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

Name: HMI Gap Semesters: Adventure, Conservation & Leadership in Wild Places
Brand: High Mountain Institute
SKU: 66434
Rating: 4.89 (96 reviews)

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4.89 Rating

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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

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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.

Age Max

Pricing

Starting Price

17490

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

Last Updated: Nov 15, 2023

Last Reviewed: Apr 25, 2024

Wish List

54 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.

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Video and Photos

American West Traverse expedition in Utah

Exploring Gravel Canyon in Bears Ears National Monument

HMI Students take a festive water break in the Sawatch Range, CO.

Taking in the breathtaking artistic remains of the ancestral puebloan ruins in Bears Ears National Monument

HMI Gap course at Cerro Colorado, outside Chile Chico

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Diversity & Inclusion

BIPOC Support

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.

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Program Highlights

Rock Climbing, Backpacking, Backcountry Skiing, Rafting, Canyoneering
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

Traverse Semesters

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.

Rock Semesters

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.

Trek Semesters

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.

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Program Reviews

4.89 Rating

based on 96 reviews

Leave a Review

Rating Spread Gap Year

5 rating 88.54%
4 rating 11.46%
3 rating 0%
2 rating 0%
1 rating 0%

Housing 4.75
Support 4.9
Fun 4.85
Value 4.9
Safety 4.85

Good for Adventure travelers, Students

Showing 9 - 16 of 96 reviews

I was part of the HMI Fall Trek program and it was all and more that I could have asked for. The people I met and the places we got to trek on were incredible. All instructors were amazing and gave us the tools and structure to build such a healthy and fun community. This program gave us a lot of autonomy as students and really taught us the navigational and outdoor skills to be able to backpack and lead expeditions on our own. I left HMI feeling confident in the backcountry, ready to get back outside!

Traveled to the Colorado Sawatch region, Dark Canyon, Jacobs Chair, and Patagonia. Came as a newcomer to backpacking with zero experience, and feel confident backpacking on my own after this program. Instructors throughout the semester helped teach not just wilderness skills but also leadership and community building. Traveling to Patagonia was amazing, and being able to interact with other hikers was beneficial. I’d recommend this program to anyone, regardless of previous backpacking experience.

HMI was an amazing experience that I grew a lot from. The friendships I made well on the expeditions were beautiful and intentional. I grew a lot from this experience and feel like a new person walking out. I learned how to support the community I was living with over the few months, and how to support myself. There are great leaders that teach you how to be even greater leaders. It teaches you how to come up with your own environmental ethic. The instructions we had on this trip could not and been better.

Pros

Great community
Great friendships
Grow a lot as a person

This was my second semester with the High Mountain Institute. Last semester I was with Trek. This semester I was with Traverse and this time around we explored a variety of outdoor activities. These activities included skiing, backpacking, rock climbing, and rafting. Along with a few exciting service projects. We travelled to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado this time and it was truly a blast. I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in outdoor activities to participate in an HMI semester!

Pros

Great places visited
Many new skills learned

Cons

Weather may be unlikable
Shelter in the field isn’t great

Spring Traverse was pretty packed with a lot of different things to do and places to go. The beginning backpacking expedition in the Kofa in Arizona was a fun introduction to getting to know what a lot of course would look like and getting to know the people I’d spend the next three months with. It’s nostalgic to look back on it now, as it was so tough in the moment yet now after the crazy yet fun things we did later—like ski expedition especially—it’s probably one of the breeziest times we had.

Pros

Lots of laughs
Do cool stuff
Learned how to make decent eggs

Cons

Spiders
I’m allergic to spiders
There’s a lot of spiders in the outdoors

I had a great time on my spring gap program with HMI! I had never been on a backpacking trip before and thought it was a great introduction to spending extended time in the backcountry. The instructors were super enthusiastic and helpful and we saw beautiful parts of the United States. Additionally, I loved the diversity of actives we participated in including backcountry skiing, backpacking, rafting, and rock climbing. The trip is definitely physically demanding but I would recommend it for anyone who loves the outdoors.

Pros

Diversity of activities
Visited remote, beautiful places
Enthusiastic Instructors

Over the last 80 days I met people I will never forget and encountered challenges that helped me grow. So many moments I stood in awe of the places we traveled and wondered how I got so lucky.
Our students and staff skied, hiked, climbed, rafted, cooked, laughed, and so much more over the course of the semester. You never fully know what to expect on a course like this. This far exceeded my expectation. I feel like I learned so much and am ready to go into college with the tools I need to succeed.

Pros

Challenging
Builds communication skills
Builds outdoor skills

Choosing to do HMI Fall Rock is the best thing I’ve ever done. You start with a backpacking trip in Colorado, then do climbing expeditions in Rifle, Indian Creek, and Moab, plus a canyon backpacking trip, before heading to Chile. In Chile there is a remote base camping expedition at a basalt mountain, and then lastly a more student lead trip at a trad and sport area. Sharing beautiful places and experiences with breathtakingly incredible students and instructors is amazing, but you also get to do that while rock climbing? You can’t find a better combination in my opinion. Need I say more than you get to learn trad climbing in Patagonia?

Pros

Yummy food
Incredible instructors
Septuple rack of cams

Cons

Cool stuff is exhausting

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you choose this program?

I'd always wanted to do some kind of wilderness expedition or trip - but it just never ended up happening when I was younger. When I realized I could take a gap year to go do something awesome in the backcountry I was pretty much hooked - HMI particularly appealed to me because of the environmental studies/conservation curriculum which appealed to my curious, academic side as well as my desire to go adventuring!

What did your program provider (or university) assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

I had to figure out travel to and from the program myself, and get gear. HMI was incredibly supportive before and during this semester, though: There was a comprehensive gear list to work off of, there were lots of staff who were incredibly receptive to the (many) questions I had going in, and during the semester the instructors of my semester were always open to questions and provided support when I needed it.

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What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

First: bring a wildlife book or guide of some kind! And generally bring your curious spirit. There's SO MUCH you can learn just by asking questions out there and looking for the answers, and it's totally worth making the extra effort to understand the landscapes around you.
Second: you're going to spend a lot of time with a small group of people. Be open to them all during the whole semester. It feels great to be given a clean slate during the semester, and even better when you can reciprocate that for everyone.
Last, and perhaps most important: This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. Approach it every day with gratitude and wonder and an open heart.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

The wilderness and conservation semester (HMI's heaviest backpacking semester) is essentially a series of 2-week-long expeditions. In the backcountry, most days mean waking up, cooking breakfast on the WhisperLite and packing a lunch, and then packing up camp to leave for a hike to the next campsite. When you get there, you set up camp, hang out and explore depending on the length of the hiking day, cook dinner, and then turn in for a night under the stars, usually exhausted and incredibly glad for the warmth of your sleeping bag. There are usually some layover days where we do day hikes or play group games sprinkled into the expeditions. Then, between expeditions, we stay in a hostel, clean our gear and get it ready for the next expedition, reconnect with family and friends, and rest up.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

I was quite nervous about spending so much time with so small a group, and also about the climbing portion of our semester.
I shouldn't have worried about the group - the community is facilitated well by instructors, and I think HMI attracts interesting, kind people so we really got along. There were obviously some moments of conflict, but we worked through them, and if I needed time alone I could usually take a moment when we got into camp to journal or nap or whatever I needed.
In terms of the climbing, I felt like I was incredibly good hands - the HMI staff are really qualified and competent and great teachers, so the climbing portion ended up being for me a real chance to conquer some fears.

What should I bring with me?

You should bring small games and things like that. Playing cards was a huge icebreaker for us, and playing party games like Salad Bowl and others was a lot of fun.
Bring plenty of bandanas - you'd be amazed at the multitude of uses they have!
Bring books related to the places you'll be in - I thought it was totally worth the extra weight to be able to read about the landscapes we trekked through.
Bring a packable daypack - the bigger the better! We use them for all kinds of things, and being able to fit more stuff in them is very helpful...

Maya Shyevitch

2019 Alum

Caitlin Durcan

2015 Alum

About High Mountain Institute

The High Mountain Institute's (HMI) programs lie at the intersection of where nature and minds meet. With courses traveling through Patagonia and the American West, students embark on an incredible three-month journey to some of the world's wildest places. With options to choose a rock climbing or wilderness travel focus, students explore these...