With Mountain Day just passing it’s top of mind for students as to whether or not they prefer fall or winter Mountain Day. On Fall Mountain Day activities offered include hiking, paddle boarding, canoeing, rock climbing, and more. Winter mountain day includes activities such as skinning, skiing, ice fishing, and ice skating.
Fall Mountain Day has long been a nice introduction to outdoors-centered activities that Holderness centralizes its curriculum around. Once the school days are in full swing, students enjoy a day off from their classes. However, most importantly, a Fall Mountain Day towards the beginning of the year is crucial in helping students meet each other and finding common interests outside of when they would see each other on a class day.
Last year’s Winter Mountain Day, on the other hand, was refreshing for students who don’t enjoy hiking as much. With many students involved in rigorous specialized winter training, getting the chance to try new things was particularly important. For many skiers and winter athletes who spend a lot of time going through the same schedule on a daily basis, taking a break from the rhythm of the winter schedule is much more important than at the beginning of the year when classes had just started and students weren’t yet in need of a day off.
For teachers who spend a lot of time carefully planning Mountain Day for the school as a whole, it is easier to conduct Mountain Day on schedule in the fall where there are already connections and plans set in place from years before. Last year, when prior plans for fall mountain day were uprooted due to extreme weather, the school was pushed into the snowy season for a rare winter mountain day. Winter Mountain Day was more difficult to organize, especially when having to coordinate with really busy student schedules. For this reason, last year’s Winter Mountain Day was difficult, but it’s hard to tell if for someone like Outdoor Program Director Mr. Thatcher, if planning Winter Mountain Day would be easier or harder with ample notice.
As far as the student body goes, it seems like Fall Mountain Day is mainly preferred. Though some enjoyed the winter adventures, hiking with new people or participating in other fall activities are familiar traditions for most students. Whether in winter, or fall, rain or shine, the work that goes into making this a memorable day is still greatly appreciated by the student body and faculty alike. It is understandably hard to gather hundreds of kids and get them outdoors, but the memories and impact are well worth it. Now the question is with the ability to decide between the two, what should Holderness organize next year?
