Best Climbing Gym 2012 | Movement Climbing + Fitness | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
Navigation

The world — well, the International Olympic Committee, anyway — was watching when Boulder-based USA Climbing hosted the International Federation of Sport Climbing Lead Climbing World Cup in October at Movement Climbing + Fitness. It was the first time the competition has been held in the U.S. since 1988: Sport climbing is on the shortlist to become an Olympic medal sport, and the IOC had to have liked what it saw at Movement. The three-year-old Boulder gym has become an indoor mecca for Colorado's climbing community, thanks to the work of climbing-wall designer Cort Gariepy and the Rockwerx Climbing crew. It also features TechnoGym equipment, a room full of Saris CycleOps machines, and a first-rate staff of personal trainers. Wondering how the World Cup climbers get into some of those positions on their way up the wall? Check out Movement's full complement of yoga classes, including Acro Yoga sessions that incorporate elements of Thai massage, active inversions and partner-supported acrobatic positions.

Courtesy University of Denver Facebook page

We tend to forget about University of Denver hockey coach George Gwozdecky because he is so consistently excellent. But his team was ranked in the top ten nationally and made the playoffs. Again. Although they exited after the first round, DU has won two national titles with Gwozdecky at the helm, and this year he juggled three capable goalies, each of whom started at least ten games. Gwozdecky also coaxed solid play out of a young roster: Juho Olkinuora, the goalie who logged the most minutes in net, is a freshman, and the team's second, third and fourth leading scorers are all underclassmen.

Readers' Choice: Tad Boyle, University of Colorado men's basketball

Let's not go nuts here because John Fox led the Donkeys to a .500 record in a crappy division, but he gets credit for not doing what so many coaches in his position would have done: be a stubborn, old, crotchety coach. Rather than try to shove a square peg into a round hole by making Tim Tebow run a traditional NFL offense, Fox played to Tebow's strengths and integrated a read-option that allowed football Jesus to throw less and run more. Now Fox has the exact opposite situation to work with in Peyton Manning. We think he'll be fine.

Readers' Choice: George Karl

Best Combination of Alcohol and Exercise

Beer Mile

Hosted annually by the Denver Run Club, the Beer Mile requires participants to chug a beer and run a 400-meter lap — then repeat three times. Beer Miles are held all over the country, and Denver's most recent version was held on St. Patrick's Day, naturally. It's BYOB — and make sure you come with the strong stuff (at least 5 percent alcohol by volume), or don't come at all. All beers must be twelve ounces, as well. Oh, and if you throw up, you have to do a penalty lap.

Rather than donning Tim Tebow jerseys, the sports name Coloradans should have plastered all over their clothing in 2011 was that of Jennifer Barringer Simpson. In an unexpected victory, the 25-year-old University of Colorado at Boulder graduate (and 2008 Olympic athlete) took the gold medal for the 1,500-meter track event at the World Championships in Athletics in South Korea last year. Simpson sped past the rest of the racers in the final few moments to become the victor, making it the first time since 1983 that an American woman took home the title.

Here's the thing about dog parks: They're for dogs, and mostly medium-to-large dogs that need some exercise. So while you, the human, might like a spot with a lot of grass, shade, benches, pedicures and an espresso bar, your dog wants a huge expanse of land to burn off its energy. Stapleton fits that description better than any park in the city. It's massive and it's all sand. Rocky may have made running in sand look easy and super-awesome, but it will have your dog's tongue hanging in no time.

Readers' Choice: Cherry Creek

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Mercury Cafe, Kendall Perry and Piper Rose teach Community Yoga, a class open to all ages and skill levels. The best part? It's free — for everyone. Whether you're a yogi with decades of experience, a first-timer, a senior citizen or a toddler, the instructors make sure the class is tailor-made to fit. The Merc's big wood floor and availability of natural light make for a comfortable, no-pressure environment, with plenty of room for stretching and bending. Every so often, Community Yoga transforms into "show-ga," with local musicians and performers joining in to create a live soundtrack. After class, students can continue their healthy trip downstairs for a nourishing brunch from the Merc's all-organic menu.

Best Guess for How Many Times Tim Tebow Will Be on the Cover of Sports Illustrated in 2012

Four

Stop the presses! Our crack team of researchers pegged the answer to this question at three, but that was before the Peyton Manning signing. Then we revised downward, briefly, to zero, before finally settling on four, thanks to Tim Tebow's trade to the New York Jets. Bright lights. Big City. Meet your new biggest star.

Readers' Choice: Two

Shaun White's perfect score in the Men's Snowboard Superpipe competition at Winter X Games 2012 wouldn't have been possible without a perfect pipe to play in, and this season, Buttermilk's 22-footer was widely regarded as the best in the world, not just the best in Colorado. Sixteen-year-old Aspen local Torin Yater-Wallace milked his home pipe for all it was worth, claiming the bronze medal in the Men's Ski Superpipe finals and then building on his training there to finish in second place overall on the Winter Dew Tour. He seems to have learned a couple of things in the terrain park, too: In March, Yater-Wallace landed the first-ever switch 1800 — five complete spins, taking off and landing backwards — in the slopestyle competition at the final stop of the U.S. Grand Prix.

With every death-defying match, "Joey Terrofyn" McDougal puts his bloody heart and soul into Primos Hardcore & Wrestling. The owner of Colorado's premier entertainment fighting company started out several years ago loosely affiliated with the Juggalo wrestling circuit. Eventually, the wrestler and promoter realized that his brand of high-flying stunt show was a niche all its own, and he split from the Detroit clown cult. McDougal brought famed world wrestler and death-match fighter Mick Foley to the ring in Colorado last year and is starting up his own Lucha Libre league, REVoLUCHA, this year. With those kinds of moves, Primos Hardcore & Wrestling won't stay underground for long.

Best Of Denver®

Best Of