Mr. Thalhammer Goes To Washington

Meet the CB senior who traveled across the country to lobby for what he loves.

You may have noticed that Christian Brothers student Korbinian Thalhammer (‘13) has been occasionally missing school around February each year. If you know Korbi, you won’t be surprised to hear that he has been going up to Washington, D.C. on important government business.

“I was there to help the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) lobby for money,” says the busy senior. “We talked to congressional and senatorial aides in California, Oregon, and Washington state about necessity for funds to maintain the PCT and to be land parcels along the trail corridor that are still in danger of development by private owners.”

The young environmentalist was initially invited because his father was working with the PCTA. Korbi teamed up with a small group of three representatives, but that was only part of a much larger group of fifteen from the PCTA.

The cross country runner has been an active environmentalist for the entirety of his high school career. Furthermore, he has been hiking on this particular trail passionately for several years.

“I have also backpacked a little over 300 miles of the trail over the past three summers (220 last summer),” Korbi says, “I pan to take a year off and hike the whole thing (2650 miles from Mexico to Canada) before going to college.”

Korbi will be returning to Washington this coming February to continue his work, as he hopes to raise money and awareness about the trail he so cares for.

If you’d like to see the trail, Korbi organizes occasional hikes for Christian Brothers students. He is always open to new hikers, and even inexperienced hikers. If you are interested, simply walk up to him at school.