Paine Mountain proves great resource for NU

Off west of the Norwich University campus there is a mountain that many students are familiar with. Paine Mountain is a place where Norwich students train on, work out and hike up with friends.

"Paine Mountain is a pretty good training aid. There are parts of it that are very steep. One good use for that is physical training," said Justin Hazlet, a 21-year-old senior physics major, from Levant, Min. "We use it as our PT training aid."

There are four hills surrounding Northfield and Norwich University. The other three are Dole, Turkey and Witch hills. Paine Mountain, which is owned by Norwich, is the largest of the four.

Students prefer to use Paine Mountain because it is the closest to the campus. Students find it convenient to go there since it's literally right across the street from the campus.

Mountain Cold Weather Company uses Paine Mountain as a training area. Members hike, do land navigation and use the steep parts as areas to repel from.

"There's a couple quarries up there we use it to repel for different scenarios. For search and rescue and for PT," said Robert Potter, a 19-year-old sophomore political science major from Bedford, Mass.

"Paine Mountain has a slate quarry (with) some vertical faces (and) some key terrain that we use to practice high rescues," Hazlet said. "It's like using the repel tower but it adds that natural feeling to it."

Norwich army rangers also use Paine Mountain for physical training. Ranger Company is a special unit within Army ROTC.

"We do land navigation, sticks lanes, and during indoctrination, we take the candidates up," said Joel Rymer, 18, a sophomore criminal justice major from Lawrence, Mass.

The rangers use Paine for training, such as cover and concealment, evasion and maneuver techniques and land association.

Rymer also said that there are a few broken-down houses on the mountain that are used as attack points. Candidates for Ranger Company will be on Paine a few times in the year for their training.

Army ROTC uses Paine for many reasons. There is a land navigation course that was set up by the Army cadre. Cadets from sophomore year and up use the land course on the mountain for training.

"We do a lot of patrolling, squad ambushes, land navigation along with patrol bases and learning our ambushes," said Zachary McLaughlin, a 22-year-old junior criminal justice major from the Cayman Islands.

Drill team also goes up the face as part of its candidacy.

Along with many corps groups, many sports teams, including football, lacrosse and hockey, use Paine to hike since it is so steep.

Paine Mountain is also used for recreational activities; students climb to see the views from the top.

Many students go up there on their free time with friends. It's a chance to relax and get away from the stresses of Norwich life.

"We usually just go up there to chill. It's good to be out just to do something, especially when it's nice out. You can see all different parts of the mountain; it's usually a day trip at least," said Kyle Rau, a 19-year-old history major from Wisconsin.

Usually, students go up the face of Paine to the ski lift. Some students have been around the mountain and climbed to the true peak, which is more than 2,000 feet high and overlooks the other hills.

west of the Norwich University campus there is a mountain that many students are familiar with. Paine Mountain is a place where Norwich students train on, work out and hike up with friends.

"Paine Mountain is a pretty good training aid. There are parts of it that are very steep. One good use for that is physical training," said Justin Hazlet, a 21-year-old senior physics major, from Levant, Min. "We use it as our PT training aid."

There are four hills surrounding Northfield and Norwich University. The other three are Dole, Turkey and Witch hills. Paine Mountain, which is owned by Norwich, is the largest of the four.

Students prefer to use Paine Mountain because it is the closest to the campus. Students find it convenient to go there since it's literally right across the street from the campus.

Mountain Cold Weather Company uses Paine Mountain as a training area. Members hike, do land navigation and use the steep parts as areas to repel from.

"There's a couple quarries up there we use it to repel for different scenarios. For search and rescue and for PT," said Robert Potter, a 19-year-old sophomore political science major from Bedford, Mass.

"Paine Mountain has a slate quarry (with) some vertical faces (and) some key terrain that we use to practice high rescues," Hazlet said. "It's like using the repel tower but it adds that natural feeling to it."

Norwich army rangers also use Paine Mountain for physical training. Ranger Company is a special unit within Army ROTC.

"We do land navigation, sticks lanes, and during indoctrination, we take the candidates up," said Joel Rymer, 18, a sophomore criminal justice major from Lawrence, Mass.

The rangers use Paine for training, such as cover and concealment, evasion and maneuver techniques and land association.

Rymer also said that there are a few broken-down houses on the mountain that are used as attack points. Candidates for Ranger Company will be on Paine a few times in the year for their training.

Army ROTC uses Paine for many reasons. There is a land navigation course that was set up by the Army cadre. Cadets from sophomore year and up use the land course on the mountain for training.

"We do a lot of patrolling, squad ambushes, land navigation along with patrol bases and learning our ambushes," said Zachary McLaughlin, a 22-year-old junior criminal justice major from the Cayman Islands.

Drill team also goes up the face as part of its candidacy.

Along with many corps groups, many sports teams, including football, lacrosse and hockey, use Paine to hike since it is so steep.

Paine Mountain is also used for recreational activities; students climb to see the views from the top.

Many students go up there on their free time with friends. It's a chance to relax and get away from the stresses of Norwich life.

"We usually just go up there to chill. It's good to be out just to do something, especially when it's nice out. You can see all different parts of the mountain; it's usually a day trip at least," said Kyle Rau, a 19-year-old history major from Wisconsin.

Usually, students go up the face of Paine to the ski lift. Some students have been around the mountain and climbed to the true peak, which is more than 2,000 feet high and overlooks the other hills.