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Best Local Invention, Lifesaving Division

AvaLung

About ten years ago, Denver psychiatrist Thomas Crowley began wondering what it would be like to be buried under an avalanche. He decided it wouldn't be very pleasant, so he started tinkering with ways to survive one. After contemplating and then discarding several plans -- wearing a SCUBA tank while schussing seemed cumbersome -- he hit on the solution one August night while lying in bed. Why not design a device that could draw the air out of snow and then direct exhalations behind you? After several years of testing and perfecting, last year, for the first time, Crowley's invention - which he named the AvaLung -- worked in a real avalanche, saving a backcountry skier.

Best Local Invention, Lifesaving Division

AvaLung

About ten years ago, Denver psychiatrist Thomas Crowley began wondering what it would be like to be buried under an avalanche. He decided it wouldn't be very pleasant, so he started tinkering with ways to survive one. After contemplating and then discarding several plans -- wearing a SCUBA tank while schussing seemed cumbersome -- he hit on the solution one August night while lying in bed. Why not design a device that could draw the air out of snow and then direct exhalations behind you? After several years of testing and perfecting, last year, for the first time, Crowley's invention - which he named the AvaLung -- worked in a real avalanche, saving a backcountry skier.

Best Religious Experience

Shabbat Service on Skis/Boards

The problem with the Colorado lifestyle is that it's hard to cram everything into the weekend. It's Saturday: If you're Jewish, do you trudge off to synagogue or hit the slopes to ride the freshies? Blessedly, Rabbi Jamie Korngold -- aka the Adventure Rabbi -- has found a way to blend both. Her Shabbat Service on Skis/Boards is held the second Saturday of the month at mid-mountain, either at Copper or Vail. After a short service -- about fifteen minutes at lunchtime usually does it -- it's back to the powder. "I know the rabbis would love us to go to synagogue, but the truth is, we moved to Colorado for the skiing," says Korngold. "This tweaks what we're doing out there in a beautiful way." Amen.

Best Religious Experience

Shabbat Service on Skis/Boards

The problem with the Colorado lifestyle is that it's hard to cram everything into the weekend. It's Saturday: If you're Jewish, do you trudge off to synagogue or hit the slopes to ride the freshies? Blessedly, Rabbi Jamie Korngold -- aka the Adventure Rabbi -- has found a way to blend both. Her Shabbat Service on Skis/Boards is held the second Saturday of the month at mid-mountain, either at Copper or Vail. After a short service -- about fifteen minutes at lunchtime usually does it -- it's back to the powder. "I know the rabbis would love us to go to synagogue, but the truth is, we moved to Colorado for the skiing," says Korngold. "This tweaks what we're doing out there in a beautiful way." Amen.

Best Religious Pilgrimage

Shrine of the Stations of the Cross

Colorado's oldest town lies just about twenty miles from the New Mexico border and cherishes its deep Hispanic roots. Local sculptor Huberto Maestas created fifteen bronze statues -- the fourteen traditional depictions of Christ's final journey up Calvary, plus his own interpretation of the Resurrection -- for tiny San Luis's Hill of Piety and Mercy. You can follow in Jesus's footsteps with an easy hike along a series of switchbacks up the mesa. For a really good Good Friday, begin your pilgrimage at La Capilla de Todos los Santos - All Saints Chapel -- and end at the grotto of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Best Religious Pilgrimage

Shrine of the Stations of the Cross

Colorado's oldest town lies just about twenty miles from the New Mexico border and cherishes its deep Hispanic roots. Local sculptor Huberto Maestas created fifteen bronze statues -- the fourteen traditional depictions of Christ's final journey up Calvary, plus his own interpretation of the Resurrection -- for tiny San Luis's Hill of Piety and Mercy. You can follow in Jesus's footsteps with an easy hike along a series of switchbacks up the mesa. For a really good Good Friday, begin your pilgrimage at La Capilla de Todos los Santos - All Saints Chapel -- and end at the grotto of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Best Secular Pilgrimage

Rocky Mountain Audio Guides

There's a whole lot of history between Cherry Creek and Coors Field. If you'd like to impress your out-of-town guests with how much of it you know, pick up a copy of the CD Walking Tour of Denver's Historic Lower Downtown (LoDo), a self-guided tour of the neighborhood where our fair city began. For just $15.95 at the Tattered Cover, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Center and other locations around town, you can explore the 2.25 miles from Union Station to Skyline Park at your own pace. An enclosed map -- along with a printable version on the CD-ROM -- coordinates landmarks with tracks on the disc. Or just strap some headphones on your guests and let them wander from the Cruise Room to the Wynkoop on their own.

Best Secular Pilgrimage

Rocky Mountain Audio Guides

There's a whole lot of history between Cherry Creek and Coors Field. If you'd like to impress your out-of-town guests with how much of it you know, pick up a copy of the CD Walking Tour of Denver's Historic Lower Downtown (LoDo), a self-guided tour of the neighborhood where our fair city began. For just $15.95 at the Tattered Cover, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Center and other locations around town, you can explore the 2.25 miles from Union Station to Skyline Park at your own pace. An enclosed map -- along with a printable version on the CD-ROM -- coordinates landmarks with tracks on the disc. Or just strap some headphones on your guests and let them wander from the Cruise Room to the Wynkoop on their own.

Best Place to Sweat Out Last Night's Binge

Bikram Yoga Denver

Instead of the hair of the dog or a big, greasy breakfast to cure your hangover, try sweating it out at an early-morning class at Bikram Yoga Denver. Just walking into the 100-degree-plus yoga studio is enough to make beads of perspiration pop up on your brow. And as you attempt to bend and contort into 26 different postures, holding each one for a solid thirty seconds, last night's booze will flow out of your pores faster than it went down. Bikram's staff, trained by Bikram Choudhury, will guide you through the invigorating practice. The two spacious Asana rooms can be filled to the brim during peak hours, so the 6 a.m. class is the perfect way to start the day. Okay, 10 a.m. if it was a really late night.

Best Place to Sweat Out Last Night's Binge

Bikram Yoga Denver

Instead of the hair of the dog or a big, greasy breakfast to cure your hangover, try sweating it out at an early-morning class at Bikram Yoga Denver. Just walking into the 100-degree-plus yoga studio is enough to make beads of perspiration pop up on your brow. And as you attempt to bend and contort into 26 different postures, holding each one for a solid thirty seconds, last night's booze will flow out of your pores faster than it went down. Bikram's staff, trained by Bikram Choudhury, will guide you through the invigorating practice. The two spacious Asana rooms can be filled to the brim during peak hours, so the 6 a.m. class is the perfect way to start the day. Okay, 10 a.m. if it was a really late night.

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