Jack Gavin climbs to the top
June 6, 2016
For many, being suspended hundreds of feet above the ground, surrounded by craggy mountains in all directions, sounds terrifying. How about being up there almost completely alone, the cold wind in your hair, with civilization and society miles away? It seems like something out of an adventure movie. Experiences like these are a common place for senior Jack Gavin, who, since around freshman year, lives and breathes the great mountainous air.
Passing him in the halls, one might have no idea of the excitement Gavin gets to go through or of all of the sights he’s seen. Not only has he seen all kinds of new sides to Washington’s peaks, last summer he also got to experience another continent when he joined alongside other students traveling abroad to Herrenberg, Germany for an entire month.
“My trip to Germany this summer definitely was one of the most memorable things of high school. I spent so much time with people I normally don’t hang around with at school. Really just being with those people and a totally different place in the world and experiencing new cultures and stuff was just really fun,” Gavin said.
Along with his sports and traveling, Gavin also carries a knack for writing. Ever since his freshman year honors class with Jennifer Netz, his newfound love for the subject has only grown, even intensifying with his sophomore and junior years with Wenatchee High School English teacher Jacob St. John.
“[St. John] really helped ignite my love for English and writing. I’ve never been great at art, but I love to be creative, so I find that creative outlet in writing mostly short stories,” Gavin said.
But Gavin has really discovered where his true passions lie. Along with his climbing partner Austin Boese, the two jump at any opportunity they can to get back in the mountains.
“My first time was definitely scary. My very first time rock climbing I went on Tall Timber, and they took a small group of us out and it was just so much fun. From then on like, every summer when I had the chance, I would go, and then my freshman year I started to get into it individually, and that’s when me and Austin started going out on our own. I try to climb almost every weekend I can in the spring and in the fall. In summer when I’m not out of town I’m usually up the Icicle in Leavenworth climbing,” Gavin said. When I’m out climbing or hiking, or anything like that, you’re just separate from all the stresses and worries and everything from society. Life and everything is just so simplified when I’m up there. — Jack Gavin, senior
Climbing for Gavin is his escape. He can get away from school life and drama and let go for a while to experience greater, more relaxing things.
“It’s the best feeling ever, when I’m out climbing or hiking, or anything like that, you’re just separate from all the stresses and worries and everything from society. Life and everything is just so simplified when I’m up there,” Gavin said.
“[Rock climbing] is something that I want to do for the rest of my life. Eventually my dream job is to be a mountain guide,
guiding rock and mountain climbing. Especially this last year of high school I’ve kind of learned that that’s definitely what I want to do with my life, it’s my biggest passion,” Gavin said.
For now, Gavin’s Gavin’s path is leading him to Western Washington University, but he is certain that rock climbing is something that won’t leave his life, and will guide his future life choices.