This is Northwood School’s 49th consecutive year of Mountain Day. On Mountain Day, the school takes a day away from classes to get out in nature. This day is special because every student here at Northwood gets to hike a peak in the Adirondack wilderness and enjoy the environment that we live in during the school year.
Because Northwood is putting 200 or so kids into the backcountry, there are lots of moving parts and logistics, including travel logistics, food, groups, leadership, weather, and emergency communication. Everyone is expected to follow the “Leave no trace” rule and pick up trash.
A few photos from previous Mountain Days:
The entire faculty plays a part in making this day possible. Some of the faculty who play big roles on this day are Nurse Marge, Ms. Walker, and especially Northwood Adventure Sports Program Director Mr. O’Connor. NYSEF also lends a hand with vans for transportation and volunteer leaders like Northwood NYSEF Freestyle coach Jackson Deeny and Jen Dempsy, a parent of three alumni ski racers.
Northwood is coming up on fifty years of this tradition, which is very impressive. Count the miles: if each student hikes, say, eight miles, that means our school collectively walks a distance equal to a trip from Lake Placid to Florida. Doing this 47 times would add up to the earth’s equator (25,000 miles), and we’ve already surpassed that x2! Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with lots of “How much further?”
