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

I came to F-Rock having done only a minscule amount of top roping, and I didn’t even know that lead climbing existed (I thought there was only top roping or free soloing). I was met with an amazingly supportive community of 9 likeminded peers, where we were thrown straight into the fire on a 8 day backpacking trip in the Sawatch Mountains. While the hiking and the heavy packs challenged us all, I felt very well equipped by the Instructional team, between learning how to pack my pack, plan our meals, and stormproof our stuff. After the backpacking, we embarked on a tour of some of the most iconic and world class climbing areas in North America. Limestone sport climbing in Rifle, huge walls of sandstone and crack climbing in Indian Creek, Mixed climbing around Moab, a trip south to the Cochise stronghold to learn how to multi pitch, and then a mostly student led expedition to St. George Utah. I went from knowing nearly nothing about climbing to understanding how to safely climb in many different situations, how to read guidebooks and use the internet to find climbs, and how to evaluate fixed protection to keep yourself safe. By the end of the program I had become confident leading sport climbs, multipitching, and even leading trad climbs. There was excellent mentor shop from both the more experienced students and the instructional team. I feel like this program has equipped me so well to continue climbing in my personal life, and has helped me learn other life skills, like how to shop on a budget, coexist with different people, and lead my peers effectively. I cannot give it enough praise, if you have any interest in climbing and/or seeing the American Southwest do yourself a favor and choose this program.

A one-of-a-kind semester program exploring sport, trad, and crack climbing in the American west with the opportunity to backpack and go canyoneering. The intentional community at HMI gap is supportive and encouraging, especially when doing things outside your comfort zone and trying new things. Expect unexpected adventures through beautiful landscapes with peers of various perspectives and backgrounds. Highlights included: snowy hiking in the Sawatch range, Halloween costume bouldering in Moab, and cooking cheesy pasta with friends.

To attempt to encapsulate this experience within a review is difficult; the experiences I had go beyond words and extend into the deeply personal. I learned a new skill set in gorgeous places with a community I now hold dear. The climbing progression around the West worked as a perfect medium to expand personal and community support. Lead climbing in Arizona held as a medium for leadership skills, crack climbing in Utah as a medium for positive group dynamic, and so on. The environments HMI creates within the ones it climbs in allowed for lifelong memories and even more everlasting personal development and friendships. I can only say thank you to those who make it what it is.

This was a transformative experience and, while it was incredibly difficult and scary, I am so glad I did it. I fell in love with rock climbing and met such amazing people. I had never climbed before this program but HMI gave me a great introduction to everything I needed to know. In addition, I learned so many important things about myself that I will bring back into the real world. I feel very lucky that I was able to participate in this program and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a true adventure.

I was certainly nervous going into this program as I had never done any kind of gap semester, but the months I spent doing HMI Gap have been some of the most incredible of my life. The people were amazing, the faculty were supportive and knowledgeable, the places we traveled to were breathtaking, and the things we did and learned will stay with me for the rest of my life. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. If you feel like you’re not ‘the right kind of person’ for this sort of thing, or that you’re not experienced enough, don’t let that stop you! There’s a huge range of people and experience levels in the program, and they teach you everything you need to succeed.

I decided to attend HMI gap because I was not having a good time at college online. And I’m so glad I did! I learned so many backcountry trip skills in telemark skiing, climbing, backpacking, canyoneering and more. The instructors are all so warm and wonderful role models and I got really close with the other students. The environmental studies curriculum is relevant, immersive, and pretty chill in terms of academic difficulty. I also attended the HMI high school semester and had a wonderful time
There too but also got different things out of it. All the stars!

I never thought I would be taking a year off after high school to backpack in the Southwest, but I'm so glad I did. Though I had little experience with camping and traveling in the wilderness areas, HMI gap made it possible for me to have an incredible three months in a super special community. We rafted the Colorado river, skied in the Rocky Mountains, and traveled through many slot canyons and deserts in Arizona and Utah. These are experiences I never thought I would have the chance to enjoy, much less with the group of 14 amazing people who I had the privilege of meeting and becoming friends with. One of the best aspects of this trip was how much it prompted me to grow and how much I learned about myself and the world around me, and I am super grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it.

The HMI Gap Semester offers some of the most beautiful scenery someone could ever see and amazing people someone could ever meet. Everyone from the expedition organizers to the expedition leaders are helpful and do their best to make sure that each person has what they need in every backpacking environment. As someone who has never backpacked before, I felt like I was in good hands all the time. Not to mention, the food is awesome as students get to pick what they want to eat and learn what is best to bring. For anyone looking to learn about themselves over a gap semester, they would be hard pressed to find one better than what HMI offers.