Elevation Outdoors magazine names Colorado Mountain College “Top Adventure College”

EDWARDS — Higher education also means high adventure for Colorado Mountain College students.

CMC was named Elevation Outdoors magazine’s 2018 Top Adventure College, topping a field of 32 colleges and universities across seven Rocky Mountain states. The magazine focuses on outdoor sports, health, fitness and adventure travel in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West.

The voting was done online, with schools competing against each other, elimination-bracket style. After five rounds, Colorado Mountain College faced Boise State University. The CMC Eagles won.

“CMC is a natural choice for the Top Adventure College,” said Doug Stewart, the college’s director of marketing and communication. “We are located in the middle of Rocky Mountain recreation.”

Several CMC programs — such as ski and snowboard business, outdoor education and ski area operations — lead to careers that celebrate an active outdoor lifestyle, Stewart said.

“It’s easy to see why Colorado Mountain College picked up top honors in this year’s poll,” Elevation Outdoors magazine said in announcing CMC as the winner, emphasizing the college’s proximity to so many year-round adventure-based locations.

Across its 11 locations, CMC offers continuing education classes, certificates and associate degrees in outdoor education, avalanche science, natural resource management, professional fly-fishing, environmental science and studies, wilderness emergency medical services, ski area operations and ski and snowboard business as well as a bachelor’s degree in sustainability studies.