Taking students to the top
Clubs give youths a chance to experience power of the outdoors
A windswept, snow-covered ridge in the Jewel Basin is a long way from Flathead High School.
But for students in the school's Alpine Club, this is Outdoor Adventure 101.
The school's Alpine Club - and a similar program at Kalispell Junior High School called the Adventure Club - brings a wide array of outdoor activities to the students, from hiking and mountain biking to avalanche education, alpine skiing, backcountry skiing and winter camping.
In two weeks, the students from both clubs will participate in a backcountry ski trip to Mount Aeneas in the Jewel Basin.
Growing up in Redlands, Calif., Eric Sawtelle witnessed the power of the outdoors.
When he was in high school, Sawtelle was a member of his high school's outdoor club and spent his free time rafting, hiking and exploring the outdoors. "That really got me into the outdoors," he said. "I figured we needed some kind of club like that here, and be able to provide kids with that kind of opportunity."
Sawtelle, now a science teacher at Flathead High School, brought that passion for the outdoors to his students at Kalispell Junior High by forming the Adventure Club.
English teacher Rob Ford, Sawtelle's peer at Flathead High School, runs a similar program called the Alpine Club. Next year, as both schools combine their ninth grades, Sawtelle and Ford will combine their respective programs into one outdoor program called the Alpine Adventure Club.
It's the two teachers' goal to offer students an alternative to traditional high school sports, and provide a healthy, educational, outdoor experience.
"There are no cuts here," Sawtelle said.
This fall, with the opening of Glacier High School, students from that school can participate in the Alpine Club, Sawtelle said, if they don't form their own outdoor program.
The clubs' goal is to continually improve the students' outdoor skills so that the level of activities continues to challenge the students.
Last year, Ford and Sawtelle accompanied a student on a technical climbing trip to the summit of Grand Teton in Wyoming.
Sawtelle sees the Alpine Club continuing to grow in popularity. About 40 students take part in club activities each year. "There's a lot of room to expand it. Every trip we do, there's plenty of interest. We've got good participation and a great group of kids," Sawtelle said.
The outdoors are a large part of people's lives in Northwest Montana. Many of the students in the junior high and high school outdoor clubs already have solid outdoor experience, Sawtelle said, but for others, the clubs give them their first taste of the outdoors.
Whether or not the students have outdoors experience, the clubs are all about "getting kids together outside in a positive environment," Sawtelle said.
The club gives students a way to socialize among their peers in a healthy environment and learn how to plan trips in the outdoors, Ford said.
"It's really cool because there are a lot of kids around here who ski, hike, mountain bike and kayak, so the club offers them an opportunity to get together, and organize activities with more than just one or two friends. It allows for an idea to turn into an action and it's good to see these kids get together in a healthy way."
Lone Pine Grind race benefits outdoor clubs
A race on Saturday will benefit the outdoor clubs at Kalispell Junior High and Flathead High School.
The fourth annual Lone Pine Grind is a hike, bike or run up a 2.9-mile trail at Lone Pine State Park.
Registration is Saturday at 10 a.m. at Lone Pine, with the race beginning at noon. A $10 entry fee gives participants a free water bottle and barbecue lunch from the Kalispell Lions. Proceeds benefit the schools' outdoor clubs.