Outside magazine named the University of Wyoming one of the top 15 universities for outdoor programs and opportunities, and many of those activities feature snow as a key ingredient. Students and residents alike enjoy snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding, snow biking, snowshoeing and more in the million-acres-plus of the Medicine Bow National Forest and beyond.
Dan McCoy, originally from New York City, came to UW in 1999 and has been enjoying our winter wonderland and introducing others to it ever since as assistant director for campus recreation and coordinator of the UW Outdoor Program. “We offer cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, back-country skiing and a level-1 avalanche class, as well as ski tuning clinics,” he says of the program. “We rent a wide variety of outdoor equipment as well to students, faculty and staff here on campus.”
A local highlight, McCoy says, is Happy Jack’s nearly 9 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails, as well as countless ungroomed snowshoeing, hiking and snow biking trails, all located just 15 minutes from Laramie.