HMI Gap Semesters: Adventure, Conservation & Leadership in Wild Places

I was a bit apprehensive about spending 80 days sleeping outside but it was an amazing experience. I learned a lot of practical skills in rock climbing in a very safe environment. By the end students were running whole climbing days without instructors. Also learning to interact with complete strangers and then ending being really close with lots of students and instructors was very fun even through the up’s and downs. Also the places you go during the trip are incredible, from dropping a technical canyon in the desert to hiking in the high platues of Patagonia it was incredible.

HMIs Fall Rock Semester provides amazing resources to teach you how to rock climb, spend time outside, and build a community. The rock climbing curriculum is extensive. It starts with the very basics allowing those with no experience to participate. Over the course of the semester it builds up to more advanced skills. Some examples are multi pitch climbing, trad climbing, and lead climbing. HMI teaches you how to effectively live outside. You learn about ration shopping, cooking, sleeping systems, and gear management. The small community that HMI provides teaches you how to build a strong community. You get to know each person on the program and how to best work together.

Before HMI, I had no backpacking experience. However, you don’t need experience to have a great time with HMI. Throughout this semester, I have gained so much knowledge and confidence in backpacking by hiking through such amazing places like the canyons of utah and Chile Patagonia. What is unique about HMI is the emphasis they put towards building intentional and inclusive communities. The instructors are very passionate about what they do and go above and beyond for their students. Participating in an HMI gap program is an unforgettable experience.

I was born in Chile, but moved when I was 6. It was an incredibly fulfilling experience to come back to the place where I was born and reconnect, as well as turn 18 while sitting outside of my tent alone in the Patagonian hills during our 21 hour Solo Expedition. This course took us far into the backcountry of Patagonia National Park, letting us experience a completely new ecosystem and terrain. It felt like making the trek to Mordor. The extreme Patagonian weather reared it's ugly head at times, but even while huddling beneath a rock ontop of a ridge trying to hide from the wind and rain, we couldn't help smiling and laughing at how awesome this experience was. We also found that it would be calm at serine most of the time, especially when we camped in giant patches of short green grass that looked like it was taken from a golf course. It was such an incredible opportunity to explore this crazy landscape while also growing closer to my peers.

I’m so glad I participated in this program! HMI fostered such an incredible community. My semester was a really fun and supportive environment to be a part of. The expeditions were amazing- we walked through the canyons network in Utah and the massive river valleys and sprawling hills in Patagonia, often without seeing a soul. I had so many really really cool experiences. I learned so much about backpacking, leadership, and myself throughout the semester. The staff were also incredible and offered great advice, support, and friendship throughout the program!

The HMI instructors are amazing and always so excited to support you and your climbing as you progress throughout the semester, and help you through living in a small community for so long during the semester. It was so much fun to travel through the Southwestern United States and Patagonia while getting to know the rest of the small group so well, and to build a supportive community for climbing, hiking, and living for eighty days. You can do and learn so much even if you're completely new to climbing on day one.

I am so glad I signed up for this program. I learned crucial outdoor climbing skills in the best places: Rifle, Indian Creek, Moab, and Chilean Patagonia. I learned about myself through living outside in a small community and learned like outdoor cooking, different ideas of wilderness and wilderness ethics, and how to be a better leader. It opened me up to a wide world of outdoor education and sparked some new interests for me. I would love to go back to HMI at some point in life in some capacity.

I entered gap with little expectations of what I had gotten myself into. Over the course of the 3 months I spent at gap, we travelled to many magical places, hiked up tall mountains, climbed difficult routes, multi-pitched in Patagonia, slept in a couple caves. This course taught me through crazy experiences that I had within me strength I couldn’t see before, perseverance that could overcome any obstacle. I’m proud to say that the goals I set for myself throughout this trip were completed, that I was able to experience the joy of working hard on specific lead climbs and sending them.