Inaugural Winter Teva Mountain Games Begin Next Week

The first ever Winter Teva Mountain Games are set to get underway next week in Vail, Colorado. The event will run February 10-12 and will pit some of the top professional and amateur outdoor athletes in the world against one another.

The Winter Mountain Games, which are sponsored by Eddie Bauer, will include competitions such as snowshoe racing, Nordic and telemark skiing, mountaineering, and more. There will also be all kinds of other events, including live music, live demos, an interactive expo, and a lot more.

If you're looking for a little winter-time competition, this looks like a great addition to the calendar. Similarly, if you just want to watch the athletes compete, this should be a great event as well. Check out the preview video below for more info and start planning your trip to Vail next weekend.

Video: Mixed Climbing With Sam Elias

Looking for a little inspiration for your upcoming weekend? Then look no further than this video, which features climber, and North Face athlete, Sam Elias, working a mixed route of rock, snow, and ice in Vail Pass. The route, which goes by the name of "Red Bull and Vodka," rises 120 feet and finishes off on The Fang, one of the toughest ice climbs around.


SAM ELIAS/ MIXED CLIMBING/ RED BULL AND VODKA M11 from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

The Ouray Ice Festival Begins Today

One of the biggest and best ice climbing festivals in the world gets underway today, when the Ouray Ice Festival kicks off in Ouray, Colorado. Held annually at the Ouray Ice Park, the event begins with a party tonight and the actual competitions, demonstrations, clinics, and so on, starting tomorrow.

Over the course of the next few days, some of the top ice climbers in the world will be competing against one another on Ouray's famed frozen walls. The man-made ice park features more than 200 different routes, some a mix of ice and rock, others pure ice all the way, all contained inside a natural gorge that serves up the perfect conditions for ice climbing.

For a complete schedule of events, click here and for a full list of competitors, click here. The event promises to be a fun one, so if you're in the area, be sure to drop by and checkout all the activities. It's a great place to learn about the sport and maybe pick up a few skills yourself.

2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge Route Announced

By all accounts, the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge was a great success in its inaugural run. The race featured some of the top riders in the world on a challenging course that featured plenty of climbing in Colorado's thin mountain air. Now, as the year comes to an end, plans are already in place for next year's event, and the Denver Post as all the details on the new route.

The 2012 edition of the Pro Cycling Challenge will begin on August 20th in Durango, Colorado and run through the 26th, ending once again in Denver. The course will be roughly 600 miles in length and feature five mountain passes that are above 10,000 feet (3048 meters).

The stages look like this:

Stage 1: 111 miles from Durango to Telluride over Lizard Head Pass. (10,222 ft/3115 meters)
Stage 2: 92 miles from Montrose to Crested Butte
Stage 3: 131 miles from Gunnison to Aspen and features two passes above 12,000 ft (3657 meters).
Stage 4: 102 miles from Aspen to Beaver Creek over Independence Pass. (12,095 ft/3686 meters)
Stage 5: 106 miles from Breckenridge to Colorado Springs over Hoosier Pass. (11,532 ft/3514 meters)
Stage 6: 61 miles from Golden to Boulder
Stage 7: A Time Trial through the streets of Denver. Distance TBD.

That is going to be one very busy week or racing, as the altitude will certainly have its effect on the riders and those distances aren't exactly short either. Hopefully the race will have as a good of a turn-out in 2012 as it did this year, as the peloton was stacked with quality riders and the roads were lined with fans.

Thanks to Outside Online for the tip!