Best New Guide to Snowshoeing 2002 | Snowshoe Routes: Colorado's Front RangeAlan Apt | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
Navigation
Support Us
Search

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 Mt. Evans and Indian Peaks as well as lesser-known places.

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 between your legs as you're hauled up the hill to 12,000 feet. Those who fall can try again, although the unwritten law of the mountain is that three muffs earns a trip to the back of the line. Nevertheless, the uphill scoot is worth it, gaining you access to some

wonderful black diamonds -- and giving you bragging rights that you've survived the groin-tingling challenge of a Poma.

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. Those waves -- with more than 42,000 participants -- are scheduled to break on May 27, with the 24th running of the race in beautiful, runner-friendly Boulder.

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 conjure up imaginary foes -- say, an income-tax form -- and blast away. (The cannons are plugged.)

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 May 3-5. If firing conditions permit, incendiary tracer bullets will be used. Spectators pay a small fee, shooters a larger one.

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.

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 clients at a nearby restaurant, then set them loose at the top-secret spot for a day of splash and dash, as they drill each other with colored dye pellets.

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 signed parents' waiver, which can be gotten from the Web at www.denverpaintball.com. Hey, look, there's a wet cleanup in aisle one, and two, and three, and...

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 Crown deals with other games, too, it's the explosion of boys' and girls' hoops -- resulting in some 420 teams across the state this season, the largest in eight years of competitive ball -- that has Colorado basketball soaring.

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 sporting-goods company's store and nonprofit groups, including the Colorado Mountain Club, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks. Conveniently located near the map section, the center's booth is staffed by forest-service personnel and volunteers, who hand out maps, literature (only from public agencies -- no commercial outfits allowed) and all sorts of advice on where to use that equipment now that you've bought it. The center is open Tuesdays through Saturdays; the ORIC's Web site, www.oriconline.org, is available at all hours. Information, please -- and thank you.

Best Of Denver®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy Westword may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Denver Westword, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation