“All kids need this. All humans need this.”
That’s the guiding philosophy for Brian Hightower, Aspen Valley Land Trust’s (AVLT) outdoor education coordinator. He taught eighth-grade social studies at Aspen Middle School for 12 years, and has been involved in outdoor education consistently for over two decades. “Our vision is to create as many opportunities as we can,” Hightower told The Sopris Sun.
Hightower has been facilitating outdoor education with AVLT since 2016 — for both students and educators. That was the same year that AVLT purchased the Marble Basecamp property, which has been a nexus for youth experiential education for years. Now rebranded as Chapin Wright Campus at Marble Basecamp, the property has served as the site of Aspen Middle School’s eighth grade outdoor ed team-building course since the ‘60s.
Last year, the adjacent Outward Bound School property went up for sale. AVLT rallied supporters again to purchase that additional property, and the organization is undergoing updates and improvements to eventually expand its services there.
AVLT’s community-supported acquisition of Marble Basecamp in 2016 was aided by grants from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Flatirons Foundation. The shift in ownership changed the landscape of experiential education in the region. The previous property owners had granted exclusive permission to Aspen Middle School to use the property each autumn. AVLT has a vision to make it broader and more inclusive.
“When AVLT purchased the Chapin Wright Basecamp, our mission and focus was to both sustain the long-standing outdoor ed program at Aspen and to support schools that did not have the same tradition and culture of outdoor education,” Hightower shared. “It is important for us to create more access and opportunity to outdoor spaces for the youth of the entire Roaring Fork Valley, because every child needs to have time in nature.”
Since 2017, AVLT has worked with seven different schools in five separate counties (Pitkin, Garfield, Gunnison, Delta and Eagle), hosting hundreds of students on the property. School groups currently visit the campus from late August to early October. Almost 100% of its programs are school-affiliated.
“It’s the lowest hanging fruit and most equitable way to involve kids in outdoor education,” said Hightower. Every school-based experience on the Chapin Wright campus is free to participants. AVLT aims to keep it that way to maximize accessibility. “Our focus is getting kids into the woods early and often,” continued Hightower, which is much easier to do without financial barriers for families.
Hightower has been around for nearly a third of the time since the property has been used for outdoor education. Having witnessed the legacy imparted on Aspen Middle School outdoor ed alumni, he noted that increasing accessibility is essential.
“What’s cool about a program with such longevity is you can meet retirees who have been through the program,” Hightower reflected, happily adding that many former participants now volunteer to help facilitate current programming.
Each year, Hightower and other AVLT coordinators have seen more and more kids being introduced to the outdoors. “Kids need this now more than ever, because it’s so much less a part of their everyday lives than before.”
Reflecting on the rise of smartphones, Hightower noted that “By 2016 [phones] got pervasive and insidious” in schools. The good news is, however, that “In the woods, the phones rarely come up. Kids tend to be having a good enough time without them.”
But the biggest difference Hightower sees today is that kids are now coming from across the entire valley. AVLT welcomes school groups of various ages, and some charter schools bring elementary schoolers along with teenagers. The empowerment that Hightower and his colleagues witness within participants is consistent, despite their different backgrounds and stages of life.
Invariably, “Some kids are afraid of the trip in general,” said Hightower. And that’s a good thing, he added, because “It’s powerful to complete something that’s hard [and] forces kids to step outside themselves. It strips away everything that’s not important — homework and screens and distractions.”
AVLT’s Marble Basecamp is open to schools and youth groups through mid-October. The organization also welcomes adult groups to use the property for outdoor training and retreats. Group size is typically limited to 50 people, and all participants are required to sign liability waivers. Once the newly acquired Outward Bound campus has been updated, AVLT anticipates expanding its summer programming beyond school groups and private retreats.
For more on the Chapin Wright Campus at Marble Basecamp, visit www.avlt.org/marble-basecamp