Maegan Carney: Alumni make mark in Colorado, the world

Colorado Mountain College faculty and students recently gathered in a special ceremony at the college’s Glenwood Center to honor the first-ever class of alumni inducted into the CMC Alumni Hall of Fame.

The five individual alumni inducted into the inaugural class come from different backgrounds, and have found success in myriad ways. We’ll be featuring each inductee in eNews. Today’s article highlights the deeply inspiring extreme skier, outdoor educator, and psychologist Maegan Carney.

Maegan Carney excelled in skiing, academicsMaegan Carney Chamonix photo

While a student at CMC in Steamboat Springs, Maegan Carney maintained impressive academic and athletic records alike. She was the National Collegiate Ski Association slalom and overall ski champion in 1988 and 1989, maintaining a 4.0 GPA and being named the student athlete of the year both years.

Carney, who could not be present at the alumni induction ceremony, wrote to the CMC Foundation: “A lot of people see CMC as a stepping stone to greater projects, which is wonderful, but I also want to remind people that it is an incredible experience in and of itself. When I was a student, CMC was full of brilliant professors who truly cultivated our minds, but more importantly, I knew that they really cared about us. My teachers nurtured me as a whole person and my time at CMC was clearly the best years of my formal education.”

After graduating from CMC, Carney transferred to the University of Colorado, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, with honors. She then went on to earn a master’s in counseling psychology from Naropa University. She continued to excel at skiing, being named the world champion in extreme skiing in 2001 and 2002.

After earning her master’s degree, Carney went into private practice as a therapist – originally in Boulder and currently in Canada, where she now resides. She also spent 21 years as an instructor and course director with the Colorado Outward Bound School.