BY JONATHAN KANE
Community School senior Henry Everitt has a serious love of the outdoors. Carrying a 3.5 grade point average and taking honors classes in statistics, English, physics and pre-calculus, Everitt is also a member of the school’s Outdoor Leadership Academy, the Kayak Club and both a camper and counselor at Sun Valley’s Mountain Adventure Tours, which he credits for creating that love.
“I’m just passionate about the outdoors,” Everitt said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled a lot and have had the freedom and ability to be outdoors with friends without devices like cellphones. In that situation, everyone just changes. You can look up and have amazing conversations.”
Everitt has kayaked and backpacked throughout the world. He has a special attraction to kayaking.
“It’s pretty amazing and what interests me the most,” he said. “I think it stems from the fact that I’ve always been attracted to the river, but I didn’t start until eighth grade.
“My family always took river trips and my favorite is the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. It’s so close to home, yet so far away. When you are kayaking, you are free flowing at the mercy of the river. Also, you can’t fix things; if you leave your gear behind, there is no help for you.
“My earliest memory is of being in a little yellow ducky [inflatable kayak] and spending the whole day on the river,” Everitt said. “When you are kayaking, you have total freedom. You’re not connected to the raft and other people. Also, you can throw the boat over your shoulder and find rapids that you’d like to run.”
Everitt has been a member of Community School’s Outdoor Leadership Academy since he was a freshman.
“At the academy, there are four specialties that you must be proficient in,” he said. “They are river, rock, winter backcountry travel and fly-fishing. It gives kids the drive and experience that they need. Some do it for their college scholarships and some see it as a way of life. It’s also led to some amazing trips.”
Everitt said his most memorable trip was backpacking in Patagonia, Chile, on a trail in the Torres del Paine National Park for six days.
“There were six kids and two leaders and we were all in seventh and eighth grades,” he said. “I was the youngest kid there. We hiked to some of the most amazing glaciers in the world. By far it was the most difficult and rewarding hike of my life.
“The mountains are spectacular and nothing like anything I had seen before. The glaciers were jaw dropping and so cool. They are quickly receding and we had the amazing experience of seeing chunks the size of skyscrapers dropping off into the ocean. It’s something I’ll never forget.”