In its April 2012 issue, Outside Magazine once again recognized Fort Lewis College’s hometown of Durango as a great place for adventurous people. This time, Durango was named Runner-Up Best New Adventure Hub, second only to Lake Wanaka in New Zealand. The article mentions several of Durango’s favorite multi-season activities: road and mountain biking, trout fishing, mountaineering, kayaking, and downhill and Nordic skiing.
In recent years, Outside magazine has recognized Durango several times, including as The Next Big Thing in October 2011, Active Adventures in the Southwest in September 2008, and Location is Everything in August 2006.
All of these outdoor accolades make perfect sense to FLC’s students, who regularly cite Durango’s breathtaking location and outdoor opportunities as a reason for choosing to become Skyhawks. Students can work the outdoors into their academic studies (with departments like Adventure Education,Environmental Studies, and Geosciences) and their extracurricular activities (Outdoor Pursuits, Cycling Club, and Big Mountain Ski Team, to name a few).