Charly Mijares spent a lot of his childhood in the outdoors, but it wasn’t the glaciated peaks of Yosemite’s high country that were his first stomping grounds. From the time he was ten years old, he remembers, he would help his father weed out pomegranate orchards, train horses, and build irrigation ditches. He says, “In […]
From Venezuela to Lake Tahoe – A Remarkable Story
Forty days and thirty-nine nights living in the High Sierra wasn’t the biggest challenge that Virginia had experienced since her 15th birthday in January 2018. When she received the news that she was selected for the ARC summer course in Tahoe, it wasn’t even her most life-altering phone call in the last year. On August 18th 2017 […]
Thank You Alpenglow Sports and Tahoe Community!
Gratitude is an important part of the organizational culture of Adventure Risk Challenge. There’s rarely a shortage of gratitude within the ARC community, but this season helps focus attention on the reasons why that is so. As we reflect on a few events and gatherings in November, we’re feeling particularly grateful for the communities of ARC alumni and volunteers and for […]
Reconnecting with Self, Education, & the Outdoors
By Rachel Lightner Jorge Diaz first heard about Adventure Risk Challenge his freshman year of high school from two of his friends who had completed an ARC summer course. They spoke highly of the program and suggested he look into it, but it didn’t spark his interest at the time. It wasn’t until his junior […]
ARC Celebrates its 15th Anniversary with Voices of Youth Events
Thirty high school students embarked on journeys of epic proportions this summer in Truckee, Sequoia, and Yosemite. There are no cell phones; there is no internet; and they are away from home for weeks straight. They are participating in Adventure Risk Challenge’s 25- and 40-day outdoor literacy and leadership immersion courses. The students backpack through […]
ARC Alum Winning College Debate Competitions
Gustavo (Gus) Garcia took the stage to read his ARC metaphorical poem “Another Layer” in July 2016, and he mesmerized the audience with his powerfully-delivered narrative. He discussed growing up in Merced, being raised by immigrant parents who worked tirelessly in the almond fields, and the social and emotional struggles of high school. Gus’s performance […]