This past weekend, over one hundred Hamilton students eagerly participated in 46 Peaks! 46 Peaks, Hamilton’s annual tradition, has many student-led hiking trips venture up different mountains in the Adirondack mountain range. The ultimate goal every year is to place students on the summits of each of the 46 Major Peaks of the Adirondacks, and every peak is over 4,000 feet in elevation. This year, there were 24 different trips, varying from day trips on Saturday, day trips on Sunday and overnight trips. The overall level was generally “spicy,” as even the easier trips were long and had steep sections. “We tried to funnel participants into a peak that meets their level of fitness and the kind of commitment they would like to do. We have student trips going out all over, led by outing club leaders and Adirondack Adventure leaders,” explained Sarah Skoy, the Associate Director of Outdoor Leadership.
Hamilton’s unique geographic location situates the Colege nearby New York’s notable mountain range. This feature explains why these trips began. Skoy continued, “So there’s mountaineering literature. Edmund Hillary, who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. And when asked why he did it, he classically said, because it’s there. And I think that 46 Peaks happens because it’s here. It’s accessible, we can be able to get to these regions in three hours. And that’s huge for us. And so I think the fact that…the Adirondacks are so accessible from where we’re positioned physically.” Skoy explained how 46 Peaks furthers Hamilton’s culture of catering to a multitude of student interests, “Hamilton culture [is] kind of this…a la carte experience for student activities, you know, where it’s like, you can go on a hike for 46 Peaks, and you can be involved in your a capella group and you can be involved…on an intramural sports team. And so it’s one of those things where it doesn’t have to, like, take over your whole life and experience as a college student, but it’s a really good kind of one off experience.”
In the approximate 40 years that 46 Peaks has been occurring, this tradition has only undergone subtle changes. As safety is a central priority, Skoy says that there have been slight adjustments regarding risk management, such as making day trips into overnight ones to prevent severe exhaustion. Additionally, as some students are interested in pursuing trips that may be out of their range of athletic abilities or hiking experience, Skoy provides them with information on how to safely participate in these trips. For example, she provides them with bailout routes, extra gear and shares some safety tips.
While Skoy’s role is student advising, she explained that “The Outing Club officers really take the lead on all of this. They are the ones that have their eyes on the itineraries, and then they’re organizing the leaders, they’re organizing participant sign ups, they’re organizing all of the communication with the leaders to get all of the…participants in here to get all their gear.”
Skoy and Abby Baron ’26
were both in awe of the scenery on their various trips. Baron described her favorite part of the hike: “When we had almost reached the summit and we could see the top of the mountain. It was this moment we were all just racing up the last stretch to finally see the view we had all worked for five hours to get to.” Skoy set the scene of her hike up Sawtooth Mountain, “It was gorgeous. I mean, the lake was completely flat, there were beautiful colors on either side, there were cliffs rising, you know, out of like a painting,” she described.
On top of the immense beauty and physical exercise, these trips serve as significant community building experiences for members of the Hamilton community. “I think the outdoors are kind of a magical conduit for community building. And it’s like, anytime you step off campus to do any kind of outdoor experience, it has this outsized effect for what you actually did. So it’s like you can be out for just a day, but it can feel like it has the effect of a two week trip. And so I feel like with 46 Peaks, there’s a couple of things at play. It’s like, a self determined experience that…students are like, kind of co-creating within their groups. And I think that that’s really powerful. It’s like this kind of sense of independence. You have support and resources, you know, but once you’re out there, you have to kind of navigate it and figure out everything,” said Skoy.
46 Peaks is one of many leadership and bonding opportunities offered at Hamilton, and students can utilize these leadership tools and experiences further their interests beyond their time in college. “We want to make kind of baseline entry level experiences that are really fun and maybe a little bit challenging, but without being super intense and overwhelming, along with harder trips to create avenues for those who want greater intensity,” Skoy went on. “We also want to offer leadership development for people who want to take those skills to another level. And then we can actually offer career related advice and training for people that do this professionally.”
“Whether you want to experience this off campus or meet a few new people, try to challenge yourself a little bit,” said Skoy. Outdoor opportunities are a great way to engage with Hamilton, and 46 Peaks’ school-wide nature creates the opportunity to participate in a meaningful community tradition.
