See also: Get the Edge on winter fun in Colorado
Ladies first! Need to sort out some new powder planks to make the most of the recent dump? Loveland, which has already gotten more than 100 inches of snow this season, is hosting the Outdoor Divas women's gear demo day today, featuring free demo skis from Icelantic, Kastle, Rossignol, K2, Volkl, Blizzard, Nordica, and Dynastar. Loveland's also playing host to Nordica's Belles for Belles event this weekend, a ladies' demo day (registration is $35, plus lift ticket) geared towards intermediate and advanced skiers. Nordica's Christine Booker and Christine Braun, and Loveland Ski & Ride School instructors Tammi Sjoden and Ruthie Jerome will be on hand to offer some tips for keeping your tips up in all that snow, and there's a wine & cheese après party afterwards.Get Gnarly! The So-Gnar Snowboard Camp Tour -- Westword's Best of Denver 2013 Best Snowboard Camp Value -- kicks off at Loveland on Saturday and Sunday. The $150 two-day registration fee covers private instruction with Pat Milbery and his team of local pros, as well as lunch and a whole bunch of product giveaways. Can't make it? The So-Gnar Snowboard Camp Tour also stops in Denver at the Ruby Hill Snowboard Park for a free camp session on January 29 and heads to Copper Mountain March 1-2.
"Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn." Chances are the ski courses in Sochi won't have anything on Beaver Creek's Birds of Prey run, so get up there while the getting's good: the mountain hosts the Birds of Prey Men's World Cup Friday through Sunday, the only World Cup stop in the U.S. for Downhill, Super G and Giant Slalom racing in this Olympic year. All races and festivities are free and open to the public.
Wait, you're going the wrong way! If all that downhill alpine racing is a little fast for your blood, try the 8th annual nighttime Summit for Life Uphill Race on Saturday at Aspen Mountain instead, benefiting the Chris Klug Foundation's efforts to promote organ donation. You'll climb 3,267 vertical feet over the 2.5 mile course, and all the snow piling up this week isn't going to make it any easier. But the ride down? Oh, the ride down.
Grab the rings! Amateur pipe jocks who think they were overlooked by last week's U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing team announcements will get their chance against the pros in the North Face Park & Pipe Open Series at Copper Mountain, Friday through Sunday. Olympic rings in your dreams? The event doubles as a last-chance qualifier into the U.S. Grand Prix series, where Olympic hopefuls will battle it out before the official Team USA selection announcement for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Jam on! Bridget Law -- a Nederland local best known as fiddler and singer for Elephant Revival -- and Tierro Lee take the stage on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Eldora's Corona Bar, a perfect place to rest those legs after a day of powder turns. Eldora's also hosting a demo day on Sunday with Boulder's Satellite Board Shop, featuring gear from Never Summer, Burton, Vans, Capita, Union, DC, Libtech, Roxy, Forum, Gnu, Rome, Nitro, Unity, Skullcandy, Volcom, and ThirtyTwo.My compliments to the chef! Winter Park is hosting its annual Ski & Snowboard Demofest on Saturday with with free demos from Ramp Sports, Capita, High Society, Oz Snowboards, Head, Solomon, Pivothead, Liberty Skis, Flow, Never Summer, Meier Skis. Think of it as a perfect way to work up an appetite for the 31st annual Chef's Cup Dinner & Dance at 7 p.m. at West Portal Station.
Throwdown! The foot of powder at Crested Butte Mountain Resort this week helped give the mountain a boost over Washington's Stevens Pass in Powder Magazine's Ski Town Throwdown, but click through and give CBMR a vote anyway.
Attention, weekend warriors! The mid-week storm might be getting skied out at some other areas by the time you get there, so point here instead for fresh tracks: Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort will open for the season on Friday, Powderhorn will open Saturday, and Ski Copper -- which got 15 inches of snow from Tuesday's storm -- will open for a weekend preview Saturday and Sunday before its official opening on December 14.
Free the children! Did somebody say "Free?" A-Basin Loves Kids Days continue daily through December 20, and a free weekend hot chocolate bar makes the deal extra sweet.
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