Mara Krutsinger trudged up the snow-packed trail to Section House hut, located 7 miles to the southwest of Breckenridge, on a frigid January day back in 2013. To her right, Kathryn Jacaruso (CA ‘13) bounced along, and to her left, a guitar-picking Weston Hamilton (CA ‘14) did his best Bob Dylan impersonation. Mara marveled at these carefree upper classmen and thought to herself, “These are my kind of people!”

 

This feeling of connection was in contrast to her more self-conscious interactions on campus. As a freshman, she still worried about social expectations. Mara reflects that, “In school, students find themselves in very defined roles; athlete, student, teacher, artist… and emotions are supposed to be tempered, not too high or too low, somewhere in the middle.” By contrast, in the backcountry Mara “got to know  classmates in a way that tears down those barriers and heightens emotions.”

 

Now as a Senior and veteran hut tripper, Mara is a vocal promoter of the winter glamping (glamorous camping) trips to 10th Mountain Division huts throughout Colorado. Through CA trips alone, Mara has traveled to Lindley Hut, Section House, Benedicts and is a student leader on the Goodwin-Green hut trip in January.

 

Her feelings of connection were not immediate, but they were galvanized through shared challenges. A hut trip can be a grueling, blister producing, half marathon, through deep snow.

 

What it is about this suffering that forges deep bonds? “Difficulty creates openness; when you’re faced with adversity, you must work together as a team; this makes the experience really ‘real,’ which leads to genuine interactions. When you stop pretending, barriers are broken.”

 

While the hard work of a hut trip created an immediate connection with classmates, Mara’s favorite memories are more lighthearted: Weston playing Wagon Wheel on his travel guitar, snowball fights, the panoramic view of the Elk Mountains through the Plexiglas wall of the Benedict’s toilet, descending from Lindley Hut on a classmate’s back, and staring up at the Milky Way while resting in a snow hammock. Mara’s motivations have shifted since 2013.

 

“As a freshman, I went on my first hut trip to find my people. Now, it’s about finding younger students to bring into the fold and welcome them to an amazing tradition. That’s what I so admired and appreciated about Kathryn Jacaruso. Now it’s my turn to encourage others, to get younger students, and to help them interact with classmates they wouldn’t normally get to know.”

 

Mara has been an avid skier since she was young, but hut trips have given her the chance to travel in the mountains for an extended period of time. She now has the skills to navigate in a winter environment, assess terrain and snowpack for avalanches and use an avalanche beacon and probe in the event of a burial. But, she says these “hard” skills are secondary to the bonds she’s made with classmates.

“When kids are separated from their devices, it creates present, engaged folks who are not distracted.” When asked why a classmate should take a risk and sign up for a hut trip, Mara responds, “They are so unique to Colorado, you don’t do these things at other schools, and kids will be surprised by how well you connect with others.”