Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/549096
12 Weather At 5,280 feet above sea level, the city has a mild, sunny, semi-arid climate with moderate temperatures. Colorado boasts more than 300 days of sunshine each year and its winters afford many opportunities for skiing, sledding, and other winter sports. Culture Diverse cultural opportunities are reflected in the Museum of Nature and Science, the striking, six-story Denver Art Museum, including the Frederic C. Hamilton addition which opened in 2006, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which hosts the Denver Center Theatre Company, a nonprofit regional repertory company, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra offers several concerts per year, as well as the popular Symphony in the Park during the summer. Music lovers will also enjoy summer concerts in the Red Rocks Park outdoor amphitheater in the foothills of the Rockies or closer to the Seminary at the Comfort Dental Amphitheatre in Englewood or Hudson Gardens in Littleton, adjacent to the Seminary. The Denver Zoo participates in a number of conservation programs designed to ensure the long-term survival of rare and endangered species worldwide and is home to over 4,100 animals. The Tropical Discovery exhibit features a diversity of animal and plant life in its tropical rain forest environment. It includes a mountain cave, tropical streams and waterfalls, temple ruins, a jungle river, swamps, and an offshore coral reef. The Downtown Aquarium, a world-class facility, is located in Denver's Central Platte Valley. This unique tourist attraction immerses visitors in the wonders of water on two journeys—from the Continental Divide in Colorado to Mexico's Sea of Cortez and from an Indonesian rain forest to the Pacific Ocean. Its mission is to create experiences that inspire its guests to discover, explore, enjoy, and protect our aquatic world. Among Denver's professional sports teams are the NFL Denver Broncos, NBA Denver Nuggets, MLB Colorado Rockies, Colorado Avalanche, NSL Colorado Rapids, and NLL Colorado Mammoth. Area Educational Institutions Opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education are numerous. The University of Denver campus is approximately six miles north and east of the Seminary. Colorado Christian University is located in Lakewood, approximately one-half hour from the Seminary. Downtown, the Auraria campus houses the Metropolitan State College, Denver Community College, and the Denver campus of the University of Colorado. The main campus for the University of Colorado in Boulder is an hour away and Colorado State University in Fort Collins and the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley are less than two hours away from the Seminary. Outside Denver Denver serves as the gateway to the magnificent Rocky Mountains. West of the city, more than fifty peaks rise over 14,000 feet into the sky. Skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting are little more than an hour's drive from the Seminary campus. The twenty-seven mountain parks maintained by the city of Denver include some of the most scenic areas of the Colorado Rockies. For the more adventuresome, white-water rafting on the Arkansas River is only two hours away. Various companies offer quarter-, half-, whole- or two-day trips down rapids of varying difficulty. Some companies also offer rock climbing, kayaking, backpacking, and mountain biking.