Sports & Recreation

If you’ve ever stumbled out of a LoDo bar on a certain weekend night in August to find yourself surrounded by bicyclists, don’t worry — it wasn’t that fourth martini. Every year, thousands of riders gather near downtown at midnight for the Moonlight Classic, a twenty-mile, after-dark ride that wends its way all over the city. With help from the Denver police, event organizers close off some of the busiest streets to give cyclists a new, lunar perspective on the city. In the past, the course route has gone through LoDo, Cherry Creek, Park Hill, Capitol Hill and other neighborhoods. “Last year we had about 4,500 riders,” says event director Scot Harris. “This year it may be 5,000. It’s growing steadily.” The ninth annual Moonlight Classic, which benefits Seniors, Inc!, kicks off at the State Capitol on August 18. This ride’s a real howl.

We’re not necessarily advocating this, but thanks to D’Lance Golf, there is such a thing as nonstop golfing. A membership to this high-tech practice facility will buy you, among other things, access to the 6,000-square-foot building’s practice toys any hour of the day. Thrill to the Dead-Solid Simulators at 3 a.m.! Bombard the chipping, pitching and sand area until dawn! Study the results of the Golf Achiever (measures ball trajectory, spin and speed) during regular business hours (it’s too complicated to use without assistance). An annual membership for an insomniac adult is $419.

Although it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the lights on E-470 and the light of the moon, the evening walks at the Plains Conservation Center, a 1,100-acre plot of preserved prairie, can still transport you to another time and place. The center hosts a walk during the full moons of every month except January and February. Each one celebrates a different feature of the natural world, but all delve into history, ecology and cultural stories about the moon. For instance, there’s the Hunger Moon in March, when walkers carry warmed baked potatoes, and the Coyote Moon, during which you can call out to the local “moondogs” to see if they’ll respond. All walks start at about 7:30 p.m., last a little more than two hours and end with a campfire and marshmallow roast. Everyone is invited, although reservations are required, and the center discourages small children because of the length of the walks.

Twenty miles south of Denver, the jumble of red rocks known as the Fountain Formation includes an outcropping that looks remarkably like George Washington’s profile. The resemblance is so startling that the area in which the rock stands was known as Old Washington Park for years, until confusion with Denver’s Washington Park inspired a new name: Roxborough Park. The best time to catch a glimpse of George, who stands to the west of Fountain Valley Trail, is during one of Roxborough’s moonlight hikes.

A tough, lightning-fast senior from Chula Vista, California, Colorado State’s 6’3″ senior linebacker Rick Crowell led the Mountain West Conference last season with 125 tackles and was a first-team all-conference selection, as well as the league’s most valuable player on defense. As the Rams compiled a 10-2 record and won their second straight conference title, Crowell led their fierce, stingy defense and in February was named CSU football’s most valuable player.

Inspired by the heritage of Native Americans from the Four Corners region, the Denver Botanic Gardens has dedicated space to the plants that serve as medicines, building materials, dyes and food in traditional cultures; also included in the new Sacred Earth Garden are growing things that play significant roles in the spiritual and ceremonial lives of the tribes. Informational brochures help visitors start out on their own spirit quests through the garden. Your body may be fully grown, but your soul keeps expanding.

With the Avs’ dominance, it may seem like a no-brainer, but some may start grumbling if former Hershey, Pennsylvania, farm-club coach Bob Hartley doesn’t lead his team to the Stanley Cup promised land again. Still, it’s hard to fault Hartley’s handling of the team. And based on what’s happened so far this season, it’s entirely possible that he could overshadow perennial fan fave Mike Shanahan as the most popular coach around.

Scholars have been debating the strength of various dynasties since King Tut lined up his Egyptians for a scrimmage against other chariot riders. Contemporary Denver is no different, and one of the best debates involves the MVP of the Avs. Forsberg? Roy? Borque? At age 31, Avalanche captain and perennial All-Star Joe Sakic just goes on and on. This year, his thirteenth in the NHL, the future Hall of Famer ranks at or near the top of the league in every offensive category — goal scoring, assists, game-winning goals and shots. Along with his prowess on the ice, his leadership in the locker room is immeasurable. If the best team in the NHL is to win its second Stanley Cup this year, its left-handed gun and spiritual centerpiece will be at the heart of the action.

No contest: All year, the Colorado Avalanche has been a juggernaut, leading the National Hockey League in wins, goals scored and points. Bob Hartley’s playoffs-bound club is a brilliant collection of All-Star experience (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Raymond Bourke, Patrick Roy) and talented youth (Milan Hejduk, Chris Drury, Martin Skoula) with all the tools to bring Denver its second Stanley Cup. Old nemeses like the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars may stand in the way, but this is likely the best Avs team of all — which was even better before the injury to star defenseman Rob Blake. No wonder they hosted the NHL All-Star game this year: it just made sense, since so many Avs played in that game, too.

Last summer’s Hi Meadow fire in southwest Jefferson County came within feet of the historic Pine Valley Lodge, constructed in 1927 by Chicago businessman William Baehr. The Bavarian-style mansion — which became known as the “Baehr-den of the Rockies” — was built out of local granite and white pine timbers in just ninety days. But the speed of its construction wasn’t the only remarkable aspect of the project; Baehr also ordered up a pagoda, ice shed, water wheel, tea house and observatory — complete with a six-inch telescope, one of the largest of its day. Today that telescope is still in use, with star-gazing programs scheduled through the Lookout Mountain Nature Center.

Dude! The largest, most expensive public skate park in the country, right here in Denver? Awesome! It’s still under construction: Phase I is scheduled to open in July, but when it’s done, it will be 1.5 acres of radical concrete, with a seating structure and a promenade where the wheel-impaired can hang and watch the moves. Bowls, ramps, curbs, blocks, a half-pipe, plazas and a fishladder: It’s all here, and nobody can hassle us, because in the Skate Park, skateboarding really is not a crime.

Sure, the Rockies brought in two massive, mountainlike hurlers. But they already had a bedrock to build on. So what more can you say about a 27-year-old who flirted with .400 for most of 2000 and wound up with All-Star numbers — .372 batting average, 42 homers and 147 RBIs? Well, let’s note that Todd Helton has also become one of the slickest-fielding first basemen in the National League, and he always keeps his head screwed on straight. At $4.95 million this year and $5 million in 2002, he’s one of the game’s great bargains and the offensive cornerstone of the Rockies’ future. Andres who?

Rated one of the best campgrounds in the state by Gil Folsom in his Colorado Campgrounds: The 100 Best and All the Rest (Westcliffe, $24.95) for quality of scenery, privacy, shade, tent space and overall “niceness,” Heaton Bay has one more critical feature: access to water. Located in the White River National Forest by Dillon Reservoir, Heaton has about five dozen spaces that can be reserved; the rest are first-come, first-served. So take a chance and beat the heat at Heaton Bay.

What’s in a name? Ask Invesco Funds: It’s still fielding complaints for buying the naming rights to Mile High Stadium’s replacement. For $120 million, Barron’s recently reported, Invesco purchased the title “Invesco Field at Mile High” — as IF — and also bought itself a “big black eye.”

More than 125 years ago, Montezuma was a major silver-mining center best reached in winter on cross-country skis or snowshoes. Today, the route from Montezuma to Breckenridge is the site of the annual Mail Run race, in honor of the mail carriers who made the trek long ago. For fun, you can drive the few miles up-valley from Keystone to partake of the web of wooded trails on snowshoes or skinny skis; then stop for refreshment at the funky Soulhouse Cafe.

When running at large can get your owner a big, fat ticket, but there’s no place in the city to blow off some steam, what’s a pooch to do? That was the quandary facing the Aurora Parks Department, and last year they finally did something about it. The Off-Leash Dog Park — basically a five-acre fenced-in field of mown native grass next to the water — gives canines a place to run and chase things, including each other, without the encumbrance of any sort of restraint. They are free to play Frisbee, sniff and be sniffed, and run wild — so long as humans clean up after them and keep some semblance of order.

The glorious colors of turning aspen trees in autumn are not to be missed — but the traffic caused by other nature lovers pouring up I-70 is a must to avoid. The solution? A horse, of course. The Aspen Lodge Resort in Estes Park organizes fall aspen-viewing rides, pairing riders with trusty steeds appropriate for their experience; once suitably mounted, your group can trot along trails that meander through the blazing groves. Not only do you get to appreciate nature’s colorful display, but you get to do it from a cowboy’s colorful perch. The year-round working ranch/resort also offers fishing, swimming and other activities, but for a real look at the great outdoors, this mobile aspen viewing presents a golden opportunity.

Forget dodging in-line skaters on the bike paths and riding in endless circles around Cherry Creek Reservoir. You live in the Rockies, so you might as well ride in them. Head to Boulder for a scenic, challenging and expeditious — give it an hour and a half — ride up and back down the canyon. Not heavily trafficked and with a gentle climb (until the end, where the incline grows dramatically steeper), Left Hand Canyon is long enough for a solid sweat, but short enough to keep you interested. Additional bonuses: the stream running alongside the road that keeps you cool on the way up, the general store in Jamestown that stocks cold drinks, leaning into the gentle curves on the way down.

Perhaps your family isn’t into unhealthy competition. Maybe you just want to take in some beautiful scenery as you throw a frisbee in a gentle, loving manner. Consider renting Como Christian Camp, located in the tiny old railroad town of Como that’s about an hour southwest of Denver on Highway 285. In addition to decent accommodations, the camp features a nine-hole, professionally designed Frisbee Golf course. At 10,000 feet, the game may be all the challenge you need. “If you’re not doing well, just look up,” the caretaker advises. “It’s a great view.”

Not everything takes place under the sun. Sometimes the moon produces strange effects. There’s a narrow gorge near Boulder County’s Sugarloaf mountain that’s a favorite place for gay men to sunbathe or moonbathe in the nude, skinny dip in the streams and have sex along with the birds and the bees. But, hey, what’s good for the goose and the goose is also good for the goose and the gander…or the gander and the gander…or, well, whatever. With its relatively remote location, beautiful scenery and plethora of trees, cliffs and trails, Dream Canyon is a good place for anyone who wants to do the wild thing in the wild, day or night. Just watch out for sheriff’s deputies. Angry neighbors have asked the law to spend more time collaring frisky individuals as well as frisking collared individuals.

An oldie but goodie. And we mean old: The tracks that appear to climb up the sandstone mountainside were made in a muddy streambed more than 165 million years ago by passing ornithopods and theropods. Pull over over on the side of the hill across from Red Rocks Park and take a gander at this National Natural Landmark, or pick up an interpretive brochure at the Visitors Center at the bottom of the ridge for a more educated look. And groups of a dozen or more can go whole hogback by signing up for a guided tour with Friends of Dinosaur Ridge.

Women’s hoops are suddenly resurgent in Boulder, and CU point guard Mandy Nightingale is one of the big reasons Ceal Barry’s team cruised into post-season tournament play. And although the Buffs lost to Vanderbilt, the 5’6″ junior from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, had half of her team’s twelve assists. She averaged 13.6 points per game for the Buffs, but her fire is the most crucial thing. Teammates and fans call her “the Little General” for her intensity, the same quality that helped her become a national champion last year in another sport: trick waterskiing.

Tired of paying more for LoDo parking than you did for Rockies tickets? Pull into the fifty-space lot tucked into the intersection of 22nd and Stout streets, and you’ll feel a little more energized. A mere six blocks from Coors Field and only $3, it’s loads cheaper than many of the spots located a few blocks closer, and the money goes to a good cause: the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, which owns the lot. As part of a program called Stout Street Works!, which encourages the homeless to work for money, self-esteem and a sense of community, the lot is staffed during night and weekend games by two or three workers, who are later paid with the money they collect. “It worked out so well, and the people who worked it were so happy with it,” says coalition boardmember Eileen Pappas. “It was easy and outdoors, and they felt like they were a part of something fun.”

By belting out a roar at halftime during the Broncos-Patriots skirmish, the vein-popping fiends, er, fans at Mile High bested the previous Guinness world record for loudest stadium roar. Their combined efforts, which measured 128.7 decibels, drowned out the previous record set in 1998 at an Irish rugby match. The din equaled the rumble of a jumbo jet, according to officials. Perhaps the only way to top it would be to suit up Mr. Elway — and, of course, try again in a new stadium that’s reportedly capable of sounding twice as loud.

Even within the circle of Colorado’s intensely competitive kids’ soccer leagues, the Lakewood-based Rush teams stand out as almost unwholesomely dominant. This past season, boys and girls playing for the club nearly made a clean sweep of the state tournaments, winning fifteen of the eighteen age-group competitions. The Rush rules!

While the pot o’ Super Bowl gold has eluded him recently, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan felt at home as grand marshal of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Denver. Although parade organizers make a point about it being the “second largest” such event in the U.S., it’s doubtful that Shanahan would stand pat, so to speak, with that. He was probably scanning the waiver wires afterward, scouting out a few first-round bagpipers and some beefy leprechauns to bring this parade to the top.

Once upon a time, Room 103 of Denver’s Steele Elementary School was just another classroom — then it became a shining example of educational enterprise. First, in 1983, someone hung a dome from the ceiling and added a projector to throw changing images of the night sky across it. Then, in 1989, fifth-grade teacher Ralph Sodano officially became Denver Public Schools’ resident astronomy educator. Today he gives two or three shows a day to more than 6,000 children annually. The shows, presented during the school year, and only by appointment, are always free, even to groups from outside DPS. Sodano organizes his displays for the appropriate age and education level; otherwise, the sky’s the limit. Steele’s a star!

Safe at home! Bruce Hellerstein calls it “the one and only museum totally dedicated to our national pastime’s ballparks,” and it’s certainly the biggest baseball museum this side of the Mississippi. It’s also the only one located in a home, but still open to the public (by appointment only, and just on weekends). Hellerstein’s personal collection includes seats from thirty parks, bricks, photographs, postcards, miscellanea and a re-creation of the domed entrance to Ebbets Field. Not life-sized, sadly.

The North Jeffco Parks and Recreation District opened what it claims is the largest municipal recreation center in the nation this past summer. And we’re not about to argue: Apex Center’s 168,000 square feet encompass two indoor ice rinks, a therapy pool, an indoor walking and running track, indoor water-play pools, a lap pool, three gyms and a weight room. And don’t forget the snack bar and locker rooms and the decor that brings the Colorado outdoors in through window walls, murals and indoor plantings. The whole $28 million facility is designed to accommodate 2,500 people per day.

Soccer’s dazzling “bicycle kick” — a 180-degree flip, with the shot taken as head and foot are absolutely reversed — is not attempted often and rarely yields results. But on April 22, 2000, in Columbus, Ohio, veteran Colorado Rapids defender Marcelo Balboa scored with it — and catapulted himself into TV sports highlights around the globe. Aside from that, Balboa played his usual brand of smart, dogged defense all season long and, at the tender age of 33, helped get the Rapids back to the playoffs against eventual MLS champion Kansas City. The Cerritos, California, native is now the only Rapid left from the team’s inception in 1996, and last season he was still the best.

You don’t have to drive hours for a fascinating raft trip. Just sign up for a leisurely float on the South Platte River through the Carson nature preserve with Flexible Flyers Rafting, a Durango-based outfit. The two-and-a-half hour jaunt may not be much in the way of a wild ride, but there’s plenty of wildlife: everything from muskrats and beavers to an ever-changing array of birds, aquatic and otherwise. The trips, which start in May, run $40 for adults and $20 for kids twelve and under; they depart from the Union Avenue kayak chutes north of Belleview Avenue in Englewood Park.

Three weeks before the Broncos’ first home game of the official NFL season, a month after the ‘N Sync gang has left Mile High and about a minute after the Broncos’s pre-season face-off against Dallas on August 19, Mayor Wellington Webb will finally relent, acknowledge that Invesco Field at Mile High is as good as finished, and allow the Metropolitan Football Stadium District to demolish Mile High. Just in time, of course, to create plenty of VIP parking for the start of the season — and prevent any embarrassing remnants of the old stadium from showing up on national TV.

Just off C-470 at Morrison Road are two bodies of water: the Soda Lakes. The larger one is open to all manner of water activities, such as wind surfing and kayaking, but the smaller lake is reserved for one activity: water skiing lessons. For $99 per hour, you can rent skis, towrope, life jackets, lessons and a guy with a boat to tow you around. Chuck Blood is the guy with the boat and the proprietor/instructor of the school; his ski school is a real liquid asset in this land-locked state.

We may live in one of the most populated areas between Chicago and L.A., but we can still cut out of work a couple hours early and hit one of the best trout-fishing streams in the country. Take Santa Fe Boulevard south to Sedalia, go west on Route 67 over the Rampart Range to the South Platte, and head upstream past Deckers to the Cheesman Canyon parking area. As is the case with any outdoor activity close to a city, the number of other people drops off exponentially as you walk farther from your car. Hike toward the dam for about half an hour (there’s a parking area at the dam, so don’t go too far) for some of the best rainbow- and brown-trout fishing you’ll see anywhere. Beadhead Pheasant Tails, RSIIs and Black Beauties should all work fine.

From April through closing (usually around July 4), A-Basin proves that life’s a beach, even at 10,000 feet above sea level. Memorial Day features theme buffets, live music, dancing, volleyball games, cookouts, snow biking, beachwear and tailgate parties. And because many of the events happen in the parking lot, you don’t even have to ski or ride to enjoy the festivities, although it helps.

An offshoot of the zoo’s wildly popular Bunk with the Beasts overnight programs for kids and families, this slumber party is just what it’s billed to be — a campout in the Gates Conservation Center for the 21-and-older set, featuring a guided walk through the zoo after hours (during which you’ll observe a variety of nocturnal animals, human and otherwise, up close and personal), a couple of meals and a late-night snack (please avoid nibbling your next-door neighbor) and another behind-the-scenes tour in the morning. Singles are encouraged to sign up, though couples are welcome. The next adult night is in June; early signup is a must.

Speedy Clever Corbin has blown away the competition since breaking in last year at the Mile High Kennel Club. Just two years old, the star of the Bryon Legg Kennel won 35 of his first 49 starts, with four seconds and four thirds, and he’s lost just once, during the current meet at Cloverleaf Kennel Club in Loveland. The son of local greyhound racing legend Unruly Thomas and Uno Impulso, he will likely represent Cloverleaf in dog racing’s annual Night of Stars in early May — a simulcast of fifteen top-grade races from fifteen U.S. dog tracks.

This 1.5-mile trail — completed in 1962 through the efforts of the Denver Botanic Gardens and the U.S. Forest Service — winds up a peak in the Mount Evans ecosystem, about 55 miles west of Denver. From the lower trailhead in a stand of ancient bristlecone pines, up past the timberline, through alpine tundra above 12,000 feet, the trail provides access to a wide variety of ecologically unique plants, wildlife and geological features. Each summer, volunteers from the Botanic Gardens work to conserve and restore the Presman trail; last year, construction began on a nature center at the lower trailhead. Guided tours along the trail offer visitors the opportunity to learn about the fragile ecosystem and the importance of conservation.

There’s just something compelling about a race whose waiver begins: “I acknowledge that this athletic event is an extreme test of a person’s physical and mental limits and carries with it the potential for death, serious injury and property loss.” The hill climb, scheduled this year for July 28, starts in Idaho Springs and grinds for 28 miles to the summit of Mount Evans on the highest paved road in North America, gaining 7,000 feet of elevation along the way. The fastest riders complete the trek averaging about twelve miles per hour; you’ll be lucky to average eight. But the phrase “While I was doing the Mount Evans Hill Climb…” is an essential prelude to any serious local bike bragging.

Nestled deep in the San Juan National Forest, at the base of Wolf Creek Pass, the Bruce Spruce Ranch can hold 75 of your nearest and dearest in search of an active outdoor adventure. In addition to the lodge — which accommodates up to thirty people — fourteen rustic log cabins as well as RV and tent-camping sites are available. On-site activities include cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, lake and stream fishing, hiking, horse rides and, when you’re done with them, horseshoes. Downhill skiing, snowmobiling, hot springs, golf, narrow-gauge train rides, casino gambling and all sorts of amusements are close by, so there won’t be any time for dysfunctional familial psychodrama this year.

After being convicted of conspiracy in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, former University of Colorado and Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth went on television to tell his side of the story — which included the claim that he was barely acquainted with the victim, apart from their encounters in the bedroom. Said Carruth: “I didn’t even know her last name until we went to Lamaze class.”

Since late last year, a portion of the world’s largest collection of dinosaur tracks has been housed in a church basement. University of Colorado paleontologist Martin Lockley spenty twenty years making molds of dinosaur tracks from around the world; today the collection spans more than 300 million years. In addition to big, big footprints, the small, below-ground museum also features an interactive computer display and re-creations of a foot skeleton and the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex; other items from Lockley’s print collection are housed upstairs in St. Cajetan’s as well as in rooms across campus.

The University of Denver Pioneers had a mediocre season, but sophomore goaltender Wade Dubielewicz is widely regarded as a potential All-American. In his first 27 games this year, he gave up just 2.19 goals per game — sixth in the nation and first among goalies in the tough Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Invermere, British Columbia, native is just 5’10” and 178 pounds, but his incredible quickness and great glove hand make him impenetrable. If the moneybags of the NHL don’t come calling too soon, he might lead the Pioneers back to the heights.

Even without Elway, there were plenty of glorious memories coming out of Mile High Stadium. And for those who wanted to bask in a sure thing — the glow of past glories — Denver provided one last chance. After all, many Broncos boosters were never able to afford tickets to games at Mile High, and few of those who could ever got the chance to visit any part of the stadium other than their seats, the concession stands and the long bathroom lines. So let us now praise the city’s decision to open the Denver-owned facility to free farewell tours through the first two months of 2001, thereby giving locals of every economic level the chance to check out the locker rooms, luxury boxes and even the field itself before they’re reduced to dust.

The Avs might win their second Stanley Cup in five years, and the Broncos did achieve a back-to-back, but the real sports dynasty resides a couple of hundred miles west of Denver, in Glitter Gulch. The Gentlemen of Aspen first started winning USA Rugby Club championships in 1997, and they haven’t stopped since. This year they’ll be trying for five national titles in a row, which would tie with the all-time best. Did we mention that they practice in a horse barn, tackling one another on ground that may have horsebleep left on it? That’s dedication.

In the best of all worlds, a team mascot should represent the players and inspire them at their game. When you think Division I college football players, what comes to mind? Exactly — huge, muscular, hairy, dangerous, and perhaps just a little bit rank. If you’re going to grind out a come-from-behind victory in the closing minutes, it’s unlikely to be inspired by looking to a bat-wielding dinosaur or a stuffed…whatever, with a bolt of lightning exiting his buttocks. No — if you want motivation, you turn to a thundering bunched-muscle quadruped named Ralphie. A minor note: Ralphie’s mojo doesn’t seem to work that well indoors for the Buffs’ men’s hoopsters. But on the grass, he kicks.

Need to lose a few pounds or gain some energy? Peppy and upbeat, Brooke Sirhal has several years of experience as a Jazzercise instructor, and she keeps things moving. The friendly ladies who work at the door welcome new students and make sure they don’t get lost during the sometimes-complicated exercise routines. The first session is complimentary, so there’s no excuse not to go jump around!

Taking up residence in the historic Burlington Hotel last year, Thorndyke’s bills itself as the “Ballpark Neighborhood’s Living Room” — and this is truly a room with a view. At any given time during any given day (except Sundays), you can catch up with the locals here over a beer, sandwich or cup of coffee. But even more enjoyable than the local gossip is watching the image of downtown’s skyline change as the sunset fades into night (love that blue Qwest glow!) through the giant picture windows of the old Burlington.

More than a tent, less than a cabin: That’s the yurt, the newest camping option offered in selected state parks. The semi-permanent shelters consist of a wooden-lattice wall and rafters surrounded by weatherproof canvas and topped with a clear domed skylight. Construction costs are less than a quarter of those for a traditional cabin of the same size. The yurts in Ridgway, Pearl Lake and Mancos parks are equipped with electricity, gas fireplaces, ceiling fans, full insulation and screened windows, making them perfect for visits year-round. (Golden Gate Canyon state park is adding two yurts as part of its ongoing upgrade, to be completed this summer.) Each yurt sleeps six; bring your own bedding, but otherwise expect a camping experience, with cooking outdoors and no running water. Rental fees range from $40 to $60, based on occupancy; maximum stay is fourteen days. Reservations, which must be made at least three days in advance, are accepted, but yurts are also available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The long-beleaguered Nuggets’ shaky playoff hopes may have faded on the road in February, but Antonio McDyess, the team’s indispensable power forward, continues to be one of the NBA’s finest players — as evidenced by his selection to the 2001 All-Star team. The 6’9″, sixth-year man out of Alabama remains in the top five or six, league-wide, in field-goal percentage (over .500), and his defense is impeccable. If Dan Issel’s road-battered troops are ever to return to the NBA playoffs, it will be McDyess and guard Nick Van Exel who get them there.

You thought the crowd made noise for the Broncos and Patriots? Let’s hear it for the boys! ‘N Sync returns for its second concert in little more than a year at the doomed arena — giving Mile High Stadium reason to stand a little longer and providing Mayor Wellington Webb with a handy excuse for not complying with neighborhood wishes that it go away… now! The Orlando-based pop group (sorry, Mickey Mouse isn’t joining the boys, but things could get Goofy) will croon their hits on July 13. Maybe they could borrow a tune from the Talking Heads and belt out “Burning Down the House.”

No one can accuse ranger David Jamiel of not making the most of his assignment at Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge — a 73-acre Arvada “sub-unit” of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Jamiel has attracted almost seventy volunteers and 6,000 visits to the prairie paradise, an accomplishment that recently earned him top billing as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Refuge Employee of the Year — besting 7,500 employees at more than 530 refuges nationwide. On his tours, Jamiel likes to point out the 100 species of birds, wildlife such as deer, fox and coyotes, as well as assorted creatures that dwell in the three ponds at Two Ponds. And since this offshoot is miles from the arsenal proper, chances are good that visitors won’t be stumbling over any unexploded sarin bombs.

Created by the communications group at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, this award-winning site leads users through the life of a glacier via rare archival photos. The site contains everything anyone would ever want to know about glaciers, plus some pretty cool links to related sites.

Sure, we all love skiing and boarding the Rockies. It’s the expense that gets us down — fuel, lift tickets, parking, lunch, equipment rental and so on. Thankfully, Copper Mountain eased the pain this season: It offered four full-day lift tickets (with only a handful of blackout days) for a measly $49, which is what you generally pay for one ticket. The “pass” was actually a credit card that you could slip into your wallet or purse, and it was good for the entire season. (Copper also offered a quartet of spring-skiing lift tickets at half the price.) The popular passes sold out faster than it takes to blaze a black-diamond run, so we hope Copper gives us a repeat performance next season.

Colorado ski areas present an embarrassment of riches for the downhill crowd, but a mind-bending, knee-breaking bump run at Arapahoe Basin called Pallavicini deserves special mention. Named for an Austrian nobleman who was also a skiing pioneer, it’s a broad field of daunting moguls piled up on a forty-degree pitch for more than a quarter mile — a challenge that only the most daring hotdoggers take up. Reach the bottom in one piece, and you’ve quite a story to tell. Fair warning: No skier over 35 need apply.

Meteorologists are made, not born. Seventh-graders at Skinner get the chance to not only give morning weather reports but also do serious scientific data gathering, thanks to the state-of-the-art weather station on the roof of the school. One of only six in the country donated by Canadian climatologist Reese Halter, founder of Global Forest, the weather station monitors everything from rainfall and snowfall accumulations to ultraviolet radiation and heat stress. The students download the data weekly and transfer it to Global Forest’s site, where it’s analyzed by scientists at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The forecast is sunny.

We are not talking $5,000 claimers here — the manes-and-tails that run at Arapahoe Park. Reraise, majority-owned by Denver rock promoter (and longtime student of the breed) Barry Fey, is what racetrack people call a “freak” — an animal that regularly runs faster than anyone thinks possible. In November 1998, Reraise beat the best sprinters in the world in the top-of-the-line Breeders Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs and won the prestigious Eclipse Award for sprinter of the year. Despite a long convalescence from minor injuries, which could make for an uncertain 2001 schedule, the speedster is still considered one of the top ten turf sprinters. Giddyap.

After a certain point, running around a field blowing away your buddies just isn’t enough. Even the most dedicated sniper craves variety. Action Pursuit Paintball offers four separate killing fields to hold your interest. The main field encompasses nearly 24 acres and is dotted not only with the standard sand and hay bunkers, but also realistic replicas of World War II landing craft, à la Saving Private Ryan. In addition, there are three smaller tournament arenas for one’s shooting pleasure. The first has large, colorful, inflatable bunkers in different shapes. Another is dotted with the lower-tech — but still classic — cable spools. The third is the “Brazilian field,” which features large, thin, movable obstacles that make a loud, pleasing thwack! when blasted.

There are plenty of bike clubs, but several factors separate Team Evergreen from other velocipedal gatherings. Start with location: Most of the training rides — usually every Sunday — wind through (and up and down and up and down) the foothills west of Denver, some of the most scenic and challenging pavement around. The rides are progressive, too, starting with easier pedals in the spring and becoming increasingly more difficult. This is because the program is largely geared toward preparation for Team Evergreen’s big shindig, the Triple Bypass, a one-day, 120-mile, three-mountain-pass, 10,000-foot-of-elevation-gain bit of a hell ride from Evergreen to Avon (this year scheduled for July 14). Organized rides continue into October. While some members are serious bikers (loud, silly-looking shirts, goofy sunglasses, shaved legs), many are just out for a good time. Best of all, the club strives to buff the image of all bikers by putting its money where its wheels are. Last year it donated $20,000 to various causes. Explains TE president David Nelson, “We’re trying to reach out to the community to let them know the cyclist they’re about to pass is a decent person.”

Everybody from former winners Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson to the craziest heatstroke victims screaming “You da man!” from the gallery on fourteen agree: The creamy, Häagen-Dazs-laced milkshakes for sale at The International golf tournament at Castle Pines Country Club are the best on tour, maybe the best on the planet. Especially when the August sun is blazing and your favorite player has just double-bogeyed that little par three on the backside. Tournament director Jack Vickers is known as one of the best hosts in golf, and the icy confections in the green and white cups have become a personal trademark.

Beginning in the early 1920s, Winks Lodge gave African-Americans their very own private retreat in the mountains — an important resource, since other resorts were often closed to them. Some of the best-known entertainers of the day, including Lena Horne and Duke Ellington, are said to have visited the lodge, located right on South Boulder Creek in Lincoln Hills. The resort also included lots for private cabins and Camp Nezoni, the only YWCA camp for black women between Missouri and the West Coast. Although the lodge ceased operation in the 1960s, through the efforts of Bertha Calloway, who attended Camp Nezoni as a child, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in the 1980s.

When the Metropolitan State Roadrunners won the NCAA Division II basketball title last spring, they were loaded with senior talent. This season, the senior star is power forward Rashawn Fulcher, a 6’2″, 220-pound bruiser who looks more like an inside linebacker than a hoopster. Dubbed “Buff” by teammates in awe of his physique, the Oakland, California, native has led the team with fourteen points per game and shot an impressive 51 percent from the field. Throw in 31 steals and 30 assists, and you’ve got the entire package. Recently named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference all-league team, he led the Roadrunners to post-season play again this year.

You may have seen some of them at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, or maybe at the Smithsonian, but only in Wray, on the southern edge of the Sand Hills near the Nebraska border, can you see where these 10,000-year-old bison bones came from. They were originally unearthed in 1972 when a local rancher was digging an irrigation ditch; the Smithsonian later excavated the site, which yielded more than 41,000 bones, 248 stone artifacts and thousands of remains of smaller animals. As thanks for the town’s contribution to adding to this treasure trove of science, the museum set up a permanent exhibit in Wray, complete with a few precious bison bones.

Some argue that college sports have become little more than the minor leagues for the pros, and with the hype surrounding most Division I sports, it’s hard to argue. But sometimes the “old college try” still involves more than the bottom line. Such is the case with Sonny Lubick. Many big-name college football programs would love to woo Lubick away from Fort Collins, but CSU football’s savior is staying put. When the Butte, Montana, native took over the Rams seven years ago, they had managed just nine winning seasons and one bowl appearance in 34 years. Since 1993, they’ve won 49 games and three conference titles, played in three Holiday Bowls and been nationally ranked four times. Last season, Lubick’s charges went 10-2, beat Louisville in the Liberty Bowl and finished the year ranked number fourteen by Associated Press. Next up for Coach Sonny? Rival CU at the big IF on September 1.

Not long ago, there was little doubt about which sport ruled and who was its golden king. But John Elway has gone, and the mighty Broncos have scuffled. Still, there’s pigskin promise. Bob Griese’s kid Brian — going into his fourth season as a pro — has developed the strength, savvy and leadership skills to lead the Broncos out of their two-year funk, but his durability remains the big question. When not riding the pine in 2000, Griese played hurt, sometimes heroically. But if he has to do it again, a pall may quickly fall on the big Invesco Field (IF) at Mile High. A healthy Terrell Davis in the backfield would vastly improve the value of Griese’s stock — and the team’s.

The Pioneers had been there before, but this was something special. On March 10 in Middlebury, Vermont, the University of Denver ski team won the NCAA championships for the second straight year — and for a record sixteenth time in school history. A perennial power on snow (particularly in the grueling men’s Nordic events), DU easily outpointed second-place Vermont and third-place Colorado by winning three events overall, scoring two individual victories and putting eleven All-American performances by seven skiers in the books. In the tough ten-kilometer men’s race, DU skiers Wolf Wallendorf, Joern Frohs and Pietro Broggini swept the top three places. The Pioneers last claimed back-to-back NCAA titles in 1970 and 1971.

Under the watchful direction of coaches Tim Frye and Cheri Steffes, Gymnastics Plus offers a full array of instruction for all levels of Olympic wannabes. They also believe in starting ’em young, whether it’s just for fun or in anticipation of a future in the gymnastics spotlight. Beginning with a parent-tot program for kids ages eighteen months to three years, tiny tumblers at GP learn to limber up on mats, trampolines and tiny balance beams, running through child-friendly routines with help from an adult, and using equipment both in the main gym facility and in the specially sized Little Gym. Those showing an affinity can forge ahead to more advanced preschool programs as they grow more independent, but no matter what the level, the little gymnasts leave each week with a good workout, rosy cheeks and a feeling of accomplishment.

When you’re sitting in sections 151-156 in left field, the combination of batting practice and Rox bombs can make it seem like a target range. But those who know the meaning of “some lucky fan just got dinged” sit in sections 119-116 and those nearby, where Larry Walker’s liners often land. And while other parts of the stadium may get peppered from time to time, the patient Walker is known to foul off, oh, about eight in a row when he’s feeling picky. And that makes for free horsehides — although some of those scorchers can make a fan think twice about shooting up a hand for a grab.

Forget hanging on the phone to reserve your favorite campsite this year. At 7 a.m. Monday, April 2, the online campsite reservation center opens, giving you full access to information on all the Colorado State Parks — as well as the ability to book a site. ReserveAmerica also handles reservations for federal campgrounds and state parks in Oregon, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin and New York.

While they can’t build a new stadium, Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd and manager Buddy Bell hope to win a division title and entertain World Series dreams. So they imported two expensive free-agent pitchers to carry the pennant freight. Mike Hampton is a cream-of-the-crop left- hander who won fifteen games last year for the Series-bound New York Mets, while fellow southpaw Denny Neagle won fifteen for Cincinnati and the Series-winning New York Yankees. Together, these two arms cost the Rockies $172 million on the overheated free-agent market, and if they can’t overcome the terrors of pitching at hit-happy Coors Field, there’s probably no one who can.

The Gates Family Foundation Interactive Fountain, a refurbished, space-age amusement, popped up a couple of summers ago behind the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Since then, it’s become Denver’s best imitation of Water World — except

admission is free. Here’s what you’ll find by the fountain when it’s 95 degrees and rising in the middle of August: kids in swimsuits or cutoffs, toddlers in droopy diapers and even some pretty big kids, the kind old enough to buy booze and cigarettes (that puts them at about twelve). Each at their own pace, they’ll race in and out of the spray, trying to outwit the thing, which pulsates interactively, spouting sudden jets of water in response to the tread of little feet. Of course, the revelers may have opposing goals: While some want only to jump in and out without being soaked, others hope to whip the manmade geysers into a frenzy rarely seen this far south of Yellowstone.

For the past fifteen years or so, the little town of Evergreen has been staging a series of trail runs that add up to the best race of the year. “People up here are used to running on trails,” says Evergreen Rec Superintendent Sharon Martin. “They don’t like going down to run on roads.” This year, the event kicks off on June 17 with an eight-mile trek at the Mount Falcon Open Space Area. Then, on July 15, there’s a 6.2-miler at Alderfer Three Sisters park. The conclusion is a dual run on September 9: an 11.5-mile jog up Bergen Peak for the more macho and a 5.6-mile lope through Elk Meadow for the less robust.

It wasn’t so long ago that the guys of Boulder-based OAITW were a decent-enough disc-tossing bunch. But they weren’t getting any younger, and so a couple of years ago they decided to do something so drastic it is virtually unheard of in many Frisbee circles: practice. It paid off. In 1999, the masters-level (a mere 33 years old and over, in the skewed view of disc throwers) squad won the Ultimate Frisbee national championship. That, in turn, qualified the team to compete in last summer’s quadrennial world championships, held in Germany. The team members, some of whom are actually in their — gasp! — forties, won. Three more years of bragging rights.

When you’re trying to bag all 54 of Colorado’s fourteeners, Culebra Peak could be your steepest challenge. Not because it’s such a difficult climb; the mountain rises relatively gently above what used to be the Taylor Ranch west of Trinidad in Culebra County. The problem is that Culebra Peak stands on private land, and while previous owners would let climbers in — charging as much as $40 per person — in 1999, the peak became off limits to mountaineers entirely. But last July, the Colorado Mountain Club was granted access to take thirty people to the top of Culebra. At $30 per climber, it went so well that the club hopes to schedule more trips this summer. That 54th peak? It’s almost in the bag.

The biggest problem for Denver’s mountain bikers is that there are so many good trails to choose from, starting with the serpentine paths along Cherry Creek and extending to the numerous routes crisscrossing the hogbacks and foothills just west of town. For variety and a tough nearby challenge, though, you can’t get much better than Mountain Lion Trail, a seven-mile tangle of roots, rocks, stream crossings and steep climbs only a half hour west of Denver, in Golden Gate State Park outside of Golden. The rangers list the trail as moderate, but beware: That’s only for hikers. Two-wheel travelers will find it considerably more rigorous. Follow the signs off of Route 93, west of Golden.

If you’ve ever stumbled out of a LoDo bar on a certain weekend night in August to find yourself surrounded by bicyclists, don’t worry — it wasn’t that fourth martini. Every year, thousands of riders gather near downtown at midnight for the Moonlight Classic, a twenty-mile, after-dark ride that wends its way all over the city. With help from the Denver police, event organizers close off some of the busiest streets to give cyclists a new, lunar perspective on the city. In the past, the course route has gone through LoDo, Cherry Creek, Park Hill, Capitol Hill and other neighborhoods. “Last year we had about 4,500 riders,” says event director Scot Harris. “This year it may be 5,000. It’s growing steadily.” The ninth annual Moonlight Classic, which benefits Seniors, Inc!, kicks off at the State Capitol on August 18. This ride’s a real howl.

We’re not necessarily advocating this, but thanks to D’Lance Golf, there is such a thing as nonstop golfing. A membership to this high-tech practice facility will buy you, among other things, access to the 6,000-square-foot building’s practice toys any hour of the day. Thrill to the Dead-Solid Simulators at 3 a.m.! Bombard the chipping, pitching and sand area until dawn! Study the results of the Golf Achiever (measures ball trajectory, spin and speed) during regular business hours (it’s too complicated to use without assistance). An annual membership for an insomniac adult is $419.

Although it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the lights on E-470 and the light of the moon, the evening walks at the Plains Conservation Center, a 1,100-acre plot of preserved prairie, can still transport you to another time and place. The center hosts a walk during the full moons of every month except January and February. Each one celebrates a different feature of the natural world, but all delve into history, ecology and cultural stories about the moon. For instance, there’s the Hunger Moon in March, when walkers carry warmed baked potatoes, and the Coyote Moon, during which you can call out to the local “moondogs” to see if they’ll respond. All walks start at about 7:30 p.m., last a little more than two hours and end with a campfire and marshmallow roast. Everyone is invited, although reservations are required, and the center discourages small children because of the length of the walks.

Twenty miles south of Denver, the jumble of red rocks known as the Fountain Formation includes an outcropping that looks remarkably like George Washington’s profile. The resemblance is so startling that the area in which the rock stands was known as Old Washington Park for years, until confusion with Denver’s Washington Park inspired a new name: Roxborough Park. The best time to catch a glimpse of George, who stands to the west of Fountain Valley Trail, is during one of Roxborough’s moonlight hikes.

A tough, lightning-fast senior from Chula Vista, California, Colorado State’s 6’3″ senior linebacker Rick Crowell led the Mountain West Conference last season with 125 tackles and was a first-team all-conference selection, as well as the league’s most valuable player on defense. As the Rams compiled a 10-2 record and won their second straight conference title, Crowell led their fierce, stingy defense and in February was named CSU football’s most valuable player.

Inspired by the heritage of Native Americans from the Four Corners region, the Denver Botanic Gardens has dedicated space to the plants that serve as medicines, building materials, dyes and food in traditional cultures; also included in the new Sacred Earth Garden are growing things that play significant roles in the spiritual and ceremonial lives of the tribes. Informational brochures help visitors start out on their own spirit quests through the garden. Your body may be fully grown, but your soul keeps expanding.

With the Avs’ dominance, it may seem like a no-brainer, but some may start grumbling if former Hershey, Pennsylvania, farm-club coach Bob Hartley doesn’t lead his team to the Stanley Cup promised land again. Still, it’s hard to fault Hartley’s handling of the team. And based on what’s happened so far this season, it’s entirely possible that he could overshadow perennial fan fave Mike Shanahan as the most popular coach around.

Scholars have been debating the strength of various dynasties since King Tut lined up his Egyptians for a scrimmage against other chariot riders. Contemporary Denver is no different, and one of the best debates involves the MVP of the Avs. Forsberg? Roy? Borque? At age 31, Avalanche captain and perennial All-Star Joe Sakic just goes on and on. This year, his thirteenth in the NHL, the future Hall of Famer ranks at or near the top of the league in every offensive category — goal scoring, assists, game-winning goals and shots. Along with his prowess on the ice, his leadership in the locker room is immeasurable. If the best team in the NHL is to win its second Stanley Cup this year, its left-handed gun and spiritual centerpiece will be at the heart of the action.

No contest: All year, the Colorado Avalanche has been a juggernaut, leading the National Hockey League in wins, goals scored and points. Bob Hartley’s playoffs-bound club is a brilliant collection of All-Star experience (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Raymond Bourke, Patrick Roy) and talented youth (Milan Hejduk, Chris Drury, Martin Skoula) with all the tools to bring Denver its second Stanley Cup. Old nemeses like the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars may stand in the way, but this is likely the best Avs team of all — which was even better before the injury to star defenseman Rob Blake. No wonder they hosted the NHL All-Star game this year: it just made sense, since so many Avs played in that game, too.

Last summer’s Hi Meadow fire in southwest Jefferson County came within feet of the historic Pine Valley Lodge, constructed in 1927 by Chicago businessman William Baehr. The Bavarian-style mansion — which became known as the “Baehr-den of the Rockies” — was built out of local granite and white pine timbers in just ninety days. But the speed of its construction wasn’t the only remarkable aspect of the project; Baehr also ordered up a pagoda, ice shed, water wheel, tea house and observatory — complete with a six-inch telescope, one of the largest of its day. Today that telescope is still in use, with star-gazing programs scheduled through the Lookout Mountain Nature Center.

Dude! The largest, most expensive public skate park in the country, right here in Denver? Awesome! It’s still under construction: Phase I is scheduled to open in July, but when it’s done, it will be 1.5 acres of radical concrete, with a seating structure and a promenade where the wheel-impaired can hang and watch the moves. Bowls, ramps, curbs, blocks, a half-pipe, plazas and a fishladder: It’s all here, and nobody can hassle us, because in the Skate Park, skateboarding really is not a crime.

Sure, the Rockies brought in two massive, mountainlike hurlers. But they already had a bedrock to build on. So what more can you say about a 27-year-old who flirted with .400 for most of 2000 and wound up with All-Star numbers — .372 batting average, 42 homers and 147 RBIs? Well, let’s note that Todd Helton has also become one of the slickest-fielding first basemen in the National League, and he always keeps his head screwed on straight. At $4.95 million this year and $5 million in 2002, he’s one of the game’s great bargains and the offensive cornerstone of the Rockies’ future. Andres who?

Rated one of the best campgrounds in the state by Gil Folsom in his Colorado Campgrounds: The 100 Best and All the Rest (Westcliffe, $24.95) for quality of scenery, privacy, shade, tent space and overall “niceness,” Heaton Bay has one more critical feature: access to water. Located in the White River National Forest by Dillon Reservoir, Heaton has about five dozen spaces that can be reserved; the rest are first-come, first-served. So take a chance and beat the heat at Heaton Bay.

What’s in a name? Ask Invesco Funds: It’s still fielding complaints for buying the naming rights to Mile High Stadium’s replacement. For $120 million, Barron’s recently reported, Invesco purchased the title “Invesco Field at Mile High” — as IF — and also bought itself a “big black eye.”

The fly rods made by owner Mike Clark at South Creek Ltd. are works of art with a purpose: catching fish. These handmade beauties are created to the individual’s specifications, and South Creek is the only place in the state (and one of only a handful in the nation) where you can buy such a rod. They’re pricey, ranging from $1,400 to as much as $4,000 (depending on which special features — engraving, gold-plating, insetting precious stones — are requested). But they’re worth the cost in fly-fishing enjoyment, and worth the wait (currently three years from start to finish). No rod leaves the store without Clark’s seal of approval — he’d rather break ’em and start over.

More than 125 years ago, Montezuma was a major silver-mining center best reached in winter on cross-country skis or snowshoes. Today, the route from Montezuma to Breckenridge is the site of the annual Mail Run race, in honor of the mail carriers who made the trek long ago. For fun, you can drive the few miles up-valley from Keystone to partake of the web of wooded trails on snowshoes or skinny skis; then stop for refreshment at the funky Soulhouse Cafe.

When running at large can get your owner a big, fat ticket, but there’s no place in the city to blow off some steam, what’s a pooch to do? That was the quandary facing the Aurora Parks Department, and last year they finally did something about it. The Off-Leash Dog Park — basically a five-acre fenced-in field of mown native grass next to the water — gives canines a place to run and chase things, including each other, without the encumbrance of any sort of restraint. They are free to play Frisbee, sniff and be sniffed, and run wild — so long as humans clean up after them and keep some semblance of order.

The glorious colors of turning aspen trees in autumn are not to be missed — but the traffic caused by other nature lovers pouring up I-70 is a must to avoid. The solution? A horse, of course. The Aspen Lodge Resort in Estes Park organizes fall aspen-viewing rides, pairing riders with trusty steeds appropriate for their experience; once suitably mounted, your group can trot along trails that meander through the blazing groves. Not only do you get to appreciate nature’s colorful display, but you get to do it from a cowboy’s colorful perch. The year-round working ranch/resort also offers fishing, swimming and other activities, but for a real look at the great outdoors, this mobile aspen viewing presents a golden opportunity.

Forget dodging in-line skaters on the bike paths and riding in endless circles around Cherry Creek Reservoir. You live in the Rockies, so you might as well ride in them. Head to Boulder for a scenic, challenging and expeditious — give it an hour and a half — ride up and back down the canyon. Not heavily trafficked and with a gentle climb (until the end, where the incline grows dramatically steeper), Left Hand Canyon is long enough for a solid sweat, but short enough to keep you interested. Additional bonuses: the stream running alongside the road that keeps you cool on the way up, the general store in Jamestown that stocks cold drinks, leaning into the gentle curves on the way down.

Perhaps your family isn’t into unhealthy competition. Maybe you just want to take in some beautiful scenery as you throw a frisbee in a gentle, loving manner. Consider renting Como Christian Camp, located in the tiny old railroad town of Como that’s about an hour southwest of Denver on Highway 285. In addition to decent accommodations, the camp features a nine-hole, professionally designed Frisbee Golf course. At 10,000 feet, the game may be all the challenge you need. “If you’re not doing well, just look up,” the caretaker advises. “It’s a great view.”

Not everything takes place under the sun. Sometimes the moon produces strange effects. There’s a narrow gorge near Boulder County’s Sugarloaf mountain that’s a favorite place for gay men to sunbathe or moonbathe in the nude, skinny dip in the streams and have sex along with the birds and the bees. But, hey, what’s good for the goose and the goose is also good for the goose and the gander…or the gander and the gander…or, well, whatever. With its relatively remote location, beautiful scenery and plethora of trees, cliffs and trails, Dream Canyon is a good place for anyone who wants to do the wild thing in the wild, day or night. Just watch out for sheriff’s deputies. Angry neighbors have asked the law to spend more time collaring frisky individuals as well as frisking collared individuals.

An oldie but goodie. And we mean old: The tracks that appear to climb up the sandstone mountainside were made in a muddy streambed more than 165 million years ago by passing ornithopods and theropods. Pull over over on the side of the hill across from Red Rocks Park and take a gander at this National Natural Landmark, or pick up an interpretive brochure at the Visitors Center at the bottom of the ridge for a more educated look. And groups of a dozen or more can go whole hogback by signing up for a guided tour with Friends of Dinosaur Ridge.

Women’s hoops are suddenly resurgent in Boulder, and CU point guard Mandy Nightingale is one of the big reasons Ceal Barry’s team cruised into post-season tournament play. And although the Buffs lost to Vanderbilt, the 5’6″ junior from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, had half of her team’s twelve assists. She averaged 13.6 points per game for the Buffs, but her fire is the most crucial thing. Teammates and fans call her “the Little General” for her intensity, the same quality that helped her become a national champion last year in another sport: trick waterskiing.

Tired of paying more for LoDo parking than you did for Rockies tickets? Pull into the fifty-space lot tucked into the intersection of 22nd and Stout streets, and you’ll feel a little more energized. A mere six blocks from Coors Field and only $3, it’s loads cheaper than many of the spots located a few blocks closer, and the money goes to a good cause: the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, which owns the lot. As part of a program called Stout Street Works!, which encourages the homeless to work for money, self-esteem and a sense of community, the lot is staffed during night and weekend games by two or three workers, who are later paid with the money they collect. “It worked out so well, and the people who worked it were so happy with it,” says coalition boardmember Eileen Pappas. “It was easy and outdoors, and they felt like they were a part of something fun.”

By belting out a roar at halftime during the Broncos-Patriots skirmish, the vein-popping fiends, er, fans at Mile High bested the previous Guinness world record for loudest stadium roar. Their combined efforts, which measured 128.7 decibels, drowned out the previous record set in 1998 at an Irish rugby match. The din equaled the rumble of a jumbo jet, according to officials. Perhaps the only way to top it would be to suit up Mr. Elway — and, of course, try again in a new stadium that’s reportedly capable of sounding twice as loud.

Even within the circle of Colorado’s intensely competitive kids’ soccer leagues, the Lakewood-based Rush teams stand out as almost unwholesomely dominant. This past season, boys and girls playing for the club nearly made a clean sweep of the state tournaments, winning fifteen of the eighteen age-group competitions. The Rush rules!

While the pot o’ Super Bowl gold has eluded him recently, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan felt at home as grand marshal of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Denver. Although parade organizers make a point about it being the “second largest” such event in the U.S., it’s doubtful that Shanahan would stand pat, so to speak, with that. He was probably scanning the waiver wires afterward, scouting out a few first-round bagpipers and some beefy leprechauns to bring this parade to the top.

Once upon a time, Room 103 of Denver’s Steele Elementary School was just another classroom — then it became a shining example of educational enterprise. First, in 1983, someone hung a dome from the ceiling and added a projector to throw changing images of the night sky across it. Then, in 1989, fifth-grade teacher Ralph Sodano officially became Denver Public Schools’ resident astronomy educator. Today he gives two or three shows a day to more than 6,000 children annually. The shows, presented during the school year, and only by appointment, are always free, even to groups from outside DPS. Sodano organizes his displays for the appropriate age and education level; otherwise, the sky’s the limit. Steele’s a star!

Safe at home! Bruce Hellerstein calls it “the one and only museum totally dedicated to our national pastime’s ballparks,” and it’s certainly the biggest baseball museum this side of the Mississippi. It’s also the only one located in a home, but still open to the public (by appointment only, and just on weekends). Hellerstein’s personal collection includes seats from thirty parks, bricks, photographs, postcards, miscellanea and a re-creation of the domed entrance to Ebbets Field. Not life-sized, sadly.

The North Jeffco Parks and Recreation District opened what it claims is the largest municipal recreation center in the nation this past summer. And we’re not about to argue: Apex Center’s 168,000 square feet encompass two indoor ice rinks, a therapy pool, an indoor walking and running track, indoor water-play pools, a lap pool, three gyms and a weight room. And don’t forget the snack bar and locker rooms and the decor that brings the Colorado outdoors in through window walls, murals and indoor plantings. The whole $28 million facility is designed to accommodate 2,500 people per day.

Soccer’s dazzling “bicycle kick” — a 180-degree flip, with the shot taken as head and foot are absolutely reversed — is not attempted often and rarely yields results. But on April 22, 2000, in Columbus, Ohio, veteran Colorado Rapids defender Marcelo Balboa scored with it — and catapulted himself into TV sports highlights around the globe. Aside from that, Balboa played his usual brand of smart, dogged defense all season long and, at the tender age of 33, helped get the Rapids back to the playoffs against eventual MLS champion Kansas City. The Cerritos, California, native is now the only Rapid left from the team’s inception in 1996, and last season he was still the best.

You don’t have to drive hours for a fascinating raft trip. Just sign up for a leisurely float on the South Platte River through the Carson nature preserve with Flexible Flyers Rafting, a Durango-based outfit. The two-and-a-half hour jaunt may not be much in the way of a wild ride, but there’s plenty of wildlife: everything from muskrats and beavers to an ever-changing array of birds, aquatic and otherwise. The trips, which start in May, run $40 for adults and $20 for kids twelve and under; they depart from the Union Avenue kayak chutes north of Belleview Avenue in Englewood Park.

Three weeks before the Broncos’ first home game of the official NFL season, a month after the ‘N Sync gang has left Mile High and about a minute after the Broncos’s pre-season face-off against Dallas on August 19, Mayor Wellington Webb will finally relent, acknowledge that Invesco Field at Mile High is as good as finished, and allow the Metropolitan Football Stadium District to demolish Mile High. Just in time, of course, to create plenty of VIP parking for the start of the season — and prevent any embarrassing remnants of the old stadium from showing up on national TV.

Just off C-470 at Morrison Road are two bodies of water: the Soda Lakes. The larger one is open to all manner of water activities, such as wind surfing and kayaking, but the smaller lake is reserved for one activity: water skiing lessons. For $99 per hour, you can rent skis, towrope, life jackets, lessons and a guy with a boat to tow you around. Chuck Blood is the guy with the boat and the proprietor/instructor of the school; his ski school is a real liquid asset in this land-locked state.

We may live in one of the most populated areas between Chicago and L.A., but we can still cut out of work a couple hours early and hit one of the best trout-fishing streams in the country. Take Santa Fe Boulevard south to Sedalia, go west on Route 67 over the Rampart Range to the South Platte, and head upstream past Deckers to the Cheesman Canyon parking area. As is the case with any outdoor activity close to a city, the number of other people drops off exponentially as you walk farther from your car. Hike toward the dam for about half an hour (there’s a parking area at the dam, so don’t go too far) for some of the best rainbow- and brown-trout fishing you’ll see anywhere. Beadhead Pheasant Tails, RSIIs and Black Beauties should all work fine.

From April through closing (usually around July 4), A-Basin proves that life’s a beach, even at 10,000 feet above sea level. Memorial Day features theme buffets, live music, dancing, volleyball games, cookouts, snow biking, beachwear and tailgate parties. And because many of the events happen in the parking lot, you don’t even have to ski or ride to enjoy the festivities, although it helps.

An offshoot of the zoo’s wildly popular Bunk with the Beasts overnight programs for kids and families, this slumber party is just what it’s billed to be — a campout in the Gates Conservation Center for the 21-and-older set, featuring a guided walk through the zoo after hours (during which you’ll observe a variety of nocturnal animals, human and otherwise, up close and personal), a couple of meals and a late-night snack (please avoid nibbling your next-door neighbor) and another behind-the-scenes tour in the morning. Singles are encouraged to sign up, though couples are welcome. The next adult night is in June; early signup is a must.

Speedy Clever Corbin has blown away the competition since breaking in last year at the Mile High Kennel Club. Just two years old, the star of the Bryon Legg Kennel won 35 of his first 49 starts, with four seconds and four thirds, and he’s lost just once, during the current meet at Cloverleaf Kennel Club in Loveland. The son of local greyhound racing legend Unruly Thomas and Uno Impulso, he will likely represent Cloverleaf in dog racing’s annual Night of Stars in early May — a simulcast of fifteen top-grade races from fifteen U.S. dog tracks.

This 1.5-mile trail — completed in 1962 through the efforts of the Denver Botanic Gardens and the U.S. Forest Service — winds up a peak in the Mount Evans ecosystem, about 55 miles west of Denver. From the lower trailhead in a stand of ancient bristlecone pines, up past the timberline, through alpine tundra above 12,000 feet, the trail provides access to a wide variety of ecologically unique plants, wildlife and geological features. Each summer, volunteers from the Botanic Gardens work to conserve and restore the Presman trail; last year, construction began on a nature center at the lower trailhead. Guided tours along the trail offer visitors the opportunity to learn about the fragile ecosystem and the importance of conservation.

There’s just something compelling about a race whose waiver begins: “I acknowledge that this athletic event is an extreme test of a person’s physical and mental limits and carries with it the potential for death, serious injury and property loss.” The hill climb, scheduled this year for July 28, starts in Idaho Springs and grinds for 28 miles to the summit of Mount Evans on the highest paved road in North America, gaining 7,000 feet of elevation along the way. The fastest riders complete the trek averaging about twelve miles per hour; you’ll be lucky to average eight. But the phrase “While I was doing the Mount Evans Hill Climb…” is an essential prelude to any serious local bike bragging.

Nestled deep in the San Juan National Forest, at the base of Wolf Creek Pass, the Bruce Spruce Ranch can hold 75 of your nearest and dearest in search of an active outdoor adventure. In addition to the lodge — which accommodates up to thirty people — fourteen rustic log cabins as well as RV and tent-camping sites are available. On-site activities include cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, lake and stream fishing, hiking, horse rides and, when you’re done with them, horseshoes. Downhill skiing, snowmobiling, hot springs, golf, narrow-gauge train rides, casino gambling and all sorts of amusements are close by, so there won’t be any time for dysfunctional familial psychodrama this year.

After being convicted of conspiracy in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, former University of Colorado and Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth went on television to tell his side of the story — which included the claim that he was barely acquainted with the victim, apart from their encounters in the bedroom. Said Carruth: “I didn’t even know her last name until we went to Lamaze class.”

Since late last year, a portion of the world’s largest collection of dinosaur tracks has been housed in a church basement. University of Colorado paleontologist Martin Lockley spenty twenty years making molds of dinosaur tracks from around the world; today the collection spans more than 300 million years. In addition to big, big footprints, the small, below-ground museum also features an interactive computer display and re-creations of a foot skeleton and the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex; other items from Lockley’s print collection are housed upstairs in St. Cajetan’s as well as in rooms across campus.

The University of Denver Pioneers had a mediocre season, but sophomore goaltender Wade Dubielewicz is widely regarded as a potential All-American. In his first 27 games this year, he gave up just 2.19 goals per game — sixth in the nation and first among goalies in the tough Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Invermere, British Columbia, native is just 5’10” and 178 pounds, but his incredible quickness and great glove hand make him impenetrable. If the moneybags of the NHL don’t come calling too soon, he might lead the Pioneers back to the heights.

Even without Elway, there were plenty of glorious memories coming out of Mile High Stadium. And for those who wanted to bask in a sure thing — the glow of past glories — Denver provided one last chance. After all, many Broncos boosters were never able to afford tickets to games at Mile High, and few of those who could ever got the chance to visit any part of the stadium other than their seats, the concession stands and the long bathroom lines. So let us now praise the city’s decision to open the Denver-owned facility to free farewell tours through the first two months of 2001, thereby giving locals of every economic level the chance to check out the locker rooms, luxury boxes and even the field itself before they’re reduced to dust.

The Avs might win their second Stanley Cup in five years, and the Broncos did achieve a back-to-back, but the real sports dynasty resides a couple of hundred miles west of Denver, in Glitter Gulch. The Gentlemen of Aspen first started winning USA Rugby Club championships in 1997, and they haven’t stopped since. This year they’ll be trying for five national titles in a row, which would tie with the all-time best. Did we mention that they practice in a horse barn, tackling one another on ground that may have horsebleep left on it? That’s dedication.

In the best of all worlds, a team mascot should represent the players and inspire them at their game. When you think Division I college football players, what comes to mind? Exactly — huge, muscular, hairy, dangerous, and perhaps just a little bit rank. If you’re going to grind out a come-from-behind victory in the closing minutes, it’s unlikely to be inspired by looking to a bat-wielding dinosaur or a stuffed…whatever, with a bolt of lightning exiting his buttocks. No — if you want motivation, you turn to a thundering bunched-muscle quadruped named Ralphie. A minor note: Ralphie’s mojo doesn’t seem to work that well indoors for the Buffs’ men’s hoopsters. But on the grass, he kicks.

Need to lose a few pounds or gain some energy? Peppy and upbeat, Brooke Sirhal has several years of experience as a Jazzercise instructor, and she keeps things moving. The friendly ladies who work at the door welcome new students and make sure they don’t get lost during the sometimes-complicated exercise routines. The first session is complimentary, so there’s no excuse not to go jump around!

Taking up residence in the historic Burlington Hotel last year, Thorndyke’s bills itself as the “Ballpark Neighborhood’s Living Room” — and this is truly a room with a view. At any given time during any given day (except Sundays), you can catch up with the locals here over a beer, sandwich or cup of coffee. But even more enjoyable than the local gossip is watching the image of downtown’s skyline change as the sunset fades into night (love that blue Qwest glow!) through the giant picture windows of the old Burlington.

More than a tent, less than a cabin: That’s the yurt, the newest camping option offered in selected state parks. The semi-permanent shelters consist of a wooden-lattice wall and rafters surrounded by weatherproof canvas and topped with a clear domed skylight. Construction costs are less than a quarter of those for a traditional cabin of the same size. The yurts in Ridgway, Pearl Lake and Mancos parks are equipped with electricity, gas fireplaces, ceiling fans, full insulation and screened windows, making them perfect for visits year-round. (Golden Gate Canyon state park is adding two yurts as part of its ongoing upgrade, to be completed this summer.) Each yurt sleeps six; bring your own bedding, but otherwise expect a camping experience, with cooking outdoors and no running water. Rental fees range from $40 to $60, based on occupancy; maximum stay is fourteen days. Reservations, which must be made at least three days in advance, are accepted, but yurts are also available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The long-beleaguered Nuggets’ shaky playoff hopes may have faded on the road in February, but Antonio McDyess, the team’s indispensable power forward, continues to be one of the NBA’s finest players — as evidenced by his selection to the 2001 All-Star team. The 6’9″, sixth-year man out of Alabama remains in the top five or six, league-wide, in field-goal percentage (over .500), and his defense is impeccable. If Dan Issel’s road-battered troops are ever to return to the NBA playoffs, it will be McDyess and guard Nick Van Exel who get them there.

You thought the crowd made noise for the Broncos and Patriots? Let’s hear it for the boys! ‘N Sync returns for its second concert in little more than a year at the doomed arena — giving Mile High Stadium reason to stand a little longer and providing Mayor Wellington Webb with a handy excuse for not complying with neighborhood wishes that it go away… now! The Orlando-based pop group (sorry, Mickey Mouse isn’t joining the boys, but things could get Goofy) will croon their hits on July 13. Maybe they could borrow a tune from the Talking Heads and belt out “Burning Down the House.”

No one can accuse ranger David Jamiel of not making the most of his assignment at Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge — a 73-acre Arvada “sub-unit” of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Jamiel has attracted almost seventy volunteers and 6,000 visits to the prairie paradise, an accomplishment that recently earned him top billing as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Refuge Employee of the Year — besting 7,500 employees at more than 530 refuges nationwide. On his tours, Jamiel likes to point out the 100 species of birds, wildlife such as deer, fox and coyotes, as well as assorted creatures that dwell in the three ponds at Two Ponds. And since this offshoot is miles from the arsenal proper, chances are good that visitors won’t be stumbling over any unexploded sarin bombs.

Created by the communications group at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, this award-winning site leads users through the life of a glacier via rare archival photos. The site contains everything anyone would ever want to know about glaciers, plus some pretty cool links to related sites.

Sure, we all love skiing and boarding the Rockies. It’s the expense that gets us down — fuel, lift tickets, parking, lunch, equipment rental and so on. Thankfully, Copper Mountain eased the pain this season: It offered four full-day lift tickets (with only a handful of blackout days) for a measly $49, which is what you generally pay for one ticket. The “pass” was actually a credit card that you could slip into your wallet or purse, and it was good for the entire season. (Copper also offered a quartet of spring-skiing lift tickets at half the price.) The popular passes sold out faster than it takes to blaze a black-diamond run, so we hope Copper gives us a repeat performance next season.

Colorado ski areas present an embarrassment of riches for the downhill crowd, but a mind-bending, knee-breaking bump run at Arapahoe Basin called Pallavicini deserves special mention. Named for an Austrian nobleman who was also a skiing pioneer, it’s a broad field of daunting moguls piled up on a forty-degree pitch for more than a quarter mile — a challenge that only the most daring hotdoggers take up. Reach the bottom in one piece, and you’ve quite a story to tell. Fair warning: No skier over 35 need apply.

Meteorologists are made, not born. Seventh-graders at Skinner get the chance to not only give morning weather reports but also do serious scientific data gathering, thanks to the state-of-the-art weather station on the roof of the school. One of only six in the country donated by Canadian climatologist Reese Halter, founder of Global Forest, the weather station monitors everything from rainfall and snowfall accumulations to ultraviolet radiation and heat stress. The students download the data weekly and transfer it to Global Forest’s site, where it’s analyzed by scientists at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The forecast is sunny.

We are not talking $5,000 claimers here — the manes-and-tails that run at Arapahoe Park. Reraise, majority-owned by Denver rock promoter (and longtime student of the breed) Barry Fey, is what racetrack people call a “freak” — an animal that regularly runs faster than anyone thinks possible. In November 1998, Reraise beat the best sprinters in the world in the top-of-the-line Breeders Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs and won the prestigious Eclipse Award for sprinter of the year. Despite a long convalescence from minor injuries, which could make for an uncertain 2001 schedule, the speedster is still considered one of the top ten turf sprinters. Giddyap.

After a certain point, running around a field blowing away your buddies just isn’t enough. Even the most dedicated sniper craves variety. Action Pursuit Paintball offers four separate killing fields to hold your interest. The main field encompasses nearly 24 acres and is dotted not only with the standard sand and hay bunkers, but also realistic replicas of World War II landing craft, à la Saving Private Ryan. In addition, there are three smaller tournament arenas for one’s shooting pleasure. The first has large, colorful, inflatable bunkers in different shapes. Another is dotted with the lower-tech — but still classic — cable spools. The third is the “Brazilian field,” which features large, thin, movable obstacles that make a loud, pleasing thwack! when blasted.

There are plenty of bike clubs, but several factors separate Team Evergreen from other velocipedal gatherings. Start with location: Most of the training rides — usually every Sunday — wind through (and up and down and up and down) the foothills west of Denver, some of the most scenic and challenging pavement around. The rides are progressive, too, starting with easier pedals in the spring and becoming increasingly more difficult. This is because the program is largely geared toward preparation for Team Evergreen’s big shindig, the Triple Bypass, a one-day, 120-mile, three-mountain-pass, 10,000-foot-of-elevation-gain bit of a hell ride from Evergreen to Avon (this year scheduled for July 14). Organized rides continue into October. While some members are serious bikers (loud, silly-looking shirts, goofy sunglasses, shaved legs), many are just out for a good time. Best of all, the club strives to buff the image of all bikers by putting its money where its wheels are. Last year it donated $20,000 to various causes. Explains TE president David Nelson, “We’re trying to reach out to the community to let them know the cyclist they’re about to pass is a decent person.”

Everybody from former winners Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson to the craziest heatstroke victims screaming “You da man!” from the gallery on fourteen agree: The creamy, Häagen-Dazs-laced milkshakes for sale at The International golf tournament at Castle Pines Country Club are the best on tour, maybe the best on the planet. Especially when the August sun is blazing and your favorite player has just double-bogeyed that little par three on the backside. Tournament director Jack Vickers is known as one of the best hosts in golf, and the icy confections in the green and white cups have become a personal trademark.

Beginning in the early 1920s, Winks Lodge gave African-Americans their very own private retreat in the mountains — an important resource, since other resorts were often closed to them. Some of the best-known entertainers of the day, including Lena Horne and Duke Ellington, are said to have visited the lodge, located right on South Boulder Creek in Lincoln Hills. The resort also included lots for private cabins and Camp Nezoni, the only YWCA camp for black women between Missouri and the West Coast. Although the lodge ceased operation in the 1960s, through the efforts of Bertha Calloway, who attended Camp Nezoni as a child, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in the 1980s.

When the Metropolitan State Roadrunners won the NCAA Division II basketball title last spring, they were loaded with senior talent. This season, the senior star is power forward Rashawn Fulcher, a 6’2″, 220-pound bruiser who looks more like an inside linebacker than a hoopster. Dubbed “Buff” by teammates in awe of his physique, the Oakland, California, native has led the team with fourteen points per game and shot an impressive 51 percent from the field. Throw in 31 steals and 30 assists, and you’ve got the entire package. Recently named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference all-league team, he led the Roadrunners to post-season play again this year.

You may have seen some of them at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, or maybe at the Smithsonian, but only in Wray, on the southern edge of the Sand Hills near the Nebraska border, can you see where these 10,000-year-old bison bones came from. They were originally unearthed in 1972 when a local rancher was digging an irrigation ditch; the Smithsonian later excavated the site, which yielded more than 41,000 bones, 248 stone artifacts and thousands of remains of smaller animals. As thanks for the town’s contribution to adding to this treasure trove of science, the museum set up a permanent exhibit in Wray, complete with a few precious bison bones.

Some argue that college sports have become little more than the minor leagues for the pros, and with the hype surrounding most Division I sports, it’s hard to argue. But sometimes the “old college try” still involves more than the bottom line. Such is the case with Sonny Lubick. Many big-name college football programs would love to woo Lubick away from Fort Collins, but CSU football’s savior is staying put. When the Butte, Montana, native took over the Rams seven years ago, they had managed just nine winning seasons and one bowl appearance in 34 years. Since 1993, they’ve won 49 games and three conference titles, played in three Holiday Bowls and been nationally ranked four times. Last season, Lubick’s charges went 10-2, beat Louisville in the Liberty Bowl and finished the year ranked number fourteen by Associated Press. Next up for Coach Sonny? Rival CU at the big IF on September 1.

Not long ago, there was little doubt about which sport ruled and who was its golden king. But John Elway has gone, and the mighty Broncos have scuffled. Still, there’s pigskin promise. Bob Griese’s kid Brian — going into his fourth season as a pro — has developed the strength, savvy and leadership skills to lead the Broncos out of their two-year funk, but his durability remains the big question. When not riding the pine in 2000, Griese played hurt, sometimes heroically. But if he has to do it again, a pall may quickly fall on the big Invesco Field (IF) at Mile High. A healthy Terrell Davis in the backfield would vastly improve the value of Griese’s stock — and the team’s.

The Pioneers had been there before, but this was something special. On March 10 in Middlebury, Vermont, the University of Denver ski team won the NCAA championships for the second straight year — and for a record sixteenth time in school history. A perennial power on snow (particularly in the grueling men’s Nordic events), DU easily outpointed second-place Vermont and third-place Colorado by winning three events overall, scoring two individual victories and putting eleven All-American performances by seven skiers in the books. In the tough ten-kilometer men’s race, DU skiers Wolf Wallendorf, Joern Frohs and Pietro Broggini swept the top three places. The Pioneers last claimed back-to-back NCAA titles in 1970 and 1971.

Under the watchful direction of coaches Tim Frye and Cheri Steffes, Gymnastics Plus offers a full array of instruction for all levels of Olympic wannabes. They also believe in starting ’em young, whether it’s just for fun or in anticipation of a future in the gymnastics spotlight. Beginning with a parent-tot program for kids ages eighteen months to three years, tiny tumblers at GP learn to limber up on mats, trampolines and tiny balance beams, running through child-friendly routines with help from an adult, and using equipment both in the main gym facility and in the specially sized Little Gym. Those showing an affinity can forge ahead to more advanced preschool programs as they grow more independent, but no matter what the level, the little gymnasts leave each week with a good workout, rosy cheeks and a feeling of accomplishment.

When you’re sitting in sections 151-156 in left field, the combination of batting practice and Rox bombs can make it seem like a target range. But those who know the meaning of “some lucky fan just got dinged” sit in sections 119-116 and those nearby, where Larry Walker’s liners often land. And while other parts of the stadium may get peppered from time to time, the patient Walker is known to foul off, oh, about eight in a row when he’s feeling picky. And that makes for free horsehides — although some of those scorchers can make a fan think twice about shooting up a hand for a grab.

Forget hanging on the phone to reserve your favorite campsite this year. At 7 a.m. Monday, April 2, the online campsite reservation center opens, giving you full access to information on all the Colorado State Parks — as well as the ability to book a site. ReserveAmerica also handles reservations for federal campgrounds and state parks in Oregon, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin and New York.

While they can’t build a new stadium, Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd and manager Buddy Bell hope to win a division title and entertain World Series dreams. So they imported two expensive free-agent pitchers to carry the pennant freight. Mike Hampton is a cream-of-the-crop left- hander who won fifteen games last year for the Series-bound New York Mets, while fellow southpaw Denny Neagle won fifteen for Cincinnati and the Series-winning New York Yankees. Together, these two arms cost the Rockies $172 million on the overheated free-agent market, and if they can’t overcome the terrors of pitching at hit-happy Coors Field, there’s probably no one who can.

The Gates Family Foundation Interactive Fountain, a refurbished, space-age amusement, popped up a couple of summers ago behind the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Since then, it’s become Denver’s best imitation of Water World — except

admission is free. Here’s what you’ll find by the fountain when it’s 95 degrees and rising in the middle of August: kids in swimsuits or cutoffs, toddlers in droopy diapers and even some pretty big kids, the kind old enough to buy booze and cigarettes (that puts them at about twelve). Each at their own pace, they’ll race in and out of the spray, trying to outwit the thing, which pulsates interactively, spouting sudden jets of water in response to the tread of little feet. Of course, the revelers may have opposing goals: While some want only to jump in and out without being soaked, others hope to whip the manmade geysers into a frenzy rarely seen this far south of Yellowstone.

For the past fifteen years or so, the little town of Evergreen has been staging a series of trail runs that add up to the best race of the year. “People up here are used to running on trails,” says Evergreen Rec Superintendent Sharon Martin. “They don’t like going down to run on roads.” This year, the event kicks off on June 17 with an eight-mile trek at the Mount Falcon Open Space Area. Then, on July 15, there’s a 6.2-miler at Alderfer Three Sisters park. The conclusion is a dual run on September 9: an 11.5-mile jog up Bergen Peak for the more macho and a 5.6-mile lope through Elk Meadow for the less robust.

It wasn’t so long ago that the guys of Boulder-based OAITW were a decent-enough disc-tossing bunch. But they weren’t getting any younger, and so a couple of years ago they decided to do something so drastic it is virtually unheard of in many Frisbee circles: practice. It paid off. In 1999, the masters-level (a mere 33 years old and over, in the skewed view of disc throwers) squad won the Ultimate Frisbee national championship. That, in turn, qualified the team to compete in last summer’s quadrennial world championships, held in Germany. The team members, some of whom are actually in their — gasp! — forties, won. Three more years of bragging rights.

When you’re trying to bag all 54 of Colorado’s fourteeners, Culebra Peak could be your steepest challenge. Not because it’s such a difficult climb; the mountain rises relatively gently above what used to be the Taylor Ranch west of Trinidad in Culebra County. The problem is that Culebra Peak stands on private land, and while previous owners would let climbers in — charging as much as $40 per person — in 1999, the peak became off limits to mountaineers entirely. But last July, the Colorado Mountain Club was granted access to take thirty people to the top of Culebra. At $30 per climber, it went so well that the club hopes to schedule more trips this summer. That 54th peak? It’s almost in the bag.

The biggest problem for Denver’s mountain bikers is that there are so many good trails to choose from, starting with the serpentine paths along Cherry Creek and extending to the numerous routes crisscrossing the hogbacks and foothills just west of town. For variety and a tough nearby challenge, though, you can’t get much better than Mountain Lion Trail, a seven-mile tangle of roots, rocks, stream crossings and steep climbs only a half hour west of Denver, in Golden Gate State Park outside of Golden. The rangers list the trail as moderate, but beware: That’s only for hikers. Two-wheel travelers will find it considerably more rigorous. Follow the signs off of Route 93, west of Golden.