Best Late-Spring Ski Trip
Quandary Peak
West side of Hoosier Pass
For those who didn't get enough skiing in during the season and have the energy to climb a 14,000-foot-plus peak for one more run, Quandary Peak is the place. The mountain is between Hoosier Pass and Blue River off Highway 9. A subdivision, elevation about 10,500, lies at the bottom of the mountain for easy access. Stick your boots in a pack, strap your skis on the sides and start climbing. Depending on the year's snowpack, May is generally the best time--too soon and the climbing can be tough and may require mountaineering gear; too late and you'll be skiing rocks. Start early to reach the top for lunch, take a gander at the view, then jump on the boards for a long cruise. Recommended for advanced skiers in good physical condition only.
Best Summer Snow
Mount Evans
Hwy. 103, south of Idaho Springs
Be sure to dress for the arctic blast, even in mid-July. Mount Evans has the highest paved road in the world, and the altitude keeps the climate frosty and the snowpack crisp and deep all year round. Though the way is impassable during the winter months (and a bit of a nail-biter even after it's reopened in June), it's not unusual to see ski tracks aplenty from those diehards willing to hike up in order to schuss down. If summer skiing isn't your bag, the cooling drive up or bike down from the top is the best antidote around to a hot spell in the city--and it's 35 miles from Denver.
Best Cross-Country Ski Trip to a Hot Springs
Conundrum Hot Springs
Conundrum Pass, near Aspen
Ten miles up Conundrum Creek are natural hot springs that are a hundred yards above timberline, giving bathers a gorgeous view of the surrounding area. A bare-bones Forest Service cabin offers shelter, although it's wise to bring a tent and winter sleeping gear in case it's overly occupied (rare in the winter). The area has been picked clean of most firewood, so pack in your own cooking stove or pick up wood in the valley below. To get there: Turn south off Highway 82 just west of Aspen at Maroon Creek/Castle Creek (the big stone church is a good landmark). Take the Castle Creek fork for a couple of miles, watching on the right for a Conundrum Creek sign and a small parking area. The trail follows the valley floor. Start early, and watch for avalanche indications on the hillsides above.
Best Hot Springs
Indian Springs Resort
Idaho Springs
Although the Indian Springs Resort looks like something Jed Clampett might build around his cee-ment pond, don't be fooled. The hotel is a closer-in and lower-priced alternative to the more luxurious accommodations in Glenwood Springs. Better yet, the water's not loaded with sulphur, so the place doesn't stink like rotten eggs. Indian Springs has a large public pool, gender-segregated tunnels with hotter-than-hot baths cut into the stone, and several outdoor tubs for steaming under the stars. The hotel boasts a linen-tablecloth restaurant and a bar for nightcaps. The spartan but comfortable rooms are convenient if you're too boiled to drive home. But the best feature is the private baths for singles, couples and families, where you can stretch and float away from prying eyes.
Best Shvitz for Ladies
Lake Steam Bath
3540 W. Colfax Ave.
Walking into the Lake Steam Bath for the first time can be a little intimidating--it's the nearest thing to the close-knit society of a Middle Eastern harem this side of Tel Aviv--but once the initial shock of seeing so much plump, grandmotherly flesh in one place is over and the steam, sauna, Jacuzzi and massage therapists have kneaded all the attitude out, you can sit comfortably in the kosher deli and munch bagels just like one of the family. Now that the character of the neighborhood has changed, the shvitz has become a truly cross-cultural and cross-generational experience--and still a great place to dish.
Best Ladies' Locker Room
Denver Athletic Club
1325 Glenarm Pl.
Most first-class clubs now stock their locker rooms with a lengthy list of supplies such as shampoo and conditioner, hand lotion, deodorant, mouthwash, hair spray, electric hair dryers and curling irons. The Denver Athletic Club has all that plus an ironing board, facial pads, hot rollers and a comfy sofa to throw your exhausted body on--or to wait upon stoically while your friend primps, preens and uses up her supply of free toiletries.
Best Holistic Adventure for Women
Keystone Women's Mountain Tune-up Mini Spa
Keystone
Caffeine, doughnuts, greasy nachos and cigarettes? Isn't it time you stopped right in your tracks, ladies? There's a place for you at Keystone Resort, where every summer for four years running, women have had the opportunity to slow down, stretch out and change their wicked ways. Sunrise hikes and mountain-bike sojourns are only part of the four-day package--the rest of the time is filled with low-fat-cooking classes, relaxation instruction and even a round of personal doctor's advice for each woman participating. Top all that off with yummy, healthful meals and restful massages and you'll be a new woman in no time.
Best Birding in the Metro Area
Chatfield State Park
11500 N. Roxborough Park Rd., Littleton
Get thee to a rookery! During springtime at Chatfield, your thoughts should be turning to the rookery on the southeastern shore of the reservoir, where nesting great blue herons and cormorants make an ungodly racket. But don't overlook those birds in the bush--tiny tanagers, orioles and warblers have been known to show their colors nearby. Depending on where and when you look, there are also shorebirds, waterfowl, hawks, owls and songbirds, and the opportunities are rich, accessible and year-round.
Best Urban Birding
Skyscrapers in downtown Denver
Those who work with their heads in the clouds were treated this spring to the sight of a pair of resident peregrine falcons making quick work of our downtown pigeons. We don't know if the raptors stayed put or flew the coop, but they provided dreary office naturalists an exciting respite from the workaday drudge and maybe they cleaned up the neighborhood a little bit.
Best Play-by-Play Announcing
Charlie Jones and Dave Campbell
Rockies games
The banter between jovial, booming, white-haired veteran announcer Charlie Jones and his handsome-jock color guy Dave Campbell never strays far from the game. Together, they expertly and professionally follow the pitches, cover the angles, paint player portraits, tell jokes and remain cheerful, win or lose--all without any grandstanding histrionics. Franks and peanuts aside, this team makes watching a Rockies game on TV almost as much fun as it is at the stadium.
Best Ballpark Vendor at the Rockies Games
Johnsonville Bratwurst
Vendors sold 2.5 million meat items at the ol' ballyard last season, many of which (they weren't keeping track, exactly) were this familiar Milwaukee-style white brat, usually slathered with kraut, bell peppers, onions and mustard. It's been a favorite at Mile High for six years, actually, and it's sold at 25 stands. What you want with it, of course, is beer. Hey, at Chavez Ravine they push sushi.
Readers' choice: Coors
Best Lemonade Concession
Mile High Stadium
Beer may be the traditional drink in the baseball stands, where icy brews keep the sweat down at those steaming-hot midsummer games--but at Mile High Stadium, Rockies fans have a worthy alternative. The stadium's lemonade concession is second to none, manned by hardworking lemon-squeezers who prepare every drink from scratch. Made from fresh lemons, the beverage is clearly superior--tart yet sweet enough, with a cloud of pulp and half a lemon left in to remind you that it came directly from the tree.
Best Preseason Baseball Ticket Deals
Colorado Springs Sky Sox
If you don't have season tickets to the Rockies, you'll be jockeying for prime seating in the peanut gallery all season long. But hey, the Sky Sox are easy. You can still get nearly-major-league baseball up close at Sky Sox Stadium in Colorado Springs for budget prices. Books of six box seats or ten general-admission tickets are available from January until March for $30 (719-597-1449), and they can be used just about any time you feel like using them. If you really want to make a splash, do the wave with your friends in the hot tub conveniently plunked down in the right-field stands. For $80, you and seven other baseball buffs get the tub, champagne and your own private vendor.
Best Uniforms
Colorado State University football
Those garish streaks of yellow are gone from the Rams' helmets, jerseys and pants, replaced by an extremely cool shade of gold. This contrasts beautifully with CSU's green and looks exceptionally nice in the team picture. Now if the lads from Fort Collins could just put together a decent season, everyone would be happier cheering on the yellow, er, gold and green.
Best Place to See a Baseball Player With His Socks Showing
Vintage Baseball Association games
Four Mile Historic Park
715 S. Forest St.
Held on the grounds of living-history facilities like Four Mile Historic Park, these vintage games harken back to the days of Abner Doubleday and Casey at the Bat. Mustachioed teams with names like the Denver Bluestockings wear authentic uniforms (with the stirrups high, of course) and compete according to rules used before the turn of the century.
Best Golden Buff (Woman)
Shelley Sheetz, basketball
The two-time All-American from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, averaged 13.3 points, 4 assists and 2.7 steals for the Buffs last year. At 5-6 and 125, the senior point guard has speed and moves to burn and appears to be the team leader as the Buffs look for their third straight trip to the NCAA tournament in 1994-95.
Best Golden Buff (Man)
Chris Hudson, football
Opposing passers cringed every time No. 47 drifted into view: The quick 5-11 cornerback from Houston ranks fourth all-time in CU career interceptions with 12, and he's been named to several All-America rosters, including this year's Playboy preseason squad. With a good senior year from Hudson, the Buffs could return to Big Eight prominence.
Best Player Quote
Kordell Stewart, CU quarterback
All season long, Stewart and premier wide receiver Charles Johnson exchanged good-natured barbs. CJ called Kordell slow. Kordell dissed Johnson's downfield moves. They both laughed a lot. When Johnson dislocated a finger in CU's 27-10 win over Oklahoma October 16, the quarterback applied the coup de grace: "CJ can rag that I'm slow," he said, "but my completion percentage would be a lot better if I didn't have to throw to a guy with nine fingers."
Best College Coach
Ceal Barry, CU basketball
In her eleven seasons at CU, Barry has run up a 218-118 record and six 20-win campaigns, but in the last two years her basketball teams have gone a dazzling 54-9, earning consecutive trips to the NCAA's big dance. The consensus coach of the year in national publications, she's coming back for more with an older, wiser club that could challenge for the title.
Best DU Hockey Player
Angelo Ricci
While the banged-up Pioneers didn't live up to the high hopes of two years ago, Ricci, a 5-8, 172-pound rocket from Elgin, Illinois, scored 13 goals and had 29 assists last season for 42 points. The Pioneers were just 15-20-3 in 1993-94, but Ricci, a center, will be reunited for his senior year with the other members of the "wrecking crew"--hard-luck winger Brent Cary and center Jason Elders. If that trio, once the team's "super sophs," can remain healthy, the Goliaths of the WCHA might do well to watch out once the ice freezes.
Best Switch-Hitter
Geri Lisa Fritz
Though ancient by baseball standards at 41, burly Geri Lisa Fritz was one of the last players to be cut after five weeks of tryouts with the all-women Colorado Silver Bullets baseball team. But team officials, as it turned out, didn't have the whole picture. Fritz later revealed that she had been born a male, had played minor-league baseball as Jerry Fritz and still was awaiting a hoped-for sex-change operation.
Best Place to Swim Bare
Mountain Air Ranch
8796 Mica Mine Gulch Rd., Littleton
The opportunity to safely tan where you've never tanned before is available in Colorado--just look up the Mountain Air Ranch and make your reservation, pronto. It's perfectly natural for patrons of the nudist resort to take a naked dip in the ranch pool. In addition, in-the-buff buffs can take part in a variety of sports activities, relax in a hot tub or camp out, all without a stitch. Just don't forget the sunscreen!
Best Place to Swim (Bear)
Aspen Ritz-Carlton
After years of controversy, the very expensive Ritz-Carlton opened early last year to take care of the needs of the rich and powerful. Well, almost. The swimming pool closes at 10 p.m., and no one, no matter how rich, is allowed to use it after hours. Early last summer, one guest more powerful than he was wealthy ignored the rules and took a predawn dip. The following morning, when staff members reviewed overnight security-camera videotapes, they saw a bear enter the pool at 3:40 a.m. After a twelve-minute workout, the bear climbed out of the water and sauntered off.
Best Indoor Pool for Adults
Westminster Swim & Fitness Center
76th Ave. and Irving St., Westminster
Just opened in February 1994, the Westminster Swim & Fitness Center is pure public-pool perfection. It's not the biggest, but its charm comes from the many extras--Jacuzzi, steam bath, sauna, weight room and a separate pool for the kids. While most area pools delegate lap swimmers to special times, this place has lap lanes open all day long. The twelve-foot-deep diving area, sporting one low board, is roped off from the main pool, and the entire pool area has ample windows and skylights with a southern exposure, so it's always sunny and warm. For those needing an added sunshine fix, an outdoor sunning area runs the entire length of the windows.
Best Outdoor Pool
Congress Park Swimming Pool
914 Elizabeth St.
The Olympic-size Congress Park pool is the best swimming deal during the warm summer months: Put two quarters in the turnstile and prepare to plunge. Bigger than all other city pools, more cosmopolitan and staffed with friendly but alert attendants, this community gem is a second home to kids and parents from all walks of life.
Best Beach
Aurora Reservoir
5800 S. Powhaton Rd., Aurora
If it's volleyball tournaments, drunken drywallers and fume-belching outboard engines you want, you can take your pick of Front Range lakes. But this reservoir is different. Located in the middle of nowhere but less than thirty minutes from downtown, Aurora Reservoir features the kind of clean, family-style sand reminiscent of summer camp in the Fifties. There's a gentle, uncrowded ambience, aided by strict laws prohibiting recreational engines in or out of the water. The seven-mile bike path is a treat, the sailing and wind-surfing top-notch and the fishing an unexpected bonanza.
Best Contest for Ugly Ducklings
Belly Flop Contest
Water World
88th Ave. and Pecos St.
There are no swan dives allowed at Water World's Belly Flop Contest, a yearly event where ugly is beautiful and, as a spokesman for the splashfest says, "the bigger the person, the better." Costumed contestants take a fall, forgetting everything they ever learned in swimming class, from a ten-foot platform into a twelve-foot pool and are then scored by a team of judges who (we can only assume) are seated well away from ground zero. If you're thinking of trying out for next year, remember--red marks on the belly are your ticket to fame. Ouch.
Best Contest for Wannabe Olympians
Colorado State Games
According to the Olympic Creed, "the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part." So it goes for the Colorado State Games, where amateur athletes of all ages and abilities get to compete in everything from archery to volleyball. There's even a torch-lighting ceremony for that extra taste of the real thing--and sure, everyone goes home a winner.
Best Pickup Basketball Game
Glenarm Recreation Center
2800 Glenarm Pl.
If you're one of those who understand that a really good game of basketball involves getting thrashed by players who conduct most of their game two feet above the rim--and who then trash-talk you when they eventually land--then you might consider heading over to the Glenarm Recreation Center gym. Starting a little before noon on Saturdays, you'll find the best game in Denver. Expect to be covering guys like Jamal Coleman--who played for the University of Missouri before returning to Denver--or Chuck Sproling, who played for St. John's. Expect also to lose.
Readers' choice: Washington Park
Best Softball Field
Rude Recreation Center
2855 W. Holden Pl.
Rude (pronounced "Rudy") is to playground ballparks what Coors Field will be to Mile High. Its intimate diamond, just off Federal Boulevard in northwest Denver, is tucked into a perfect space that seems miles away from the imperfect world surrounding it. It's bounded by a hill behind home plate, into which a comfortable set of bleachers is artfully set, and by the ill-named Dry Gulch, which curves gently around left and center fields, and into which a chest-high pitch, prodigiously hit, would splash nicely.
Readers' choice: Garland Park
Best Trainer for the Exercise-Impaired
Sandra Smith
At long last, here's a savior for people who are too squishy, unmotivated, sarcastic or just plain old to consider personal training. At 53, Sandra's no spring chicken herself--but you should see her body. Know that she got that way not just from working out, but from living a life. Her favorite thing, she says, is "seeing people's bodies and what they could be. I've never seen one that discouraged me, either." She's also scarcely ever been bored, and you won't be, either--not with this entertaining drill-sergeant-of-a-buff-grandma by your side. Sandra trains at a number of metro area gyms--and if you're nice, she might even come to your home. What have you got to lose but your love handles?
Best Place to Run in the Metro Area
High Line Canal between Hampden and Orchard avenues
The High Line takes some wonderful twists and turns through this portion of its cottonwood-lined expanse. There's luxurious shade, a surprising gorge, horses, tennis courts and sprawling Cherry Hills homes. The dirt is mostly easy on your feet, and wildlife--including a few wily (but cute) foxes--abounds every step of the way.
Best Colorado Race in Cuba
Ernest Hemingway International 10K
Boulderite Bob Walz is a fan of both muscular prose and muscular legs, which goes a long way toward explaining the first-ever Ernest Hemingway International 10K, part of a week-long cultural exchange to Cuba last May. The race featured a few international stars, several dozen Coloradans and about 5,000 Cubans--"kids running in sandals, old saddle shoes, anything, just so they could run," Walz says. The event was such a success that Walz has expanded his Colorado-Cuban connection to include volleyball and basketball tournaments, as well as a marathon cigar-lover's tour--billed as an agricultural fact-finding mission--later this year. Papa would be proud.
Best City Run
Twilight Run
City Park
The Twilight Run, held in early summer, won't interfere with your REM time one bit--it takes place in the evening, when you're fully constituted. And once it's over, everyone gets to loll on the grass and sing along with the Denver Concert Band. That ought to prepare you for bedtime.
Best Foothills Run
Blood Cancer Run
Eldorado Springs
Perhaps the best thing about this race, other than the way it benefits a cause, is that once you cross the finish line, you get to cool off in a hot-springs swimming pool. Bring your suit.
Best Place to Go the Distance
All-Comers Track Meets
Even if you're not an Olympian, the urge to compete may very well course through your arteries. If that's the case, the All-Comers will serve you. Held at CU-Boulder and other area campuses, the meets are open to anyone willing to wear a number and run like the wind.
Best Place to Conquer Acrophobia
Royal Gorge 10K Challenge
Hwy. 50 near Canon City
This tough, high-altitude race winds through Royal Gorge Park, ending spectacularly on the 1,053-foot-high Royal Gorge Bridge, otherwise known as the highest suspension bridge in the world. Once you've gone up, up and away, you can take some time to be a tourist and enjoy the park--admission, covering use of a scenic aerial tramway and incline railway over and in the canyon, is included in your entry fee.
Best Also-Ran Run
Denver International Marathon
Last September's marathon attracted close to 3,000 long-distance runners from all over the country at its debut. Runner's World even named it one of the year's top twenty marathons. So what happened? Promoter Jeff Fryer ran into financial problems, resulting in the cancellation of his four-year contract with the city.
Best Bike Path
Boulder Creek Bike Path
West from downtown Boulder
A scenic, easy ride with babbling brooks, Lycra-clad speedsters, baby carriages, dogs and incredible people-watching possibilities. Speed, however, will kill your pocketbook--cops with radar guns deter daredevil pedalers.
Readers' choice: Cherry Creek
Best Way to Take Off at DIA
HeartRide
Nothing with wings will be using DIA for a while, but that doesn't mean a little rubber hasn't been burned on the new airport runways. In fact, they got a preliminary workout in May, when area cyclists converged on the airport acres for a noncompetitive ride that suited all ages and abilities and raised money for the American Heart Association. Next stop Stapleton?
Best Bike Ride in the Middle of the Night
Moonlight Classic
In the heart of August's dog days, bike riders who hate the sun have something to look forward to. The safe, chaperoned Moonlight Classic, a fundraiser for Seniors! Inc., doesn't start until two in the morning, when old Mr. Sol is well beneath the horizon. Designed as a family event, this ride (there are both ten- and twenty-mile routes) glides out of the Auraria campus and snakes through the historic neighborhoods of Denver, ending at Auraria just in time for a sunrise fiesta.
Best Mountain Bike Trail
White Ranch
Hwy. 93, north of Golden
This challenging trail has it all--long, steep climbs, great views, many trail options and spine-tingling descents. But be aware: Many others, including hikers and equestrians, use this trail--so mind your manners.
Readers' choice: Waterton Canyon
Best Way to Get Pumped Up
Bike to Work Day
Colorado Bike Week
Next time you're twiddling your thumbs in the middle of a hopeless traffic jam, you might long for a simpler mode of transportation. Most people don't even consider riding a bicycle to work, which is why this event was invented: It's an organized effort to get car-ridden slugs into the open air. Anyone hopping on a cycle and riding downtown on Bike to Work Day is entitled to a free continental breakfast, a gear-browse at a bike expo and entertainment by the only bicyclists who are seen there regularly--the intrepid bike messengers.
end of part 2
