Taylor Hennum ’20 Realizes A Rock-Climbing Dream

To a rock climber, topping out on a big wall ascent is comparable to winning a NESCAC championship.
It is what a climber dreams of and works towards all season. This past long weekend, Vermont Academy senior Taylor Hennum ’20 realized that dream by topping out on White Horse Ledge. 

White Horse Ledge in North Conway, NH is a drumlin-shaped, 1,000-foot-tall mass of solid granite located in Echo Lake State Park.  If you stand at the bottom and look up it feels like you are facing a sea of granite rock. It is quite impressive. 

Taylor began his ascent at 11 a.m. with climbing coach and science faculty Mr. Nate Williams. Taylor led each of the nine pitches and reached the summit in just four hours. Once he was sitting on the top ledge, eating an apple and basking in the accomplishment, Taylor said, “Let’s go climb some more.” 

Mr. Nate Williams said, “This is a massive accomplishment for a rock climber. It was not part of an organized competition, but rather something that he wanted to do.”

Congratulations to Taylor on realizing this dream -- next up is Yosemite!
 
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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.