Garrett Price, Summit Days lead instructor

Lead Instructor

Garrett Price

NOLS-trained, WFR-certified, and a decade working with youth.

Garrett built Summit Days around a simple belief: kids grow when they are trusted with real challenges, in real places, with someone who knows how to keep them safe.

The Short Version

Garrett is an educator who never wanted to teach from behind a desk. He has led wilderness expeditions, coached climbing teams, and mentored students in schools from Nevada to Georgia to Washington.

He moved back to Reno because this is where the Sierra Nevada meets real adventure — and where he believes the best outdoor education program for kids should exist.

Summit Days is where those threads come together — a chance to give kids the kind of formative outdoor days that shaped him, run by someone who treats their safety and their growth with equal seriousness.

Why Parents Trust Him

Wilderness First Responder

Garrett is a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR), trained to manage medical emergencies far from the trailhead. Out in the backcountry, safety is never an afterthought — it is the foundation everything else is built on.

NOLS-Trained

Garrett completed coursework with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), the gold standard in wilderness education and expedition leadership.

Expedition Leadership

As a climbing academy coach, Garrett led multi-day wilderness expeditions in alpine terrain — managing route-finding, risk assessment, group dynamics, and client care in remote environments.

A Decade With Youth

Dean of Students (grades 7–12), school Program Director, climbing coach — Garrett has spent his career building trust and confidence with young people.

The Road Here

Program Director

2025 – 2026

World Class Academy · White Salmon, WA

Ran day-to-day operations of a school for adventure athletes while teaching Economics and Algebra II and overseeing staff.

Dean of Students

2024 – 2025

Veritas Collegiate Academy · Arlington, VA

Led student life for grades 7–12 — engagement, character development, counseling, and advising. The heart of the job was relationships with kids.

Climbing Coach

2023 – 2024

Mesa Rim Climbing & Fitness · Reno, NV

Coached climbers ages 7–65 in private lessons and on recreational and competition teams. This is where teaching and the outdoors came together.

Programs & Operations Manager

2020 – 2022

Georgia Tech — Center for Deliberate Innovation · Atlanta, GA

Led operations and founded a summer study-abroad and internship program, managing complex budgets, partnerships, and projects across education and non-profit settings.

A thoughtful foundation

Garrett holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Emory University and an M.A. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem — a background that taught him to listen closely, understand people, and meet every kid where they are.

Ready to meet Garrett in person?

Group sizes are capped — 10 kids on hiking days, 6 on climbing days. Join the waitlist to secure your spot.

Join the Waitlist