Climbing

Lisa Foster, hiking book author, injured in avalanche, friend David Laurienti's body found

Lisa Foster is, in many ways, a quintessential Coloradan -- someone who so loves the natural glories of the state that she wrote an entire guide book about hiking in one of her favorite places on earth, Rocky Mountain National Park. But with such beauty comes danger. On Sunday, Foster and a hiking ... More >>

Kachina: A taste of this week's review

To the Hopi, kachinas are spirit-beings associated with rain, corn, animals and other elements critical to life in the desert. Dolls of the same name are crafted for children -- not as toys, but as study tools, a three-dimensional catechism for the spirits they represent. Not that you'd grasp this f ... More >>

Mile High Mountaineering selected as ISPO BrandNew Awards finalist

Denver-based backpack company Mile High Mountaineering (MHM Gear) won the top prize at the local Something Independent Awards in October; in July, MHM's "Snake-Loader" Salute 34 pack made the cover of the 2013 Backpacker Magazine Gear Guide and also won an Editor's Choice Award. And this week the lo ... More >>

Erik Weihenmayer on High Ground Soldiers to Summits documentary premiere

When mountain climber and adventurer Erik Weihenmayer -- who happens to be blind -- set out to climb Mt. Everest more than a decade ago, a lot of people thought he was crazy, or worse: a danger to himself and others. They couldn't believe any responsible guide would take him on the mountain. Those ... More >>

Reel Rock 7 Tour: Hottest ticket in town?

File under you know you're in Boulder when....Promoters of the Reel Rock Tour announced last night that tickets for the kickoff of their package tour of the year's best climbing films on Thursday at Chautauqua Auditorium have already sold out, and that there are only about 100 tickets left out of a ... More >>

Peak Performance

Vail Valley Foundation's 2012 Teva Mountain Games off to the races today

The Vail Valley Foundation's 2012 Teva Mountain Games get to paddlin' today in Vail with both the Mountain Click photo competition and the Steep Creek Championships kayak race running concurrently along a 1/4-mile stretch of Homestake Creek with sections affectionately known to kayakers as "Leap of ... More >>

Mountainfilm in Telluride announces 2012 award winners

Mountainfilm in Telluride closed out its 34th annual festival on Monday with an awards ceremony in Telluride's Town Park, recognizing six films for various prizes and naming the nonprofit organization Peaceful Uprising as winner of the 2012 Moving Mountains Prize. The award -- and $12,000 -- goes to ... More >>

Colorado Mountain Club brings Mountain Fest to American Mountaineering Center

"This year the Colorado Mountain Club is celebrating its hundredth anniversary, and it's also a big anniversary -- the tenth -- for our annual Mountain Fest outdoor education event," says CMC spokeswoman Rachel Scott. "We have a great program on Saturday and six other big events this year as part of ... More >>

Mountaineering legend Fred Beckey, 89, signing books tonight at Patagonia Boulder

Fred Beckey, author of more than a dozen mountaineering guides, has made more first ascents than any other North American climber -- and possibly more than any climber anywhere. And that's not just because he's been at it the longest, though the fact that he just turned 89 and is still bagging first ... More >>

Ice, ice, baby: Chill at the Ouray Ice Festival, January 5-8

Photo courtesy Don Madden/Ouray Ice Festival​If "Go ice climbing" is on your New Year's resolution list, this is your week: The Ouray Ice Park is 100 percent open, and the seventeenth annual Ouray Ice Festival starts on Thursday. Ouray is a serious, six-hour drive from Denver -- but if you're ... More >>

Dressed In Layers

Charles Tuft, R.I.P.: Emergency doctor dies on Vail Mountain's opening day

Charles Tuft.​For the most part, skiing is safe. But sometimes, tragedies can occur even when folks engaging in one of Colorado's signature pastimes take the recommended precautions. Case in point: The Friday death on Vail Mountain of Dr. Charles Tuft, a 62-year-old who appears to have done e ... More >>

Monster Mash

Mountain Highs

The Ultimate Fishing Story

I Made It: Celebrating the human-powered spirit of mountaineer Göran Kropp

​In 1996, adventurer Göran Kropp famously set out by bike from his home in Sweden, loaded with gear, and rode all the way to Nepal to climb Mount Everest. He made the summit on May 23 of that year, without bottled oxygen and without Sherpa support, then climbed down, got back on his bike, and ... More >>

Are climbing and roller derby destined for the Olympics? Colorado's ready to rock the world

​Last week we reported on the International Olympic Committee's announcement that ski and snowboard slopestyle events have officially been added as medal sports for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and on the local ramifications of that decision. And wait, there's more: Other big news with a solid ... More >>

Climbing filmmaker Pat Ament's ode to mentor John Gill: Gill Through the Ages

Photo courtesy Pat AmentClimbing pioneer John Gill floats up 'the Scab' in the Needles of South Dakota​Rock climbing legend Pat Ament began bouldering and free-climbing near Boulder in 1958 when he was a student and gymnast at the University of Colorado, and spent his formative years learning ... More >>

Today in Stoke: Colorado and the history of the gear revolution at Neptune Mountaineering

​Gear geeks, rejoice: Bruce Johnson brings his History of Gear project to Boulder's Neptune Mountaineering tonight at 8 p.m. (Table Mesa Shopping Center, 633 South Broadway) for his Great Gear Pioneers of Boulder lecture, where a display of vintage gear from pioneering historic Colorado compan ... More >>

Elevation Olympics

Today in Stoke: 2011 Copp-Dash Inspire Award climbing expedition grants announced

​The spirit of Boulder's Adventure Film Festival founder Jonny Copp lives on: The five winners of the Copp-Dash Inspire Award grants for 2011 were announced on Friday, receiving $20,000 and climbing expeditions to Alaska, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Nepal. The grant program was estab ... More >>

Browser game of the week: GIRP

​Sometimes playing games is all about punishment. If you played QWOP, you know exactly what we're talking about there, because that game was awkward, hard to control and awful in more ways than one could count -- but it was also addictive as all hell. This is relevant because GIRP comes to us ... More >>

Climb Every Mountain

Today in Stoke: Climbing expedition applications open for Copp-Dash Inspire Awards

​Ready to climb something crazy and then tell the tale in style? The Jonny Copp Foundation is now accepting applications for its $20,000 in 2011 Copp-Dash Inspire Awards, named in memory of Copp (Boulder's Adventure Film Festival founder) and his climbing partner Micah Dash, who died in 2009 i ... More >>

Stick a Pick In It

Today In Stoke: BYOB beacon practice and avalanche clinic at Neptune Mountaineering

​Looking to get away from it all and head out under your own steam? Boulder's Neptune Mountaineering is hosting a series of cool events this week leading up to the Backcountry Film Festival next Thursday: Start with tonight's BYOB (bring your own beacon) practice session at 6 p.m., followed by ... More >>

Today In Stoke: U.S. National Ski Mountaineering champ Monique Merrill talks randonée at REI

Team NikeAdventure racer Monique Merrill on radical randonée racing, tonight at REI Denver​If you're one of those local loonies who gets as stoked about skiing uphill as skiing down, this one's for you: Breckenridge-based adventure racer Monique Merrill is the featured guest tonight at 7 p.m ... More >>

Today in Stoke: Sender Films releases Reel Rock Film Tour 2010 DVD

​Boulder-based adventure film company Sender Films just put out a new DVD compiling all six climbing films from the 5th annual Reel Rock Film Tour (DVD trailer after the jump): The Swiss Machine documents Ueli Steck's alpine speed record on The Eiger Nordwand; First Round, First Minute follows ... More >>

The Really Great Outdoors

Take a Peak

Parkour paradise: Ryan Ford and Matt Marshall to open world's largest parkour gym -- again

Ryan Ford​Last year, Colorado parkour pioneers Ryan Ford and Mat Marshall opened APEX Movement, the world's largest parkour gym, in downtown Denver. Now that the record's been overtaken by other locations, they've moved to a new spot in Englewood that, after the grand opening celebration this ... More >>

Ice, Ice, Baby

Live and Learn

Hip Hip Ouray

Climb Every Mountain

Erik Weihenmayer gives the Mountain Fest keynote speech.

Climb Every Mountain

Climbing High

Alpine Destiny

Climb Every Mountain

The Ouray Ice Climbing Festival brings fanatics together.

Talking Shop

Balloon Bonanza

Sherpa’s Adventurer’s Restaurant & Bar

A meal here is always a peak experience.

Stars Trek

I'd walk a mile -- and then some -- for a meal at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse.