Location
Multiple Locations +2
  • United States of America
  • Chile
    • Patagonia
Length
4 - 26 weeks
Program Tags
Adventure Travel After College Conservation Cultural Immersion Hands-On Learning Language Immersion Learning Differences Post-High School Social Justice Study Abroad Volunteer Abroad Wilderness +2
Need-based funding, Payment plans, 529 Plan eligibility

Program Details

Activities
Backpacking Camping Canyoning Mountain Climbing Rafting Rock Climbing Sightseeing Skiing Trekking
Timeframe
Fall Spring Winter
Housing
Host Family Hostel Lodge Tent
Primary Language
English
Age Min.
17
Age Max
22

Pricing

Starting Price
18300
Price Details
The price of tuition includes room and board as well as all domestic travel throughout the program. Tuition does not include travel to and from Denver and to Patagonia, or the price of gear.

Need-based financial aid is available on a rolling basis. Our highest awards include full tuition, free gear rentals and travel to and from the program.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airport Transfers Equipment Meals Park Fees Transportation
What's Not Included
Airfare Travel Insurance Visa
Aug 13, 2024
Dec 08, 2024
62 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

HMI’s Gap Semesters connect outdoor adventure, conservation, environmental curriculum, and leadership as students venture on an uninterrupted journey of self-discovery in the natural world. Our students thrive as engaged citizen by exploring some of the world’s most awe-inspiring places with intention. We believe the best learning occurs in nature’s classroom. Through experiential and field-based activities-- students explore complex cultural, environmental, and ecological issues in the areas that they visit.

Central to all HMI Gap year programs is extended experience and practice in outdoor adventure. Each course goes into great depth to advance students’ skill in either rock climbing or wilderness travel. Whether climbing iconic sandstone towers in Utah, hiking through a breathtaking glacial valley in Patagonia, or rafting down the pristine blue waters of the Chilean Futaleufu river, our outdoor curriculum is aimed at moving students toward excellence and independence.

Video and Photos

Diversity & Inclusion

The High Mountain Institute believes that both diversity and inclusion are essential to growth and learning. We all achieve our potential when each person in the community feels a true sense of belonging, and has the confidence to express their full self.

At HMI, inclusiveness starts with an intentional and affirming community. Creating such a community is our priority. We connect deeply to each other through classes, wilderness expeditions, and shared responsibilities. We prioritize open communication and honest conflict resolution. These efforts inspire us to build trust, to value diverging perspectives, and to build communities greater than ourselves.

Historically, however, outdoor programs like HMI have attracted largely white and privileged populations. At times, this has made it challenging for all at our school to feel fully part of our community. We seek to address these challenges at HMI by increasing the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, trustees, and advisers; by creating classes and activities that explore and reflect students’ identities; by expanding the cultural competence of faculty and staff; and by continually challenging the assumptions we hold.

We engage with this challenging work because we are committed to building an exceptional learning environment rooted in community—not just for some, but for all who seek to be inspired by the natural world.

Program Highlights

  • Stewardship, Community, Leadership
  • Environmental Studies Curriculum
  • Spanish language
  • College credit through Western Colorado University or Portland State

Popular Programs

Exploring the slot canyons of Southeastern Utah

Spend a semester backpacking, backcountry skiing, canyoneering, and rafting through the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Greater Canyonlands of Utah, and vast deserts of Arizona. You’ll go into great depth to advance your backcountry wilderness skills while studying pressing environmental issues and participating in real-world conservation service work.

Dedicate a semester to honing your technical outdoor rock climbing skills.

Spend a semester rock climbing and traveling through the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Greater Canyonlands of Utah, and breathtaking Patagonia. You’ll go into great depth to advance your climbing and outdoor skills for the entire semester while studying pressing environmental issues and participating in hands-on conservation projects.

Work with climate scientists to study the glaciers in Patagonia's wild Northern Icefields.

During an HMI Gap Trek Semester students focus on honing technical backpacking and backcountry travel skills.

In the fall students travel through the American West and Chilean, Patagonia. In the Spring students travel through Chilean, Patagonia.

Related Programs

Program Reviews

4.88 Rating
based on 105 reviews
  • 5 rating 87.62%
  • 4 rating 12.38%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Housing 4.75
  • Support 4.9
  • Fun 4.8
  • Value 4.9
  • Safety 4.85
Showing 1 - 8 of 105 reviews
Default avatar
Arthur
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Review of HMI

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.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Fried Milky Way
Pros
  • Small community
  • Learn different types of climbing in lots of different places
  • Good support infrastructure
Cons
  • Quite a long trip
14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Caleb
4/5
No, I don't recommend this program

HMI F-Rock

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.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
I think my most nerve-racking moment was while multi pitch climbing. Climbing a few hundred feet off the ground is a scary and amazing experience. I over came my fear through the support of the instructors and my peers. Confidence in the things I had learned also helped.
Pros
  • Provides great rock climbing experience
  • Travel to some beautiful locations
  • Make some great friends
Cons
  • Can be intense at times
14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Livija
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

HMI Fall Trek

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.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Getting out of your comfort zone is the bets way to grow. Embrace trying new things!
Pros
  • Lifelong friends
  • Gaining leadership skills
  • Patagonia
14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Santiago
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Back to Chile

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.

What was your funniest moment?
The funniest moment was definitely seeing wild Guanacos in high speed chases and fights in the hills around our campsite. They would chase each other, headbutting the sides of the Guanaco infront of them. After a fight, we would often see one posing stoicly on a distant ridge, often during sunset and sunrise. It would have looked awesome if it wasn't for their goofy proportions.
Pros
  • Learning to be comfortable with physical and social discomfort in the outdoors
  • Got to experience a foreign yet familiar landscape that I had not visited since my early childhood
  • Got to experience a more intentional way of living.
Cons
  • Being cold and wet was not a terribly rare occurrence.
  • The wind was often times unbearable in many places, forcing you to retreat back to the safety of valleys or forests, halting your day.
  • Being that far from anywhere means you need to take extra care in things you do as to not get hurt as evacuation would be extremely difficult.
14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Annie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

HMI Gap- Fall Trek

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!

12 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Grace
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

F Rock

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.

14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Eleanor
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

HMI Fall Rock Gap Semester Review

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.

14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
JD
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My Gap Experience

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.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?
Before walking up to the crag one day in Apidame, two guanacos charged past us on the hillside fighting one another. We watched as one chased the other, slamming its head towards the others legs trying to push him down the hill. It was insane!
Pros
  • Gained confidence in my own abilities
  • Made life long friends
  • Experienced crazy moments that one could only understand by living through it
Cons
  • I felt homesick a lot
  • Wished I could’ve listened to music
  • Wanted more alone time
13 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers