Paul Smith’s College Instructor to Climb 46 High Peaks in Eight Days

August 2, 2016

Two hundred Miles, 96,000 Vertical Feet, 15 Hours Per Day Across New York’s Famed Adirondack Mountains

Outdoors enthusiasts from across the Northeast have long aspired to climb all 46 of the famed Adirondack High Peaks in Upstate New York during their lifetimes. College instructor Bethany Garretson is planning to do so in a span of eight days, beginning August 6.

Garretson, an environmental studies instructor at Paul Smith’s College in the heart of the Adirondack region, has dubbed her endeavor “Climb it 4 Climate.” She’s launched a fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $46,000 — $1,000 per peak — for sustainable living initiatives at the college.outclients.jpg

Each of the 46 High Peaks is at least 4,000 feet in elevation. Garretson has climbed each one three times over the past seven years — but never like this.

This time she’s attempting to become the first woman ever to complete an “unsupported thru-hike” of the High Peaks, which means she will be carrying everything she needs for the 200-plus mile journey in a 30-pound pack. No car rides, food drops, no power outlets—just her own two feet from beginning to end. She’ll hike mountain to mountain, a total of 96,000 vertical feet, averaging 15 hours per day at approximately two miles per hour, and sleeping just five hours per night in the backcountry.

“As a college student, I was frustrated by global climate change and other environmental issues,” says Garretson, who graduated from Paul Smith’s in 2009. “I left school wanting to fix the world. After four years as a wilderness therapy field instructor and graduate student, I learned that the best way to help on a large scale is to focus my efforts at the community level. Relying on our own human energy and ingenuity is the first step toward making a difference, and every step counts.”

More information about Garretson’s adventure — including a donation form — can be found at http://www.paulsmiths.edu/climb-it-4-climate/

Paul Smith’s College is the only four-year institution of higher education in New York’s six million-acre Adirondack Park. The college’s programs – in fields including hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, natural resources, entrepreneurship and the sciences – draw on industries and resources available in the Adirondack Region while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. For more information, visit paulsmiths.edu.

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