Outdoors & Rec

Photographer/ski bum Scott Limbird sent the above photo of Vail from yesterday, a day he called “ridiculous.” Read his description of the day after the jump…

14ers are both the Colorado hiker’s hallmark and his/her bane. You can’t help but want to tick them off your personal list and “collect ’em all!” like they’re toys or trophies. Problem is, you’re not the only one, and the tops of all but the hardest can seem like a…

Echo Mountain near Mt. Evans in the Front Range has long believed that offering park and pipe skiing — with night options — is a viable business model. To date, with the exception of Keystone, the bigger Colorado resorts have left night skiing alone. But last week, Telluride offered a…

It’s Mary Jane’s birthday, and the people at Winter Park have come up with plenty of ways to celebrate, making it worth your while to make the drive this weekend. Always wanted to throw on a pair of skis and get towed around at 30 mph by a horse, but…

Last week, the Summit Daily reported on the efforts of two U.S. Forest Service officers to bust a pot smoker on the Snowmass chairlift. For the record, smoking any substance, whether legal or illegal, is generally frowned upon while riding the chairlifts. It’s especially vexing when cigarette smokers decide to…

Almost a quarter of British skiers have hit the slopes drunk, according to a recent survey. In a poll of 1,072 skiers, 23 percent said that at some point during the season, they expected to have more than a dozen drinks in a night and ski the next day. Seventy-four…

Big news today, though not much of a surprise: Banks have seized Intrawest Holdings, according to The Globe and Mail. Last month Fortress Investment Group failed to make the final payment on a $1.4 billion loan originally due in October.The bigger news, and bigger suprise: Lenders are planning to auction…

Developed with Department of Defense grant money, Ardica’s battery-powered heated apparel is ideal for people who are addicted to snow but intolerant of cold (and want their iPhone to last). It’s crossed over from the military-industrial complex in the last few years in the form of Mountain Hardwear jackets like…

Dominating the vista from Breckenridge, Quandary Peak (14,265 feet) is one of Colorado’s most accessible fourteeners, and a popular one for people looking to start the quest for all 54. Quandary’s East Slopes route is a moderate climb, never getting above 40 degrees in steepness. The route is also a…

Kicking off Friday, Winter Park’s annual Winter Carnival is bigger than usual this year. Not only is it a celebration of all things winter, but it’s the 70th birthday of Winter Park, the 34th birthday of Mary Jane, and the “Old School” theme all but guarantees a variety of neon-hued,…

About 30 rippers, shredders, bros (and even a Betty) were out on Sunday night at Ruby Hill Railyard at Ruby Hill Park (S. Platte River Dr. and Florida Ave.). The free mini-snowboard park opened January 9, and has six boxes and one metal rail to get your jib on with…

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…