At the start of every new school year, the Storm King Community participates in a long-standing tradition that dates back to the early 1930s–Mountain Day. On Mountain Day, all students and faculty make the scenic trek up Storm King Mountain and gather at the summit for a school photo, then return to campus for a picnic lunch. Usually a highlight of Orientation Week, this annual hike introduces our students to the natural environment surrounding the campus and helps to foster school unity and spirit.

This fall, the hike was canceled, but our students and faculty still have the chance to celebrate Mountain Day with a different twist. The Office of Student Life issued its first Advisory Challenge of the year encouraging small groups of hikers to make the trek up the Mountain in their cohorts. Any cohort that takes a photo at the traditional location of our annual Mountain Day school photo receives a complimentary after-school pizza. Several cohorts have made it to the top and enjoyed pizza so far, and with the challenge running through November 1, there will be many more pizzas to come. What a great way to enjoy the spirit of Mountain Day while we wait to climb the Mountain together again next year!

The History of Mountain Day

It was Storm King’s sixth Headmaster, Anson Barker, who initiated the first Mountain Day during the fall of 1932–the first year of his 19-year tenure. On a crisp November morning of that year, he excused students from classes and sent them into Black Rock Forest on hiking excursions which later culminated in a picnic feast. The event proved to be so successful, its tradition has endured until the present day.