Tag: skiing
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Monarch Mountain to close ski resort early amid historic low snowpack
A historically low snowpack has caused Monarch Mountain and other Colorado ski areas to close their slopes ahead of schedule. This week will be skiers’ last chance to recreate on Monarch Mountain this season, with a closing day set for Sunday, according to the mountain’s Facebook page. The ski area had hoped to stay open…
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Mark Kiszla: First person Mikaela Shiffrin told all about this gold medal was her deceased father
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy • The GOAT cried. After ending her Olympic slump with a slalom victory so loud it shook the Dolomites, Mikaela Shiffrin took a private moment at the finish line to have a quiet conversation with her deceased father. “Today, it was like maybe I just talk to him,” Shiffrin said. “Maybe he…
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Mark Kiszla: Why Mikaela Shiffrin and Ilia Malinin are the accidental heroes of Winter Olympics
CORTINA d’AMPEZZIO, Italy – The real big shocker of these Winter Games is how skier Mikaela Shiffrin and skater Ilia Malinin have become accidental American heroes. Through the pain of their very public Olympic suffering, they’ve taught mere mortals like you and me a valuable lesson: Choke happens. If the pressure can get to Shiffrin…
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Skijoring, an ABBA tribute and tequila tastings lead Colorado’s weekend guide
MIDWINTER BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL: High-energy acoustic harmonies will take over Northglenn with three days of live music and late-night jam sessions. Starting Friday, the festival spotlights rising bluegrass artists while creating an intimate setting where musicians and fans mingle at the Delta by Marriott (10 E. 120th Ave.), $72.66-$127.78; midwinterbluegrass.com. TELLURIDE COMEDY FESTIVAL: Starting Thursday, laughter…
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Ski trail returns to rim of famed canyon in western Colorado
The chance to ski atop one of Colorado’s most picturesque canyons only comes around every so often. Now might be the time. Finally, amid a record dry spell, grooming has started along South Rim Road at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The park’s website indicates tracks were laid around the turn of this…
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Mark Kiszla: Why Mikaela Shiffrin won’t be a klutz in the clutch at the Olympics this time
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Mikaela Shiffrin showed up at the Olympics, rocking and ready for her close-up in front of the whole wide world, then promptly got rudely photobombed by a total klutz. Damn, girl. Can you say em-bar-rass-ing? The 30-year-old Colorado native is the greatest skier since the invention of snow … except when…
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Mark Kiszla: Olympic siblings Birk and Svea Irving get love letters from an American literary giant
MILAN – Before freestyle skier Birk Irving leaps into the ravenous jaws of the beast, he routinely smiles like a hero in a paperback novel. Oh, what a tale his thoughts could tell. Irving competes in the cold and unforgiving halfpipe, where Olympic dreams go to die. “A 22-foot tall monster,” as Irving likes to…
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Mark Kiszla: In a nation divided, can Olympics give love for the U-S-A a chance?
MILAN, Italy — Is it hopelessly naive to think five Olympic rings can bind 345 million American hearts in our bickering nation? When we stand to shout U-S-A! during the Winter Games, can it unite us in red, white and blue pride, or does the chant now ring hollow? “I’m incredibly proud to be here…
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Mark Kiszla: Lindsey Vonn’s idea of fun? Skiing 80 mph at Olympics on a shredded knee
MILAN, Italy — With a ghost in her ear and no fear in her heart, Lindsey Vonn is hellbent on fulfilling a dream that would sound like an absolute nightmare to most any other 41-year-old woman on the planet. Skiing down a mountain at 80 mph? That’s crazy. But doing it on a trashed knee…
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Colorado ski towns — where ‘snow is money’ — worry how long dry winter will last
Snowboarders and skiers have long relied on an old superstition to bring in fresh powder: putting trail maps in the freezer. But this year, amid an unusually dry winter, the need to do so seems more urgent than ever in Colorado. Last month, the Winter Park ski resort in Grand County posted a video of…