Outdoor Leadership Program

Campus slows down markedly during the summer months, with only about 10 percent of the student body remaining, conducting research with faculty or working at jobs in various offices. Three Hamilton students, Christine Roback ’12, Helen Higgins ’13, and Bobby Finan ’13, are working tirelessly alongside Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings and Director of Outreach and Orientation Amy James in preparation for the August arrival of more than 200 first-year students participating in Hamilton’s pre-orientation programs.

The Hamilton Outing Club spent three weeks of winter break making their sixth trip to the mountains of Ecuador. Ecuador has more ecosystems than any other country in the world, and the nine members of the group visited many of them, from the Amazon rainforest all the way up to glaciated, volcanic peaks. Dani Forshay ’11 was among the students on the trip, and over the course of four entries will share her impressions and memories.

Editor's Note:  As four students prepare to head out on this year’s winter camping seminar in the Adirondacks, we share Hamilton Outing Club officer Kathryn Steck’s ’12 recollection of last year’s trip. This originally appeared in Adirondack Adventurer, Hamilton Outdoor Leadership Program, a Year in Review.

Two Hamilton teams will compete in The Adirondack Canoe Classic, also known as “The 90-miler” this weekend, Sept. 10-12. The race is paddled over three days, starting from Old Forge and finishing in Prescott Park in Saranac Lake, and is billed as the biggest race of the year in New York State.

Hamilton was well-represented at the Northeast Regional Association of Experiential Education (AEE) Conference held April 23-25 at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine. The annual conference is attended by classroom educators, corporate trainers, outdoor and environmental education leaders and others interested in incorporating experiential education into their professions.

Twelve Hamilton students competed in the AWA Long Lake Long Boat Regatta on Saturday, Sept. 26. The students raced four-person canoes 10 miles, against Paul Smith College and Colgate University, in the first New York State College Canoe Championship. Andrew Jillings, Hamilton director of outdoor leadership, and Brian McDonnell, regatta organizer, added the college division of the race this year.