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This story appeared first The outsiderPremium outdoor magazine by Jason Blevins.
In it, he covers the industry from the inside out, plus the fun side of being outdoors in our beautiful state.
This week, outdoor industry students from three Western Slope universities provided solutions to a number of outdoor recreation businesses looking for creative solutions to pressing challenges.
Eight outdoor businesses from Colorado Mesa University’s outdoor industry studies program, Colorado Mountain College’s outdoor education program in Leadville and Western Colorado University’s outdoor industry MBA program were paired as the fourth annual Wright College Challenge. The 12-week program pairs students with businesses to gain a fresh perspective on issues while providing real-world experience to the offshore industry and future workforce.
“This is one of the best things happening in Colorado,” said Connor Hall, executive director of the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation, which is partnering with the Wright Collegiate Challenge as part of its mission to educate the outdoor industry workforce.
Hall said the outdoor recreation industry is the state’s “real lifeblood” and “we need talented people coming to this place.”
“I’m always inspired by the student groups in the Wright College Challenge and what they come up with,” Hall said as he began the final presentation by students. “I hope you stay in this industry and stay in Colorado. We need your brains and your skills and your passion.”
* Owners of Angler Cove fly fishing shop and guide operation in Colorado Springs hope Angler Cove guides can better communicate the system they fish on any given day, with the goal of reducing overcrowding on popular rivers and streams.
A team of students from Colorado Mesa University developed a tipping app that allows leaders to select dates and use water temperature, spawning alerts and regular fishing reports with various features such as flows, water turbulence and even fly patterns.
* Andy and Gail Sovik, owners of Beacon Guidebooks in Gunnison, were looking for a better way to display their guidebooks in more than 90 stores, including 21 REI locations. University of Western Colorado students created a multi-level display case that complements Beacon’s guidebooks, made of laser-cut, environmentally sourced birch plywood. The flat-pack design conforms to guidelines provided by REI, and the outdoor retailer is evaluating the design for inclusion in stores next summer. They also created a template so owners could track sales increases using the new display systems.
A Wright College Challenge judging panel awarded students from western Colorado the “Best in Class” award for their design.
* The owner of Camp V — a boutique charmer and artist campus in Naturita — joined with the West End Trails Alliance to better understand how the community can accelerate a 75-mile singletrack plan to grow the region’s outdoor recreation economy. Students from Colorado Mesa University pedaled miles from Grand Junction to Naturita and planned new trails. The students pointed to efforts to establish a new national monument around the Dolores River in collaboration with the Colorado Wildlands Project to initiate federal permitting delays around Naturita and Nucla.
* Justin Talbot, owner of Leadville’s Galena Mountain Projects, sought a marketing plan that would help his guidebook and outfitter expand into neighboring Chaffee and Summit counties and better connect with locals in his hometown. Students at Colorado Mountain College’s Leadville campus created a two-year plan that included recruiting brand ambassadors, a social media strategy and raffles at local events.
* Nathan Cresswell of Colorado Mesa University, which has a 24-hour grip bouldering climbing gym in Grand Junction, asked students to come up with ways to better engage local skiers with the Western Colorado Regional Coalition.
The students worked with the Bureau of Land Management, the Mountain Coalition and landowners to create a sign at Nine Mile Hill in Unaweep Canyon. The sign is a QR code hikers can use to find information about recreational activities in the canyon, including hundreds of rock trails and closed sport climbs and how to connect with the mountain complex. The sign will be installed along Colorado 141 on BLM land near Nine Mile Hill as a parking lot for hikers accessing the trails.
The students who designed the sign won the “Most Engaged Team” award from the judges.
* Stacey Falk, owner of Ramps and Alleys Skateshop and Clubhouse in Salida, asked Wright students to help form a network to unite the state’s 20-plus skateshop owners in a collaborative effort to build skate parks, support business owners and get more kids skating.
Colorado Mesa University students have set up a channel on the social media platform Discord. The CollaborSkate channel has 10 skating organizations and 21 members working together.
Board building students won the audience’s “People’s Choice” award at this week’s presentation.
* San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, an organization that works to create recreational opportunities in the 8,000-square-mile high desert valley, asked the group to help market the group’s new Tin Can Camp, a collection of tiny houses on the Colorado State Land Board. Lease in Penitente Canyon. The off-grid cabin rentals are set to generate revenue for the organization, which previously used Wright students to help plan how recreational trails would match local railroads in the valley.
University of Western Colorado students wrote posters for cabins to list on the Hip Camp rental platform, created links to local information for each cabin and made a promotional video for the rentals.
* Amy Raney wants students to help her create a new, sustainably made sandboard from hemp for her Blanca rental shop Spindrift Sandboard in the San Luis Valley.
“We need to restore and restore the land that provides us with our food and the places where we recreate it,” Rani said.
Students from Colorado Mesa University obtained hemp from a hemp processing plant in Monte Vista and built four prototypes that tested different blends of hemp fibers and resins.
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