A class of high school seniors graduated on ski lifts 2,000 feet above sea level

• When a traditional graduation ceremony wasn't possible due to the coronavirus, Kennett High School in North Conway, New Hampshire, got creative.
• The school held its ceremony on top of nearby Cranmore Mountain.
• Graduates and their guests took ski lifts up and down the mountain.
• Photo shoots with the valley below as a backdrop made for stunning graduation pictures.
• To ensure social distancing, graduates and their guests went up every few minutes, allowing for five to seven empty chairlifts between each group, and staggered arrival times helped avoid crowding.

Commencement was taken to new heights by Kennett High School, whose class of 2020 held its graduation on top of Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, New Hampshire, 2,000 feet above sea level.

The mountain is only a few miles from the high school, and where its ski team competes. The president and general manager of the Cranmore Mountain Resort also happens to be a Kennett High School alumnus and friend of the current principal.

"It's kind of a special place for all of us," Kevin Carpenter, the school's principal, told Insider.

Thus, instead of holding a virtual ceremony like many other schools have due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kennett High School had 167 graduates and their guests get on chairlifts to receive their diplomas on top of the ski mountain on Saturday.

"We were brainstorming socially distant ways to celebrate graduation outside of a virtual or drive-by ceremony," Carpenter said. "A parent shared their idea of holding the ceremony at the summit of Cranmore and to us it made perfect sense. It didn't seem like the alternative options would be enough for these students, who are already missing out on so much."

In total, around 800 people attended (each graduate was allowed up to four guests).

Carpenter read the students' names, who then picked up their diplomas from a music stand.

To ensure social distancing, graduates and their guests went up every few minutes, allowing for around five to seven empty chairlifts between each group. The school planned staggered arrival times to avoid crowding.

This made the ceremony last a whopping 6.5 hours, according to Carpenter.

Chairlifts were disinfected throughout the ceremony, handshakes were barred, and face coverings required when getting on and off the lifts.

After each graduate received their diploma, they had their picture taken at a second location, Cranmore's Meister Hut on the summit, before riding the chairlift back down. The entire event had a spectacular mountain backdrop.

Afterward, the school organized a "Kennett Karavan," in which the graduates drove through town while onlookers cheered from the sidelines. "That was kind of the only time everyone was altogether at the same time, because we had to spread the graduates out over the course of the day," Carpenter said, saying that many of them hadn't seen each other in months.

He says that the response was "phenomenal," and that the kids were very grateful, and kept telling him how the event exceeded their expectations.

"We were just so happy for the community and for the kids," he said.

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