The ShredBak: Gear you want but don’t need

If you’ve ever dreamed of wearing your drinking water? How about drinking from your clothes? Now you can do both with CamelBak’s wearable ShredBak, the first wearable hydration system.Released late last year, the ShredBak holds 72 ounces of water in a compressed state that keeps it from slogging and churning…

Ski Porn: Face shots at Echo Mountain

Okay, so it’s not exactly Girls Gone Wild, but with another six inches of new snow at Echo Mountain in the last 24 hours, on top of the 18 they reported the day before, the closest ski area to Denver is looking more and more like the place to be…

Top five road trips for mud season

Spring is upon us. Despite its snowy start, I have a feeling it will end with mud. It’s the perfect time to get out of town for a weekend or a week in search of adventure, warm weather, or dry earth — or some combination of the three. …

Denver’s Four Pine Design: ‘Building a Greener Snowboard Park’

This week TransWorld Business has a cool profile on Four Pine Design, the Denver-based firm responsible for the new terrain park features at Eldora and one of the companies leading the charge for greener and more sustainable practices in the snow sports industry. As part of its Earth Day-themed April…

Telemark Extreme Championships in Crested Butte: warm-ups

Today and Saturday, Crested Butte hosts the 14th annual U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships. A total of 65 competitors in six divisions signed up for the event, which drew skiers from Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, California, British Columbia, and a large contingent from around Colorado. …

Monarch Spring Break: Texans everywhere

On the way to Crested Butte to cover this week’s Telemark Extremes Competition, I stopped at Monarch to get some turns in. After all, it’s on the way, and how can you resist stopping for a driving break for some turns on a perfect bluebird day. Pulling into the parking…

Top five signs of spring in Colorado’s ski country

Old Man Winter is about to croak. Daylight savings time is toast. Squirrels and birds are working their way onward and upward on our ski mountains. The vernal equinox is on March 20; in one week and one day, this winter is technically one for the books.So, the top 5…

Hardgrip, destined-to-suck rock climbing game, coming to Nintendo Wii

If you’ve always dreamed of sending killer routes up rock faces but aren’t so down with the “outdoors” thing, your prayers have been answered: Vaguely-named game producer Human Soft plans to bring a climbing video game to the Wii. Called (gag) Hardgrip, the game will reportedly allow users to “experience…

Vonn wins third straight World Cup title

She may not have nabbed all five Olympic medals like she hoped, but Lindsey Vonn still gets to be the most decorated American skier of all time: She just captured her third straight World Cup overall title after winning the super G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. That brings her total to…

Avalanche education: info and resources

On Wednesday, Colorado suffered its fourth avalanche fatality of 2010 when a snowboarder riding in backcountry terrain was caught in a slide and carried down Steep Gully #1. None of the riders in the party carried avalanche rescue gear. However, while having rescue gear is important, ultimately, education is the…

CDOT reopens I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, one lane in each direction

The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened the stretch of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon yesterday afternoon, with one lane of traffic in each direction, less than a week after a rock slide with boulders as big as 10 feet in diameter damaged and blocked the road on Monday. That’s good news…

SIA reports solid numbers for first Denver Snow Show

The first edition of the Denver Snow Show ended a month ago, but SnowSports Industries America (SIA) has just reported that the move from its longtime home of Las Vegas reversed an ongoing downward trend by setting a six-year high-water mark for attendance.  From the release:…

Teva Mountain Games registration now open

If you fancy yourself a mountain hardman or hardwoman just waiting for your moment of athletic glory, get ready: Registration for the Teva Mountain Games in Vail is now open. Both amateurs and pros can sign up to compete in kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, road cycling, amateur climbing, World Cup…

Tunebug Shake: Gear you want but don’t need

As much as I like my Ween, I hate wearing earbuds when I’m cruising down a slope or riding my cruiser in Denver. I want to hear the skiers and ‘boarders on the slopes as well as the bikes and — most importantly — cars and trucks on the road…