RKMP 2012 Winter Newsletter

Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program WINTER 2012 NEWSLETTER

Year in Review and a Glimpse Ahead By science teacher and RKMP Director Mike Dalton As this newsletter heads off to the presses we are about to celebrate the winter solstice here under the mountain.

In many cultures this event, marked by the longest night, signals a sign of new birth. In many ways, that is the feel in the air with the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program (RKMP). Many of us in the program are anxiously awaiting some nice, heavy snowfalls so that we can try out our new Madshus Annum backcountry/Telemark skis on the recently cleared Joel Coffin Ski Trail. Earlier this fall a crew from the RKMP offering now known as CORE (Comprehensive Outdoor Recreational Experiences) took on the challenge of bringing back a portion of this trail, which had been the site of Berkshire School’s early downhill ski program. Our plan is to eventually clear the trail up to its intersection with the Cross Trail so that participants in winter mountaineering can experience some short downhill stretches to get a few “tellie” turns in.

This winter season also marks the culmination of a two-year project undertaken by the RKMP to bring a rustic camping shelter to the mountain. Reminiscent of the student- and faculty-built cabins that once dotted the hillside behind campus, this structure, officially known as an Adirondack lean-to, is constructed of native white pine

Mr. Frank Barros (left) with Mr. Mike Dalton

logs that were harvested, skidded, peeled and shaped by participants in the RKMP. Hunter Lucey ’12, Lars Robinson ’13, Craig Alizadeh ’13, and Long Tran ’11 made up the crew two years ago that spent days cruising the Berkshire forest looking for the perfect trees – not too big, not too small, and perfectly straight. This fall students helped put the finishing touches on the lean-to with its beautiful red cedar shingled roof and native stone fireplace, which local alumnus and friend of the RKMP Robin McGraw ’70 supervised. During the recent two-week period between Thanksgiving Break and semester exams, Lars Robinson, a day student from Norfolk, Connecticut, “christened” the lean-to by heading up for the

night after evening study hall to sleep and then rise before dawn so that he could shower at The Stewart Athletic Center before breakfast. The lean-to will be officially dedicated as Russell Shelter at this May’s Reunion Weekend, in honor of former Berkshire School faculty member Hilary Russell. Hilary was not only a revered English teacher and coach, but also served the RKMP as an instructor who brought great things to the program, including the successful boat building offering and the construction of a replica of Thoreau House, which is situated behind Berkshire Hall. If you are around on the weekend of May 1113th, please join us in celebrating Hilary’s service to the school. If you can’t make the dedication ceremony, feel free to contact me for a tour of this new addition in the RKMP’s arsenal for achieving its mission – to provide the Berkshire School community with meaningful outdoor experiences.

Also on the horizon this spring is a new offering to the RKMP. We will officially stop calling our water sport “whitewater kayaking” and instead refer to it as “pole and paddle,” which will allow lead instructor Dan Spear to get students on the water in canoes and kayaks to fish the local streams, lakes and ponds. The RKMP purchased fishing tackle for students so that they can try their hand at fly fishing and spin casting.

Frank Barros will again head up the RKMP’s Beyond the Mountain summer adventure. This year Mr. Barros and Berkshire students will visit Morocco, where they will surf the sand dunes and then travel by camel to surf the ocean.

Best wishes for an active ! and adventurous 2012

Sierra Labonte ’10 Great Barrington, MA; Theo Friedman ’11 Sheffield, MA; George Torsilieri ’10 Princeton, NJ; Hank Hoover ’12 Greenwich, CT; Matt Nelson ’12 NYC; Connor Morgan ’11 Norfolk, CT; Moritz Grosser ’11 Frankfurt, Germany; Christa Montano ’12 Alford, MA; Chris Utz ’12 Old Greenwich, CT; Arthur Copstein ’11 Porto Alrgre, Brazil; and Louis Jacobs ’12 East Aurora, NY.

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Once in a Lifetime

By Chris Utz ’12

In mid-June, five students, four 2011 graduates, and two older alumni embarked on a truly unique trip to Asia accompanied by chaperones Mr. Barros and Mr. Dalton. The trip offered many cultural experiences, but its main focus was rock climbing and deep water soloing in Thailand, with a brief, yet life-changing detour to Cambodia to explore one of the seven ancient Wonders of the World, the temple of Angkor Wat.

From the minute we left the city limits of Bangkok, the natural splendor of Thailand never ceased to amaze us. On the drive to Krabi, looming mountains shrouded in mist enveloped the van. The vibrant landscape instilled awe in everyone as we passed solitary temples perched atop cliffs surrounded by plateaus of rainforests.

Of course, upon arrival in From the mountaintop Krabi our first stop was the topped out at least once and returned to beach. Pictures of Thai beaches serve no Krabi, where we enjoyed a traditional Thai justice to the real thing. The aquamarine water was peppered by islands of cliffs with meal of intense curry, fresh seafood and vegetables, and the most unique soup any of us entire forests atop their peaks—the place had ever eaten. we would soon be deepwater soloing.

One of our excursions, The Tiger Temple, Rock climbing was first on the agenda.

Some members of our group had little to no built atop a mountain and silhouetted against the horizon, exposed us to the herexperience in the sport. In town, local rock itage of Thailand. The temple was created climbing guides in the bay area were busily above caves where Bengal tigers previously setting up the top ropes for eight different routes ranging in difficulty from beginner to lived—the bottom section, at ground level, expert climber. These guides seemingly flew was and still is the home of an ancient up the sheer face of 200- to 300-foot cliffs in Buddhist monastery. The path to the temple bare feet with ease, as if they had been doing could only be reached by climbing up 1,100 steps, each step at least twice as high as this very thing their whole lives (which they building regulations allow at Berkshire. The have!). We climbed for a few hours until everybody had exhausted their forearms and hike took the group about 30 minutes, tax-

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ing our strength because of the high humidity and heat. However, the sights at the top (one of the highest peaks in the area) were worth the effort. From this vantage point one could see for miles in all directions.

There was a giant Buddha statue at the center of the temple and shrines for incense burning everywhere.

On a day we couldn’t climb due to slippery cliffs, we headed for the mountains on a spontaneous adventure of white water rafting and zip lining. The group split up into three boats down a river raging after

Chris and Lou

Left: Mr. Dalton and George Right: Deepwater soloing

the rains. The guides steering the rafts would purposely point and yell, “Look!

Snake!” and while our attention was directed away from the river, they steered us directly into the rapids. Stray elephants grazed beside the river as we headed back to the base camp for a hearty meal followed by an afternoon on the zip line. The zip line was situated up one of the mountains surrounding the base camp and crossed over a lake. Most of us were new to zip lining so the reactions coming down the line ranged from trepidation to pure glee.

My most memorable experience was elephant riding. The elephants were huge, each bearing two riders and a “mahout” (a Thai local who guided the elephants through the

forest). For such large animals, they were surprisingly graceful, seemingly predicting when they would slide in mud but never shifting their balance too suddenly which would endanger the riders. The forest we rode through was magnificent. Trees grew out of the boulders, rising improbably high into the impenetrable canopy. The mahouts let each of us switch seats with them. As we each moved from the stable benches atop our elephant’s back to straddle the elephant’s neck it became a completely different experience being so precariously perched as their heads swayed with each step.

Left: Louis Above: Angkor Wat

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Deepwater soloing, a main component of the Thailand trip, did not disappoint. We took a short boat ride out to one of the islands protruding from the ocean, each of us equipped with only our climbing shoes.

“Soloing” excludes safety ropes for the climber adding a certain edge to the actual climb. And, because traditional chalk bags would be ruined when a climber falls or jumps off into the water, everyone applied a healthy amount of chalk to their upper arms before beginning. The hardest part of deepwater soloing was actually getting onto the rock face. The motorboat we were on was anchored close to the cliffs; we transferred to kayaks and paddled out to the rock face. The guides would position the kayaks a mere foot or two away from the cliff, but the timing had to be perfect because ocean swells were three or four feet high. Climbers had to grab hold of the rock at the apex of the swell or they would fall right into the water before even starting the climb. When safely on the rock, we attempted to free-climb thirty to thirty-five feet up and then jump when the route ended. There was much consternation as everybody ended up falling in at some point and then started the process all over again. When all of the climbing routes were in use, we had the option of snorkeling close to the boat. Despite the destruction the 2004 tsunami wreaked on the coastline, schools of vibrant fish could be seen everywhere.

Tiger Temple Christa and Theo get a lickin’ Rock climbing

The last leg of our journey took us to Cambodia and our final destination, the temple of Angkor Wat, which can be seen in the film “Tomb Raider” and in the latest film in the “Transformers” series, “Dark Side of the Moon.” We actually visited two temples, Angkor Wat, the main tourist attraction, and Angkor Thom, which was a moated royal city and the last capital of the Angkorian Empire. Angkor Thom is most famous for the towering trees which, over time, have grown straight out of the temple roofs.

The best was saved for last: the temple of

Angkor Wat magnificently rises above all else, enclosed by carved walls and elaborate statues and murals. This structure offered us a glimpse at the historical and cultural past of the Cambodian people which was literally set in stone—no other structures we visited could compare to its distinction as one of the world’s wonders.

Fellow traveler, Theo Friedman ’11, concurs with Chris when asked to give a brief synopsis of the trip: It was an absolute once-in-a-lifetime

experience, without question the best trip so far of my life. We went there for a rock climbing adventure, but left with so much more: the amazing spicy foods, the hospitable people, and even the connections we made amongst ourselves. The day that we went deepwater soloing was full of sun, water and high adrenaline. As a climber, it was fantastic to experience something that I had only seen previously in climbing videos.

Theo

Angkor Thom

Face to face

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All in Due Course

By Bonita Lovison, Editor and Director of Stewardship

We know him as director of the sustainability center, science teacher, former director of the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program and the guy that gets to go on all the cool trips over the summer as coordinator of the Beyond the Mountain program. Some people choose a lifestyle that requires little effort or participation beyond the call of duty – not so with Frank Barros, whose personal life choices challenge his body and his mind. This, and the fact that he considers it fun to scale a difficult rock climbing wall, were the determining factors when he entered The Heart of Ztell bouldering competition held last March at the Boston Rock Gym in Woburn, Massachusetts.

This popular competition brought together 100 of the strongest climbers from throughout New England and beyond. Designs of the courses were based on difficulty in problem solving. No ropes are used and most “problems” are set on overhanging walls 10 to 15 feet high. The “problems” arise for a climber as they are hanging from their finger tips wondering where the next possible hold can be found before their strength gives out. There are four divisions in both genders; men do not compete against women.

Courses are laid out throughout the gym and points are assigned based on the level of difficulty of the course. Climbers can choose what course they wish to tackle in their division. Points on a climber’s top six scores are tallied to determine the highest number in the division. Many climbers, therefore, try to tackle the toughest courses for the highest point accumulation. Mr. Barros’s strategy was to problem-solve his way through the tier just below the hardest course and not burn out too quickly and thus earn enough points to win.

When asked to describe his most difficult course in the competition he stated, “That’s not easy to remember but I think it had a “balancey” start (sort of slanted off to right with a strong side pull) to get me up about halfway up the route, then shifted my weight to the left, find my way through some crimps, and end with a strong lunge to a finishing hold.” (Climbers will understand, I’m sure.)

Mr. Barros, winner in his division of approximately 50 climbers, went home with a new pair of climbing shoes (always useful), a lot of clothing for his favorite sport, and gift certificates to stores catering to climbers. The downside: if he so chooses to enter next year he will have to compete with the pros in the top division (the guys that get paid to climb). My money says he won’t be intimidated.

Kudos to you, Mr. B!

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It Has Skin!

By Sam Cabot ’13

During the winter season, Chevalier Lodge, nestled near the woods in the northern part of campus, is home to one of the most exclusive activities offered at Berkshire School, boat building.

Richard Giles, the course instructor, guides students as they build full-scale boats. At the end of the school year, the students take their boats home and get to use them.

All of the boats are built from scratch.

While building their boats, the students learn a variety of skills such as how to operate woodworking tools, properties of different woods, and techniques of constructing a large project.

At the beginning, the students confer with Mr. Giles to come up with plans for their boat.

Students get to cut out the ribs and stringers, along with other features for the boat, and eventually piece together a skeleton. One of the last steps involves covering the boat with a canvas, a process that lends the term “skin on frame” its name. The boat is relatively lightweight when finished.

Last winter, three students participated in the activity: Sam Cabot ’13, Wesley Lickus ’13 and Lewis Xie ’13. Two boats were made, a 13-foot sailboat and a 10-foot kayak.

It is very interesting to actually make a craft by hand. Today, many boats are made of fiberglass, making the skin-on-frame design unique. The process is an old technique and requires a lot of work. The students, though, have a lot of fun helping each other build their boats and there is much satisfaction when the final product is done.

Mr. Giles teaches geometry and algebra and also coaches track. He has had much experience in woodworking and has instructed boat building for the past six years. He has assisted students in building canoes, kayaks, and for the first time, a sailboat. In 2009 six students participated and three boats were built.

At the completion of the building season our boats will be on exhibit in the atrium of Berkshire Hall. The course is a lot of fun and the students are proud of what they can make.

2011 Maple Syrup Season a Huge Success!

By Mike Dalton

Above: Mr. Dalton with helpers Liam and Silas Bullock, Burke and Drew Bogardus

“In dark of sugar house – the pans seething, alive.

I stand with head in clouds of steam Whipped by the west wind through the open wall.

Steam flows through me, sweet on the lips And sticky in the hair. It’s the first run And every tank is full.”

These are the opening lines from iconic former faculty member Arthur Chase’s poem entitled Sugar Weather.

While I never met “the Bear,” I think that if he visited Berkshire’s new sugar house that is named in his memory, very little would have appeared different to him.

The strong winds now seem to come out of the north and the pans are probably a bit shinier, but the tanks were full – all the time. With the exception of a few days in late March, we experienced a sap run that easily lasted a full six weeks.

And, even though the trees had yet to “bud out,” I called it quits because my back was sore, my fingertips cracked, I was out of wood, AND we had made over 100 gallons of syrup.

The final tally of syrup actually stood at over 105 gallons, twice what usually comes from our sugaring season. To

produce a single gallon of syrup, 40 gallons of sap are necessary, so approximately 4,200 gallons were collected due to the obliging evening temperatures in

Put Which End Where?

the 20’s and daytime sunny weather in the 40’s. The production yield was much better than last year’s total of almost 20 gallons; in 2010 if you weren’t using a vacuum system to get sap from your trees, or if you weren’t at a high elevation, you didn’t get much sap.

Many sugar producers in New England reported that the season was the worst on record. While much of the syrup made during the latter half of this season was probably Grade B, the flavor is great and it’s as sweet as can be. Much of the processing takes place during spring break, so a very special note of gratitude to all the Berkshire faculty and families, staff, students and alumni who helped make it a record year.

The sap flowed once again under the mountain, and fourth-former Grace Fowler ’13 of Fishers Island, New York is among the RKMP students who helped run plastic tubing from bucket to bucket in March. A “Welcome to the Sugar Season” was held afterward within the friendly confines of the Arthur C. Chase Sugar House, where director Mike Dalton served burgers, dogs, drinks, and ice cream covered with freshly boiled maple syrup.

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Return to the Heart: Ascent of Mt. Algonquin

By Mike Dalton

In the early 1970s I spent two years at Paul Smiths College in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Most of my weekends were spent a short distance away in the High Peaks Region, which is home to 46 mountain peaks at or above 4,000 feet. One of my favorite climbs was to the summit of Algonquin, which was an easy hike from the trailhead at Heart Lake.

From the summit of Algonquin one can access two peaks, Boundary and Iroquois, and also hit Wright Peak on the way back down to Heart Lake.

This close proximity of peaks allows a hiker to “bag” four of the 46 Peaks in an afternoon. When a hiker reaches the summit of all 46 peaks they become a “46er,” which entitles them to adorn their packs with a neat patch…a good initiation for the Winter Mountaineering Program participants.

There are many tough and challenging peaks in the High Peak Region but many of them require camping in the “backcountry,” which is something that our group of mountaineers could not experience simply because we were too large. To minimize impact in this area the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requires that group size not exceed eight in the backcountry. In order to hike in the region, we had to rent several leantos from the ADK Club’s Adirondack Loj at Heart Lake, which we used as a base for our attempt on Algonquin. So it was that on a Friday afternoon in February we left school in two vans and headed north for a winter camping experience in the Adirondacks. Other than alumnus Long Tran ’11, all student participants submitted a paragraph about their experience from their very unique perspectives:

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Grace, Lars and Hunter

OUR OBJECTIVE…

by Lars Robinson ’13 Algonquin is the second highest peak in New York State, second only to nearby Mt. Marcy. The trail gains almost 3,000 feet in elevation along its four-mile ascent to the summit. The summit reaches just over 5,100 feet, putting it above the tree line. This aspect allows for incredible views from the summit, weather permitting. While not as tall as Mt. Marcy, Algonquin is considerably steeper, gaining nearly the same elevation in a significantly shorter distance.

Left: Sam Above: Long Tran, Grace (foreground) and Eliza

LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK

by Sam Sabin ’13 (Currently in Italy with School Year Abroad)

After driving four hours, we stopped first at the lean-to site on the shore of Heart Lake at the Adirondack Loj and then headed to the city of Lake Placid.

Lake Placid held the Winter Olympics in 1932 and more recently in 1980. We were able to see the Olympic ski jump that towered over us, as well as Mt. Van Hoevenberg, which held the bobsled race for the Olympics and is still in use today.

We also were able to spend about an hour touring the town and saw stores that sold USA jerseys, hiking equipment, and survival gear. I never knew that Lake Placid was such a large town with so many tourists and hotels; I would like to come back some day.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE WEATHER, WAIT FIVE MINUTES

by Grace Fowler ’13 (Last fall Grace attended The Island School in the Bahamas and is now at the High Mountain Institute in Leadville, Colorado.)

Packing the vans on Friday afternoon, we were met with warm weather and clear skies. As we drove north, we watched as the tiny Berkshire Hills were replaced by the massive peaks of Adirondack Park.

The weather stayed fair throughout the day but by nightfall it began to rain and snow, and a deathly sounding wind whipped up. Sleeping in lean-tos in -20 degree bags, we felt prepared for the cold night. However, the wicked wind blew the snow and rain into the lean-to and onto our faces, repeatedly waking us up.

Saturday morning a half inch of snow and ice covered our bags, packs and boots.

After a warm breakfast, we left for the summit of Algonquin. The hiking warmed us up and soon we were shedding layers, but after a few hours it began to snow more and grew colder as we ascended the mountain. When we reached the tree line, we put on all of our extra layers, balaclavas, shells and goggles, anticipating the wind and cold. About twenty minutes later we reached the summit, a bald top of rocks with a National Geodetic Survey marker verifying the true summit of Algonquin. Several of us took off our gloves and touched the marker with bare skin as a rite of passage to the mountain. The view from the top of Algonquin, the second highest peak in New York, was a wall of white. When we reached the tree line again the snow and wind had picked up, enclosing the mountain in a whiteout. Even though we didn’t have a great view of the surrounding

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peaks and valleys, we were all excited to have made it to the top and took pictures to prove it. After dinner we headed down the road to the information center, which had a large heated room. We played cards for a while and stuck around to watch an interesting lecture about Madagascar and lemurs, mostly because no one wanted to go back to the freezing lean-tos! We filled up our water bottles with boiling water and stuck them inside our sleeping bags which kept us toasty warm for half the night, the other half was spent semiawake, trying to find the warmest position to sleep in. On Sunday morning the sun came out again and the day was absolutely beautiful, but we were headed home to Berkshire. Overall, the trip was cold and snowy, but well worth it.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

by Eliza Farley ’13 On Friday night we arrived at our leantos and after a brief excursion into Lake Placid for dinner, we came back to the campsite and made hot chocolate before going to sleep. After a long night of snow and wind, we woke up at 7:30 a.m. for instant oatmeal and more hot chocolate.

It had snowed the night before and a lot of it had blown into our lean-to. We cleaned up after breakfast, got dressed semi-quickly, then walked to the welcome center to use the bathrooms (and hot water!) before starting our hike. When we returned around 3:30 p.m., we all sat in the heated welcome center for a while, then headed back to our campsite where we read the graffiti on the walls of the lean-to, made a fire, ate mac and cheese with ham and summer sausage, and drank more hot chocolate. Back to the welcome center again to play cards and listen to a lecture about Madagascar. It was really, really cold Saturday night, and it snowed again so a lot of us woke up with snow on our faces and sleeping bags. Sunday morning we were all pretty much ready to leave. Some of us had oatmeal and hot chocolate for breakfast, and the rest of us packed the van. We cleaned up the lean-to, threw the rest of our stuff into the van, and left, stopping at McDonald’s on the way home for a cheeseburger (or five).

THE HIKE…RATHER, THE CLIMB!

by Olly Liu ’14 We started hiking from our base camp at 8:30 a.m. It was warm and comfortable for the first mile. After half an hour, we started taking off layers of clothing.

The day we hiked was not the best. It was snowing and we were lucky that the snow was not melting because it didn’t collapse where we stepped. There was also a good view during this hike; we could see different peaks through different angles.

During lunch in an intersection before the tree line, we met other hikers. We shared our experiences with each other, and everyone seemed to want to tell people how many mountains they had climbed. We stopped for about 10 minutes. My toes and fingers were getting really cold and frozen but then we arrived at the most exciting part, above the tree line. Everyone started to put their goggles on, but my goggles were icy and I could not see anything through them, so I decided not to wear them.

The wind was about five or six times stronger above the tree line, and sometimes it was even hard to move. We were lucky that the stones were not frozen so we could still use snowshoes instead of crampons. Every step you take you must be very careful or you may fall off the hill. My eyes stung (goggles still icy) and the wind and the snow hitting my eyes made me feel like crying. It stung like diving under the water without swimming goggles, but I still needed to go on because I knew stopping would just make me colder. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, I was a little disappointed because I could not see the view from the peak. We were surrounded by mist and clouds but I also felt excited because we had made it! It had been a five-hour hike. Coming down was a lot faster than hiking up; it took us just two hours to get back to the visitor center.

Mr. Dalton and Austin

A FEW FUNNY THINGS THAT HAPPEN WHEN CAMPING

by Austin Alibozek ’11 (Austin is currently a freshman at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.)

During the mountaineering trip it seemed that we were plagued by numerous funny events. For example the “snotsicles” hanging from the noses of Mr. Blauss and Mr. Dalton brought us to our knees with laughter. Speaking of noses, during the hike up the frozen trails of Algonquin, Sam Sabin was worried that his nose was turning black from frostbite so he checked it multiple times. An all-around funny event was watching everyone get changed in their sleeping bags in the morning. The trip was a success, and I think I can speak for us all in saying that we had a blast.

ON THE VALUE OF PROPER EQUIPMENT

by Hunter Lucey ’12 Having the proper gear is a crucial part of any outdoors trip, no matter the season. I learned the importance of this first-hand. Instead of borrowing gear from Berkshire School, I chose to use

Olly

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my own. This included a sleeping bag, backpack, mess kit, and a couple other things. We knew that it was definitely going to get into the negative digits at night, and after you factor in the windchill and the possibility of snow, you get a really cold night. Everyone else on the trip used an RKMP-issued sleeping bag rated to -20 degrees. Thinking that my sleeping bag went to the same temperature, I bragged about how much smaller and better mine was. When we got to camp that night and set up our sleeping arrangements, I asked Mr. Blauss why the other sleeping bags were so big compared to mine. After a couple of seconds of searching all the tags on the bag we realized that my sleeping bag was only rated to +20 degrees, but I was still fairly confident that my sleeping bag would keep me comfortable during the night. When we first went to bed I was actually hot and had my upper body outside of the bag. A couple hours later I was balled up and shivering uncontrollably at the bottom of my bag while trying to figure out how to keep the snow and wind from coming in the top. I woke up every two hours, trying to figure out how to warm up. The next night I went to bed with multiple layers on, wool socks, a hat, two hot water bottles, and a jacket wrapped around my legs. Although it wasn’t as bad as the first night, I still ended up shivering all night. I learned, and recommend to all, that double checking to make sure you have the proper gear is an extremely important part to enjoying a trip.

New Additions to the RKMP Staff

Anita Loose-Brown earned a B.A. in Zoology from Rockford College and an M.S. in Chemical Limnology from UMass Amherst. She started her teaching career at Darrow School in 1977 and also taught at Williston Northampton School, Amherst Pelham Regional High School and The White Mountain School. At White Mountain, she was introduced to and fell in love with backpacking and hiking above tree line. This is her second stint with the Berkshire outdoor program: she served as Assistant Anita Loose-Brown Recreational Nordic Ski coach from 1988 – 1991. She is currently an assistant coach with CORE’s (Comprehensive Outdoor Recreational Experiences) fall program (previously known as Backcountry Skills). Ms. Loose-Brown is an adjunct houseparent in Godman Dormitory, the head of the science department and a biology and chemistry teacher. She lives in Baum House with her husband, Rick Brown, a former dean of faculty at Berkshire. Their daughter Althea, also an avid outdoorswoman, is a senior at Earlham College in Indiana, where she is earning a degree in biology with minors in both environmental science and experiential education.

New to the RKMP as an instructor in CORE this year, Lissa McGovern teaches English at Berkshire. A life-long sojourner into the woods, Ms. McGovern particularly enjoys hiking, canoeing and kayaking. During the past year Ms. McGovern has particiWill ’14, Lissa and Mark McGovern pated in the Trail to Every Classroom program sponsored jointly by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the National Park Service and the National Forest Service. TTEC is an on-going curriculum development program that integrates place-based education and service learning with the Appalachian Trail, fostering love

of learning along with the wonder of the outdoors.

Ms. McGovern’s first encounter with the Appalachian Trail came while she studied at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virgina which, like Berkshire, is situated near the AT.

In his first year at Berkshire, Donald Anselmi joins the Winter Mountaineering program with an enthusiasm and love for both the outdoors and the many enriching and skillbuilding activities that the mountain offers to adolescents and adults. He developed an appreciation for backpacking, hunting, fishing and skiing while growing up in Wyoming at the foot of the Wind River Range and in the Red Desert. While he still is able to make it back to Wyoming to enjoy the activities of his youth, the Berkshires have suited him well. He continues to be an avid hiker accompanied by his fiancé Dana Chapin and their sidekick Pancho, a Brittany Spaniel, and is able to hunt duck and deer in the surrounding area. He hopes to get some more camping in this year, become more active in the southwestern Massachusetts Duck’s Unlimited chapter, and explore more public land in the surrounding area for his future outdoor and conservation adventures. Donald teaches first and second level Spanish and plans to study in Buenos Aires this summer. If he can find the time in his grad school schedule, he hopes to make another ski trip to the Andes.

Donald Anselmi

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Mountain Biking Competes at Massasoit Lung Opener

By Moritz Grosser ’11

It was an early wake-up call for the mountain biking team. While nearly all athletic commitments back on campus were canceled due to weather, we were ready and prepared for the Massasoit Lung Opener in Taunton, Massachusetts on April 23rd, the second race of the Root 66 Race Series which draws bikers from across the New England area. After registration and some warm-up laps in the parking lot, the officials started lining up the racers.

Thanks to the generosity of Robin McGraw ’70, we looked official with matching jerseys. At 9:30 am the first group took off, with Christian Cordier ’11, age 19, our only older Category III racer in the pack. The rest of the team took off two minutes later in the under-18 Category III group.

It was a tough race for the newcomers.

The conditions, light rain and no sun, made the technical course even more challenging.

Wet sand, mud puddles, roots everywhere,

steep inclines, and narrow bridges were all obstacles that had to be mastered. Eric Zahn ’11 led the pack with a solid finish (7th, 0:51:13), closely followed by Moritz Grosser ’11, only a couple of minutes behind (12th, 0:54:58). Riley “Chest” Bourbonnais ’12, the leader of the rookies, finished 16th with a time of 0:59:06.

“This was my first race in the Cat III. The conditions were tough and it was pouring, but I just gritted it out until the end,” he said.

Olly Liu ’14, a native of Shanghai, China, had little biking experience before joining the program. Through his willingness and ability to execute advice from Coach Barros, he showed quick improvement in his skill level.

“I am happy about my race performance,” he said. “I beat a varsity hockey player, which gave me great self-confidence about my plan to try out for the team next year.”

Christian Cordier ’11 had some mechani-

The Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program Fall CORE (Comprehensive Outdoor Recreational Experiences) Rock Climbing and Parkour Winter Boat Building Winter Mountaineering Spring Mountain Biking Pole & Paddle

cal problems with his seat out on the course and finished 16th. Finally, Will McGovern ’14 caused Coach Barros and his teammates some nervousness when he had not crossed the finish line of the 7-mile course after 90 minutes. It turned out he took a tough fall and scraped and bruised up his knee.

Soaked and freezing but happy to have our teammate back safely, the team packed up. Once all the bikes and equipment were stored, the van pulled out of the Watson Pond State Park lot for the long ride back to Berkshire.

As captain of the team I felt the weekend was a great experience for all the first-years in the program. This race had everything they will encounter during their mountain biking career. We all had to battle tough conditions—the wet ground lined with slippery roots was something even experienced bikers struggled with. Now everyone on the team knows how to handle a bike’s mechanical problems while in a race.

2011-2012 Offerings and Staff Clubs and Activities

Donald Anselmi, Nathaniel Blauss, Anita Loose-Brown, Mike Dalton and Lissa McGovern Frank Barros and Dan Spear

Richard Giles Donald Anselmi and Mike Dalton

Frank Barros Dan Spear

A Trail to Every Classroom

Anita Loose Brown, Mike Dalton, Lissa McGovern and Mandy Morgan

Birding

Clay Splawn

Fly Fishing

Bill Bullock and Dan Skoglund

Maple Syrup Corporation

Mike Dalton and volunteer, Robin McGraw ’70

Ropes Course

Coordinator Donald Anselmi, Frank Barros, Nathaniel Blauss, Bill Clough, Anita Loose-Brown, Bill Bullock, Evan Clary, Mike Dalton, Jesus Ibanez, Brian Lewton, Jean Maher, Lissa McGovern, RG Meade, Peter Quilty, Elizabeth Renehan, Dan Skoglund, Wil Smith, Dan Spear, and Stephanie Turner

Beyond the Mountain Frank Barros (Domestic and international wilderness trips) Please contact RKMP Newsletter editor Bonita Lovison, director of stewardship, with any questions or concerns (blovison@berkshireshireschool.org)

Thank you to the donors who have given to the RKMP endowment, from all the students who have bene fited from their generosity.

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