The White Mountain Schools Skills Program  (in progress)

Opportunities for Rock and Ice Climbing at The White Mountain School

WMS wants to give all students who want to climb access to its program.  Here are different ways to be part of the WMS climbing program and improve your skills.

Rock Climbing

I. Rock Climbing Orientation Trip
    All Orientation Trips are composed of new and returning students.  They are a time for us to learn about each other, the school culture and routines, general wilderness skills, and the upcoming Outdoor Learning Expeditions (OLE’s).  Some trips focus on a particular skill like rock climbing.  All trips with a technical skills focus are taught at the beginner intermediate level.

II. Fall and Spring OLE’s
    There is usually at least one OLE in the fall and sometimes a spring OLE that has rock climbing as its wilderness focus.  These trips also have an academic focus and can accommodate 8-12 students.  Sometimes there may be 2 climbing OLE’s in the fall. If that is the case, one would be taught at the beginner/intermediate level and one would be taught at the intermediate/advanced level.

III. Afternoon Sports
    The fall and spring afternoon rock climbing program is a skills instruction program. It is designed to provide students with an increasing level of challenge to accommodate their increasing level of skill. The rock climbing program in the fall can accommodate 20 students and the program in the spring can accommodate 16 students.  In the fall the group is divided into a beginner/intermediate group and an intermediate/advanced group.  In the spring there are two groups of 8 beginner/intermediate climbers.

IV. The WMS Indoor Climbing Wall
    WMS has a 3000 sq. ft. indoor climbing wall.  It is by far the largest climbing wall of any high school in the country and bigger than most college/university walls. The wall is textured to feel like real granite and many of the features and pitches have been designed to mimic those found on real cliffs. The WMS wall is usually open weeknights except Wednesday, two afternoons each week during the winter, and various hours on weekends.

V. Weekend Trips
    Throughout the fall and spring there are various weekend trips.  Sometimes these trips focus on climbing multi-pitch routes and are a required part of afternoon sports curriculum. Other times the trip is more top rope oriented and open to a larger portion of the student body.

VI. Special Circumstances
Under certain special circumstances students may be allowed to climb without faculty supervision.

Ice Climbing

I. Ice Festival
    Ice Festival is a weekend event that takes place the first weekend after winter break. The weekend features a special guest speaker and guest instructors. Past presenters and instructors have included Will Gadd ’87, Rains Rouner ’77, Kim Czmazia, Heidi Howkins, Saed Toosi, Jack Tackle, Mark Wilford, Mark Synott and Steve Larson. Twelve students can participate each day and the evening presentation is open to all members of the community.

II. Weekend Trips
    In addition to Ice Festival, there are two other weekend ice climbing trips.  These trips usually focus on climbing multi-pitch snow and ice climbs in alpine environments.

III. Winter OLE
    Each winter there is an OLE dedicated to ice and snow climbing.  This is usually taught at the beginner/intermediate level but requires students to be ready for any type of mountain weather. It can take ten students.

Opportunities for White Water Kayaking at The White Mountain School

WMS wants to give all students who want to Kayak access to its program.  Here are different ways to be part of the WMS Kayaking program and improve your skills.

White Water Kayaking

I. White Water Orientation Trip
    All Orientation Trips are composed of new and returning students.  They are a time for us to learn about each other, the school culture and routines, general wilderness skills, and the upcoming Outdoor Learning Expeditions (OLE’s).  Some trips focus on a particular skill like White Water Kayaking.  All trips with a technical skills focus are taught at the beginner intermediate level.

II. Fall and Spring OLE’s
    There is usually an OLE in the fall and sometimes during spring OLE that has Kayaking as its wilderness focus.  These trips also have an academic focus and can accommodate 8-12 students. If that is the

case, one would be taught at the beginner/intermediate level and one would be taught at the intermediate/advanced level.

III. Afternoon Sports
    The fall and spring afternoon white water kayaking program is a skills instruction program. It is designed to provide students with an increasing level of challenge to accommodate their increasing level of skill. The white water program in the fall can accommodate 10 students and the program in the spring can accommodate 16 students.  In the fall the group is a beginner group and is combined with an introduction to rock climbing.  In the spring there are two groups of 8 beginner/intermediate.
IV. Weekend Trips
    Throughout the fall and spring there are various weekend trips.

VI. Special Circumstances

Opportunities for Backcountry Skiing at The White Mountain School
Backcountry

I.Winter and Spring OLE’s
    There is typically an OLE in the winter and sometimes during spring OLE that has backcountry sking as its wilderness focus.  These trips also have an academic focus and can accommodate 8-12 students. If that is the case, one would be taught at the beginner/intermediate level and one would be taught at the intermediate/advanced level.

II. Afternoon Sports
    The winter backcountry ski program is a skills instruction program. It is designed to provide students with an increasing level of challenge to accommodate their increasing level of skill. The backcountry ski in the winter can accommodate 10 students.

IV. Weekend Trips
    Throughout the winter and spring there are various weekend trips.

VI. Special Circumstances














Opportunities for participating in trail work at The White Mountain School

I.  Fall and Spring OLE
    There is typically an OLE designed specifically for trail work during fall and spring OLE.  These trips focus on teaching students about trails, erosion, trail maintenance, and the tools used for construction.  Each trip can accommodate 8-10 students.

II.  Weekend Trips
    Throughout the fall and spring weekend trips can be scheduled for students to continue work on the trail.  These weekend trips are generally designed to be a few hours in duration for students who have had some previous introduction to trail work either through an OLE or personal experience.

III.  Fall and Spring Sports
    Occasionally during the fall and spring sports afternoons there is the opportunity to work on the trails for a few hours.  Generally this is done with the same group for an assigned day throughout the term.  This allows students to learn the basic principles and then build on their skills and work each week.

History of the Trials program

The White Mountain School received a grant from the state of New Hampshire in 2005 to stabilize the trail leading into Echo Crag, a popular rock climbing site frequented by students at the school.  We began building a rock staircase up to the crag in the fall of 2005 and hope to complete the staircase and several other stabilizing and soil retaining structures up to the site.

In 2007, The White Mountain School adopted Indian Head trail just south of Franconia Notch through the Appalachian Mountain Club.  As a community we felt as though it was time to give back to the area so heavily used by the school in its outdoor education program.  With the adoption we have been charged with the following responsibilities: 1) Keep the trail well-drained, 2) open, 3) and marked; 4) file the required Adopter Work Reports with the Region Leader, 5) instructors attend a Basic Skills Session before beginning work on the trail, and every three years thereafter, 6) Respect Wilderness and Alpine Zone restrictions, 7) make a minimum of three work trips per year, and file reports after each work trip to the Region Leader, and 8) return borrowed tools to the tool cache.
Goals:

Stabilize and maintain an area that the school frequently uses
Teach students the value of hard work and patience
Experience the spirit of volunteerism
Teach students about erosion, trails, and environmental impacts