Semester Overview

Schedule Overview- This document is meant to advise interested applicants of what to expect during a typical semester as an apprentice at HMI. It includes an overview of the wilderness, academic, and residential experience.

Wilderness

Apprentices spend a brief amount of time on campus before heading into the field for a twelve-day training trip to the Sawatch or Collegiate Peaks (fall) or a six-day winter training trip in addition to day trips to the local ski resort and the backcountry (spring). During this time, apprentices get a sense of the wilderness skills progression as it is taught on expeditions at HMI. They will practice teaching the HMI wilderness curriculum, improve their navigation skills, and hone their basic camping techniques. After the training trip, meetings will occur for a week before the students arrive.

Orientation and Expedition Prep

Students arrive and are on campus for only three days before the first expedition. They are oriented to HMI schedules, classes and expectations and then pack and prepare for the field.

First Expedition

This twelve-day trip takes place in mountain ranges near Leadville in the fall, and in the canyons of Utah* in the spring. Expedition groups typically consist of ten students and four instructors (two faculty and two apprentices). These instructor teams will all function a little differently, but for the most part the teaching, leading, cooking etc. will be split among all members of the team. During each travel day, the group is split into multiple hiking groups which allow students to practice their navigation and leadership skills in smaller groups. Faculty and apprentices will be divided according to comfort level and experience (ie. after a few days, if apprentices are comfortable and competent at map reading, they may hike alone with 3-5 students). In camp, students are divided into tarp groups with three to four students sleeping and cooking together while the instructors have their own tarp group.

Second Expedition

Service Trip (fall only)- As the aspens begin to turn gold, we head out for the second expedition. HMI has a partnership with the Forest Service which allows us to maintain trails leading to highly impacted peaks in the area (Mt. Massive, Mt. Elbert, Yale and Harvard Peaks). Expedition groups travel to a base camp where they live for 4-5 days during the duration of their trail work. Once work is done, groups return tools to the nearest trailhead and begin a 5-6 day backpacking trip similar to the first expedition.

Winter Trip (spring only)- In preparation for the winter expedition, students are taken to Ski Cooper (local ski resort 20min away) every Sunday and for one week in the mornings where faculty and apprentice teach groups of five how to telmark ski. The winter expedition looks and feels different from the first expedition. For one, the environment is very new to the students and they require a lot of oversight. Secondly, because we travel through avalanche terrain, there are no small hiking groups. We travel as one big group between sites. Lastly, there is more physical work to be done. For our winter homes, we pile snow, let it settle, and then hollow it out into a shelter known as a quigloo. We then mound more snow and carve it into countertops and seating areas for a kitchen. Because this all takes so much time and energy, we stay in these snow villages for a couple days at a time and explore the local terrain. We eat a lot, make a good deal of hot drinks, and run around in the snow playing goofy games to keep warm. If you've never winter camped this may seem intimidating, but you'll get the hang of it. You do not need any previous winter camping or telemark skiing experience to be a part of the spring semester.

Final Expedition

The final ten-day expedition takes place in the canyons (fall and spring).  Students are given more responsibility and ownership of the trip. They may get to hike and camp alone depending on the group and the terrain. Instructor teams are typically one or two apprentices and one faulty.

Solo

During the last week of school, students are driven a few miles from campus and are placed ~200yds from each other with a small tarp and some food for about 30 hours where they are asked to reflect on their experience by writing what we call a Full Circle, which then gets presented at our final community gathering.

WFA

Students are all enrolled in a three-day Wilderness First Aid course after the first expedition. Faculty and apprentice can take this course to re-certify their WFR.

*HMI has several permit areas in Utah including Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa, Jacobs Chair, and Dark Canyon. These areas are located about seven hours from Leadville. The nearest town is Blanding, UT.

Academics

After the first expedition, classes begin on campus. There are five 90-minute class periods a day, two before lunch and three after in addition to two periods on Saturday. Some subject areas have multiple sections and on average apprentices can expect to be in class 8-12 periods a week. This makes for long academic week but is necessary since we miss class time while we are on expeditions. We do however teach English, history, science, and wilderness in the field. Each apprentice will work with the faculty member in their subject area to determine their role in the classroom. Most apprentices progress from a week or two of observation, to teaching small amounts of information (10-30min), and then increase to a full class period about half-way through the semester. Eventually, some apprentices may take on a section or unit of class. In the end, it is between the apprentice and the faculty mentor to decide what works.

Apprentice seminar meets two periods a week to discuss educational theory. We start by addressing multiple learning styles in the classroom, then move into designing practical curriculum, and finish with a discussion about the value of place-based and experiential education. In addition the Apprentice Coordinator will meet with apprentices individually each week to discuss the academic, wilderness, and residential experience as well as next steps after HMI.

Residential

Students begin their day with morning exercise (running, games, yoga) with a faculty member, followed by breakfast and then chores. One day a week an apprentice and a faculty member are on duty together to facilitate the day. For the apprentice, this means starting with overseeing chores, making lunch, monitoring study hall, sleeping in your student cabin, and then cooking breakfast the following morning. Other duties that day may include answering the phone, administering medications, and/or taking a student to the doctor.

Activity blocks occur a few times a week where faculty and apprentices choose an activity to lead for 4-10 students. These may include Nordic skiing, swimming, knitting, yoga, tutoring at the local school, dog walking, salsa dancing, cheese tasting, soccer, jam sessions, biking etc. Six apprentices lead an activity once a week during faculty meeting while the seventh rotates through attending faculty meeting. After class on Saturdays the faculty and apprentice on duty in addition to a rotating apprentice, oversee students doing laundry, chopping wood and going to town. On Saturdays nights they help students plan authentic fun; eighties bowling, talent shows, a prom etc. On Sunday's in the fall, faculty and a rotating apprentice plan various activities such as climbing, a train ride, or a mine tour. In the spring we ski on Sundays until after the winter expedition.

Eight to ten students share a rustic cabin heated by wood and lit by solar panels. The common room has an extra bed for the apprentice on duty. Apprentices act as cabin heads for each of the five student cabins. Cabin meetings occur once a week to discuss cabin norms and expectations and help students develop a positive living environment. The other six nights of the week, apprentices share living quarters in our new Community Building. The building is three stories. Students use bathroom and laundry facilities on the first floor while apprentices share bathroom, office, and common area facilities on the second floor and sleep in two large open areas on the third floor.

Other aspects of the semester not yet mentioned are: project day (one day during the semester when the community comes together to work on various projects around campus, and in the local community), community meeting (every few weeks the community gathers in Stuen Hall over lunch to discuss community development), parents weekend, a week-long thanksgiving or spring break, and other community meetings and events.

When apprentices are not in class or involved in the residential responsibilities listed above they take time to get off-campus and visit the local coffee shop or recreate in their beautiful back yard.

This document holds a lot of information and is by no means exhaustive, yet hopefully it will give you a sense of what to expect during a semester at HMI.