More than 125 Hamilton students took to the High Peaks of the Adirondacks on Sept. 24 and 25 for the Outing Club’s (HOC) annual 46 Peaks Weekend. Beautiful weather and fall foliage made for a memorable trip, but ultimately logistical complications and strenuous trails resulted in five peaks going unsummited.
The goal of the weekend is simple—to climb each of the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks that rises above 4,000 feet in elevation. The logistics, leadership and dedication to make this happen is far more complicated. The student officers who run HOC deserve a great deal of credit for sorting through the myriad details needed to make the weekend run smoothly and tackling transportation worries, trip itineraries, and food and gear packing for overnight trips.
In addition to the officers, a dedicated group of student leaders ensured that every trip was safe, well fed, and on-trail as they summited their peaks. A broad range of trips are required to summit all 46—some go out for a day and summit one peak while others spend one or even two nights camping and summiting as many as eight peaks.
Although Hamilton did not succeed in summiting all 46 peaks this year, the weekend was still a success. “Forty-six Peaks Weekend is as much about getting students off-campus and out into the gorgeous mountains of the Adirondacks as it is about summiting all 46. It’s one of our most popular weekends and it really opens peoples’ eyes to the possibilities for trips in the Adirondacks and never fails to get new and returning students really excited about hiking, backpacking, and the outdoors in general,” said Madison Atterbury ’17 one of the Outing Club’s officers.
