The world needs leaders; our planet needs leaders. As a student in our Adventure Education (AE) program, you will develop skills in leadership, learn how to teach outdoor skills, and gain powerful personal insights in the process. By the time you graduate, this program will give you a deep awareness of your strengths and areas of continued growth, the skills to be a great educator, and an understanding of the industry and the many opportunities that await you.
AE weaves experiential learning in wilderness contexts, classroom learning, skills development, immersive block semester, and an internship. AE students create a broad foundation that will support specialization in the many areas of the outdoor industry, whether you’re interested in wilderness therapy, guiding services, experiential education, or working in public lands. With a faculty that brings decades of industry experience, this program is academically rigorous and supports your professional development.
Adventure Ed Major
Students from many FLC departments talk about their closeness to their peers and faculty, but perhaps not as much as AE students. Spending time in the field together, whether it’s a day of climbing and belaying or 10 days backpacking through the Weminuche Wilderness, AE students and faculty get to know each other authentically. The closeness is built into the reality of the program: you’ll cook together, camp together, manage risk together, teach and learn together, and debrief, offering each other powerful feedback. By the time you graduate, the people who have been on this journey with you have seen you at your best, helped you get back to your best, and have been helped by you.
Where we study
AE students overwhelmingly describe their faculty as dedicated to their students and genuinely invested in their success. Moreover, the faculty brings a wealth of professional experience from diverse backgrounds within the outdoor industry and a robust network of professional contacts and relationships with organizations around the country. The depth at which faculty get to know their students creates a mentoring relationship that, when combined with their experience in the industry, becomes immeasurably valuable to students as they leave FLC and begin their careers.
Our faculty
FLC students working through new Snow and Avalanche Studies certificate (The Durango Herald)
Students earn a bachelor’s degree in Adventure Education, the FLC Snow & Avalanche Studies certificate, and four of the industry’s most widely recognized certifications from the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education.
Ever feel like you’re drowning? Being involved in a submersion accident isn’t a threat most of us face (though this spring looks to be bringing an epic runoff to western rivers), but we often feel overwhelmed and subsumed by our to-do list.
There are countless amazing things about being an Adventure Ed major, but here are the top six according to your peers.
Mountains, rivers and canyons right out your door
A built-in close community of fellow adventurers
Inspiring faculty who demonstrate that “adventure” is a viable way of life
The awesome perks of Outdoor Pursuits
Sharing passion for the outdoors with others
The skills you learn apply to whatever you do next