The Purpose of This Trip
At the Britt Foundation, our mission is simple: to develop leaders through adventure. This trip to Crawford Notch isn’t just about ice climbing, it’s about building confidence, strengthening teamwork, and exposing students to environments that demand real presence and leadership.
Over three days of guided instruction, students will progress from fundamental movement to more complex climbing objectives, supported by professional veteran instructors. The design of the program is intentional, not to produce expert climbers, but to create a learning environment where growth happens through progression, challenge, and trust.
No one arrives as an expert. That’s the point.
The Granite State
New Hampshire is known as “The Granite State”, a nickname rooted in its massive granite formations and quarries that have defined the region for centuries. Granite is one of the hardest natural materials on Earth, dense, durable, and resistant to erosion.
Granite doesn’t form quickly. It’s created under intense heat and pressure, deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Over time, it rises, hardens, and becomes something that lasts.
It’s a fitting symbol for the kind of leadership we’re trying to develop: not fast, not flashy, but forged slowly through pressure, challenge, and consistency.
A Landscape of Extremes
New Hampshire may be small, but its geography is anything but mild.
Just miles from where we’ll be training sits Mount Washington, part of the White Mountains, which once recorded the highest wind speed ever observed on Earth, 231 miles per hour. Stronger than most hurricanes. Stronger than most people can even imagine standing in.
This region is known for:
- Rapid weather changes
- Heavy snowfall
- Sub-zero temperatures
- High winds and whiteout conditions
It’s a place that demands respect. Not bravado. Not ego.
You don’t conquer this environment. You learn to move within it.
Crawford Notch: A Place of Passage
Our team will be based in Crawford Notch, a dramatic mountain pass carved through the heart of the White Mountains. It’s considered one of the premier ice climbing destinations in the Northeast, known for its steep granite walls, frozen waterfalls, and reliable winter ice.
For centuries, this corridor served as one of the only routes through the mountains, used by explorers, travelers, and settlers moving through rugged, unpredictable terrain.
Long before it became a destination for climbers, Crawford Notch was a place of necessity and survival. People passed through here facing isolation, harsh weather, limited resources, and the unknown.
In many ways, it has always been a landscape of transition, a place where people confront uncertainty and decide whether to turn back or move forward.
That’s a powerful metaphor for leadership.
The White-Tailed Deer
New Hampshire’s state animal is the white-tailed deer, a species known for its ability to survive long, unforgiving winters in rugged terrain.
Deer endure deep snow, scarce food, and freezing temperatures not through brute strength, but through adaptability, awareness, and resilience.
They conserve energy. They stay alert. They move carefully. They survive by reading their environment and responding intelligently to what it demands.
It’s a quiet kind of strength. And it’s exactly the kind we hope our students begin to develop, the ability to stay grounded, aware, and steady in difficult situations.
The Work Begins Before the Ice
What most people never see is that the real work of this trip begins long before anyone touches ice.
Preparation includes virtual briefings, paperwork and waivers, group workouts, leadership conversations, and final gear checks, all designed to build readiness, accountability, and trust before stepping into the mountains.
This phase matters just as much as the climbing itself. It’s where expectations are set, fears are named, and responsibility is shared. It’s where students begin to understand that this isn’t about proving something, it’s about preparing for something.
Learning Through Progression
The trip unfolds in phases.
It begins with travel, gear orientation, and safety briefings. Then students move into introductory single-pitch ice climbing at locations like Frankenstein Cliff, learning fundamental movement, footwork, and rope systems.
The experience culminates in a real multi-pitch ascent on Mt. Willard, where everything they’ve learned must be applied in a live technical environment.
Not in theory.
Not in a gym.
But in the cold.
This progression is intentional. It mirrors how real growth happens, slowly, through exposure, repetition, reflection, and support.
Guided by Experience
Students are supported throughout the trip by professional veteran instructors, including former Special Forces operators, retired Pararescue, and certified AMGA guides with decades of experience operating in extreme environments.
These guides aren’t just teaching technical skills. They’re modeling:
- Calm under pressure
- Clear communication
- Risk management
- Decision-making in uncertain conditions
In other words, leadership.
Why Place Matters
At the Britt Foundation, we believe environments shape people.
Not because the mountains magically change you, but because challenging landscapes reveal things about you that comfortable ones never will.
Places like New Hampshire force you to:
- Pay attention
- Prepare
- Respect limits
- Trust others
- Stay present
You can’t autopilot in a place like this.
You can’t fake your way through it.
You can’t rely on comfort.
The environment becomes the teacher.
Stepping Into Something Bigger Than Ourselves
Tomorrow, our students and veterans will leave their familiar routines behind and step into a landscape defined by granite, wind, cold, and centuries of human passage.
They’ll learn technical skills like ice climbing and navigation. But more importantly, they’ll learn what it feels like to operate in an environment that doesn’t adjust itself for you.
A place that demands humility.
A place that rewards preparation.
A place that reveals character.
New Hampshire doesn’t promise comfort.
It promises reality.
And that’s exactly why we chose it.
Because leadership isn’t formed in ease.
It’s formed in environments that require you to slow down, pay attention, and become something stronger than you were before.