Facilities

Mountaineer Bowl - Football, Track and Field

Completed in 1948 to replace the former facility located to the south of Paul Wright Gym, Western Colorado University broke in Mountaineer Bowl with a 20-0 victory of Colorado School of Mines. The Bowl has served as the home facility since then as the Mountaineers collected an RMAC record 19 conference championships.

Mountaineer Bowl ranks as the highest collegiate football field in the world at 7,723 feet. One of the best settings for a collegiate football game or track meet in America, the Bowl overlooks the Gunnison Valley toward the Curecanti National Recreation Area with views of several of Colorado's 14er's (peaks higher than 14,000 feet). The Bowl has seating for 4,000 fans and can accommodate several thousand more on the hillsides.

Groundbreaking ceremonies occurred in 1947 before a crowd of several hundred people. Western President P.P. Mickelson and several other local and campus dignitaries broke ground before dynamite crews worked to construct the Bowl into the hillside.

Mountaineer Bowl features a pair of press boxes – one for gameday staff on the north side, and one for radio and working media at the south end of the press box. Additional seating for media and coaches are located on the second level of the press boxes.

The Bowl also features an official, eight-lane 400-meter collegiate track that was rebuilt and resurfaced in 2006. A new scoreboard, with message board and audio system, was installed the year before in 2005. Additional areas on the north and south end zones provide high jump and pole vault pits and a javelin runway is located on the north side. Long and triple jump pits are on the west side of the field.

Paul Wright Gym - Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Volleyball, Wrestling

Built in 1951 and renovated several times since, Paul Wright Gym boasts a capacity of 1,800 spectators. At 7,723 feet above sea level, the facility is the highest collegiate gym in the world.

In 1960, the current swimming pool was added to the facility. In 1965, the wrestling room was added on the east side to help support the back-to-back college division national championship teams of 1963 and 1964.

In 1998, a major 40,000 square foot renovation was completed that added a 2,500 square foot weight room and a locker facility for visiting teams and the Western student body. Along with the south addition, six classrooms were included that allowed the Recreation and Exercise Science Department to conduct all its classes in one building.

During the 1998 renovation, the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame Room was completed with meeting facilities and trophy cases.

In 2008, a new gym floor and retractable baskets were installed. New bleachers were installed in 2005.

The building is named after Paul W. Wright, who spent 38 years as a professor, coach and administrator at what was then known as Western State College. He also served as judge and mayor in Gunnison and was instrumental in establishing skiing as an NCAA sport.

Paul Wright Natatorium - Swimming

The pool -- at 7,723 feet, the highest collegiate pool in the country -- underwent a postseason overhaul in Spring 2022 with a new Diamond Brite plaster and tile pool finish installed, along with new pool lighting and new 6-inch Wave Eater lane lines. Mad Jack also makes his first appearance in the pool, added in tiles on the downslope of the pool bottom.

The six-lane, 25-yard facility includes:

competition starting blocks with track-start fins and backstroke-start wedges
an overflow run-off gutter system
2 analog timing clocks and 2 Colorado Timing System digital clocks
Colorado Timing System pads and overhead 6-lane display
a 1-meter, single-rail Duraflex springboard
a visiting team locker room and a renovated Mountaineer locker room

Mountaineer Field House - Indoor Track and Field

Students at Western Colorado University approved a referendum for a new facility fee, which funded new construction at the University, as well as provided money for deferred maintenance and financial aid. Included in the project was the construction of a new $32 million Mountaineer Field House, which included a six-lane, 200-meter track.

Mountaineer Field House opened on March 28, 2014 and features a 65,000 square-foot field house (with trusses as wide as the wingspan of a Boeing 777).Also included in the Field House were new offices and meeting rooms for the Mountaineer Football team. These state-of-the-art offices and meeting rooms look out over the Field House on the north side of the facility.Other Athletic Department offices, including the Western track and field and cross country coaching offices are located on the northern side of the Field House.

Other features of the Mountaineer Field House include:

    - A high-tech surface, indoor NCAA track (the highest in America)
    - Three basketball courts
    - Three group fitness rooms
    - Three multi-purpose courts
    - Three volleyball courts
    - A 43.5-foot climbing wall with 3,114 square feet of climbing space (designed by EntrePrises)
    - A 6,038-square-foot Athletic Weight Room
    - A 5,844-square-foot Fitness Center
    - An in-ground trampoline and foam pit (for free ski training, play and more!)
    - A batting- and golf-practice cage
    - A hot tub and pool locker room renovation
    - A new High-Altitude Performance Lab and Wellness Center with classroom

Katy O. Rady Field - Women's Soccer

Katy O. Rady Field has the distinction of being the highest collegiate soccer field in the world at 7,723 feet. The facility was made possible by a gift to the University by Paul and Katy Rady, a gift that also covered the campus addition of the Paul M. Rady School of Computer Science & Engineering building.

Offering a panoramic view of the mountains surrounding Gunnison – including “W” Mountain – Rady Field is on the northern edge of the Western Colorado campus with easy access to parking on the north side of the venue, at the Mountaineer Bowl, and on paved lots just below the Bowl.

The Mountaineers and their opponents enjoy playing on a synthetic sports turf at a venue that includes a scoreboard in the southwest corner, and a press box and fan seating on the east side of the field.

A lighted facility, there is hardly a more beautiful setting to play or watch soccer as the daytime segues to nighttime on the Western Slope.

Mountaineer Strength and Conditioning Center

In 2014 Western Colorado University unveiled the state-of-the-art Mountaineer Field House. As part of the finest collegiate indoor facility in Colorado, the Mountaineer Field House not only boasts new offices and meeting rooms, but also the Mountaineer Strength and Conditioning Center. This weight room measures 6,038 square feet and is reserved for Western's NCAA Athletics only. The weight room is complete with all new equipment to enhance student-athlete performance. This equipment includes 12 power racks, plyometric boxes, two full dumbbell racks with weights ranging from five pounds to 150 pounds, and various cardio machines.