Outdoor Leadership Program

A large group of students braved the cold and embraced winter with a day of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in Hamilton's Rogers Glen on a January weekend.

When Hamilton’s class of 2024 arrived on campus in August, 2020, it was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, so many of the usual opportunities and experiences for new students were not possible. In an effort to make up for that, Hamilton this year offered sophomores the opportunity to take Adirondack Adventure trips during Fall Break.

On the evening of Sept. 9, Hamilton’s Marathon Canoe Racing Team loaded up two vans and began their journey to Old Forge, N.Y., to compete in the Adirondack Canoe Classic, a.k.a. the 90-Miler.

Anna Bastidas ’13 and Devin Farkas ’10 recently landed jobs in outdoor education as the associate director of the Bowdoin College Outing Club and the assistant director of Outdoor Programs at the University of Vermont, respectively. Day-to-day, Bastidas works closely with outing club officers, runs student leader training, and organizes orientation trips. Farkas oversees many outdoor-based clubs and directs the pre-orientation program.

Warming temperatures and budding trees on campus signal the beginning of spring and the end of the maple sugaring season. Last weekend marked the final boil of the season as Hamilton students spent all day Saturday reducing 60 gallons of sap into just over a gallon of syrup.

Many students joined in last weekend’s first campus-wide maple sugaring effort as a way to enjoy the outdoors while making tasty maple syrup.

Taking advantage of the campus’ natural resources, Hannah Katz ’21 and Asha Grossberndt ’21 began the first of many rounds of maple sugaring last week as part of their independent study in environmental studies.

As part of Hamilton’s annual Feb Fest celebration, the Hamilton Outing Club led six students on a winter camping trip in the Kirkland Glen.

Campus activities may look a bit different this semester, but students interested in exploring the nearby outdoors can still enjoy the Mohawk Valley, thanks to new bike borrowing and guided ride opportunities.

Keith Ruggles ’20 is a longtime Hamilton Outing Club leader and officer, Adirondack Adventure orientation leader, and student writer for the Communications office. Here, he tells how the training he’s received as an outdoor leader has been valuable in helping him manage the uncertain current environment.