling to Thailand while also trying to keep up with Maggie Harwood on the ski slopes in Jackson. MAGGIE HARWOOD is living in Denver and working for the Harvard Business Analytics Program while trying to squeeze in as many ski trips before the season ends. JACK PANTALENA just returned from a hut trip, backcountry skiing for the first time since HMI! He's been rock climbing and interviewing for new jobs, while crushing it as a software engineer in Denver. CARLA FRANKENBACH (Gnarla) can also be found shredding Mammoth on the weekends (even though it's nothing compared to good ol' Ski Cooper) when she isn't writing television in LA. Speaking of creative, MOLLY KNOX is living in NYC working as an artist assistant and tutoring. Another city slicker is MADDY PITKIN, she's been working at AdTheorent in NYC for four years now. She keeps HMI side of her sharp with an impressive 200-hour yoga teacher training, rock climbing, surfing and exploring the icy east coast ski scene. Up in the icy coast is CLARK SULLOWAY who just bought his first house (big moves!), passed his PE, and became a licensed engineer. Another impressive accomplishment is from SOPHIE WHEELOCK who just graduated from her MPH program! She's now living in NYC and works in health policy research while training to become a birth doula. SETON TALTY is living in DC working in environmental policy. She spent NYE in CO with Kati who she apprenticed with and stopped by PBville to say hi to Carrie and Hattie! She recently had the opportunity to chaperone students for the School of Ethics and Global Leadership on their inaugural program in South Africa. She loved traveling and learning about the country, and did we mention she has her very first boyfriend?! ARI SOLOMON is also being studious as she's finishing up her second year in UC Denver's Master of Landscape Architecture program. She's exploring the Colorado outdoors with her pup, Indy, when she's not in school. Another puppy owner is SIMBA DONALDSON. Simba has a ten month old Pitbull named Otis and is playing soccer when she's not teaching English to 3rd and 4th graders at Nightingale-Bamford. MAX ROSEN is also putting himself to work in the puppy world, raising a labradoodle puppy! He's living in DC and working in government affairs with his new wife. Another wedding on the horizon is ELLIE TURNER! Ellie is living in small town western Montana with her boo, fiancé, soon to be husband. Besides playing in the mountains and rivers, she works on a honey farm beekeeping and making salves and soaps. She also keeps up with her small farmer’s market baker/cake business (and will be sending her fellow XXIVer's samples...). Another culinary master is SAM FRIEDMAN, Sam is teaching



life and her home. MADELINE NELSON is currently living on the road as a consultant and digital product manager. She spends her weekends in the LA area doing immersive horror theatre and Brazilian jiu jitsu. DALY MONTGOMERY is living in North Carolina, learning how to fly the MV22 Osprey for the Marine Corps. She had a big year last year, including (in order of importance): finally moving out of Florida, getting engaged, and earning her military pilot wings, making her a minimally qualified military aviator. She’ll be moving to San Diego in early summer 2020, and can’t wait to live in a city

Sam had a Slearner spotting and there was a mini Philly HMI reunion with Tilda and Slearner. More of this please! JULIA RIBACK has been working toward establishing herself as a musician for a couple years now, based in VT but traveling as much as possible to share her music. She’s incorporating her passion for the outdoors by filming music videos in remote locations, check out http://juliarosestudios.com to catch wind of the Julia Rose adventures. NINA MURRAY is still living in Minneapolis and is in her first year of social work school at the university of Minnesota. Buttons still rules her


and would love to connect with any fellow HMIers in the area! ALEX KING lives in Seattle with his new orange cat named Clayton. The two of them are considering switching neighborhoods in the next few months to keep things fresh. Alex still works at Google, where he enjoys the bits of teaching and mentorship he gets to do while conducting interviews and managing an engineering resident. MADELINE POLESE is currently living in Washington DC and moving to Austin, Texas in Summer 2020 to begin grad school at UT (for Masters in Public Health!) She is enjoying work in health systems research as she cooks, and plans trips out of the city. ARTHUR WHITEHEAD lives in Golden, Colorado. He still spends most of his time skiing and running in the mountains when he's not too busy designing solar arrays for spacecraft. LUC MOSELEY has, after almost a year of living out of hostels and other people's houses around the world, finally re-settled in London for the time being. He now spends his days designing artificial intelligences for big data companies, generally while also planning his next trip(s)

people actually visit. BARRETT DONOVAN lives in Leadville and loves working as the HMI Alumni Coordinator! This fall, she moved in faculty/staff housing on HMI’s campus and has been enjoying her three minute walking commute. When she’s not at HMI, Barrett spends her time skiing, running, and yoga-ing. This summer, she’ll be in Svalbard, Norway soaking up the 24 hour per day sun!

—Annie Preston ([email protected])

SEMESTER 28Formerly MEGAN KONEN, officially Megan Crowe as of May 25, 2019 is enjoying married life. Her dog mom life is even better. She has a two year old golden retriever named daisy who loves to hike and keeps her active. ANDREA SILVESTRI is currently living in NJ teaching science during the school year and completing a research fellowship at Columbia University over the summers. She misses living in the mountains but gets outside as often as possible



photographs of his surroundings. DELANEY FEIGHAN is currently getting her Master’s in Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University with the goal of being a Registered Dietitian, so instead of turning to Instagram influencers with no credentials for information on food and a healthy diet, turn to our friend Laney! VIRGINIA PUCKETT will graduate with her Master’s in Education this May from TCU, and then she is going to go be an elementary school teacher in Fort Worth, TX. We are all jealous of her future students. Fellow Texan TOMMY H. WRAY is rounding up his final semester as an undergraduate at CU. He also volunteers in an elementary school’s after school program. He serves as an amazing role model and one day hopes to teach the children about the importance of cryptobiotic soil (#savethesoil). RABIA S. KHAN is a clinical research coordinator at Mount Sinai in NYC, working primarily with diabetic patients to see how their diabetes impacts their sleep. We expect a miraculous scientific discovery from her soon. Fellow future physician JOSH MCCARTNEY is finishing up at Denison. He is moving to Maine in May and studying for the MCAT while serving on ski patrol. He will be dropping a knee. KATIE DARROW, the star HMI alumna she is, works as a resident wilderness educator at the Outdoor Academy Semester School down in North Carolina. She will return to leading NOLS trips this summer. JESSE METZGER is living with the one and only MATT THACKER (apologies if there is another Matt Thacker out there). They are serving it up as cooks at the Peruvian Lodge at Alta. This summer, the dynamic duo will venture to New Hampshire to teach kayaking at a summer camp. Frances Snellings teaches at a nature-inspired, outdoor-based farm preschool in Boston called The Apple Orchard School, where she in gaining a deep spiritual practice in patience and tying children’s shoes. She is molding the future generation with her bubbly laugh, generous heart, and penchant for the Dixie Chicks. JOLIE BRAKEY commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. She is soon going to Officer College full of working out and becoming well acquainted with mud. We thank her for her service! HALLE PAYNE is working at wikiHow in Palo Alto while simultaneously working on her music career (follow @her.inner.artist–it’s a life changer). She is perfecting her songwriting and is compiling album that will hopefully be released by the end of 2020. Halle has also promised friend and fan girl JACKIE KUMBLE a role in her future musical as a mute chorus member. Speaking of Jackie Kumble, she is currently enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program at Columbia University. She is blessed to live with her soul-mate, a one-eyed, diaper-wearing senior dog named Bailey (she also lives with her parents and siblings, but alas, such is life). CARL ANDERSON is up in Arapahoe Basin working as a ski patroller and serving tables (and smiles) at a casual italian/pizza place part time. He is still rocking the mullet (which is often hidden under his helmet because SAFETY FIRST, D2S2). He is likely going to be a camp nurse

abroad. EMILY LUCAS lives in Woods Hole, MA, where she works at the Marine Biological Laboratory in a lab studying tissue regeneration. In the rest of her time, she continues to work with the nonprofit Apache Stronghold in the fight to protect culturally and environmentally important sacred sites from destruction. She misses the mountains, but plans to make her way back out West in the coming years! ADAM SODANO is a happy homeless meanderer. He spent last summer working in the Port Townsend, WA boat yard and has spent this winter road tripping and skiing in japan. Does he have his life together, you ask? Well, it fits in his car. RYAN GILBANE is back in Denver, Colorado after (most of) a year of travel and adventure. He worked on a fishing boat out of Naknek, AK last summer and now works for a drone analytics company. He spends most of his time trying to sneak out of the backdoor at work to ski and rock climb. REBECCA ROMAN is living it up in Burlington, VT still, home of Bernie Sanders. She is working for a non-profit conservation organization, Vermont Land Trust, where she spend half of her weeks outdoors doing field work and the other half in an office. In her free time she is skiing, biking (year round baby), hiking, doing yoga, and trying new recipes to cook up. KIKI KAUFFMAN is still living in Denver and still skiing and fishing as much as she can! She recently started a new job at Inspirato, which is a luxury travel company and it's a ton of fun! She recently chartered a sailboat and sailed around the BVIs and is looking forward to more travels abroad in the near future! ANDREW HARRIS is still livin that ski bum life to the fullest. He works as a tuner for a ski rental delivery company in Park City, UT. He’s actively trying to make it more of a real job by creating a new tuning initiative program within the company and also trying to get on Montana’s (the tuning machine company that has machines at ski destinations worldwide) good side so they’ll pay him to travel and fix machines. He skis a lot... rides snowmobiles... rides dirtbikes... not much has changed really. He’d like you all to know the door is always open in Utah and y’all should come visit like Adam Sodano has a couple times!

—Phil Engh ([email protected])

SEMESTER 30EMILY SMART moved to Denver a few months ago and works in marketing at an organic wine company. She also volunteers at a local animal shelter a few times a week and continues to make animal friends wherever she goes. Speaking of animals, SOPHIE WASNIEWSKI has been dubbed the “Cesar Milan” of Boston. She is the assistant manager of a doggy daycare, where every dog becomes her best friend and a star in her snap chat stories. ALEX CHERRY is living in Benin, working on sustainable agriculture systems with the Peace Corps (#hero). He has recovered well from his spotted fever and is back to taking amazing

SEMESTER 32EMA DOROTKOVA SHEEHAN is pursuing a degree at the University of Washington, studying geography and urban design while thinking lots about bioinspiration. She has rediscovered a big love for reading. Her message: If ever in Seattle—do call. WALKER JORDAN is in his first year out of college working as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Boston. He loves the East coast but still dreams about telly turns and cheesy mac. He’s eternally grateful for HMI and expects to visit Leadville soon. LIVIA WALLICK got a grant from the College of Letters department (her major) at Wesleyan University to travel to Spain to do thesis research on Urraca de Zamora, her thesis topic. She is looking forward to graduating in May and can’t wait to see what comes next! STEWART TILLYER is finishing his architecture degree at Syracuse in May. He is not quite sure what will come next but will go wherever the wind takes him. ELLIE CLAYTON is graduating from Colorado College in the fall and moving to Washington DC in August to work at a non-profit organization that researches health care costs to inform health policy! SOPHIE DREW is working as a lab

again this summer! MADDIE TAYLOR has returned from Malaysia (sad) and is now working for Overland full time in Williamstown, Mass. She is on the lead hiring team for those interested in getting paid to lead trips around the world. She is always looking for a ski / adventure buddy in the New England area. DAVID BAI moved back to NYC and is super jazzed about it. He is still rocking his HMI trucker hat and telling people about the time he turned spray-tan orange. RIVER LOW SPOONER started selling leather to the queers of Portland and it's been their full-time job for nine months now! Talk about entrepreneurship! River dreams of setting up a shop of their own in the next year. If you are ever stressed, bored, or just chilling, make sure to watch videos of River handcrafting leather–it’s an amazing process. BOHAN CHEN is currently working with OnePlus for future smartphone system designs. He is also working on a service design for natural disaster response system. KATIE GOODMAN is continuing to break barriers. She is a coder for Ernst & Young, and to watch her code is akin to watching Picasso paint. She also enjoys hanging out with ABBY AGWUNOBI, who is always down for a good time.

—Jackie Kumble ([email protected])



financial advising business. She would like all of her fellow HMI classmates to let her know if they are in the area; she misses you very much! SILAS MEAD is now in his last semester as a History major at Colorado College. During his time there, he has done a lot of skiing, soccer playing, youth mentorship, and some studying. Who knows what next year will bring? ABIGAIL COSTIGAN (lil $pendy) lives in Burlington, VT. She is working as a preschool teacher at the Schoolhouse Learning Center and performing stand-up comedy. TODD JOHNSON is graduating from Carleton this year and heading to Boston to start work as a data analyst at a tech incubator called Cogo Labs. He is still doing a lot of rock climbing and is looking forward to a road trip out to Joes Valley for some bouldering this spring. REBECCA WERTHEIMER is currently living the ski bum life in Jackson Wyoming where she ski instructs kids of all ages. She wrote this on February 18 and has already spent 80 days skiing. Although she teaches alpine she believes telemarking—thanks HMI!!—(which she does on her days off) is superior! She also uses her cold (just kidding, cold does

technician in a soil biogeochemistry lab at Virginia Tech and is running a lot! ETHAN GOROFF is a communications major at UMaine. He will graduate in the spring. He is in search of the best panini and craft beer in America. No luck yet, but he is eating lots of paninis and drinking lots of crafty beer. FELIX PILKINGTON is a history major at Georgetown, and is graduating this spring. SCHMITTY THOMPSON is working on their PhD in Geology in Oregon. Rob's field trips were very influential as it turns out. They are also participating in a visiting researcher position in a sea level group at Harvard for a few months. Schmitty will be looking at ice sheets and what global sea level was doing through the last Ice Age. ALEX PACHTER (lilpac) graduated from Wesleyan University in May with a degree in Computer Science. In August, she moved to Philadelphia and started her first job as a Software Engineer in a rotational technology development program. She is learning a lot and doing her best to master ping pong! ANNA ESPOSITO is enjoying being able to spend time with family. She graduated from Bates College and moved home to New Haven, CT. She works for her mother’s


ALUMNI SUMMITCHALLENGESUCCESS

THANKS TO OUR AMAZING ALUMNI COMMUNITY, WE

WERE ABLE TO REACH OUR GOAL OF RAISING $50,000+

TOWARD FINANCIAL AID!

We also reached our goal of 40% Semester alumni participation—

thank you so much to everyone who helped make this possible.

Semester 40 won the Summit Challenge participation competition

with 100% participation, a first in HMI history!

Our financial aid program is growing every

year, in large part due to contributions to

the Summit Challenge. As members of the

HMI community, you know firsthand the

power of time spent learning and living in

this beautiful place, so

THANK YOU!


a dorm parent at Landmark. After graduating from Dartmouth this year, LEXI CURNIN moved to San Francisco in July to start equity research for Evercore on one of the technology teams! She is enjoying the outdoors out there! There are lots of parks and great skiing at Tahoe.

—Anna Esposito ([email protected])

SEMESTER 34Semester 34 is going out into the “real world,” wish us luck! KEVIN GONZALEZ is getting ready to graduate with a BS in physics and has applied to a few doctoral programs. He's currently working on a senior project in the nanotech institute at UTD. CATHERINE BAUM is trying to channel Jacob Sheetz Willard’s level enthusiasm as she finishes her senior thesis in history. NOAH BRODSKY is living life to the very fullest and loving it: aspiring French pastry chef! GRACE MURRAY recently accepted a position at McLean Hospital in a lab studying Borderline Personality Disorder and its effective treatment. She will move to Boston after graduation to start this new phase of her life, and she could not be more excited! Since last spring, VERONICA JONES's life has not gone as planned. She took a surprise "gap year" and moved to Kentucky to become a redneck princess rock climber and soon to be climbing guide. She spent January exploring the limestone of El Potrero Chico, Mexico, and just moved to Joshua Tree to start a job at Mojave Guides and may or may not return to Colby in the fall. She is still making art and ogling over fungi. JACK LIPSON is firing back cups of coffee and struggling to finish his morning bowls of oatmeal. This summer he will intern for a small solar company with the hopes of one day owning his own used car lot. CLAIRE MAURER is going to Whitman College. She spends way too much time reading the news in the name of ‘research’ and spends just as much time playing outside thinking about being back in Leadville. TRESSA FALLON is finishing up her senior year at Whitman College, alongside her sidekick Lorin DeMuth! With a degree in Art History and Psychology, Tressa is looking forward to repairing furniture with her aunt this summer and moving in with her best friend and basset hound, Rose. LORIN DEMUTH is busy writing her thesis and applying to post grad jobs. She and Tressa Fallon have recently become addicted to making bruschetta. ZACK GLOSSER is graduating from Colorado College this year! He is so excited to start working as an analyst post-graduation at Providence Strategic Growth, an affiliate of Providence Equity Partners in Boston! JORDAN AVERILL is finishing up her last semester at Colorado College. She lives in a house with eight people and a lot of stairs. DAVID HENDERSON is currently a senior at Colorado College. He is looking forward to the spring Ultimate Frisbee season and hanging out with his friends during his final semester. ANYA CARTER is enjoying her senior year of college and just accepted a job

not exist!) science knowledge from HMI every day! SARAH RODOWICK is housekeeping at the Marriott to get a pickup truck to go on outdoorsy skiing and backpacking adventures. She hopes to go to law school after graduating from CU Boulder. RACHEL BEAVER just finished culinary school at the Institute of Culinary Education in Los Angeles. She is now working as a cake decorator and lives in LA. HANNAH BARNSTONE is a software engineer at VMware carbon black in Boston. She has recently gotten into CrossFit and her family just got two Goldendoodle puppies! In June, she graduated Carleton College with a double major in computer science and studio art. BEAU BURNS is working full time for WestWater Research in Phoenix, Arizona. His work is in water resource consulting. He mountain bikes and travels around the southwest during his free time. Last summer, he swam from Alcatraz to the SF bay. BRYCE ANDREASEN is graduating from Quest University in Squamish, BC in spring 2020. Recently, he’s been keeping himself busy studying and ski patrolling. He is writing a thesis on aquaculture and governance off the coast of BC. This summer he’ll be working at UBC in Vancouver. LIZA KLINGENSTEIN is graduating this May from Cornell University with a B.A. in Psychology. She's planning to live in NYC for a year or two before applying to law school. She hopes to pursue public interest law. EMILY ABBOTT graduated from Colorado College in May where she majored in Econ and minored in Environmental Issues. She took the summer off and got to go to Yellowstone and Banff. Now, she lives in Chicago, and works at a renewable energy company called Invenergy! ASHER BROWN graduated from Middlebury College in January and now he is working with his friends in Tamraught, Morocco at their surf hostel. He is filming for Redouane who is Moroccan national champion in surfing. Asher makes surf films and mini-documentaries too! ALEX WEYERHAEUSER is finishing up her last semester at Yale as an environmental studies major and participant in the education studies program. She spends a lot of time writing two year-long theses, continuing working at an environmental education charter school in New Haven, and doing a lot of work for Yale admissions as well. JESS RUBIN graduated this past year from Boston University studying Finance and started a job at Peloton Group Consulting, a technology consulting firm in Boston. IZZY PAGE is pursuing her Master of Science in Public Health and Human Nutrition at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health since graduating from University of Vermont. She plans on becoming a Registered Dietitian in the future and spending time with some more HMI buddies. After graduating from Cornell, GABE ROSENBLUM went on a six month trip in SE Asia. Now, he is living in NYC and working at the Manhattan DA office. LARA LUFKIN is working on her masters as well as working part time. She is trying to enjoy the snow here in Colorado. NICK WILDER graduated from Bates College in May. He now teaches at Landmark in Beverly, MA. He is also

and environmental science. She is captain of the women’s rugby team and is working on ice and dust research. She currently needs a job. ECHO MILLER-BARNES is enjoying her last semester at Lewis & Clark College and is really excited to graduate in May! This past year, she spent time traveling around and exploring more of Colorado and Oregon. ALEX KLIENMAN has been writing a thesis on mutant yeast. ANDREW KONING is wrapping up his last semester at Calvin University and hopes to find a job in an ICU as an RN. He is still bike racing for a local team in Michigan. CHARLIE KOCH is finishing up his last semester at the Colorado School of Mines. He will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. GIGI LAVIGNE is sad to be finishing her last semester at the University of Vermont. She recently went skiing in Colorado for the first time in several years because she was so traumatized after winter expedition! ERIC WILKE has kept busy writing, working, and preparing to graduate in May. He and his amazing girlfriend Michelle look forward to working full time in Hollywood in the months to come. HANNAH GOLDSTEIN is finishing up her senior year at Williams College writing a thesis on the role of water in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She also co-founded Ruggette, an outdoor gear company for womxn! Ruggette launches

in New York working in real estate. She loves spending time finding hiking trails in Missouri and just got accepted to a grad program at Cambridge in the UK! She misses all her HMI friends. KIRA RATCLIFFE has spent the past year living out of her car to travel and rock climb. WESTLY JOSEPH is doing a lot of chemistry and has recently gotten into pickling! JESSI FRIEDMAN is finishing up her senior year at Bowdoin College where she is working on planning climate action programming for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In the summer, she’s looking forward to leading her third trip with Overland Summers—in Iceland!!! WILL DONALDSON is gearing up to graduate from Bowdoin College in the spring. Afterwards, he will move to Portland, Main and start working as an environmental paralegal. He will make the most of the Maine summer by surfing and playing ultimate frisbee! After a summer studying glacier temperatures in the Washington cascades, INKA ZIKAN is finishing up her senior year studying math and physics at St. Olaf College. Serving as the president of both the Women in STEM honor house and the college chapter of the Pi Mu Epsilon math honors society, Inka is working to cultivate inclusivity and support within the sciences. HELEN SEARS is in her fourth and final (hopefully) year of Colby College double majoring in geology



SEMESTER 38RENNY ACHESON is a sophomore at Whitman majoring in environmental studies and politics, living in a French interest house and hanging out with Apple all the time! SKYE BRODSKY is writing a story about a seagull who watches his lobster friend get killed before accidentally eating the lobster. EVERETT METCHICK just finished a great season on the football team at Colby College and now is enjoying his time skiing. He still talks to his HMI friends almost every single day and can’t wait to get back to Leadville. EMILY FAULKS is dj-ing and playing tennis for Colorado College. She is also planning on leading backpacking trips in the spring! LEO DIAMOND is a pre-med English major at UChicago and will be leading a backpacking trip in Bears Ears for the

their first product, a pair of high waisted hiking and climbing pants, this spring! GABE NASS is currently wrapping up his undergraduate career, looking forward to the uncertain future. Also, he very dearly misses his friends from Semester 34! Some say JACOB MEYERS is still out there, and on a quiet night in the wilderness, you can still hear him howl about Cabin 4.

—Westly Joseph ([email protected])


After coming back from his gap year, STUART HARRIS began playing sprint football for the University of Pennsylvania. He is having a great time at Penn, but continues to think back to his time at HMI fondly every day. Colorado College is going great for CARTER NORFLEET. She’s on the tennis team and thinking about majoring in math. AUSTIN GRAHAM is studying finance and entrepreneurship at Georgetown while selling his soul to corporate America through investment banking. He’s also one of the leaders to reinstate the Georgetown ski team back on campus while also acting as the treasurer of the club lacrosse team. SOFIA SACERDOTE is loving her sophomore year at Brown, studying narratives of memory, trauma, and medicine in American Studies and playing ultimate frisbee with Skye! SAM LOVETT is at Colorado College but planning to study abroad in London next spring. She declared a psychology and political science major. She still keeps up with running and yoga and now teaches yoga at CC! KATE SIMON is currently a sophomore at the University of Southern California majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Business. She stays busy by helping run her sorority, going to yoga classes, and exploring LA!

—Kate Simon ([email protected])

Outdoor Adventure Club this spring! SIMON KEARNS is currently studying political science at CU Boulder and skiing as much as possible. HILLARY SWIMMER just finished working on a farm in Hawaii for a month and is majoring in environmental policy and minoring in art. LILY EPSTEIN recently joined a band as the drummer, is playing rugby at Colorado College and working on promoting sexual safety on campus. ISABELLE ROSS is a youngster, or sophomore, at the United States Naval Academy. She is majoring in Naval Architecture and pursuing a Spanish minor. Additionally, she is a member of the Women’s Hockey Team and is looking forward to finishing the season strong! LUKE ROBINS is a Sophomore Feb at Middlebury College where he is majoring in Political Science and maybe minoring in theater. He spent last summer out west working at Teton Valley Ranch Camp in Dubois, WY. JOOST-OLAN SHEEHAN has been super busy with school but still finds the time to explore the outdoors through skiing, hiking and camping. He continues to play soccer at Bates, which keeps him busy and happy. JAKE LAMAZOR is currently an undergrad at CU Boulder studying creative writing. He is reading Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda right now. He can’t wait for spring when all the good trails finally thaw. NAOMI ABLAO has been busy at CC, dancing and balancing her completely filled schedule!




plans on studying film. During her free time she enjoys drawing and she also is on the Bard swim team with Ollie’s sister! MAYA GABOR is currently a freshman at Carleton College in Minnesota. It’s looking like she is going to major in geology, but she is still undecided. Besides taking classes, lately she has been enjoying Nordic skiing in her first ever Minnesota winter! BRITTNEY RANDLE is a freshman at Spelman College. She is currently undecided but leaning towards a concentration of Psychology. This upcoming summer she is hoping for an internship but if not she will be lifeguarding at her local pool! Cabin 3: EMMA HARLOW has been working as a snowboarding instructor at Beaver Creek. In the fall, she traveled to Europe with other HMI alumni. During the upcoming months, Emma plans to train for the Leadville 100 mountain bike. In the fall of 2020 she plans to attend CU Boulder. CLAIRE GREENBERGER has been living with Emma Harlow in Beaver Creek working as a ski instructor. In the upcoming weeks, Claire will be beginning as a February start at Middlebury. ABI REIGEL is enjoying life at school and recently accepted an internship at the Climax mine over the summer! She also has a job at her school’s outdoor recreation center leading trips in the backcountry. Overall, she’s enjoying her time away from home. SOPHIE “Z” STOWE is loving her second semester at American

SEMESTER 40Cabin 2: AMELIA SMITH has been enjoying her time at Williams so far! She teaches other student's how to Tele Ski in her free time! She is also on the crew team and is currently undecided! She is trying to get a government internship for the upcoming summer! RUBY BERTRON has been enjoying her freshman year at the University of Vermont, studying public health. Over winter break she went on a hut trip with her dad and she is looking forward to second semester! ANNA MACKEY is on a gap year right now! She went and worked on this awesome little farm in Portugal then she went to work on a potato farm in Germany. She is now working in New Zealand for a couple of months and then going straight to India for a NOLS semester. In fall of 2020 she will be attending Colorado College! ROYA TOURAN took a gap semester before attending Middlebury as a February start. She had an incredible gap semester because she had the perfect mix of work, travel, and time with family. She worked at an elementary school in September helping with after-school care. Then she went to Europe to do some traveling with other HMI alumni. She also has been doing some volunteering with Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. MCKINLAY DAGGATT is a freshman at Bard College and


University so far! She is done with her internship at Green Compass LLC, and is excited to be joining environmental clubs on campus instead. This semester she’s taking an environmental science class as well as a painting class which will help keep her creative juices flowing. ALAINA MCGINNIS has been going to school in Traverse City while working at the Jolly Pumpkin! In the upcoming months she’s trying to plan for the future by possibly doing a NOLS trip or traveling. CHENEY RAMOS is currently attending Colorado College, and is taking mostly pre-med required classes. She misses home a lot, but it helps that she built her own family at CC. OLIVIA GARG is one of the many HMI students that is at CC. She joined the rugby team and has a new hobby of crocheting bucket hats. CHARLIE MACKENZIE is in her first year at Tufts University. She is loving being on the board of the Tufts Mountain Club as Ski Director. She is trying to incorporate everything she learned at HMI about inequity in the outdoors (she even held a discussion about Cronon!!). She’s met some wonderful women through the Frisbee team and is enjoying doing visual cognition research with Tuft’s pigeon lab. Cabin 4: EMMA CROLL has been having a lot of fun on her gap year! She sailed from Australia to South Africa then worked at a dive shop that specified in shark conservation. She plans to travel to Southeast Asia in spring! ANNA SOLOMON has been having lots of fun at Pitzer College in California! She isn’t sure what she wants to study but is excited about second semester! The highlight of her year has been the writing seminar she took! LIA KELLY has been on a gap year spending majority of her time in the Seattle area. In spring, she will be doing the NOLS New Zealand semester! In the fall of 2020 she will be starting at Colorado College. ABBY PATTON is in her first year at Kenyon College, involved in music and hoping to major in English. This past summer, Abby found herself close to Leadville as she worked at a rafting company in Buena Vista, CO! She is looking forward to planning new adventures for the upcoming summer! GENEVIVE CS has been living in Snowmass, Colorado with two gal-pals she met through Fish For Change. Fish For Change is an international non-profit that runs service-oriented fly fishing programs for high school and college students, and she was lucky enough to go on their first all-girls saltwater fly fishing trip last summer in Guanaja, Honduras. In September, she left to go to Nepal on a Where There Be Dragons gap semester for three months, and was immensely moved by the experience. After her Fish for Change program last summer she was offered an internship and is now in Colorado as the main editor working to establish the Fish For Change Journal! In the spring, she’s doing a WFR course back in the Bay, and between then and when she starts at Cornell in the fall, she hopes to do lots of fishing in the Pacific Northwest. KK VAUGHN is currently a freshman at UT Austin and is majoring in education. This upcoming summer she is thinking about working at a summer

camp or maybe going to intern for a nonprofit! LILY ABELL is at UChicago and is planning to double-major in biology and visual art. She is really excited to spend her summer at art school and leading a backpacking trip for incoming college freshmen! RAFI DONOHOE spent her gap year on a NOLS course in New Zealand this past fall. She is now braving the Wyoming cold, living and working in Jackson Hole. She’ll be off to CC next year and is so excited! SASKIA GRISARU is currently a freshman at Yale. She is thinking of majoring in environmental science or geology. Outside of the classroom she is involved with the schools outing club and the radio station. This summer she is hoping to travel a bit, hopefully to see HMI people before she returns to summer job as a sailing instructor in Maine! Cabin 6: OLLIE JOHNSON spent his fall working at a gift shop in Bar Harbor. He then went to Madrid and Stockholm to travel with friends and family. In February, he is going to Indonesia to go spearfishing with Sea Nomads. Ollie is also looking for his Patagonia jacket that he left at the semester 40 reunion. KAI CARSE spent his summer after senior year working as a boat captain and saving up for a three-month trip he did backpacking through central and South America this fall. He has been home for the holidays relaxing and preparing a car for a cross country trip as well as planning another 4-month trip involving work and fun throughout Southeast Asia with his twin brother and Emma Croll! JASON BERNHARD backpacked around Europe this past fall and worked on a farm in Portugal and Germany. He’s been back in Melrose working and taking a couple of classes. At the end of February, he is heading to New Zealand to work on another farm for two months. After New Zealand, he is going to be in Banff, Canada! MATT SEMEL hiked from Maine to Georgia on the AT with Ben Stein, which was awesome! He recently started college at Colorado College, where he’s hoping to study Education and Political Science. MAX LICHTENBERGER studied in Rome first semester and enjoyed being able to travel around Europe. Some of his highlights were visiting Paris and going to Oktoberfest. He is now at Tulane deciding between studying communications or business. ZACK LECHTER got certified as a wildnerness EMT in September. Since then he has worked for the American Conservation Experience, primarily building mountain biking and hiking trails throughout the west. He is having a great time and will become a sawyer before attending Colby College this fall. RAFFI NAJARIAN has been enjoying his time at Middlebury so far. He has joined the ultimate Frisbee team and skis a lot during his free time. This upcoming summer he is working for Overland as trip support! WILLIE THACKER has spent a lot of time walking lately, hiking the Continental Divide Trail and the Pinhoti trail. On the latter, he set the self-supported fastest known time, something which went well enough to the point where he’ll attempt the long trail fkt (fastest know time) come summertime. Before he does that, he’ll head out to Vermont


with spontaneous mountain runs to get in shape for track season. He is also looking forward to a gap year, with hopes of frolicking through Europe or Australia. SJ O’CONNOR has had a busy fall with sailing and school. Right now, she is planning a gap semester before attending Middlebury College as a Feb, and she has also taken up piano! SJ is looking forward to a great summer of working on Fire Island as a sailing instructor and visiting many of her friends from HMI. CAROLINE ULLEM spent her fall semester scooping ice cream, planning the HMI 42 reunion, and exploring new running trails. On 2/2/20, she ran her first marathon! This spring, she is joining track for the first time and avoiding her AP Stats homework with impromptu trips to the beach. MIKA KENDALL is ecstatic to be attending Boston College this coming fall. She led her school’s soccer team to make it to New England’s for the first time in 15 years. Mika can’t wait for a summer filled with music, friends, and fun! WILLA MCGOUGH just finished up her last winter term at school and her last season on her school’s ski team. In March, she will leave behind her adorable cows for a 10 day trip to Spain. She looks forward to playing soccer with fellow HMI 42 alum Eliza Roy at Wellesley College next year. ANNA AMACHER will be taking a semester off in either Greece or in a NOLS program before heading off to Colorado College! She’s still the proud girlfriend of her fellow HMI 42 Lucia Rae “Gucci” Ginsberg. Lucia-Rae Ginsberg has been working on her writing and a book of her poetry and short stories will be published in April. She was accepted to Skidmore Early Decision and is excited to attend in the fall. ANNABEL “CHUNGUS” THOMAS has been busy playing for her high school’s ice hockey team and working on various ceramics projects. She looks forward to summer hiking trips in Maine before starting at the University of Vermont this fall!

—Caroline Ullem ([email protected])

SUMMER TERM 2011In the last year, SOPHIE PACI graduated from Bank Street College of Education in NYC with her master’s degree in elementary education and moved to San Francisco! She is teaching first grade at an independent all-girls school called Burke’s. The school is right next to a coastal trail by the Pacific Ocean and it is beautiful!!! Her favorite parts of first grade include picking out library books and teaching about emotions. First graders give the best hugs and tell the best stories. EMMETT BARR has been traveling around Central/South America and Africa buying coffee and eating good food. OLIVIA TRIM is starting her second year as the Logistics Manager at the Colorado Outward Bound School in Leadville. She recently adopted the best dog in the world named Max and has been spending as much time hiking, skiing and generally adventuring with him in her free time. She’s also planning to run her first half marathon in November this year.

to train in the Greens themselves and also like start college or something at Middlebury. Cabin 7: WILL BROWN has had a fantastic start to his second semester at Bates. He’s had a great time being on the Lacrosse team, hanging out with his friends, and studying, but still undecided about his major. MICHAEL FLYNN worked in Leadville during the fall making videos for HMI. On Christmas, he opened up his own video business. He is currently in Los Angeles producing music videos! BEN STEIN finished hiking the AT this fall with Matt Semel. He will begin working for the American Conservation Experience this march with Zack Lechter where he will help restore public lands in the west. This summer he will work in New York before attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. RAMON GRAHAM just started his second semester at University of New Hampshire he is studying business administration with a possible focus in economics. This summer he is trying to get an internship at Lyft in San Francisco. LUKE VAN HORN has been working at Hawthorne Valley farm this past fall. He is starting at Middlebury as February start. One of his highlights from this past year has been increasing his wilderness skills. AIDAN LINK has been living in Leadville, CO working at the Nordic Center. He works long days building and tending to Yurts as well as taking care of maintenance at the Nordic Center. RYAN MCKINNEY has had a great start to college so far! His favorite classes were computer science and econ. He was also on the sailing team and had a good first half to the season. Most of his friends are kids from the sailing team since they spend a lot of time together, but he has also tried to branch out and meet new people outside of athletics and the sailing team. SAM COOPER spent this past summer hiking 600 miles of the PCT, working at his summer camp and thru hiking the Colorado Trail. Now, he is living in Vail, CO, working at the hospital, Vail Health, and spending all of his free time snowboarding! At the end of his (amazing) gap year, he’s heading to Bowdoin College! And… Semester 40 won the Summit Challenge participation competition with an astounding 100% participation! Way to go!!

—Lia Kelly ([email protected])

SEMESTER 42EMMA TOMB spent the fall of her gap semester working in Maine and road tripping along the East and West coasts. She is now backpacking through South America with HMI Gap. VIRGINIA NORFLEET misses the Colorado snow, but she is enjoying the second semester of her senior year. She’s also looking forward to hearing back from colleges in the coming months! ELLIOT COOPER starred in their school play this fall and enjoys cryptic hunting with friends. They are looking forward to working at computer camp and hiking this summer, but they “don’t have any future plans because time is an illusion.” HARLEY BROWN continues to ‘chase his wildcard’

SUMMITBECOME A

AMBASSADOR

LOVE HMI? WANT TO GIVE BACK TO THIS SPECIAL PLACE?

Summit Ambassadors play a key role in

the success of the Summit Challenge by

connecting with other alumni and raising

money for scholarships at HMI. With your

help, we can continue to strengthen our

community and culture of giving back.

INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING? EMAIL BARRETT ([email protected])

FOR MORE INFORMATION!


SUMMER TERM 2012Summer Term 2012, we’d love to hear from you! Send your updates to Barrett at [email protected]. We are also looking for a Class Coordinator for Summer Term 2012! If you’re interested, email Barrett for more information.


SUMMER TERM 2014ANNE TRAPP is currently writing a thesis on Lionfish, stage managing a production of "Gene," and learning how to Nordic ski and play Lacrosse. She is hoping for a teaching fellowship next year, ideally in Germany.

We’d love to hear from more of you, Summer Term 2014! Email your updates to Barrett at [email protected]

SUMMER TERM 2015KEVIN GEORGE is currently a senior at UMASS Boston. He is also a part time supervisor at TJMAXX, is part of his school's investment club, and is part of the Management Achievement Club. BECCA COSTER is currently writing her senior thesis at Reed, and is planning on opening a sauna business after graduation. HALEY GOODMAN is currently studying art history and eating an insane amount of tapas while abroad in Spain. She is hoping to make it up north soon to do some hiking. WILLA DOW is majoring in French and international relations and just got back from studying abroad in France. She is currently writing her capstone on climate insecurity in Africa. CLAUDIA SUPERNAUT is currently in school for special education and elementary education with the hopes of working in an exclusively special education school that dedicates to teaching students that are outplayed from general education schools. JOHN RAUEN is enjoying several months in sheep heaven, aka New Zealand. He is slated to complete an Ironman in a few days! As for me, KATIE OVERSTRUM, I am in my last semester at Dickinson and am kept incredibly busy by captaining the frisbee team and working at the College Farm. I look forward to every chance I have to get outside and explore!

—Katie Overstrum ([email protected])

MARTIN PARIAN is getting ready to graduate with a Master's in Forensic Psychology from the University of Denver. He has been doing clinical work in a jail and is going to continue working towards becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor. When SCOUT SORCIC isn’t skiing or hiking,she is travelling around CO and UT teaching Wilderness First Responder/Wilderness First Aid Classes for the winter and will head to Idaho this summer to guide for OARS on the Salmon River. She has applied for several teaching positions and hopes to hear back in the next few weeks about where she will end up! LARS ROBINSON is out in the west Texas town of El Paso, flying DHC-7 airplanes for Uncle Sam. JACK THALMANN is a Senior Associate doing recruiting at an Executive Search firm in Chicago. He will be visiting the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History this summer to see the Mosasaur fossil on display that he excavated for his college thesis project at SMU. WILL BECK is hoping some HMI friends could come visit him in Portland, OR. He is slowly aging, but the sea of middle schoolers surrounding him at work keeps him spry and mentally sharp. WILL KLEIN moved from Boston to New York City in August to start working at my family business. In June he’ll be sailing in my 4th Newport-Bermuda race, a 635 mile ocean race. GRACEN EVALL is a case legal assistant/ case manager at a non-profit in NYC that provides wrap-around services for victims of domestic violence. While not at work, Gracen enjoys living in Brooklyn and working with comrades on energy rights projects. JOSH LAWRENCE lives in Pittsburgh, PA working as a business analyst for a wholesale produce distributor. Recently though, he has tried his hand at performing on stage in musical theatre and improv, and is now regretting he did not start sooner! CAROLINE LANDY is working in luxury fashion as an e-commerce analyst in Manhattan. Outside of the office, she finds passion in pursuing more learnings within the realm of psychology and mental health. On the weekend, she loves spending the day exploring her neighborhood in the West Village! CECI MORALES has been working for the past year at iRobot in the Boston office. She works in the artificial intelligence for the Roomba. This fall she will go to Carnegie Mellon to pursue a PhD in Medical AI. Outside of work she created a campaign to close the gender gap that exists in robotics, so she has been traveling around the US giving talks for it and she’s preparing to run her first marathon in May. SHERIDAN JEFFREY is still a manager at Boston Market but is working on some personal endeavors this year and she is hoping to be self-employed soon. JESSICA FRANKEL (12/21/2010) is always missed.

—Ceci Morales ([email protected])

FROM THE HMIARCHIVES Summer Term 2017


SUMMER TERM 2018SALLY CHOPE was thrilled to have finished off her 4-year varsity soccer career with some big wins. She is now beyond excited to head to Vanderbilt University next year. MAIA VILLARICA is thoroughly enjoying her gap year in Skopje, Macedonia, with the YesAbroad Program, sponsored by the U.S State department. She fell in love with travel and is thrilled to head off to Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany, next year. SIDNEY DERZON is enjoying her freshman year at Colorado College, playing rugby and enjoying the great opportunities the Rockies have to offer. CLAIRE RUTSTEIN is excited to travel to Bhutan for her gap year next year, followed by Colorado College. She is involved heavily in activism and the outdoors, and she can’t wait to return to Colorado! TANJA JEFFERSON is enjoying traveling and can’t wait to hike the John Muir trail this summer.

—Claire Rutstein ([email protected]



looks forward to running through Leadville this summer during the Trans Rockies Run! DAVID FAY (Semester 32 Apprentice) has moved to Santa Fe, New Mexcio. After leading a nomadic life as a wilderness guide and vagabond rock scrambler for the past five years, he is transitioning to a settled lifestyle. He continues to guide part-time for the United World College, while planting roots in community and in soil. He recently got a job at River Source teaching watershed ecology. This summer he will be working on a farm, attending to his own garden and finding his way outside as much as possible. SAVANNAH JOHNSON (Semester 35 Apprentice) moved back to Colorado in June—woah! She’s based in Denver and running an accelerator for ventures in the early childhood development space but, fear not, she’s still running around the world too. She just got back from a January filled with funsies in Morocco and is now trying to wrangle Whitney, Clara, and Ari for some winter-tivities before her next adventure which may very possibly include moving to San Francisco. Holler if you’re in CO too! SCOTT SUGDEN (Semester 35 Apprentice) finished a master's degree in biology last spring and then spent the fall filling in for a teacher on maternity leave at Woodward Academy in College Park, GA. He is now back at the University of Alberta continuing his research on environmental microbiology and looking at potential PhD programs around the world. ANNIE NELSON (Semester 35 Apprentice) is in the 4th year of her PhD program in Earth Science at Northwestern University. She is studying how the dissolution of rocks removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and her research takes her to Iceland where she spends the summers collecting river water samples in the remote Icelandic highlands. After her PhD, she is hoping to research carbon capture and climate change mitigation technologies. When she's not studying or in the field, she spends time caring for her plants, and is the proud mom of an urban jungle, with over 50 plants in her Chicago apartment. SETON TALTY (Semester 24 Student & 36 Apprentice) continues to live in Washington DC but made her way to Colorado in the winter where she celebrated New Years with Kaiti Kinshella (and even got to catch up with Carrie and Hattie on the drive through Leadville!). She welcomes any and all visitors in DC where she lives in a cute house near rock creek park—come explore the urban jungle with her! SUNSHINE GARDNER (Semester 26 Student & 37 Apprentice) has continued to live in Northern Minnesota playing outside as much as possible and he also recently started a master’s program with Prescott College. Skiing and all things about winter are still central to his life yet his passion for teaching kids continues to grow. ALEX TRAUTMAN (Semester 23 Student & 37 Apprentice) is living in Atlanta with his partner Ahna. He had a great time seeing Arthur, Meena, and Torey in Boston over the holiday! He works as a software developer, plays ultimate, and has been spending time rock climbing and making pottery. For the past

FORMER APPRENTICESNEZ NESBITT (Semester 11 Apprentice) sends greetings from Keene, NH and says he would love to connect with RMS alumni locally. This past summer Nez helped his wife scout a hiking trip through the Bernese Oberland in the Swiss Alps to prepare to launch her business: mountainkora.com. It’s been a while since he's been in the Rockies but he really looks forward to getting up in the mountains. Nez says, "I hope this finds you all well and please look me up if you’re in the Keene area ([email protected])." CHRIS BARLOW (Semester 15 Apprentice & Director of HMI Gap) is still overseeing HMI's Gap program, although now from a bit further from Leadville since he and his family moved to Glenwood Springs, CO. He still takes every opportunity to be "onsite" for Gap in southern Utah and Patagonia. The biggest news in his life is welcome his daughter Aven to the world last April! After a year of hiking in lowcountry swamps in the Charleston area while completing her psychology internship, LUCY GUARNERA (Semester 23 Apprentice) received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia in August 2019. Since then, she and her family returned to the mountains of Charlottesville, Virginia, for her to begin a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at UVA's Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy. Her husband Sean is now doing illustration work full-time (check out his children books and graphic novels at seanrubin.com) Sammy is in 1st grade and Charlie is in preschool. About two years ago, SCOTT SIMONTACCHI (Semester 24 Apprentice) took a break from teaching to work with machine learning in Silicon Valley. He thinks it is a really interesting and exciting field, but he is still always trying to convince his girlfriend to get a remote job with him and move to Leadville. PAUL LANDSBERG (Semester 14 Student & 26 Apprentice) started graduate school at the University of Kansas still on active duty with the Air Force for his eventual assignment to the Air Force Academy. He is studying the intersection of military and environmental history and has enjoyed transitioning to life as a graduate student. DAVE CLARK-BAROL (Semester 27 Apprentice & HMI Director of Summer Programs & Wilderness Coordinator) still lives in Leadville and is the new Director and Summer Programs and Wilderness Coordinator for HMI. He finds the new role to be varied and interesting, and appreciates the opportunity to go back down to Patagonia to instruct the HMI Gap program. He continues to find beauty and balance in his backyard explorations; developing marginal and largely inaccessible rock climbs, and drawing up foolhardy skiing and running traverses. Additionally, he is a passionate role player in the local hockey league, and likes to buy many books, of which he reads some. HILARY BURT (Semester 16 Student & 30 Apprentice) is living in Bozeman and is a counselor Montana State University's Counseling & Psychological Services. She

FROM THE HMIARCHIVES Summer Term 2018


Wilderness Trip Programs at Frost Valley YMCA in the Catskills in New York. She is excited to lead a program that serves such a range of populations. She now lives thirty minutes from the nearest grocery store, but on the plus side gets to hire cool new staff every summer--including any interested HMI alumni! Email her at [email protected] if you have any interest. She also gets to take her HMI Spanish teaching experience to new levels by helping to recruit new immigrant and student partnerships. NISHCHAL SHRESTHA (Semester 43 Apprentice) is now working as the Resident Wilderness Educator & Math Teacher at the Outdoor Academy in Pisgah Forest, NC. Nish misses the mountains, altitude and the snow of Leadville and all the skiing, however, he has also grown appreciation for the diverse outdoors of Pisgah National Forest where he enjoys going running, mountain biking and climbing adventures. He is thoroughly enjoying teaching math at OA and is excited to explore a potential career in teaching.

glacial valleys in Patagonia with her students or finding prospective ones at Gap Fairs across the U.S, she is roasting vegetables and thinking about what song will land most perfectly at Saturday night Karaoke. She feels lucky to still get to work fellow SEM 38 apprentices Steph Subdiaz and Hayden Shea at HMI and regularly gets to see Howard Vogt, Peter Talpey and Emily Graf. STEPH SUBDIAZ (Semester 26 Student & 38 Apprentice) has taken a seasonal break from being an HMI Gap instructor to be an interim math teacher at the Eagle Rock School. After one and a half years of living out of a 90L duffel bag and her 85L backpack, Steph is settling into more of a routine than she has had in two years. While Steph loves being in the field with students and on the road, travelling, she also likes having her own room and being a part of a community. When Steph isn't teaching or planning for teaching, she is reading, trying to run on icy roads, repairing all the gear she broke in the last two years, trying to get back into making art and recently tried her hand at throwing pottery. TORI STALEY (Semester 40 Apprentice) started a job in October as the Director of Adventure and

two years, CAROLINE SANTINELLI (Semeser 37 Apprentice) has been working as an English Teacher at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs. After four great years in Colorado, she is excited to report that she's moving back to the northeast in June to pursue a teaching job closer to family and friends. Before she leaves the West, she is leading her first backcountry mountain biking trip just outside of Moab, Utah, and enjoying powder days whenever she can make it up to the mountains. Hit her up for some hikes or mountain biking back in New England this summer! BARRETT DONOVAN (Semester 26 Student & 37 Apprentice) lives in Leadville and loves working as the HMI Alumni Coordinator! This fall, she moved in faculty/staff housing on HMI’s campus and has been enjoying her three minute walking commute. When she’s not at HMI, Barrett spends her time skiing, running, and yoga-ing. This summer, she’ll be in Svalbard, Norway soaking up the 24 hour per day sun! CLAIRE SUTTON (Semester 38 Apprentice & HMI Gap Admissions Coordinator) is about to celebrate her second year being a part of the HMI Gap team. When she isn't traveling across

Semester 43 Apprentice, Nish Shrestha leads trips for the Outdoor Academy in North Carolina!

FROM THE HMIARCHIVES Semester 32 Apprentice Training Trip

high mountain institute€¦ · touring on altai hoks—a powder ski with built-in skins and a...

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