Throw in the Snow

The Pagosa Springs Nordic Club is billing its WinterFest events as “Olympics in Pagosa,” with 1K, 5K and 10K classic cross-country and skate-ski races, plus a snowshoe race around the Spa Trail Head and surrounding environs. But Pagosa Springs has one event you won’t be seeing in Vancouver: The WinterFest...

By Colin Bane

February 11, 2010

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The Pagosa Springs Nordic Club is billing its WinterFest events as “Olympics in Pagosa,” with 1K, 5K and 10K classic cross-country and skate-ski races, plus a snowshoe race around the Spa Trail Head and surrounding environs. But Pagosa Springs has one event you won’t be seeing in Vancouver: The WinterFest Biathlon, which swaps out rifles for flying discs in the X-C Ski/Snowshoe Disk Golf Tournament on Reservoir Hill.

“The disc golf baskets are practically buried, we've got so much snow," reports James Dickhoff, president of the Nordic club. "But we thought it would be a fun way to celebrate the new course that was installed over the summer, and to try to get some new people out to see the five new trailheads and 50 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails we've got going on out here."

Registration is $25 for today’s ski races and $20 for tomorrow’s team relay. The Biathlon is as free as the spirits who will be competing. For more information, visit www.pagosanordic.com and www.visitpagosa.com. Might as well get a room and make a week of it: Events in town over the weekend include snow sculpting contests and an "Anything Goes" sled race, and nearby Wolf Creek Ski Area has had nearly 300 inches of snowfall already this season. Winterfest events run through Monday.
Sat., Feb. 13; Sun., Feb. 14, 2010

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