Colorado Rocky Mountain School Wilderness Workshop Essay Winners

Earlier this December, the Wilderness Workshop sought out the next generation of young environmental leaders by hosting a writing contest for 7th – 12th graders from Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley. The Wilderness Workshop asked all participating students to submit essays, stories or poems on why they believe wilderness is important. The 40 recipients were honored at the gala premiere of Forever Wild, the PBS documentary narrated by Robert Redford, at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, CO. In addition, the students met Congressman  Salazar and filmmakers Chelsea Congdon and James Brundige and were recognized  for their writing submissions. Five Colorado Rocky Mountain School students were chosen and honored. Following please find one of their submissions. For more information, contact Lisa Raleigh (Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Director of Communications) or go to this link. 

Imagine you are standing on the top of a mountain. It is just you there. It is so quiet, you can hear your own heart beat. Down below you there is just wildness. You can see a eagle flying around down there over the trees. Everything is covered with a thick layer of snow. It is sunny outside, you can hear some squirrels fighting about something in a tree. When you are looking out over this fantastic view you feel peaceful. All your problems just float away. This is all yours, you can be who ever you want. You don´t have to think about your job, school, or other people. It is just you and the wilderness and you are doing what you love.

 This is what wilderness means to me. It is the best thing in the world for me. The feeling when you are looking out over the nature, with no civilization in sight. The thing that makes it better is that I have a pair of skies on me. I am standing, looking down on this majestic landscape and I love it. I am standing there for maybe 10 minutes just looking as this beautiful view and I´m thinking what a beautiful gift life is. I am so lucky to be living right now and I want to share this with all the people I know. I want them to have the chance to see what a great gift nature is to us. I take a deep breath and I jump in. The drop from the cliff are maybe twenty feet high and when I hit the ground I can feel the snow as a soft, cold hand caressing my face. It feels like I am being shaken in a bowl of flour. I can´t see anything but suddenly the snow disappears from my face and I can see the beautiful wildness again. I am going down the mountain on my way back to the hut. It feels like I´m floating on the snow. It is a feeling that is impossible to describe, you have to try it yourself to understand it, but this is the closest you can get to walking on clouds. I am heading towards the trees. The forest look magical with the snow, on the trees, sparkling like diamonds. I am flying through the trees and I can only hear the snow flying around me. Suddenly I stop, I am looking around, trying to find my way back, but it all looks the same. I can hear my own breathing and feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I go right hoping that it is the right way. The sun is getting brighter and I can now see an open field with snow on it sparkling like diamonds. But these diamonds mean more to me than real diamonds. These ones are my life and without them and this beautiful wilderness I don't know what I would do. It is my life and it is because of this I live. I am on the right way so I decide to head back to the hut. After an hour of walking I can see it. I get inside, hang up my stuff to dry, light a fire and I lay down on the couch. I look outside and I can see some deer just outside the hut. They look curious, and they are probably looking for food. I stare at the deer for a long time until they walk away.

The wilderness means everything to me. It is my world and it is the thing I love the most. I don't have to be skiing to enjoy it like in this case. Just a few hours in the woods makes me more peaceful. It is a way for me to forget about real life and just live like I want to without any duties or homework. Wilderness makes me love life more and feel gifted for living. I'd like to share wilderness with everyone because I think they all deserve to have the chance to find the same thing that I found... heaven on earth.

Ludvig Ragnarsson / Grade 11

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