Balancing Intellect with a Moral Scope

It is a common theme in independent school education that intellect must be balanced by a moral scope. I have always believed that Colorado Rocky Mountain School does an amazing job of preparing its students for college and later life by giving them a solid foundation in both areas. However, a recent dinner with an alumnus during my travels through Asia helped me to see it even better from a student's perspective.

This past fall during my trip to Tokyo, I had the pleasure of meeting Taro Tomisawa, a recent alumnus who currently works for a Japanese foundation. Taro was my guide that evening; not only through an unfamiliar cuisine but also in sharing what he felt was the unique educational gift that Colorado Rocky Mountain School had given him. As we savored our way through an assortment of dishes that required an explanation and an eating strategy, Taro surprised me with an impressive insight about CRMS. He told me that he has come to strongly believe that performing community service is one of the most important values that our school has to share with the world. He came to this conclusion after realizing that during his time here his sense of service became habitual and that since graduating from CRMS five years ago and attending Colorado College, he has found it challenging to find the opportunities to do more to improve the communities in which he has lived and worked.

As the Head of School, I have the unique opportunity of seeing first-hand the impact our program has on people. Alumni often tell me about the difference the CRMS experience has meant in their lives and the importance of the unique opportunities that were available to them. On occasion some alumni will reflect on the depth and breadth of our program and how they wish that they had been more involved and taken advantage of what was offered here. Others have lamented that, in retrospect, four years was simply not enough time. Most alumni ask that we never get rid of the household job and work crew programs, because they taught them skills that they would later need. Few, however, have framed it in the way that Taro did for me that evening in Tokyo. His assessment that CRMS is unique in that it inculcates the value of service through the entire program is something that we probably take for granted, because it is a part of our daily lives and culture.

In our most recent alumni newsletter, we highlight some wonderful programs that are a part of the school community as a result of the passion and interest of student leaders: Operation Smile, FaceAIDS, Soles 4 Souls, and Random Acts of Kindness. All of these student-initiated clubs do a wonderful job of getting us to think beyond ourselves. They hold true to the spirit of progressive education that seeks to create involved, knowledgeable, and skilled citizens.

Preparation for college begins with a strong academic foundation, but knowledge without an applied sense of value and purpose has a limited scope. This combination of knowledge and values is something that as educators we all believe in, but it is what Taro helped me to see in a different light that evening. My conversation with Taro has since had me thinking about this sense of service on a more day-to- day level, the very spirit of service from which these clubs and programs originate. For Taro it was simply a way of life, a habit, and a way of seeing the world. The value of service became so integral to Taro's life that he views it as the most important aspect of his CRMS experience.

Creating students who view service as a key part of their lives, so much so that they must seek it out to feel satisfied and complete, is ultimately what we are striving for. As we move into the second semester, it is important to remind ourselves that some of the mundane aspects of our lives (i.e. household jobs, work crews, cleaning the dormitories and rooms, and random acts of kindness) are really wonderful opportunities that if taken with an open mind will forge a life-long belief. This awareness was recently manifested in a student's noticing and acting upon a need that resulted in a group effort to provide a disabled neighbor with some new winter clothing. It is in the team spirit that was generated from hard-working soccer players and a school that supports them. It was in the way that the school finished the first semester strong with final exams, an exceptional art show, a band concert, and a climbing competition.

We look forward to continuing this legacy of education and service.

Jeff Leahy
Head of School

CRMS students headed for Duke and U Penn

Colorado Rocky Mountain School would like to congratulate seniors Grady Lenkin and Courtney Bender on their Early Decision acceptances to Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. One reason Grady selected Duke is because he believes that while their students are brilliant, they still lead balanced lives that go beyond their studies. Courtney has wanted to attend U Penn since she was a small child. She has family in the Philadelphia area and is looking forward to being part of a close-knit campus in a large city setting. We wish them both tremendous success in their college endeavors and beyond.

Wilderness Workshop Gala

Five of our students are headed up to the Wheeler Opera House this Sunday to be honored by Congressman Salazar and the filmmakers of Forever Wild for the Wilderness Workshop essays they submitted. It promises to be a big night!

CRMS Featured in a New Book

CRMS is prominently featured in a new book, Memoirs of a River ... Up the Crystal by author Charlotte Graham. Check out our valley's history and learn more about CRMS's beginnings.

Student-initiated Clubs and Efforts are Raising Funds and Awareness in our Community and Beyond

Community service is a core value and has been a way of life at CRMS since its inception in 1953. John Holden said, “It is my firm belief that the happiest people in the world are those who serve their fellow man.” Our students have always been compelled and encouraged to go beyond the robust academic and active offerings, and to become productive, engaged members of our society. One such opportunity to contribute in a greater and meaningful way is through our student clubs. On a daily basis, CRMS students, despite their hectic school schedules, are reaching out and helping those less fortunate or simply in need of assistance. From Operation Smile and Face AIDS to Soles 4 Souls and Random Acts of Kindness, CRMS student-initiated clubs and efforts are raising funds and awareness in our community and beyond. Most recently there has been a tremendous amount of student interest in global humanitarian causes, and our clubs reflects this social awareness. For the rest of the story please go to http://www.crms.org/about/student-advocacy/

CRMS Students Start a Random Acts of Kindness Club

Colorado Rocky Mountain School is an independent high school in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where student-initiated philanthropic clubs abound. From Operation Smile and Face Aids to Peace Jam and Souls4Souls, CRMS students continually expand their interest in, and fundraising efforts surrounding, global humanitarian causes. And while all these clubs enjoy strong membership, an amazing thing happened the other day when one student proposed starting a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) chapter. Based on an international foundation that promotes kindness (established in 1995 as a 501c3 nonprofit organization) the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness.

So Grady, a CRMS senior, announces at a weekly all-school meeting that he would like to start a RAK chapter and to simply reply to his email if anyone is interested in being involved. Well, as a small school with only 145 students and 35 faculty/staff, over 55 people immediately responded and joined his effort. So one week into the new RAK club, over one-third of the school is involved in promoting kindness and unexpected gifts of gratitude.

For anyone out there who worries about our next generation of youth and the legacy they will leave for the world, I am constantly inspired and comforted by the intelligence, sensitivity and initiative of our high school students. For more information contact Lisa Raleigh (a proud member of the new CRMS RAK club).

Tele's Youth Movement

Adventure Sports Journal - By Pete Gauvin • Photos by Kevin Klein

Telemark skiing is an addictive and challenging sport that most snow junkies discover only after years of alpine skiing and snowboarding. It might be the lure of the backcountry, the comfort of lighter weight gear, or the soulful, expressive style of the turn. Regardless, it’s largely an avocation of adults, twenty-somethings and up, often seasoned skiers and boarders that have plateaued and are looking for a fresh challenge.

Knee-dipping, heel-raising, box-sliding kids under 18? About as rare as a mountain lion sighting.

Except, that is, at Alpine Meadows, home to one of the few kids freeheel teams in the country. Under the tutelage of head coach and program brainchild Jason Layh, the Alpine Meadows’ program teaches kids to freeheel ski from the get go, not after the typical lengthy apprenticeship on alpine skis or snowboards.

Now entering its fifth season, the tele team has found its legs alongside traditional kids ski and snowboard teams as an established part of the Alpine Meadows Junior Development Program. From its beginning as an experimental seed in the 2005-06 season with eight kids, four boys and four girls, all still with the team, the program has gained notoriety and new students each year.

“After the first year every single kid was just thrilled and having the kids together out on the hill really turned heads,” says Layh, an affable Australian professional ski bum with a lengthy resume of credentials after many winters in both hemispheres as a ski partroller and instructor.

Sport, Not Race, Oriented

From early December to mid-April, the kids will spend about 50 days on snow with weekends and holidays combined. But unlike a lot of youth programs, the tele team (open to ages 10 to 18) does not focus on repetitive drills and running gates.

“We’re there primarily to have fun and explore the hill in ways that only telemarking can offer,” says Layh. “We don’t get bogged down with race training.”

“I was so happy it got going because if you want your kids to ski, and they aren’t into racing, this is perfect,” says Christine Hinkel, a Truckee resident whose 14-year-old daughter, Amory Harris, has been in the program since its inception. “They break out of the mold. It’s super fun, they get to be amazing skiers without the pressure of racing gates, and can still be competitive if they want to. It’s a big confidence builder to be able to do this sport and feel comfortable with it.”

“Jason is really great with the kids,” she adds. “He’s fun, professional, nurturing, understanding and gets the kids out there and loving it.”

Starting Small

Layh’s infectious enthusiasm has been the lifeblood of the program, but he started it out of his own self interest. After he discovered tele on his own in 2001, he was looking for a way he could stay in tele gear all season long rather than having to go back to stiff and restrictive alpine boots and bindings he wore as a freeride coach in the junior development program.

At the time, there were only a few other programs in the country that groomed kids to ski on freeheel gear: one in Mad River Glen, Vermont, an epicenter of the granola-head and flannel-clad telemark revival that trickled to life 30 years ago, and two at private schools in Colorado, Vail Mountain School and Colorado Rocky Mountain School. Recently, a couple new youth tele programs have also started in Utah, Layh says.

“We’re going to see the same explosion in freeheel skiing talent in another four to five years that we’ve been seeing in snowboarding and skiing,” Layh predicts. “Kids are doing stuff now I wouldn’t ever imagined doing.”

In the program’s second year, Layh was able to bring another eight kids on board, and add another coach, Chummy Prestowitz of Truckee.

“The team has been a life changing experience for me,” says Hannah Fasiang of Carson City, Nevada, now entering her fourth season on the team. “Not only has the team drastically improved my confidence in my skiing abilities, but I have also met some awesome new friends.”

In the first year of the program, kids develop basic skills on groomed terrain. In the second year, they’re introduced to riding off-piste and taught about all-mountain safety and terrain choice. In the third year, they learn advanced telemark and freeride skills, receive Level 1 avalanche training, and focus on skiing the entire mountain in all conditions. Further development is offered in park and pipe skiing, avalanche awareness, backcountry riding and freeskiing competitions.

“Most other skiers have taught themselves to tele and the learning curve is very slow,” Layh says. With the structured program, “the kids learn really quickly. It’s forced us to get better, too, otherwise the kids would soon surpass us.”

Last year at age 14, Fasiang was one of three team members to compete in their first national-level competition, the freeheel extreme championships in Crested Butte, Colorado.

“For me the experience has been both nerve-wracking and extremely fun,” she says. “Through the comps, I have met some amazing people from all different parts of the U.S. These experiences would not have happened if I wouldn’t have joined the team. The relationship I have with the coaches and other teammates does not end at the end of ski season, but continues throughout the year. The coaches are not only great at their job, they are also amazing friends and mentors.”

While the potential for injury exists, Layh believes there are fewer season-ending injuries with tele than with alpine skiing and snowboarding. Tele is more taxing on the muscles, but it’s easier on the joints, he says. That’s why he emphasizes that the kids get extra rest and they begin every day with stretching. So far, they’ve had no serious injuries.

The Gear Challenge

Age 10 is the lower limit for the kids tele program for some key reasons.

“Telemark skiing is the hardest of the snowsport disciplines,” Layh says. Kids needs to have some mental maturity and kinesthetic awareness to pick it up, not to mention strength. But more fundamental is the simple fact that most ski companies do not make freeheel gear that will fit small kids.

Indeed, finding affordable gear in sizes to keep fast growing kids in skis and boots has been one of the program’s biggest challenges. Justin Singer, a rep for Karhu skis, and Mike Schwartz, the owner of The BackCountry store in Truckee, were instrumental in providing equipment at discount rates to get the program off the ground.

“The first year we were able to get all the kids on boots, skis and bindings for $150 each,” Layh says.

Keeping outfitting costs low has been key in keeping parents on board and the program afloat, he stresses.

Last year, due to the skidding economy, every single team in Alpine’s Junior Development Program lost kids, except for the tele team, which picked up another four kids.

The bigger the program gets the easier it is to get gear from companies. And as their fleet of skis and boots grows, the gear can be handed down and resold from student to student, season to season. Layh also maintains a hotline connection to second-hand consignment shops, such as the Sports Exchange in Truckee and 9 Lives in Tahoe City, to alert him whenever junior-sized gear, often women’s gear, comes in.

This year, Layh hopes to have 25-30 kids in the program and add another coach, professional freeheeler Lorenzo Worster.

“We started forming a neat little community,” says Layh. And it’s growing with every genuflecting kid proving that kids can tele too.

For more information on the kids tele program, visit www.tahoefreeheel.com or Alpine Meadows’s website, www.skialpine.com. The program costs $1375 and includes a season pass.