Sports & Recreation >>

• Best Mascot
  Rocky the Mountain Lion Denver Nuggets
  It's no easy task to buoy up the spirits of fans whose on-floor heroes are always getting their butts handed to them. But Rocky the Mountain Lion does it every night -- with astonishing acrobatics, the occasional no-look swish from half court (including one recently with a ball he boldly had... More >>
• Best New Mascot
  The Fighting Whites
  Who says white men can't jump? Not those wags on a University of Northern Colorado intramural basketball team who saw white folks jump all over their idea when the UNC hoopsters named themselves "The Fighting Whites" in protest of the mascot -- a big-beaked caricature of an Indian -- used by... More >>
• Best Minor-League Mascot
  Sox the Fox
  Colorado Springs Sky Sox
  He's got a squirt gun, a knack for doing handstands, and an attitude, and that makes the Colorado Springs Sky Sox mascot, Sox the Fox, now entering his third year, the best minor-league mascot around. In fact, aside from Rocky (whose creator trained one of the two men who don the foxy costume),... More >>
• Best Old Mascot
  Jackass Mascot
  Colorado School of Mines
  For a school whose students make most Ivy Leaguers look like dopes, the Colorado School of Mines takes a decidedly low-brow approach to its home football games. And even though the Mines eleven once thrashed the University of Colorado (a century ago) and went undefeated as recently as the late... More >>
• Best Appearances by Santa
  Scuba-Diving Santa
  Colorado's Ocean Journey
  As if to prove that Santa is everywhere in December, Ocean Journey treated folks to daily underwater Santa shows featuring the jolly one, with beard and hair flowing wildly, flip-flapping his way around in the deep. But we were wondering: Now that the aquarium is treading water, will Santa sleep... More >>
• Best Second Coming of Santa
  Downtown Aurora
  Not to be outdone by anyone, the Northern Aurora Business Association ships its Father Christmas in by helicopter, in wind-whipping style, stirring up a racket that no number of flying reindeer could ever hope to make. Each December, Aurora's Santa Claus arrives from the heavens by chopper, with... More >>
• Best Second Coming of a Sports God
  Michael Jordan
  Most fans -- and ticket scalpers -- had given up on the idea of a bonanza for the head Washington Wizard's sole visit to the Pepsi Center this season. While the hapless Nugs limped into oblivion, MJ was hobbled following mid-season arthroscopic surgery on his 39-year-old right knee. Still, he... More >>
• Best Way to Feel the Breeze
  Ski-A-Thong
  Telluride Ski Resort
  Bikini skiing has been around for awhile, but on March 30, Telluride unwrapped its male version in tandem with its Bikini Slalom. Men dressed in thongs competed for awards while letting just about all of it hang out. More >>
• Best Place to Become a Peak Cross-Country Skier
  Frisco Nordic Center
  Americans cheered not just Olympic medalists, but those overachievers who ventured where no American ski or blade has gone before. In the latter category: the American men's Nordic relay team, including Coloradan Matt Dayton, whose fourth-place finish brought the team closer to a medal than ever... More >>
• Best Colorado Peak Performance at the Olympics
  Mt. Wilson
  John Williams's American Journey, a CD on the Sony Classical label, was released in conjunction with the Salt Lake City Olympics; it's kicked off by "Call of the Champions," the official theme of the Winter Games, and the disc features the Olympic insignia on a cover distinguished by a... More >>
• Best Way to Bag Two Fourteeners in a Day
  Grays Peak/Torreys Peak
  Summiting Colorado's fourteeners -- the 55 peaks that rise above 14,000 feet -- has become so trendy that the Saturday crush up a Front Range trail can sweep a hiker along, boots barely touching the ground. So even if you aren't Sir Edmund Hillary's nephew, you can bag two peaks in one day by... More >>
• Best Trail Named for a Blind Mountaineer
  Erik Weihenmayer Trail for Health
  Lookout Mountain Nature Center and Preserve
  Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber to conquer Everest, has teamed with the American Hiking Society to promote outdoor hiking, even for folks with allergies and disabilities. His namesake trail on Lookout Mountain is an easy walk for almost everyone, making Weihenmayer the perfect poster... More >>
• Best Mountain Park
  Genesee Park
  Jefferson County
  For sheer accessibility and versatility, it's hard to beat Genesee Park, Denver's first -- and largest -- mountain park, just off of I-70 at Exit 254. Created between 1912 and 1937, this park has all the outdoor amenities, from grills to softball fields, as well as the most-gawked-at section: an... More >>
• Best City Park
  Washington Park
  Folks are passionate about their parks. City Park-lovers rave about the zoo, the museum and strolling in the fall. Pro-Cheesmanites cite the glories of their turf; others tout locations along Cherry Creek. Some whisper of undiscovered gems. Well, nobody's going to claim that Washington Park is... More >>
• Best Riverfront
  Central Platte Valley
  We didn't need to read Sunset magazine to recognize that Denver has the country's best riverfront. But a visit to the South Platte River wasn't always a day at the beach. Over a century ago, it was "a miserable yellow melancholy stream," according to Mark Twain. "I wouldn't leave it out at... More >>
• Best Colorado Beach
  Rock Canyon Swim Lake Beach
  Pueblo State Park
  Rock Canyon may seem a bit far afield, but any beach bum worth his grain of sand is no stranger to committing a full day to a cool dip. And hey, it's closer than the coasts. On this beach, at the base of the 200-foot-tall, 10,500-foot-wide Lake Pueblo Dam, swimmers can enjoy their own private... More >>
• Best Colorado Beach Club
  Desert Reef Beach Club
  Desert Reef also happens to be Colorado's only beach club, an exotic little outpost at the end of Fremont County Road 110 that's a fresh air -- and bare-ass -- haven. The private club has over 200 members, but non-members can make a reservation to visit the ninety-acre resort. There they can... More >>
• Best Day in Aspen History
  April 1, 2001
  No joke: After 54 years as a skier-only mountain, and as one of the last five resorts in the world to ban snowboarding, Aspen finally surrendered to the inevitable last spring. On April 1, Aspen Mountain was opened up to snowboarders, welcoming the next generation of sports enthusiasts. What's... More >>
• Best New Ski School Rule
  Aspen's mandate requiring helmets
  With a record-setting year of fatalities on Colorado's ski slopes as a backdrop, Aspen's operators took the logical -- and probably overdue -- step of requiring kids twelve and younger to wear helmets in ski school. Other resorts said they planned to follow, and given the deadly year, it seems... More >>
• Best Youth Mountain Outreach
  Snowboard Outreach Society
  Back in 1994, Ray Sforzo, Director of Snowboarding for Vail Resorts, and Arn Menconi, a self-proclaimed "Humble Snowboard Revolutionary," started SOS, or Snowboard Outreach Society. Their mission, at first, was to serve and inspire at-risk youth. Now, as Menconi says, "More and more we find that... More >>
• Best Dog Paradise
  Dog training area
  Cherry Creek State Park
  Fido's still a puppy, but you've got shin splints to spare, and the idea of giving him a good run every day tires you out just thinking about it. Certain "leash free" zones in and around the metro area are the answer, where you can let your dog scamper about unencumbered while you bask in the... More >>
• Best Cheap Sunset to Share With Dogs
  City of Kunming Park
  Situated on a hillside at the edge of a tangle of park lands that also includes Rosedale and Harvard Gulch parks, this block-square parcel doesn't really qualify as wide-open space, though lots of people do bring their dogs here to chase Frisbees and each other in the late afternoons of summer.... More >>
• Best Cheap Skate
  Denver Skatepark
  Commons Park
  Dude! There is nothing cheaper than free, and free is one concept that truly befits the sport of skateboarding, which, at its best, has no rules. That's exactly how things work at this city-built facility, whose smooth expanses of concrete bowls and ramps were opened to the public last summer.... More >>
• Best Cheap Racquet Repair
  Centennial Tennis Club/Holly Tennis Center
  South Suburban Parks and Recreation caters to its target clientele of racquet-swinging suburbanites by offering fine outdoor and indoor ball-whacking havens. But these public facilities -- for sun-lovers, the Holly Tennis Center, and for year-round fun, the Centennial Tennis Club, a winterized... More >>
• Best Place to Rent a Bocce Set
  Butler Rents
  Your relatives are coming in from the Old Country, and you want to show them that you carry on some of the old traditions -- except you haven't seen your bocce set in years. Don't panic: Butler Rents stocks one set of the famous lawn game and will rent it out for a weekend. Instructions are... More >>
• Best Suburban Recreation Center
  Apex Center
  An incredible site, the Apex Center features a huge swimming area complete with water slides, hot tubs and a clubhouse-like "pump station" that sprays water from every conceivable angle. There's also an excellent ice rink, workout areas, weight rooms and an enormous climbing wall, plus a place... More >>
• Best Gifts for Suburban Jocks
  South Suburban Parks and Recreation District gift certificates
  Think of recreation as a commodity: Leisure time is one of life's luxuries that everyone wants and needs in our modern buzz-saw world. South Suburban makes it easy to give the gift of game by offering gift certificates in any denomination, redeemable (and available) at any district recreation... More >>
• Best Display of Hot Air
  Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival
  Chatfield State Park
  Although it's not on the scale of Albuquerque's justly famous balloon extravaganza, the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival, which took place last year in late August, is turning into an annual blast. The balloons at the 2001 event ranged from corporate tie-ins (Tony the Tiger, the Energizer Bunny)... More >>
• Best Place for Children of the Corn
  Chatfield Corn Maze
  Chatfield Nature Preserve
  The giant corn maze at Chatfield Nature Preserve, which is open from Labor Day until October 31, is a great way to get temporarily lost. Thanks to clues located at strategic spots on the five-acre site, most people will be able to find their way out in about twenty minutes. But as soon as they... More >>
• Best Hayrides and Slay-Rides
  Stockton's Plum Creek Stables
  Stockton's is close enough to the city to be accessible, but far enough out to seem like it's in the country. Visitors can ride horses or go on hayrides through some beautiful scenery. Also, part of the property is an indoor arena perfect for staging large-scale events with a Western theme --... More >>
• Best Art at Invesco Field at Mile High
  "Equipment Field"
  Born in turmoil and baptized in controversy -- does it really look like a diaphragm or a half-finished prop from E.T.? -- Invesco has failed to win the hearts and minds of fans, despite a cost of nearly half-a-billion dollars. Yet the new stadium has some great attributes, chief among them the... More >>
• Best Grass
  Mile High turf sale
  The stadium turf sale was cleverly advertised with the slogan "Own a piece of Mile High History!" Last October, football fanatics who participated were able to purchase a slab of turf six feet long and eighteen inches wide for a mere $10, providing them with the least-expensive stadium souvenir... More >>
• Best Toast of Mile High Stadium
  Flaming seats
  In what some Mile High Stadium diehards saw as an offering to appease the football gods, dozens of seats caught fire during demolition of the old horseshoe. It seemed like there was still some fight left in the former home of Morton, Elway, et al., and even as crews doused the blaze, warm... More >>
• Best Seat in the Horse
  Section 522, row 17, seat 4
  John Carmona, a Colorado Springs letter carrier, isn't one of the new stadium's neigh-sayers. A season-ticket holder for ten years, Carmona wound up with the best seat in the horse: smack-dab in the eye of the Bronco symbol. More >>
• Best Homer Run at Invesco Field
  Colorado Sports Hall of Fame
  After 37 years in limbo, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame finally found a permanent home by Gate 1 at Invesco Field. This hometown-hero museum doesn't honor just the big names -- although John Elway was somehow chosen in 1999 -- and high school coaches and college athletic directors stand... More >>
• Best Sporty School Project
  Sunday Best: The Making of a Stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High
  Jefferson County high school students worked for two years to document the construction of the new stadium. The result: The Making of a Stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High, a classic coffee-table tome that documents the entire process; Coach Shanny wrote the intro. The book, which sells for $50... More >>
• Best Bronco
  Rod Smith
  While the Denver Broncos' offense sputtered and spit in 2001 -- injuries to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and running back Terrell Davis didn't help -- swift wideout Rod Smith was the model of consistency. He led the league in catches and served admirably as Brian Griese's go-to guy whenever the... More >>
• Best Bye
  Broncos' Day Off November 3, 2002
  The NFL schedulers, in their wisdom, decided to make up for the fact that they offered the Broncos as the sacrificial lambs against the mighty St. Louis Rams in their opener. So as a sort of make-good, the NFL gave the Donks their only bye on the week before they play a Monday-night game against... More >>
• Best Good-Bye
  The departure of Nick Van Exel
  Nick the Pr -- er, Slick, had worn out his welcome with the Nuggets by mid-season. However, in all fairness, the Nuggets had pretty much exhausted the patience of everyone who bothered to watch them in 2001-2002. Still, when the pouty point guard demanded a trade, it was all the Nuggies could to... More >>
• Best Rockie
  Todd Helton
  Any ballplayer who will earn more than $150 million in the next nine years had better be worth it, and first baseman Todd Helton fits the bill. Last season -- a misery for the Colorado Rockies -- Helton added a National League batting title and 49 home runs to his resumé, and he is, by a... More >>
• Best Stretch by a Rockie
  Todd Zeile at third base
  There are some -- well, many, actually -- grumbling that the Rox' tenth year will be spent chasing their tails before settling comfortably into the cellar again. However, things could turn around, and with a core of players such as Helton, Neagle, Hampton and Walker, a little fielding, some... More >>
• Best Av
  Joe Sakic
  Is there something -- anything -- the Avalanche captain hasn't done for his club? With over fourteen years and more than 1,000 games as a Quebec Nordique and then a Colorado Av, center Joe Sakic has won a dozen individual NHL awards and two Stanley Cups (both here in Denver) while providing... More >>
• Best Way to Avoid an Avalanche
  Online Colorado Avalanche Information Center
  Back-country skiers, snowmobilers and snowshoers may be aware of the general dangers of avalanches, but every year, people underestimate the lethal slides. Wise explorers try to check out conditions before they head out; this Web site provides useful information, links and weather updates. More >>
• Best Rebound
  Peter Forsberg's first post-injury skate
  With everybody except Dick Cheney poised and watching, the Avs' great playmaker stepped onto the ice March 28 at the Family Sports Center and gingerly skated for the first time since undergoing surgery on his left foot in January. Peter the Great spent sixteen minutes scooting around, and... More >>
• Best Nugget
  Juwan Howard
  Baffled Denverites who can name four current Denver Nuggets deserve some kind of prize -- a Dan Issel bobble-head doll, perhaps? -- but Juwan Howard has emerged as the star acquisition in the big midseason trade that sent whiny guard Nick Van Exel and slow white guy Raef LeFrentz to Dallas. With... More >>
• Best Rapid
  John Spencer
  In his first season with the Colorado Rapids, Scottish forward John Spencer set new franchise records for goals (14) and points (35) while infusing a mediocre (5-13-8) club with a never-say-die attitude and a workhorse ethic. The 31-year-old played previously for Chelsea and Everton in the... More >>
• Best Sports Coach -- Professional
  Bob Hartley
  Colorado Avalanche
  Anyone who has the legendary Patrick Roy in the nets, Rob Blake on defense, Joe Sakic at center and three or four of the best young players in the NHL scrapping just to get in the game might look like a pretty fair hockey coach. But Bob Hartley doesn't mail it in. His Colorado Avalanche fought... More >>
• Best Sports Coach -- College
  Mike Dunlap
  Metro State Basketball
  When Metropolitan State College's basketball team won its first NCAA Division II national championship two years ago, it was ranked number one in the country. The Roadrunners grabbed their second title this season from the lowly number-22 spot. That is testament to the skills of fifth-year head... More >>
• Best Sports Team -- Professional
  Colorado Avalanche
  While Denver's pro football, baseball, basketball and soccer teams looked up from the bottom of their leagues, the Colorado Avalanche continued to make history. Last spring Bob Hartley's troops knocked off powerhouses like Los Angeles and St. Louis en route to a Stanley Cup finals showdown with... More >>
• Best Sports Team -- College
  DU Pioneers
  It's been quite a year at the ice rinks, what with the Avs winning the Stanley Cup and George Gwozdecky's resurgent University of Denver Pioneers hockey team reviving memories of former DU stars like Peter McNab, Keith Magnuson and Craig Patrick. After breezing to their first Western Collegiate... More >>
• Best Metro State Athlete
  Luke Kendall
  The latest Australian import to beef up coach Mike Dunlap's national-championship basketball program at Metropolitan State College, 6-4 sophomore guard Luke Kendall averaged 15.2 points per game this season and stole the ball 77 times in his first thirty games while snagging 91 rebounds. Dunlap... More >>
• Best DU Hockey Player
  Wade Dubielewicz
  No one personifies the resurgence of DU hockey like goalie Wade Dubielewicz. For much of the regular season, he and teammate Adam Berkhoel were the most effective "two-headed goalie" in the college game, but at crunch time, coach George Gwozdecky turned to "Dooby" to seal the nets. His .943... More >>
• Best University of Colorado Athlete
  Stephane Pelle
  In the ultra-tough Big 12 Conference, only two basketball players averaged a rare "double-double" in points and rebounds during the regular season. The first was consensus All-American Drew Gooden, star of the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks; the other was Colorado's Stephane Pelle, a 6'9" junior... More >>
• Best Colorado State Athlete
  Angie Gorton
  The last remaining player from the great 1998-99 CSU team that went 33-3 and reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament, senior forward Angie Gorton was the captain and undisputed leader of this year's tournament-bound club and the Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year. Her... More >>
• Best Performance at the Big Dance
  Lady Buffs
  While University of Colorado men's hoopsters turned into wallflowers, CU's women cagers went on a rampage. Their strong season allowed them to host an opening NCAA tournament game -- which they won handily -- and gave them the Big Mo' to rock and roll to an upset of Stanford. Forget the fact... More >>
• Best Latin Dance
  Latin Dance FX & Fitness
  Everyone knows salsa is muy caliente, so it makes sense to use it to burn off calories. At her studio, Barbie Novoryta offers Cardio Salsa workouts that really make you feel the burn. And for those who'd like to learn more traditional Latin dances, Novoryta offers private lessons. More >>
• Best Way to Put Fizz in the Pepsi Center
  State High School Basketball Tournament
  For a state that has a fairly low profile in roundball, things get springy in March, when the girls' and boys' Elite Eight move onto the court normally moped upon by the Nuggets. Look! There's the guard nailing a fifty-footer to send it into overtime! And there are the girls bravely bidding to... More >>
• Best New Performance-Enhancing Beverage With Enhanced Tie-Ins
  Go Fast! Sports Energy Drink
  Last fall, Denver-based Go Fast! decided to put some fizz in its extreme-sports line of clothing. So they introduced Go Fast! energy drink to compete with picker-upper drinks such as Red Bull, and the new drink is more exotic sounding if you check the ingredients: Australian honey, Siberian... More >>
• Best Jock Quote
  Dan Issel
  In his playing days, Dan Issel was the most beloved Denver Nugget of them all, and his 27,482 career points rank him seventh among all ABA/NBA scorers. But Issel's two stints as the Nuggets' head coach were stormy and stressful -- losing always hurts -- and on the night of December 11, after... More >>
• Best Jock Bobblehead
  Dan Issel
  The same night he chose to reach out and insult somebody was the night that now-ex-Nuggets coach Dan Issel was being memorialized with a free bobblehead doll. No telling what those limited-edition souvenirs will fetch on eBay; we're not parting with ours. In fact, we're looking for a... More >>
• Best Private Batting Cage
  Troy Slinkard's house
  Few took the art of learning to hit a baseball as seriously as Troy Slinkard, an Evergreen contractor who's set up a virtual batting lab at his home. Fathers eager to have their sons learn the secret of squarely striking a round ball with a round bat make the pilgrimage to Slinkard's home, and... More >>
• Best Batting Cage for Pitching
  Slammers
  You know you can bat at batting cages. But at Slammers, it's also possible to fine-tune the pitcher's art. A hurler can rent one of the indoor tunnels and get back in the groove -- even during snowboarding season. If you want to learn to throw the spitter, though, it's BYO slippery-elm juice. More >>
• Best Place to Soak Up Billiard Wisdom
  Shakespeare's
  Shakespeare's is already a known mecca for those handy with a cue, but this pool hall is really on the ball when it comes to billiards. An informal college of experts usually gathers Saturday and Sunday mornings to play, trade stories and introduce newcomers to the refined game. More >>
• Best Place to Make Your Point
  Mirage Sports Bar
  If you're ready to move your darts game out of the rec room and into a real arena, take aim at Mirage Sports Bar. With thirteen boards, it's hard to miss. Fridays feature a blind draw for competition, and there are also leagues for passionate dart buffs. Get the point? More >>
• Best Foosball Table
  Campus Lounge
  There are many reasons to visit this hallowed haunt, but fanatics head to the Campus Lounge for its foosball table. At night it's so popular, you may have to get in line for table access -- which means more brews for you as you wait your turn. More >>
• Best High-End Ping-Pong Tables
  Olde World Tables
  The brothers Zwisler grew up in Indiana, playing Ping-Pong in the basement of a convent. When they migrated to Colorado -- Marty to build custom houses and Ray to make custom wood furniture -- they maintained their love of the game. Several years ago, in fact, they decided to build a conference... More >>
• Best Low-End Ping-Pong Table
  Harvey Park
  There's only one Ping-Pong table at Harvey Park, and it isn't even set up all the time. Yet staffers at this friendly rec center are happy to set it up on request. More >>
• Best Video Arcade
  Dave & Buster's
  Gameworks, it's not. Still, the colossal arcade inside this Dave & Buster's food-and-fun franchise is where local video game junkies find their tastiest fix. Serious players know to hit D&B's on the weekdays, when the only crowds are of businessmen clustered around the Golden Tee golf machines.... More >>
• Best Romper Room for Grownups
  Wynkoop Brewing Co.
  Games are not just for kids, especially at the Wynkoop, where men and women rack billiards balls, smack pinball flippers and sweep shuffleboard tables in between sips of Railyard Ale. A huge, loft-like space above the brewery's table-and-chairs main floor, the Wynkoop's game room is an arcade of... More >>
• Best Outdoor New Year's Eve Celebration
  Evergreen Lake
  Although things got a little too popular at the end of 2000, when a reported 5,000 revelers came to the mountain town's skate-and-fireworks fest (some without paying), a more orderly celebration went off without a hitch this year on the Currier & Ives-like pond about thirty minutes west of... More >>
• Best Turkey Caller Using His Pro Sports Split V3
  Bob Cook
  Strasburg
  In the world of competitive turkey calling, Coloradans are at a bit of a disadvantage compared to experts from regions where wild turkeys are more plentiful. Still, Colorado has its share of top tweeters. And it falls to Bob Cook -- who placed third in the turkey-calling Grand Nationals in 1996... More >>
• Best Place to Score a Birdie (1 Comment)
  Exotic Birds of Denver/
  Carson's Outbound Golf
  How often does it happen that a man can satisfy dueling passions under one roof? Dave Carson has done it at Exotic Birds of Denver/Carson's Outbound Golf, a dual-purpose business in a Littleton strip mall. The northern half of the store deals in hand-fed, hand-raised parrots -- absolutely... More >>
• Best Place to Spot a Chick
  Greater Prairie Chicken viewing trips
  Birders who want to see the annual mating rituals of the prairie chicken can book a special weekend tour through the Wray Chamber of Commerce to visit the birds' leks (mating grounds) in East Yuma County. Voyeurs sit in a special viewing blind so as not to distract the amorous fowl from their... More >>
• Best Snowshoeing for a Variety of Shoe Sizes
  Brainard Lake
  Post 9/11, we're told, people have been seeking solace in the wilderness. Couple that with the fact that snowshoeing was already booming, and this winter sport may become so popular that Big Foot flees to warmer climes. Ironically, the beauty of snowshoeing is escaping the crowds -- you're not... More >>
• Best New Guide to Snowshoeing
  Snowshoe Routes: Colorado's Front Range
  Alan Apt
  Alan Apt, who lives in Fort Collins, has assembled detailed guides to 75 trails -- most of them along the Front Range, with an emphasis on Rocky Mountain National Park. With admirable detail and many good hints, Apt gives snowshoers plenty of room to ramble, including the popular areas around... More >>
• Best Poma Lift
  Storm King
  Copper Mountain
  In these days of supersonic quad lifts, there are still hints of skiing as it used to be. For example, old and new mesh at the midsection of the Storm King "conveyer" that takes you to Copper's back bowls. That's because, for this newfangled Poma lift, you have to grab the tow and slide it... More >>
• Best Way to Jump-Start the Bolder Boulder
  Bolder Boulder Store
  Fans of the annual runathon who wanted to boost their starting positions were encouraged to go to the Bolder Boulder's "seasonal" store in the Crossroads Mall and hop on a treadmill. Those able to run two miles at 18:10 or less are guaranteed a spot in one of the top seventeen qualifying waves.... More >>
• Best Place to Draw a Bead With a 1,247-Pound Vintage Cannon
  State Capitol
  On the west side of the State Capitol, two Civil War-era military pieces -- one cast in 1862, the other a year later -- point toward the not-too-distant Civic Center. But the placement shouldn't be taken as a symbolic assault by the state on the City and County of Denver. Instead, visitors can... More >>
• Best Place to Destroy Targets With 50mm Guns
  Annual .50 Cal BMG Rifle & Machine Gun Fun Shoot
  For the third year, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and the Rocky Mountain Fifty Caliber Shooting Association plan to host their Fun Shoot on private land about seventy miles east of Denver. The groups, which delight in loud noises and the right to bear arms, have scheduled this year's event for... More >>
• Best Target Practice
  The Paint Pellet Game
  If your trigger finger's itchy, but you don't have your paintball posse handy, head for the Paint Pellet Game, a local supplier of all that colorful weaponry. It has a shooting range that can be booked for fifteen-minute blocks of time. When it's time to slime, this place is sublime. More >>
• Best Outdoor Paintball
  Tactical Pursuit
  It could be argued that most of Wyoming and much of eastern Colorado is ideal for paintball shoot-outs. Better yet, though, is Tactical Pursuit's forty-acre site on a private ranch about four miles north of Boulder. Rain or shine, a company operator will pick up Tactical Pursuit's paintball... More >>
• Best Indoor Paintball
  Denver Paintball
  Set in a former grocery store, Denver Paintball covers about 14,000 square feet and is open daily to walk-ins. Players can bring their own guns or try the rental package, which includes protective gear as well as ammo. Splatterers have to be over ten years of age, and those under eighteen need a... More >>
• Best Kids' Sports Foundation
  Gold Crown Foundation
  While youth basketball once seemed like a forgotten sport in Colorado -- the runty sibling of brawny football or flashy skiing -- it has grown up in a hurry. A big chunk of the credit belongs to the Gold Crown Foundation, whose CEO and original booster is ex-Nugget guard Bill Hanzlik. While Gold... More >>
• Best Sports
  REI
  Sure, REI's flagship store has that slammin' climbing wall, its own Starbucks and, right outside, the Platte River, where you can test-drive/ride/kayak the equipment. But the best sports in the building are the people who man the Outdoor Recreation Information Center, a joint venture between the... More >>
• BestIce Rink -- Urban
  Fillmore Plaza
  It's sweet and petite, just the most delightful addition to a holiday shopping outing with the kids. From mid-November to mid-January, the Cherry Creek North Business District opens its outdoor rink at Fillmore Plaza daily, and it stays open late on Friday and Saturday nights. Skate rentals are... More >>
• Best Ice Rink -- Suburban
  South Suburban Ice Arena
  Open year-round, the indoor South Suburban Ice Arena complex offers twin ice sheets, a concession stand, lessons for all ages and ability levels, competitive programs for hockey and figure skating, and cool admission prices for public skating: $2.50-$3.50 in district and $4-$5 for non-district... More >>
• Best Ice Rink -- Mountain
  Evergreen Lake
  From mid-December to mid-March, 55-acre Evergreen Lake becomes a high-altitude Hans Brinker's dream. This is outdoor skating at its finest, with a cleared hockey rink on one shore, the Lakehouse serving hot chocolate on the other and plenty of public skating in between. The rest of the year, the... More >>
• Best Way to Recycle an Ice Arena
  The Breakaway Center
  After the old Hyland Hills Ice Arena closed in 1997, the facility could have stayed in cold storage. But hockey is hot, and so is in-line skating. So the building was spiffed up with a smooth surface and brought back as the Breakaway Center by In-line Endeavors, LLC, in cooperation with... More >>
• Best Way to Own Your Own Arena
  Wagner's Casual Dining
  Say you're allergic to bar smoke but still have a jones for tabletop hockey. Save your pennies and buy your own sturdy Carrom Bubble-Hockey table for about $900 through Wagner's Casual Dining. Want to take it for a test spin? The company is happy to order you a trial table so you can see just... More >>
• Best Place for Summer Tubing
  Yampa River
  Steamboat Springs
  Okay, maybe it's not technically seaweed, but the chilly algae attached to the rocks in the Yampa can prove an irresistible plaything during a hot summer's float through Steamboat. Several operators line the banks of the Yampa renting tubes for floaters, and during lulls, some have been known to... More >>
• Best Winter Tubing
  Fraser Tubing Hill
  Just as Winter Park strives to offer skiing as it used to be (and maybe ought to be), the neigh- boring tubing hill in Fraser has an authentic feel. Looking out over the railroad tracks from the top of the hill is inspiring; so is the headlong rush down the hill. During spring break, operators... More >>
• Best Auto Art
  ZaBeast
  Forney Transportation Museum
  An estimated 5,000 stickers shellac the entire body of a 1975 Pontiac Grandview, the baby of Broomfield Middle School P.E. teacher Al Pallone. After starting with stickers from his son Vinny's sports teams a decade ago, Pallone gradually enveloped his everyday ride in stickers trumpeting... More >>
• Best Auto Art Exhibit
  Customized and Converted: The Art of the Automobile
  This summer collection of related shows was so worth the drive -- no, cruise -- south to Pueblo. In fact, the very act of driving was the ultimate way to prepare for the riches awaiting your bone-weary bottom and road-fried mind at the end of that ninety-mile trek. There, high-end automotive art... More >>
• Best Public Golf Course With Shifting Holes
  Fox Hollow
  A public course manicured to country-club standards, the intriguing 27-hole layout at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Lakewood offers a variety of challenges, according to when you play. Depending on maintenance and tournament schedules, eighteen-hole players tackle shifting combinations of two of the... More >>
• Best Place to Tune Up Your Golf 24/7
  D'Lance Golf
  It's 'round midnight, and you just can't believe that hook of yours won't go away. You're tired of the club scene but not your clubs. If you're a member at D'Lance Golf, you can work on ways to fix your game at all hours. With five hitting bays, four simulators and other high-tech gear available... More >>
• Best Way to Test Your Tuned-Up Car
  Lariat Loop Heritage Alliance Road Rally
  Back when life was a bit rustic along the Front Range, savvy tourists tested their roadsters on the challenging-but-not-impossible byways. One favorite was the forty-mile Lariat Loop, linking Golden, Morrison, Bear Creek Canyon and Red Rocks. Last year, a group revived this tradition, giving it... More >>
• Best Bike-Ride Maps
  Latitude 40 Degrees
  If you see mountain bikers around Colorado clutching colorful, waterproof plastic-coated contour maps, chances are they're counting on Boulder's Latitude 40 to steer them. The Boulder County Mountain Bike Map is now in its seventh edition, and the Front Range map -- with 101 rides on one side --... More >>
• Best Mountain-Bike Ride for a Secret Squirrel
  Hall Ranch
  The 3,206 acres of backcountry purchased by Boulder County Parks and Open Space in 1993 are required to balance wildlife and recreation. That means there's plenty to see along Hall Ranch's dozen miles of multi-use trails, about half of which are open to bikers, hikers and horseback riders. But... More >>
• Best Bicycle-Built-for-Two Club
  Tandem Club of Colorado
  For sixteen years, the Tandem Club of Colorado has been promoting togetherness on bicycles built for two with rallies, rides and fun events. Last month's annual meeting, held at REI's flagship store in Denver, has attracted about fifty people of all ages. This season's events include the Tour de... More >>
• Best Wildflower Ride
  Hewlett Gulch
  Poudre Park, Larimer County
  The ten-mile, single-track Hewlett Gulch trail, which starts at the Poudre Park picnic area on the Cache la Poudre River, is full of gnarly challenges like twists and turns and rocky stream crossings. But the initial 3.1-mile climb up the appropriately named Flower Road is flanked by beautiful... More >>
• Best Place to Get a Bike Fitting by a Tour de France Racer and Olympian
  Wheat Ridge Cyclery
  Ron Kiefel finished six out of seven of his Tour de France tries, won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics for a team time trial and has probably ridden more than 300,000 miles during his cycling career -- which makes him especially suited to understand all the nuances of riding bicycles. Kiefel... More >>
• Best Lowrider Bicycle Store
  Dragon Lowriders
  Say hi to lowriders: After you've seen a decked-out lowrider bicycle, regular bikes just look like plain, boring, single scoops of vanilla ice cream. Kids go crazy over lowriders' smooth lines, colorfully airbrushed frames, whitewall tires and other accessories, such as headlights and steering... More >>
• Best Tornado Tours
  Storm Chasing Adventure Tours
  You've seen them on TV, and you know they gather important information about severe weather that can save lives. You think they might be a little bit nuts, and you wish you could be one of them: Storm Chasers, the guys and gals who go out of their way to find and photograph tornadoes up close... More >>
• Best National Western Stock Show Event
  Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza
  Those who think they've seen everything the Stock Show has to offer should check out the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza, which gives a colorful makeover to bull riding and fighting, trick roping and the like. And that's not to mention the Paso de la Muerte, also known as the "death jump." Look... More >>
• Best Rodeo Star
  Ashlin "Flip" Spence
  Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls: They might turn into bull riders instead. At least, that's what happened to Ashlin Spence, aka Flip, of Fort Collins. The sixteen-year-old Poudre High School student was the only girl to compete in the bull-riding event in the Salt Lake ProAm... More >>
• Best Bull-Riding School
  Larry Lancaster's Rodeo School
  If you want to learn to ride like Flip -- or, more likely, just flip head-first off some livestock -- here's your chance. Each year, Lancaster's Rock-N-Roll Rodeo Gear sponsors two three-day championship bullriding and bullfighting schools at the indoor Bar W Slash Rodeo Arena in Aurora. Classes... More >>
• Best Place to Catch Thin Air
  Thin Air Trapeze Bladium Sports Club
  Your mama was always worried that you'd go off and join the circus, but you went to college and made her proud instead. It's not too late for you, though, because the trapeze isn't just for super-athletic, death-defying circus performers anymore. In 2000, a group of people left the Imperial... More >>
• Best Aerial-Fabric Class (1 Comment)
  Aircat Aerial Arts
  A sister sport to our buddy the trapeze, aerial fabric is a graceful, artistic and physically challenging discipline. You've maybe seen aerial dancers at the circus or on TV, but you probably never pictured yourself doing such a thing. Cathy Gauch, founder of Aircat Aerial Arts, can teach you.... More >>
• Best Plant Help
  Plant Select
  Just because you can't get that hydrangea to flourish on the north side of your garage doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of plants that thrive in the bright sun and crisp air of the Rocky Mountain Region. Since 1997, it has been the purpose of the Plant Select program -- a cooperative effort of... More >>
• Best Help Building a Wildlife Refuge
  Backyard Habitat Program
  If you want to do more with your garden than plant showy annuals, this could be the year you give back to the ecosystem. By taking a few positive steps, you can turn your open space into a certified wildlife sanctuary that's recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. Planting native flora... More >>
• Best Wildlife Web Site
  Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary
  Now that you've turned your back yard into a wildly popular wildlife retreat, what do you do when your furry visitors decide they'd rather nest in your chimney? Log on to www.greenwoodwildlife.org for tips on handling displaced baby raccoons, squirrels and birds. The site also features a sound... More >>
• Best Advice on Pesky Wildlife
  Wildlife Master Volunteers
  CSU Cooperative Extension Service
  If wild visitors have decided not only to take over your living space but to dismantle it while they're there, it could be time to call in the experts on peaceful inter-species co-existence. Since 1987, Wildlife Masters have been available to provide advice on discouraging incursions by a wide... More >>
• Best New Animals at the Denver Zoo
  Endangered Species Carousel
  The latest baby polar bear and baby giraffe are, of course, welcome additions, and who can resist a wee pair of warthogs? But the ever-expanding Denver Zoo added a particularly genteel touch to its grounds last spring with the debut of a gorgeous endangered-species carousel. Kids love to pick... More >>
• Best Hiking Companions
  Canine Backpackers Association
  Now that your yard is overrun with creatures from the wild, your dog could probably use a day trip. Take him backpacking, and he could earn a Champion title from the Canine Backpackers Association. All he has to do is complete three ten-mile hikes while carrying a pack, water bowl and water... More >>
• Best Hike Into History
  Mineral Belt Trail
  The town of Leadville is mining history from its mining history with the Mineral Belt Trail. The twelve-mile black-topped trail circles the town and its mining district and is perfect for hiking or biking -- or using any form of wheeled, non-motorized transportation -- past such historic sites... More >>
• Best Wildflower Walk
  Pawnee National Grassland
  Don't forget to stop and smell the primroses as you hike along the 1.5-mile Pawnee Buttes Trail, the only maintained hiking trail on the grassland -- and one where wildflowers bloom in the shadows of the 300-foot-high sandstone cliffs. In mid-June, when the prickly pear cactus, purple locoweed... More >>
• Best Hiking Help
  Free GPS Classes
  U.S. Geological Survey
  You can rely too heavily on technology, especially in the back country. Just because you have a cell phone or a Global Positioning System receiver doesn't mean you won't get lost. In February, the U.S. Geological Survey office in Lakewood offered free two-hour courses on maps and compass reading... More >>
• Best Place to Find Fossils
  Florissant Fossil Quarry
  Petrified plants are waiting to be found at the Florissant Fossil Quarry; they're in between layers of "paper" shale. For $20, you can pick up a crate -- approximately forty pounds -- of the fossiliferous shale that must be split and examined on site. Visitors can also search piles of shale at... More >>
• Best Place to Dig Your Own Dinosaur
  Dinosaur Excavations
  Play paleontologist for a day, and take home a little piece of prehistory from a virgin site on the Morrison Formation. Owner Dana Forbes is sure visitors to his seventy acres eighteen miles east of the town of Dinosaur will be rewarded for participating in scientific digs, because many bone... More >>
• Best Mining Tour -- Gold
  Old Hundred Gold Mine
  Silverton
  Follow the vein of gold ore one-third of a mile into Galena Mountain, and you can see and experience the operation of mining equipment in a real mine setting. The Old Hundred bores into Cunningham Gulch, just minutes from historic Silverton, in a scenic area that's easily accessible by car or... More >>
• Best Mining Tour -- Silver
  Lebanon Silver Mine
  Georgetown
  Hard-rock silver mining made Colorado what it was in the first half of the nineteenth century, but can you imagine what life was like for the miners? Find out when Colorado Historical Society guides lead you through the Lebanon Silver Mine and show you the mine manager's office, the change room... More >>
• Best Place to Learn About Mining's (Ugly) Legacy
  Idaho Springs Heritage Museum and Visitor's Center
  Next time you drive through the mountains and see an old mine that evokes romantic images of Colorado's gold-rush days, stop by the Idaho Springs Heritage Museum and Visitor's Center. The Clear Creek Watershed Exhibit that takes up an entire back room is a reminder of the mess mining left... More >>
• Best Cave Tours -- Family
  Glenwood Caverns & Historic Fairy Caves
  Glenwood Springs
  This large cave in Iron Mountain above Glenwood Springs contains about three miles of known passageways and was first opened as a tourist attraction at the beginning of the twentieth century; it was abandoned in the 1920s, then reopened in 1999. A family tour along electrically lit gravel... More >>
• Best Cave Tours -- Wild
  Manitou Cave
  Manitou Springs
  Another tourist cave that had been abandoned for years, Manitou offers a physically challenging wild tour that includes sections discovered as recently as five years ago. Still missing is a large section that was open to tourists, complete with electric lights and hand-rails, until it flooded in... More >>
• Best Cave Tours -- Wet and Wild
  Spring Cave
  White River National Forest
  At 7,000 feet, Spring Cave, which opens May 1, is one of the longest caves in Colorado, located less than a mile from the South Fork Trailhead, east of Meeker. In springtime, the stream that flows through the cave widens to form "Emerald Lake," which makes a full wetsuit a requirement for anyone... More >>