Sports & Recreation

No need to remind Chris Bocklet that he's a little brother. One of his older siblings, Matt Bocklet, is a member of the Outlaws, too. But Chris didn't just best big bro in points scored; he led the entire team in that category. Thanks to his performances, he's gone from being a steady contributor to an absolute key to the lacrosse team's success. And last year, as a bonus, he served as offensive coordinator for Wheat Ridge High School's squad, which won the state's 4A championship. Clearly, winning breeds winning.

We know, we know: Praising Peyton Manning after the team's most recent Super Bowl humiliation feels wrong somehow. But remember the season that preceded that blowout. Not only did Number 18 set a whole slew of Broncos records, but he shattered marks for touchdown passes and yardage through the air for the league as a whole en route to his unprecedented fifth Most Valuable Player award. And even though that loss to the Seahawks was agonizing, it provides some mighty big incentive for Peyton to get the Men in Orange back to the Promised Land — and win this time.

Michael Cuddyer is hardly the most charismatic member of the Rockies; he seems more like he should be selling insurance than playing Major League Baseball at the highest level. But quietly and without fanfare, he led the squad in a slew of key offensive statistics during 2013, including batting average (an impressive .331), RBIs (84) and hits (162). Moreover, he slugged twenty home runs — just six off the pace set by the much more high-profile Carlos Gonzalez — and played in the second-highest number of games of anyone on the roster. He may not look like a star, but he sure plays like one.

A good way to measure a player's importance is to track how his team performs without him. And by that measure, Ty Lawson is far and away the Nugs' main man. The Denver ballers have had a dispiriting season, but when Lawson is on the court doing what he does best — pushing the pace, passing the rock, and scoring buckets when everyone else has gone cold — they've been competitive, and sometimes better than that. And when he's been on the shelf with rib injuries and other issues? They could suck the cold off the North Pole. If any Nugget is indispensable, it's Ty.

Matt Duchene is the most highly touted addition to the Colorado Avalanche in recent years, and while he's hardly been a disappointment, he hasn't always hit the heights predicted for him. This year, however, has been his coming-out party. He's led the team in points for the majority of the season, but more than that, he's turned heads with his incredible speed on the ice — is he actually getting faster? — and growing knowledge of the game. No wonder he was added to the absolutely loaded Canadian Olympic hockey squad; that gold medal he brought back will no doubt whet his appetite for achieving similar glory in the NHL.

You can be forgiven for thinking that Deshorn Brown is a longtimer for the Rapids, because he certainly plays like a veteran. But he didn't come aboard until January 2013, when Colorado selected him in the first round of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Since then, all he's done is score...and score...and score. He led the Rapids in goals for 2013, notching twice as many as his next closest teammate (Dillon Powers), and he kept up his incredible pace throughout this pre-season. With the regular season just under way, we expect that Brown, a native of Jamaica, will continue to get fans naturally high — on game-winners.

We hand this prize to John Grant year after year, for a very good reason: Not only is he the best player on his team, but he's among the top performers in the entire sport. During the 2013 season, he led the Mammoth in goals, assists, points and shots on goal, was twice named the National Lacrosse League's offensive player of the week, and currently stands as the NLL's all-time leader in career points per game. As a bonus, his one-handed, behind-the-back goal during a game in January is already the stuff of lacrosse legend.

The Denver Roller Dolls' traveling all-star team, the Mile High Club, spent all of 2013 near the top of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association rankings, won the Division 1 playoffs, and finished fourth at the WFTDA Championships. Now, five skaters — Julie "Angela Death" Adams, Jes "Bea Ware" Rivas, Shaina "Eeklips" Serelson, Tracy "Disco" Akers and Jerica "Urrk'n Jerk'n As Booty Block Ya" Martin — are joining Team USA for the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup. This season marks some big changes for the squad: After closing out a contract with the 1STBANK Center last year, the Dolls will be hosting all home bouts at their Glitterdome practice facility, taking their sport back to its warehouse roots.

Blocker/jammer Toxic Taunic got her start in 2010 and came in like a wrecking ball last season as team captain for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls' 5280 Fight Club all-star team. Although crosstown rivals the Denver Roller Dolls' Mile High Club fared better on the national scene, Taunic helped to ensure that the Rollergirls got local bragging rights with a 207-201 squeaker in June at the Fillmore and an even closer 165-164 win at RollerCon in Las Vegas in August. Watch for the rematch when Denver's two premier leagues face off again on June 26 at RollerCon.

We're still trying to forget the way the Broncos' season ended: No matter how many times we blink, we still can't un-see Seattle scoring 43 points to Denver's 8 in the most widely viewed Super Bowl ever. But the season as a whole was spectacular, with Peyton Manning and a slew of pass-catchers, including Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas and Eric Decker, turning the scoreboard into a light display and the defense giving points back at a pace that managed to keep the games suspenseful while still preserving victories. The result was exciting in all the ways the Super Bowl wasn't.

Not long ago, CU was regarded as a football school. Now that tradition lies not just broken, but shattered. So thank goodness for the men's basketball team. In the past few years, the hardwood Buffs have grown from surprising upstarts into a consistent squad whose members absolutely expect to be playing at tournament time. This season likely would have been even more impressive had top prospect Spencer Dinwiddie avoided a season-ending knee injury. Yet promising youngsters such as Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon suggest that the future will be even brighter than the present.

It's only been three years since Tad Boyle became head coach of CU's men's basketball squad. But in that time, he's managed to remake the team in his image, infusing the program with the winning spirit he learned from the legendary Larry Brown while a player at Kansas. The back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013 were the first double dip for CU in half a century, and we expect more records to fall the longer Boyle sticks around Boulder.

Fans can debate whether Patrick Roy was the best Avalanche player ever, but there's no denying that he was the most fiery and charismatic — and these qualities happen to be just what was needed to inspire the current generation of Avs. Prior to Roy's second coming, the talents of individual players didn't seem to translate into wins. But since his return to Colorado, announced via a glass-shaking freakout that made sportscasts nationwide, the team has started to reach its potential. A Stanley Cup is still a ways off, but at last the Avs are headed in the right direction. And Roy's a big reason why.

Usually, this honor goes to the folks who call games on TV or radio — like, for instance, last year's winner, Voice of the Colorado Avalanche Mike Haynes. Kyle Speller, in contrast, is the Nuggets' public-address announcer — but for those who see the team live at the Pepsi Center, he's nearly as big a contributor to a great time as Supermascot Rocky. His vocal whoops and swoops when the squad is doing well are enthusiasm-igniters, his downbeat tone when the other team comes through lets fans know he feels their pain, and when the "Kiss Cam" is switched on, even Barry White couldn't set the mood better.

When Lionel Bienvenu came to Denver way back in 2001 after a high-profile stint with Fox Sports, he initially seemed to be trying a little too hard to import cable-TV snark to a traditional local-news broadcast. But as the years have gone on, either Bienvenu has mellowed or we have. He's still plenty witty, but he doesn't let the pursuit of humor get in the way of finding what's most interesting in any game. Better yet, he's eager to share his opinions about the sports news of the day, and he doesn't pull his punches just to keep the area franchises happy.

After we named CJ & Kreckman, co-starring Charles Johnson and Nate Kreckman, the best local radio sports show of 2013, the powers-that-be at ESPN Denver showed their appreciation by promptly breaking up the team. But this time around, fixing something that wasn't broken turned out okay. Johnson is a good match with his new partner, veteran sportscaster Les Shapiro, and Kreckman, the most underappreciated talent on the local airwaves, is bringing out the best in his Locker Room teammates: longtime broadcaster Gary Miller and, especially, Broncos Ring of Famer Tom Nalen, whose lack-of-style style is irresistibly unpolished. Maybe the bosses knew what they were doing for once.

The controversy over Denver Boone is one of the most twisted to emerge in recent years. Designed by a Walt Disney artist, DB was the University of Denver's official mascot from 1968 to 1998, at which point complaints from various interest groups, including Native American organizations that saw him as a Manifest Destiny figure, led to his being replaced by Ruckus, a red-tailed hawk that excited no one. But Denver Boone never truly went away, and with DU still mascot-free after several subsequent efforts either sunk or stalled, he's rested and ready for a comeback. While he may never get that chance, he remains the epitome of the Pioneers spirit for plenty of alums.

Okay, so their outfits might be a little weird — especially the long-sleeved spandex "jerseys" that end right below the bust, making them about an eighth as long as normal shirts. But the women who make up the Colorado Avalanche's first Ice Girls squad are skilled skaters who serve a dual purpose: looking hottttttt during breaks in the game and using shovels to help clear the ice of the pesky shavings that can slow players down. These ladies are not all pretty faces and flat stomachs, however. As their bios reveal, most are accomplished figure skaters or hockey players. Maybe someday, women's hockey teams will take a cue from the Avalanche and hire Ice Boys in banana hammocks to wield shovels in the same way.

Keep your eyes on the TV, no matter how fetching those lasses look in their short kilts and tight shirts. The Tilted Kilt on the 16th Street Mall took over where the ESPN Zone left off. This link in the national chain is a fine place to dig into a plate of Irish nachos, swill a cold beer (or three) and watch the game. Whatever sporting event you're interested in is bound to be on one of the big screens — and on balmy days, you can watch your game while sitting on the patio, which also lets you partake in the great sport of people-watching when there's a break in the on-screen action. Although there are other Kilts in the metro area, the mall-side location tilts this one over the top.

The downtown location of the 1up arcade bar is a cross between Jeff Bridges's Tron arcade and a neighborhood dive. Flashy 8-bit colors and music loops pour out of its 45 vintage arcade games, while geeky bartenders pour craft beers and shots to sate the relentless audience of quarter jockeys night after night. At just a quarter or two a pop, the 1up's finely curated selection of games and pinball machines is as likely to evoke childhood memories as it is to provoke heated challenges between drinking buddies. Thankfully, there's a can of Olde English or an Ectoplasm shot waiting at the bar to settle a dispute or toast an extra life. The arcade never died; it just grew up, got a Dig Dug tattoo and started pounding back PBRs.

The winner and still the chomp! Blake Street Tavern blew us away last year with its menu, which includes not only sports-bar staples such as burgers, wings and sandwiches, but some of the best green chile in town. And with the addition of the Underground Social, which converted the vast basement space into a big game room with its own bar filled with craft beers alongside the usual bottled suspects, there are more places than ever to score great food and drink. Bonus points for the private rooms, where your group can give Blake Street's dishes — and, yes, the sporting events on its big TVs — the attention they deserve.

Remember when you and your friends used to hang in the back yard, running through the sprinkler, playing flag football or Wiffle ball, or just kicking a rock around? Even though you're a big kid now, those good times are still within reach: When summer heats up, the ViewHouse opens its own back yard every Sunday for outdoor games that are nothing but fun, including everything from volleyball to tooth-and-nail water fights, only with grownup refreshments. Feeling more serious about hitting a ball over a net? Stay tuned for weeknight volleyball leagues, also starting up this summer.

Are you tired of the packed-in feel of small dog parks, and the same forced questions from well-meaning fellow dog lovers: Is it a boy or a girl? What's his name? How old is she? If so, then escape to the Westminster Dog Park, 420 acres of off-leash open space where you and your best friend can wander the empty landscape. In the summer, gather around a pond, throw sticks and balls and let your dog cool off in the water; in the winter, ski, snowshoe and sled alongside Fido. You'll both be worn out afterward.

Looking for love? Forget OKCupid and the bars. Get your pooch (or borrow one) and head to Stapleton Dog Park. The chatty dog lovers who congregate here in droves are friendly and flirty and seem plenty willing to hand out their phone numbers. If you're lucky, you just might meet someone who's looking to share a poop-scooping LTR.

You might think swimming with sharks would be a tall order in a landlocked state like Colorado. But the Downtown Aquarium — housing more than a million gallons of water in the heart of the city — has you covered. For $185, certified scuba divers can sign up to plunge into the aquarium's "Sunken Shipwreck" exhibit and get up close and personal with several species of sharks, as well as sea turtles, guitarfish (which look kinda like a cross between a shark and a ray) and barracudas. As a bonus, the fee includes a "Dive With the Sharks" T-shirt and a free appetizer at the aquarium's restaurant. (The Downtown Aquarium is actually owned by Landry's Restaurants, which bought it in 2003.) Who needs an ocean when you can have complimentary beef sliders?

Fishing might not be the first thing that comes to mind when Denverites think of the South Platte River. Pollution, maybe. Or used condoms. But the river that winds through the Mile High City is more than most people give it credit for, especially when it comes to stalking big-ass fish. In recent years, fly-fishing the South Platte for carp has become increasingly popular; there's even an annual Carp Slam fly-fishing tournament hosted by the Denver chapter of Trout Unlimited. Carp are resilient freshwater fish that can grow to nearly 100 pounds, and they're plentiful in the South Platte. That doesn't mean they're easy to catch, though: They're excellent at avoiding fishermen's hooks, which makes reeling one in that much more of an accomplishment.

Crested Butte isn't called the Wildflower Capital of Colorado for nothing. When it's not digging gold out of skiers' wallets, the old mining town banks on other colors. In the summer, the valley and mountainsides are a riot of wildflowers, a sight so spectacular that it inspired the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, a week-long celebration of petal power. This year's event, set for July 7 through 13, features classes where you can draw wildflowers, photograph them and cook with them; on various tours, you can see wildflowers while walking, biking, jeeping or riding on horseback. You'll spot everything from the mainstream mule's ear to wisps of prairie smoke — but the king of the hill is the columbine, Colorado's state flower, in hues ranging from pale pink to yellow to blue to deep purple. Look, but don't pick.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is home to what's widely considered the best, if not the biggest, rhodochrosite specimen in the world. Discovered in 1992 in the Sweet Home Mine, a former silver mine near the town of Alma, the impressive block of nearly transparent, cherry-red crystal is called the Alma King. And if its regal name isn't enough to entice you to go see it, consider how one museum geologist describes it: "It reminds me of a giant piece of candy. It makes you want to go up and lick it." Sadly, you can't, because the Alma King is kept behind glass and away from visitors' tongues.

The best way to find our state insect — the Colorado Hairstreak butterfly — is to first find a Gambel oak tree, where said butterfly prefers to spend its time flitting around and dining on tree sap, honeydew and raindrops (adorable!). Castlewood Canyon State Park, near Franktown, happens to be full of Gambel oaks and is therefore a prime location for the Hairstreak. Optimal viewing season is from June to August — and you'll know you've spotted one by its colors: purple and black, just like a certain Colorado baseball team...

Lark buntings, the Colorado state bird, are rare, but they're a little easier to see in the spring, when the so-called "troubadours of the plains" arrive in Colorado before flying south again at the beginning of fall. During the summer, they can be spotted feeding in large flocks along roadsides on the eastern plains and, in particular, in the Pawnee National Grassland in Weld County. Their coloring makes them easy to see: The males are black with a white patch on their wings, which makes them look like they're wearing tuxedos. Fancy.

Brighton's Barr Lake State Park is like Boca Raton for bald eagles: While our nation's big birds can summer anywhere, they are increasingly spending their winters here — and one pair stays to nest every year. In fact, the proud mamas and papas of Barr Lake have produced a total of 45 eaglets. The mating season begins in early winter, and by February, there's often an egg or two in the nest. From mid-February to mid-March, Ma and Pa take turns incubating the eggs — which is a perfect time to catch a glimpse. The best place to see the nest is at the Barr Lake gazebo, which is an easy 1.3-mile walk from the Nature Center, where you can borrow a pair of binoculars with which to ogle these most American of birds.

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep favor steep and mountainous terrain, which means they hang out in places that are hard for humans to access. But at the Georgetown Bighorn Sheep Viewing Area, looky-loos can pump a few quarters into the giant binoculars and take a gander at the hundreds of sheep that make up the "Georgetown herd." One of the best times of year to spy on sheep is in November, when the town hosts the Georgetown Bighorn Sheep Festival. It's also the species' mating season, which means visitors are more likely to see male sheep head-butting each other to establish dominance — and for a shot at makin' it with the ladies.

Don't let the confusing name fool you: This 71,000-acre swath of forest, lakes and trails is an uncrowded gem. Colorado State Forest State Park, near Walden, is also home to more than 600 moose, which can be viewed year-round. Start at the Moose Visitor Center, where moose-seekers can take a virtual tour of the expansive park, learn about the animal and get tips on where to spot one. Even if the moose prove elusive, visitors might be lucky enough to see some of the other mammals that make their home here, including bighorn sheep, elk, black bears and deer.

They may not be the tallest or the most-hiked of the state's fourteeners, but Aspen's Maroon Bells are some of Colorado's most photographed peaks, especially during the fall. Groves of aspen around the craggy sandstone mountains turn yellow as they prepare to shed their leaves, staining the nearby slopes and valleys bright gold — and drawing in gaggles of leaf-peeping tourists who pay $10 to drive down the park's access road. The quintessential place to snap a picture is from the shores of Maroon Lake, but it can get crowded; strap on a backpack and ramble down a trail into the surrounding White River National Forest for a chance to find your own aspen grove — and maybe catch a glimpse of a moose or beaver — before the trees drop their colors and the snow settles in.

Thank magazine publisher John Brisben Walker, who saw the natural sandstone amphitheater outside of Morrison in 1906 and envisioned the grand stage it would become. Or thank the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose workers helped turn it into a reality. Whoever you credit, no other venue in the country can match Red Rocks for pure grandeur. The 9,450-person-capacity theater has become a staple for touring acts from Dave Matthews Band to Pretty Lights; on summer nights, with the stage lights glowing on the rocks and the stars twinkling above, the music takes on a depth beyond the strictly aural. And lest we forget, Red Rocks is a damn fine park in the traditional sense, too, drawing local hikers, bikers and sightseers with its miles of trails, which link to the Jefferson County park system. Meanwhile, dedicated exercise groups turn the empty amphitheater into an outdoor gym during the daylight hours.

Whether you're a native or just passing through, you haven't really seen Denver until you've seen it from the seat of a scooter, hair flying, on one of those sunny Colorado days. But you don't have to commit to a Vespa of your own in order to try it: At ScooTours, you can rent one for a day, on the condition that you know how to ride a bike, are eighteen or older and have a valid driver's license. With every rental comes a "scootorial," if needed, and tour-loop suggestions to suit your personality are available for the asking. Caveat: No drinking — or inhaling — allowed while aboard a ScooTours vehicle; ScooTours recommends that you save it for later. Oh, and however cool they might make you look as you zoom through the streets, leave those six-inch stilettos at home.

Lakeside Amusement Park, a turn-of-the-last-century landmark that runs along the banks of Lake Rhoda, offers the ideal setting for a mid-summer date night. The park is full of excuses to get close to your darling: share a seat on the Ferris wheel or Skoota Boats, or get adventurous and take a shaky ride on the infamous Wild Chipmunk or historic Cyclone coasters. Then romance your sweetie with a soft-serve twist cone under Lakeside's art-deco neon strips and incandescent bulbs as they blink against the evening sky. Whatever you do, don't forget to take advantage of the most romantic attraction of all: a trip around the lake together in a petite version of a narrow-gauge rail car.

Urban pools are usually rectangular holes in the ground made of concrete and filled with chlorinated water (and sometimes leaves, lost toys and empty Cheetos bags). But when Denver Parks and Recreation decided to remake the outdoor pool next to the La Alma Recreation Center, which sits in a neighborhood chock-full of kids, it went far beyond an ordinary rectangle. Though there are still six lanes where lap swimmers can front-crawl calories away, the pool also sports a diving board and a twisty-tunnel water slide so tall that adults brave enough to give it a whirl have been known to whoop with joy when the ride is over. The pool also has an exemplary kiddie area, complete with things that rain water down, things that spit water up, a padded toddler slide and a freaking whirlpool — which is big enough for grownups, too. Not that we'd know or anything.

Every Monday, Greg Plavidal, owner of the Boulder Anytime Fitness franchise, runs a special session for a group of women between the ages of fifty and eighty who used to belong to a now-shuttered Curves. Some of these women were nervous about training at a regular gym, but Plavidal's sessions are gentle, organized and easily adjusted to a participant's fitness level. For those wanting to take their workouts to the max, there's also boot camp — loud, hot, sweaty and unrelenting — with ex-marine Korey Reyelts, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Boulder boasts many gyms, but Plavidal didn't see the kind of place he wanted there — affordable, with a friendly, bright atmosphere that was neither a country club nor a grimy grunt-and-sweat shop — so he created one that is accommodating to clients at every level, from college athletes to retirees.

Pura Vida has long been a mecca for the exercise elite — a members-only gym with state-of-the-art facilities and top-of-the-line workout programming. But earlier this year, the fitness fortress opened its doors to non-members with the introduction of the Sunday Afternoon Meltdown, a combination yoga and meditation class focused on detoxing and preparing for the week ahead. Thirty bucks gets you in on a one-hour heated yoga session followed by a half-hour guided meditation, capped off with a specialty herbal elixir to sip while you take advantage of the club's steam room and hot tub.

Far from the corporate-chain experience, the 20th Street Gym is the workout facility of hard knocks. The city's oldest rec center, located in the heart of downtown, 20th Street is a no-frills training facility, complete with a fully stocked weight room, shiny cardio machines, an indoor pool and basketball court, and weekly yoga and spin classes. But the best workout in the city comes from the gym's boxing program, offering real in-the-ring training for kids and adults alike. The grownups' classes are a nonstop circuit involving a speed bag and heavy-bag hitting, jumping rope and one-on-one guidance from expert coaches — something that no chain health club can match.

Like most locations in the national chain, 24 Hour Fitness in Highland is packed every day of the week with eager nine-to-fivers, gym rats and hardbodies elbowing for treadmills. What's unique to this spot is its penchant for combining cardio-machine workouts and foodie television. No matter the time of day, at least two of the many TVs entertaining fitness freaks are locked on the Food Network. Members at this gym are as intent on sweating it out as they are on watching Guy Fieri chowing on roadside barbecue or Giada whipping up homemade Italian specialties. They're adding calories just by watching, but at least they're working them off.

Located across from Denver's flagship REI store, Wilderness Exchange Unlimited feels like a smaller version of its retail neighbor, a two-story temple to skis, backpacks, boots, climbing gear and everything else you need for playing in the mountains. But unlike REI, Wilderness Exchange specializes in sniffing out cheap deals on overstock, seconds and lightly used consignments and passing them on to customers, so you can get shred-ready without shredding your credit rating in the process. The shop's knowledgeable staff and generous demo program, which lets patrons test-drive six ski setups for $120, makes deciding where to sink your money a snap.

Skaters, bikers, rollerbladers and even those confused kids riding scooters were given a wonderful gift when Arvada brought in Team Pain to build the Arvada Skate Park. The park, located in the northeast corner of Arvada's Memorial Park, comprises features for all skill levels, from first-time pushers to seasoned thrashers, and there's a street section with handrails, stair gaps, bank-to curbs, and original banked walls that fit perfectly in the landscape of the allotted area. The transition portion of the park, which includes a snake run meandering from one end to the other, offers deep vert-bowls separated by a spine, halfpipes ranging from three feet to ten feet, and enough flow to maintain a solid run throughout the entire course without pushing.

It's no accident that two of the five Olympic ski and snowboard qualifiers were held at Breckenridge in the lead-up to Sochi, or that many of the top competitors — American and otherwise — have made Breck their home mountain. And it's not just the pro courses and the experts-only Freeway park that pass muster: Breck's terrain-park system topped Freeskier magazine's Top 10 list for the third year in a row, with nods to beginner parks Bonanza and Trygve's and the "intermediate" Park Lane's features (including 20- to 45-foot gap jumps, ahem). Ready to really send it? Freeway is as good as it gets.

The sloppy, slushy ditch that helped dethrone Shaun White at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi had nearly all of the top competitors clamoring for better conditions, and the name that kept coming up was Snow Park Technologies. The Nevada-based company was responsible for the courses at the Dew Tour, X Games and Burton U.S. Open this year, with nary a complaint. Our honors go to Vail's Burton U.S. Open pipe on Golden Peak, however, for helping to send Colorado's own Taylor Gold to the top of the podium. The Steamboat Springs local missed the cut for the finals with a fourteenth-place finish in Sochi, but found redemption two weeks later in front of his friends and family back home in a perfect pipe under a clear blue sky. Is it time to finally bring the Winter Olympics to Colorado?

Ready to step up your big-air game but not to accept the looming consequences of landing on your head? Work on your aerial awareness (and your cojones) at Progresh before taking new tricks out into the real world. The indoor ski, snowboard, BMX and skateboarding facility opened in Thornton in 2013, offering a full schedule of classes, camps, private lessons and drop-in sessions, as well as field-trip-friendly group activities and corporate team-building sessions. But the facility's main attraction is an indoor airbag that was made specifically for action-sports training — and soft landings. Progresh also features trampolines, skate ramps and a digital editing room for dialing in those mid-air selfies.

Olympic gold-medalist Sage Kotsenburg set out to prove that it would take more than triple-cork spins to win big when snowboard slopestyle made its Olympic debut in Sochi, tossing unconventional layback slides and a 1620 spin with a Japan grab into the mix, just because. Kotsenburg called his secret sauce "spoice" in a now-notorious tweet and post-Olympic media blitz. Want to find your own spoice recipe? Start in the Barn at Woodward at Copper, an indoor training facility that was overhauled in 2013 and now features six different ramps launching into foam pits, the better to perfect your "Holy Crail" grab. The renovations also added a new street course and a wooden pump track to the existing trampolines, skate bowl and other features. The secret is out.

Taking its cue from some of the more extreme obstacle-course races for adults, the Keen Kids Adventure Games at Vail sends pairs of kids, ages six to fourteen, careening across mountain-bike trails, ziplining across a creek before tubing down it, and getting all manner of dirty in challenges that include a slackline over a mud pit, a giant Tarzan-style swing and an enormous slip-and-slide down a ski slope. Teams typically finished the 2013 course with times in the 45-minute-to-two-hour range, gleefully exhausted and ready to throw their sneakers in the trash. The 2014 race will be held August 6 through 10.

The 2013-2014 season was good for powder hounds, and Aspen-based High Society Freeride had the perfect planks for the job. The aptly named Powchickawowwow is available in both rocker and early-rise models, depending on your preference, but the rocker version is more playful in deep snow; both were Freeskier magazine's editor's picks this season, for the third year in a row. Better yet, both models are handmade in Denver by Never Summer Industries and feature Colorado-flag art to bring the point home. Late to the game? High Society's website has the price slashed nearly in half for a tenth-anniversary special running until next year's model takes its place.

Watching the Olympic debut of women's snowboard slopestyle in Sochi seems to have inspired a lot of ladies to step it up in Colorado's terrain parks. Never Summer's new Onyx park board — handmade in Denver just for women — emerged as a favorite stick for the trick, winning a "Good Wood" editor's-choice nod from TransWorld SNOWboarding. The Onyx features a true-twin shape for switching it up on those 180s, 540s and 900s, with blunted tips and Never Summer's Press Flex core for styling it out in the rails.

Boulder-based film company Sweetgrass Productions has defined itself as the antidote to textbook ski-film fireworks over the last decade with arty, thoughtful, cinematic and even dark and meditative films like Solitaire, Signatures and Hand Cut. How to follow all that? By pointing ski tips toward British Columbia and stripping away all pretense — and, in one memorable scene, all clothes — to film Valhalla, a playful ode to "Youth. Expression. Love. Freedom." And how to celebrate, after this trippy ode won Movie of the Year at the 2014 Powder Awards? Let's just say director Nick Waggoner and his Sweetgrass crew had to strategically place their trophies for the photo op.