This intriguing aerial shot of a frosty dune-field on Mars — recently posted on the University of Arizona’s HiRISE site — just begs the question: Could man (or woman) ever ski Mars? There are some tasty stats on the Red Planet out there, like the mind-boggling height of Olympus Mons,…
Stop reading this, put your skis in your car and start driving toward Steamboat. Wait, no! Keep reading for another minute and then start driving. The seventh annual Ski Jam music festival is going on in Steamboat this weekend, a perfect place to spend the day skiing and the night…
Lots of Coloradans live the contradiction of composting waste or driving a hybrid while patronizing ski resorts, which are environmental disasters no matter how you slice it. Think about it: Between tearing up slopes for runs, sucking up massive amounts of power, and pumping out boatloads of trash and spent…
The Boulder Snowboarding Group — a local Meetup group, more than 1,000 strong, that can barely contain itself — is breaking out the SWAT team gear (snowboard weapons and tactics?) this weekend for its Rail Riot event at Loveland.The Saturday contest, open to the first 100 rioters with a lift…
January is Learn a Snow Sport Month, and this week’s as good as any to get your whippersnappers whipped into shape: Keystone is hosting the second of its Kidtopia Festival events, Thursday Jan. 13 through Tuesday Jan. 19, building up to its signature family event next month.Send your spawn careening…
There is no good excuse for hanging in the lowlands. We want more snow, and we need to get Norse snow god Ullr’s attention if we want more snow, and there is no better place to get his attention than Breckenridge right now. And that’s because Ullr Fest is underway…
In the U.S., there is a rich tradition of “hoboing.” Famed folk singer Utah Phillips wrote many a song about his years hopping trains. In the 1970s, ski bumming became a way of life for many avid skiers who wanted nothing more out of life than the next powder day…
A-Basin plans to replace its base-to-mid-mountain lift with a detachable quad this summer after the mountain’s projected June 6 closing. The idea to replace the Exhibition fixed grip triple chair has been five years in the making, and one of the last things left to do is give it a…
The Season Trailer from Fitz Cahall on Vimeo.The creators of The Dirtbag Diaries — a podcast about outdoor adventures — recently debuted a new 22-episode Web TV series called The Season that looks like it’s worth checking out. The show follows five Pacific Northwest athletes through one season of their…
American skier and onetime Vail resident Lindsey Vonn continued her rocket-fueled path to either Olympic glory or Bode-style choke by becoming the first American woman to win three straight World Cup victories in three days. (Germany’s Katja Seizinger last pulled off the feat in 1997.)She clinched the record by winning…
II admit that I get a little frustrated with skiers and boarders blasting down the mountain with earbuds in. I understand wanting to hear tunes, but I prefer to keep the tunes inside my head, and let my brain come up with whatever seems right at the moment. I remember…
The Gatorade Winter Free Flow Tour kicked off this weekend with amateur events at Vail and Big Boulder Ski Area in Pennsylvania, and four Colorado locals will be on their way to the Free Flow Tour Finals next month: Tanner Coulter, 15, from Vail won the Freeski Slopestyle contest on…
Although not as an athlete, drywaller turned inept Olympic ski jumper Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards made a triumphant return to the winter games spotlight this week. Eddie, whose lack of skills helped him develop a cult following during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, carried the Olympic torch through Winnipeg…
The big (though not at all surprising) news from Mammoth Mountain this week: Snowboarders Shaun White and Kelly Clark have each earned enough points on the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix to claim their spots on the U.S. team for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver next month.White, the 2006 Olympic…
Heads up, local groms: This is your big chance.The Dew Tour’s amateur series, the Free Flow Tour, has helped launch the careers of young skateboarders like Chaz Ortiz, Timmy Knuth, and David Loy, and BMX riders like Kevin Kiraly and Mike Spinner. This year the series got itself a new…
On Wednesday morning, ski patrollers at Steamboat Springs found the body of Grace Lynn McNeil, a ski instructor at Arapahoe Basin who had been reported missing Tuesday afternoon. McNeil, who was 23 and originally from Michigan, was described as a good skier who had been on her high school ski…
Ya gotta love the Japanese: When they’re not busying themselves with tentacle porn or dropping $177K on a single tuna, they’re creating the greatest game shows ever. Me, I’d be happy simply watching a snowboarder rocking a real half-pipe, but this being Japan, they’ve chosen to incongruously include a watermelon…
The very idea of some some schmo coming up and offering to guide or teach me on a frontcountry mountain sounds ri-goddamn-diculous. But I guess it happens, because Vail Resorts is stepping up efforts to bust underground lessons and guide services on their hill. In a recent undercover sting, they…
Three snowboarders from Colorado are among the qualifiers for today’s Women’s Halfpipe Finals at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix event at Mammoth Mountain, the second of five U.S. competitions in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Gretchen Blelier (Aspen) qualified in third, behind Kelly Clark and Hannah…
[jump] This is what I’d wear on the slopes if I were filthy rich, or at least scummily wealthy: At 949 Euros — or $1,367 American — it’s not for the light of wallet. But it is light itself, weighing in at just over a two pounds, and it offers seamless…
Miles from the Village, the 885-acre Blue Sky Basin has been a must-explore-spot for Vail skiers for 10 years. The popular woodsy terrain beyond the mountain’s Back Bowls is blessed with plenty of snow, tight trees, steeps, open powder fields, and even a few groomers. On bluebird day, there are…
Three snowboarders from Colorado are among the qualifiers for today’s Men’s Halfpipe Finals at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix event at Mammoth Mountain, the second of five U.S. competitions in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In Heat One of yesterday’s qualifiers Broc Waring (Vail) and Matt…
