Northern Arizona University

Training Facilities

Wall Aquatic Center

The Wall Aquatic Center is widely recognized as one of the finest altitude-based swimming facilities anywhere in the world. The aquatic center houses and Olympic- size pool complete with eight 50-meter lanes, two underwater viewing windows, and state-of-the-art aquatics technology.

Walkup Skydome

The Walkup Skydome is a major multi-purpose facility for the Center for High Altitude Training. In addition to being the home of NAU Football, Basketball and Track and Field, elite athletes visiting the Center can utilize the Skydome for a wide variety of training objectives. The primary training component for visiting teams is a six-lane, 300-meter Mondo-surface track. The track consists of a non-banked loop (with eight sprinting lanes) made of 14mm Mondo Super X, the most highly regarded surface in the world for competition.

The Skydome also contains an Olympic Weightlifting Center, containing everything that you would expect from a world-class weightlifting facility. This weight room is entirely Olympic Weightlifting-based and features a diverse complement of strength training equipment, along with the capacity to carry out advanced plyometric and speed conditioning drills.

Lumberjack Stadium

Historic Lumberjack Stadium is the location for an outdoor eight-lane 400-meter track. This track has a high-quality polyurethane all-weather surface, perfect for year-round training in Flagstaff's ideal climate.

Lumberjack Stadium also includes the primary soccer training field at NAU, and is home to the administrative offices of the Center for High Altitude Training.

Recreation Center

Most endurance-based athletes utilize the Recreation Center for their strength and conditioning needs. This facility's fitness center is equipped with the latest in strength and conditioning equipment, and a full complement of free weights. There are also a wide variety of aerobic machines, racquetball and squash courts, multi-purpose courts, and full locker rooms with showers and sauna.

Other Training Areas

Many distance runners training in Flagstaff make use of a wide variety of area training trails and roadway systems including the Flagstaff Urban Trails System (a city trail network that currently offers over 20 miles / 32 kilometers of dirt running trails around and through Flagstaff), a vast amount of easily accessible U.S. Forest Service trails and roads at a wide variety of elevations. Maps of these various trail and road systems are available through the Center for High Altitude Training office.

Road cycling rides in the Flagstaff area involve beautiful and challenging riding. Many rides, from the Mormon Lake Loop (102 kilometers) to the Flintstone Loop (190 kilometers) are continuous in elevation, offering long rides at consistent altitudes of 2,130 to 2,430 meters. Others, like Snowbowl Road (55 kilometers), are shorter and more varied, presenting opportunities to experience elevation gains from 2,130 to 2,900 meters. Other lower elevation rides can be easily accessed in areas like Sedona, a mere 40 minutes away by automobile at an average elevation of 1,310 meters.

Flagstaff’s Lake Mary has proven to be an ideal training site for rowers, and has served as an altitude training site for Olympic rowing teams from such countries as Norway, Russia, Lithuania, and the United States. The long, narrow layout of the lake saves rowers and kayakers from having to row short courses with frequent rotations, and the passage is shielded from harsh elements by the surrounding dense pine forest.