Orientation trips kick off each new school year with VMS students exploring the mountains, rivers, and forests of the central Rockies. Not only an opportunity to rekindle old and make new friendships, these trips harken the beginning of a new and exciting school year.

Beginning in fourth grade, VMS students embark on expeditions to 10th Mountain Division huts with their classmates and teachers. Besides the exhilaration of the adventure, students are building community while honing critical life skills, from self confidence and resilience to backcountry safety and sustainability.

Ski Days are a long standing tradition at Vail Mountain School, recalling the days when VMS didn’t have a campus or a gymnasium. Today, these cherished ski days help us stay connected as a K-12 community and enhance our students’ understanding of their role in caring for the environment in which we are so lucky to live.

Field Trips are easy to plan when you live in the mountains! Partnering with Walking Mountain Science School is one way our youngest students get up close with science, ecology, and global awareness. But our backyard hiking trails, riparian zones, and snowy peaks are accessible for real world learning any day of the week! 

Vail Mountain School’s place-based approach to science helps students understand how they connect to a place and how one place connects to another. In doing so, VMS students not only develop an understanding of the amazing ecosystems in which our community exists, but also their sense of stewardship is nurtured and enhanced. 

Crowning their divisional studies, the oldest students in Lower, Middle, and Upper School look forward to a Class Trip before continuing on to their next chapter. The fifth grade multi-day trip to Denver introduces students to the State House, U.S. Mint, and museums, while past excursions to Crow Canyon Archeological Center in Southwest Colorado complemented their history studies. The 8th grade trip caps off the Middle School experience by taking students out of the state for five days while preparing them for the Upper School trips that may even take them out of the country. Seniors set out for New York City, where packed days of culture, arts, food, and sightseeing allow them to experience the pace and richness of life outside a ski town. Along with the educational benefits, we take special note of how each travel experience furthers students’ social-emotional maturity, garners shared experiences and memories, exercises executive functioning skills, and fosters their growing independence.