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Best Upscaling of a Down-Home Resort

Black Mountain Lodge

Is nothing sacred? A-Basin, one of the last bare-bones ski areas around, just added some padding to its sleek skeleton. The mid-mountain Black Mountain Lodge features not just a sports shop, but an upscale 200-seat restaurant, with an "alpine bistro menu" that includes grilled salmon and Kobe beef burgers. The fare is a far cry from the usual A-Basin brown-bagging -- but even if you've eaten your fill (and emptied your wallet), you'll want to save some energy for the apres-ski party in the parking lot.

Best Ski Deal

Ruby Hill Rail Yard

A visit to Ruby Hill is always a high point, since this park is a great place to see the sights of Denver. But this past season, it also became the site of the best ski deal around, when Winter Park Resort and the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation joined together to open Ruby Hill Rail Yard, a terrain park that, like the Denver Skatepark, was free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, and sometimes beyond. The phat little course featured six rails of varying difficulty that took advantage of the hill's natural bowl -- and this year's incredible snowfall -- and boarders from the neighborhood and beyond flocked to the place. Same time next year?

Best Official Skatepark

Sandstone Ranch Skate Park

Boarders, bladers and bikers who've cruised through Sandstone Ranch Skate Park since it opened last June might take the 24,000-square-foot concrete course for granted. The smooth arrangement of the expert sections -- like the pool and flow course, alongside such street-plaza components as stairs, gaps and rails -- is so close to perfect that the layout seems obvious, as though it couldn't possibly have been done differently. But that's clearly not the case, as evidenced by the region's abundance of crappy, cramped ramp parks that were definitely done differently. Props to Longmont for entrusting the design to SITE Design Group, true artists of skatepark simplicity.
  • 3001 E. Highway 119, Longmont, 80501 Map

Best Unofficial Skatepark

Highland Bridge

Technically, the function of the new Highland Bridge is to connect the Commons Park area with the Highland neighborhood. And its form -- 320 foot-long, triple-rib beams arcing 70 feet over I-25 -- is designed as another display of downtown's emerging architectural beauty. But for skateboarders, the bridge is simply a kick-ass new spot. The concrete banks that anchor the bridge's pylons serve as natural ramps for all manner of flip tricks, and the plaza beneath the eastern base of the arch has ledges and manual pads that encourage creative skateboarding experiments that must be executed around cyclists and stroller-pushing yuppies. That's what we call bridging the gap.

Best DIY Project

Bennett DIY Skatepark Project

With skatepark construction becoming a more formalized industry, it's easy to forget the sport's underground, do-it-yourself roots. But some of the most fun, inspired skate spots are built by the skaters themselves, wielding hammers and concrete trowels -- which is why the Colorado Coalition for Public Skateparks is campaigning to rebuild a concrete skatepark thirty miles east of Denver in Bennett. Skater volunteers from across the Front Range will do the work, under the supervision of renowned skatepark builder Team Pain. To raise the $30,000 needed for a bowl and street course, the squad has been selling custom pool tiles for $40 a section; it's already up to $12,000 in donations and grants. And, really, if you want something done right...

Best Skateboard School

Colorado Skate University

It was fated to be: The husband-and-wife team who run Colorado Skate University met in a skatepark. Their shared passion inspired them to open a school, which offers we-come-to-you lessons for boarders of all ages seeking to learn the ins and ollies of just about everything, from staying on your board to total super-shredding. And because half of the teaching staff is female and well-versed in the hardships that girls can face in the skateboarding world, the school is especially supportive of those learners. CSU also offers equipment rentals for beginners and birthday-party packages, complete with chocolate skateboards and goodie bags. That's sooo radical.

Best Secret BMX Spot

The V

For serious BMX riders, the V isn't really a secret, but rather a legend going back nearly twenty years, to when freestyle bikers first began building dirt jumps in an Aurora gulley. Set amid tall trees and accessed only by a bike path, the spot's obscurity helped it survive while other locations were erased by development or closed off because of landowner liability issues. Not that there's anything safe about the V. Jumps include doubles that span thirty feet and a steep rhythm section made hard and quick by years of rolling rubber. The V has played host to local pros like Brian "Yellow" Gavagan, Clay Brown and Troy McMurray, as well as a slew of lesser-knowns and amateurs who marvel at the main jump, which is named for the V-shaped ravine that spits riders toward a perilous ten-foot step-up. Yes, V is for victory -- but also for victim.

Best Fitness on Wheels

US on Wheels

Exercise is a vital component of any healthy lifestyle. But where do you turn after you've exhausted your tolerance for running, bicycling and Pi-Yo? US on Wheels. Show up at 10:30 any Wednesday morning, fork over $4, strap on some wheels and get moving! The ninety-minute Roller Fitness program will tone your muscles and increase your heart rate -- and since rollerskating is low-impact, your joints will thank you later. For those who haven't skated backward since fifth grade, US on Wheels also offers beginner skating classes.

Best Place to Ride High

Golden Oldy Cyclery

A Penny for your thoughts: "The world is a happier place when you ride a Penny Farthing bike." That's the motto at this Victorian-era cycling museum in Golden, which has one of the world's most comprehensive collections of "big wheel" equipment and memorabilia, including more than sixty classic bikes, a cycling library, a headlamp display and a mock 1880s repair shop. The Golden Oldy Cyclery is the big baby of Steve Stevens, who's come far on his own Penny Farthing high wheel, a model he considers much more efficient than all the fancy wheels of the 21st century. Golden Oldy is open by appointment or during occasional open houses; give Stevens a call and wheel on over.

Best Place to Get High

SkyVenture Colorado

Who says you need sky to skydive? For anyone who's ever had an Icarus-like urge to sail through the atmosphere -- but then had second thoughts because of that whole jumping-out-of-the-plane thing -- SkyVenture has the answer. After a brief training session and suit-up, you can fly through the air with the greatest of ease -- ease of mind, that is -- in the indoor skydiving facility's patented wind tunnel. Prices start at about fifty bucks for the basic experience, and gift cards are available in increments of $50 or $100. Geronimo!

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