NOC ice climbers in February 2023. Photo: NOC.
This year has come with a lot of changes at Northwood. One of those is the implementation of Friday Classes. For most students at Northwood who play one of Northwood’s signature sports, Friday Classes are unavailable, as they spend that day training. However, Friday Classes are recommended for those who are part of what is known as the “independent” group- the group that doesn’t have any major athletic commitments to attend to.
These range from classes on Music with Mr. Stewart, Dance with Mrs. Maiore, and Art with Ms. Van Slyke. However, possibly the most immersive and hands-on of these courses is the Northwood Outing Club, or NOC Friday Class. Every Friday morning, a group of seven students with a passion for the outdoors get together to go do something unique that the Adirondacks have to offer. In the past, this has ranged from ski touring and avalanche education to going to Whiteface, to snowshoeing, and even the occasional trip to a climbing gym if the weather is nasty.
On this occasion, the NOC class went Ice Climbing. They traveled to the climbing wall on Pitchoff in the Cascade Pass and climbed ice for three hours. They took turns belaying each other and climbing, braving the elements along the way, which included gale force winds due to the wind tunnel effect of Cascade Pass. The students who participated in the trip were Carter Day ‘23, Finn Donahue ‘23, Avery Novia ‘24, Ashley Guevara ‘24, Sophia Sherman ‘25, Nate Benjamin ‘26, and myself (Gus Garvey ‘25).
