Stellar teachers. Passionate kids.
Exploring math in the Tetons.
Math with no limits
APPLY NOW for Summer 2026
Watch the new 7-minute film:
Math in the Mountains: A Deeper Look
Founding student Aria Chung in the Tetons
Math in the Mountains (MitM) is a program founded by Paul Zeitz & Andrew Chung that brings together teachers, kids, and parents with a deep passion for mathematics at the Teton Science Schools (TSS) in Jackson Hole. MitM blends mathematical recreations with outdoor adventure — from rock climbing to kayaking, from skiing to hiking — in a way that invites creativity, imaginative thinking, grit, resilience, and intellectual risk-taking. Campers explore patterns, ideas, and problems together not simply as a subject to master, but as a way of thinking. Through discussion, experimentation, and sustained engagement with challenging questions, students develop the habits of mind that characterize mathematicians: curiosity, persistence, creativity, and the confidence to grapple with ideas that do not have obvious answers.
Our new 7-minute film offers a window into
the math, the mountains, and the community
that define Math in the Mountains
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June 20-28, 2026
A 9-day immersive program filled with deep math classes, plenary lectures, and group outdoor activities. Alpha Camp is designed for curious, highly motivated math students who are excited to explore challenging ideas in a supportive, high-touch environment.
At least one parent or guardian is expected to attend, with dedicated sessions and activities focused on supporting their child’s mathematical journey and connecting with other families raising math-loving kids.
Expected cohort: 50 Alpha campers
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June 20 to July 4, 2026
A two-week advanced residential program for experienced MitM campers. Students attend more rigorous classes, participate in customized Oxford-style tutorials, and work collaboratively on a research project that is presented at the end of camp.
Omega Camp includes more involved outdoor activities and a higher degree of independence. The program is residential, and parents who attend are required to stay off campus.
Expected cohort: 30 Omega campers
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June 22-27, 2026
A week-long residential immersion for elementary, middle, and high school math teachers. This intensive math circle experience focuses on non-standard topics and deep problem-solving, led by MitM’s distinguished faculty.
Teachers step fully into the role of learner—exploring rich problems, exchanging ideas with peers from around the country, and leaving rejuvenated with new perspectives to bring back to the classroom.
Expected cohort: 30-40 teachers
[To learn more click here]
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June 14 to 20, 2026
A pilot program for our most experienced campers that builds on the organic collaborations already emerging within the MitM community. Designed as a collaborative, project-creation experience grounded in mathematical thinking, Beta gives participants the opportunity to work together on ideas and questions they care about, exploring how mathematical tools and ways of thinking can help illuminate them. Campers develop new projects, investigations, or initiatives that extend beyond traditional problem sets, with an emphasis on creativity, initiative, and collaboration.
Beta provides space for intellectual ownership, open-ended exploration, and the chance to see how mathematics can serve as a powerful lens for shaping new directions and possibilities in the world.
Expected cohort: 15-20 Beta campers
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February 13-20, 2027
A one-week long program in partnership with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, combining world-class ski instruction with ski-related mathematical topics such as Calculus of Skiing and Ski Lift Combinatorics.
Winter Camp 2025 took place during a deep powder cycle and marked the first time that a ski-meets-math program was designed in tandem by such a distinguished group of partners.
Expected cohort: 30 Winter campers
MitM is led by a group of award-winning mathematicians and leading math educators who are among the most innovative thinkers in gifted mathematical education in the world for youth. In 2024, our program brought together for the first time ever U.S. Math Olympiad legends and National Coaches who led the U.S. to its last 6 victories since 1994: Paul Zeitz, Po-Shen Loh, and John Berman. The distinguished faculty and board has included notable mathematicians and scientists (Melanie Wood, Lauren Williams, Denis Auroux, Ken Ono, Daniel Ullman, Ed Seidel, Enrique Treviño, James Tanton); founders of gifted math camps and leading math circles (Mira Bernstein, Wendy Cho, Brandy Wiegers); math curriculum heads and faculty at the leading schools in the nation (Proof School, Nueva School, Helios School, Castilleja); and applied mathematicians with investing and entrepreneurial backgrounds (Andrew Chung, Suhas Daftuar, Alon Amit).
Po-Shen Loh teaching probability games with Math in the Mountains: 10,450’ above sea level!
Dropping cliffs in Jackson Hole back country
Who should attend?
Math in the Mountains’ intensive, individualized programs are designed for highly gifted math kids ages 10-14, as well as innovative math teachers from all levels. While students are the primary participants, MitM is intentionally family-inclusive, with parents playing an active role in the community.
In 2026, we expect to welcome 80 students and 40 math teachers from around the world, along with parents and families — bringing together some 250 participants across two campuses at Teton Science Schools in Jackson Hole to experience a new model for place-based education.
A new MitM camper should be comfortable with some algebra and geometry and understand the notion of a mathematical argument. By far, the most important qualities are curiosity and stamina — the prospect of doing many hours of math each day should feel exciting. Students who thrive at MitM tend to enjoy grappling with ideas that take time to understand, asking questions of their own, and staying engaged even when answers are not immediately clear. No prior experience is required for outdoor excursions, but students should be eager to try new adventures in the Jackson Hole wilderness.
Camp cohorts are deliberately small and gender-balanced, ensuring an unusually high instructor-to-camper ratio and meaningful attention to each child and family. Instruction takes place in classrooms at TSS as well as outdoor locations in Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, creating a uniquely kind and collaborative environment for discourse.
Building a lasting community is a central part of MitM. We aim to cultivate a community where young thinkers continue exploring mathematics together long after camp ends. After camp, students and families can stay engaged through AfterCamp activities during the school year. MitM has grown into an ecosystem that includes a math publication (The Real Deal), competitions (Math in the Matrix), coast-to-coast study groups, a girl’s book group, group visits to international conferences, and friendships that can last a lifetime.
To apply to our programs, please click here. Applicants will be asked to share math experiences and explorations, complete an algebra assessment, solve a few fun math challenges, and provide references. After review, we may invite your child to a video interview to get to know them better.
Math legend Ken Ono teaches about jellyfish math, partition theory, and winning Olympic medals with linear algebra
Harvard Professor & 2025 MacArthur Fellow Lauren Williams teaching triangulations and physics in nature
“Best Week Ever”
From summiting Rendezvous Peak to rational tangles, from whitewater rafting on the Snake River to the geometry of complex numbers, from bear sightings to the mathematics of fairness, see how much we packed into a week in this new short fim and slideshows (from 2025, 2024, 2023) below:
Learn More about:
Jackson Hole
The mountains and mathematical problem solving embody exploration, creativity, imaginative thinking, grit, resilience, and risk-taking. There is no place like Jackson Hole that is more emblematic of such values.
Programming
MitM’s programming unfolds across connected pathways—from early discovery (Alpha) to advanced exploration and applied mathematics (Omega/Beta/Winter). Students engage with rich ideas that build depth, independence, and creative problem-solving beyond the traditional classroom.
Instructors
Our instructors are mathematicians with deep experience in research, camps, circles, and competitions. We will also guide parent discussions on sharing best practices for raising gifted math kids.
“The average (non-problem-solver) math student is like someone who goes to a gym three times a week to do lots of repetitions with low weights on various exercise machines. In contrast, the problem solver goes on a long, hard backpacking trip. Both people get stronger. The problem solver gets hot, cold, wet, tired, and hungry. The problem solver gets lost, and has to find his or her way. The problem solver gets blisters. The problem solver climbs to the top of mountains, sees hitherto undreamed of vistas. The problem solver arrives at places of amazing beauty, and experiences ecstasy that is amplified by the effort expended to get there. When the problem solver returns home, he or she is energized by the adventure, and cannot stop gushing about the wonderful experience. Meanwhile, the gym rat has gotten steadily stronger, but has not had much fun, and has little to share with others.”
—Paul Zeitz, The Art & Craft of Problem Solving