This is a big deal.  It's a big deal even if you're not a cycling fan.  The Quizno's USA Pro Cycling Challenge is bringing a world-class stage race back to Colorado for the first time since the now-defunct Coors Classic (1980-88).  The race takes place from August 22-28, 2011 and the Vail Valley pulled out all the stops to sponsor one of the stages.  Then, it actually kind of got two.  On Thursday, August 25 the Individual Time Trial (stage 3) starts in Vail Village and follows the popular Vail Pass route east.  The following day, stage 4 beg

The Teva Mountain Games are billed as "the country’s largest celebration of adventure sports, art and music". They evolved from a series of kayak and raft races in Minturn (I volunteered my first summer here in '96) to something MUCH bigger and truly better. This June, athletes may compete in 8 different sports (bike, run, paddle, dog, climb, fish...) and 24 disciplines. TMG also has a softer side that includes photo comps, film comps, expo villages and amateur-friendly races like the 5K Teva Mud Run.

The Grand Tasting was my favorite Taste of Vail event last year.  The event promoters tout is as "the grand daddy of wine and food tastings" and that is just about right.  The ballroom is packed with food stations from Vail's world class restaurants and more wineries than you could possibly imagine.  Chefs bring out the big guns for this unparalleled event and the food is

The 29th anniversary of the American Ski Classic takes place this week in Vail.  Expect a lot of ski racing - the Conway Cup for aspiring local racers, the Korbel Ford Cup with ski legend/ celebrity teams, and the Volvo Legends of Skiing Giant Slalom where former Olympic, World Cup and World Champion ski racers get to take the gloves off and prove they still have that killer racing instinct!