Cup Coming with a Green Light

The seventh annual Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colo., will host the first World Cup Climbing event to be held in the United States in the past 20 years. And if that's not enough numbers, how about the fact that the World Cup climbers will join an expected 2,000 other athletes competing in over 21 different events in 2008. Or that, from June 4th through 8th, they will also be joining a number of four-legged athletes competing in events like the Diving Dog Challenge. All numbers aside, in addition to seeing some world-class climbing competition and dogs that fly fearlessly through the thin mountain air, spectators will be able to experience the Green Light District, a new interactive green experience at the Teva Mountain Games.
--Jason Kerkmans

Teva Mountain Games: The Grand Finale

Remember this name: Josiah Middaugh. The 28-year-old Vail-Eagle, Colorado resident just took top honors in the Teva Mountain Games men's Ultimate Mountain Challenge, a four-part event that included a downriver paddle, a 21-mile mountain bike race, a 10K trail run, and a 7-mile uphill road bike hill climb. Middaugh placed second overall in Sunday morning's trail run, and third overall in Sunday afternoon's hill climb—beating the weekend's celebrity, Floyd Landis, who came in eighth place. When I asked Middaugh, who's a pro X-Terra racer, how it feels to beat last year's Tour de France winner in a road bike race, he laughed. "It would have felt better if he was actually trying," he said modestly. In between events, Middaugh's recovery trick was soaking his legs in the icy cold Gore Creek that runs through town. His secret confession? He got in a kayak for the first time ever 10 days ago, in preparation for this event. Not bad for a guy who's walking away with $2,750 in prize money. Rounding out the top three in the men's category were Dave Mackey and Greg Krause. In the women's, the top three finishers included Keri Nelson, Lisa Isom, and Gretchen Reeves. Somewhere toward the back of the pack in the women's category you'll find my name. I'd like to say more about how the race went, but to be honest, I'm way too tired to write another word.

Teva Mountain Games: I'm Running Up That?

Saturday evening at the Teva Mountain Games  runners sported swim goggles, ballet skirts, and galoshes for the Teva X-1 Mud Fun Run, a 5K race around a one-mile loop that included a 12-foot long wooden box filled with hosed-down mud. Runners had to do the limbo or crawl on all fours through the brown slop, some even did full-on body dives, coming up for air with mud spilling out of their ears. People laughed, cheered, and drank beer afterward—it was, as the name suggests, a fun run. If only all the events were like that. The Nature Valley 10K Trail Running Championships, held at 9 am on Sunday, was, in contrast, more like the anti-fun run. The course weaved up and down Vail Mountain, cross-crossing under the chair lifts on singletrack so steep it was actually faster to walk up than attempt to run. On the descents, hard-charging runners would fly nearly out of control over loose dirt and rock. I almost tumbled after tripping over my own shoelace. Matt Carpenter won the men's race, and Anita Ortiz won the women's. At the end of the race, gulping down a Dixie cup of Cytomax sport drink, legs and feet throbbing, I had one nagging thought: I should have done the fun-run instead.

Teva Mountain Games: Riding with the Pros

I’m standing at the start line to the Nature Valley Mountain Bike Championships, part two of the four-event GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge at Vail’s Teva Mountain Games . In front of me is a sea of professional mountain bikers—quads of steel, full-body Lycra, and grimaces that seemed to show no weakness. Somewhere toward the front of the pack are riding legends like Ned Overend and Floyd Landis. Let me repeat: I’m standing at the same start line as Mountain Bike Hall of Famer and former world champ Ned Overend. In case you need clarification, I’m a magazine editor, not a pro athlete. I sit in front of a computer for nine hours a day, probably about the same amount of time many of these riders spend in the saddle. In other words, I am utterly—even humiliatingly—out of my league. When the race director counts down the pro women (plus the handful of us non-pros competing in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge), I settle in comfortably at the back of the pack. I wind up a dirt fire road, then keep climbing on single track for what seems like forever. The course is just under seven miles, and we’re doing three laps. The decent is a muddy, steep singletrack with signs marking “Black Diamond” trail. I’m hanging in there and when I finally pass through the start/finish area a whopping hour after I started, the crowds cheer for the lone rider in dead last—me. On the second lap, my main goal is getting out of the way of the lightening-fast men that peddle past me like I’m standing still. I keep waiting for Floyd Landis to overtake me, and I distract myself from the ache in my legs by imaging what I’ll say when he rides past. “Hey Floyd. Nice job!” Or maybe, if I’m feeling particularly sassy, “Looking good, Floyd. Hope they’re not drug testing after this race!” Very few of the pro riders say a word to me, as I slouch into the bushes on the side of the trail to make way for them, or, on one particularly embarrassing occasion, cart-wheeling off my bike on a steep decent in an attempt to clear the trail for the pros lurking behind me. But when Floyd finally does lap me, he’s the one who says something. “Nice work,” he grunts, and then swiftly moves out of sight. So what if I came in last? At least I can go home and brag about getting lapped by Floyd. For full results, see tevamountaingames.com.

Teva Mountain Games: Downriver Sprint

It is 8 am when most of the dry-top-clad kayakers roll to the put-on on Gore Creek in East Vail. Some look hungover from the night before, forcing down muffins and gulps of water. The rest look ready to charge with 12-foot-long boats made for speed, not style. The rules are simple: Each paddler starts at one minute intervals, the one with the quickest time to the covered bridge in Vail Village wins. The obstacles? Shallow Class II radids, frigid snow-melt water, and the humiliation of getting passed by someone behind you. My goal is simply to not let pro kayaker Tao Berman, who is starting well over 20 minutes behind me, beat me down. Tao's competiting on his own for the four-event (paddle, mountain bike, run, road bike) GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge, and he is paddling as part of the three man relay team made up of Floyd Landis and Simon Gutierrez. When Tao finishes, Floyd is standing on the bank of the river to cheer him on. "One down, three to go," Tao tells a film crew interviewing him. As for me? I make it down without getting passed, pride barely in tact. Three more events to go.

Teva Mountain Games: Party Time

The kayakers are waking early on Saturday to race in Vail’s Teva Mountain Games' downriver sprint, and the mountain bikers are greasing their chains for the 21-mile Nature Valley XC Mountain Bike Championships Saturday afternoon. But that doesn't mean they all aren't having a few beers (or make that Red Bull/vodkas) after Friday night's Everest Awards, which named the best overall male and female athlete in a variety of categories. Floyd Landis, who’s competing in the mountain bike and road bike hill climb events this weekend, was on hand to introduce the nominees for best mountain biker. “I’m a little nervous about the mountain bike event,” he said. “My hip is healed, so I’m going to have to think of another excuse.” Check out results from the awards ceremony and candid photos from the night’s dance-tunes-fueled party at Samana Lounge.

Everest Award 2007 Results:

Trail Running: Darcy Africa and Karl Meltzer
Mountain Bike: Monique (Pua) Sawicki and Chris Eatough
Multi Sport: Melanie McQuaid and Michael Tobin
Advocate: Tyler Brandt and Seth Warren
Climbing: Angie Payne and Chris Sharma
Expedition: Kit DesLauriers and Chris Davenport
Lifetime Achievement: Toby Blanck
Paddle Sports: Tanya Faux and Eric Jackson

Teva Mountain Games: Day Two

The brand-labeled athletes, Carhartt tour busses, and Tacoma trucks stacked with kayaks are beginning to filter into Vail, Colorado in preparation for the Teva Mountain Games’ weekend festivities. Thursday’s big event was the Dagger Steep Creek Championship on the local favorite, Homestake Creek, a quarter-mile-long section that drops 480 feet per mile. The top three in the men’s division included Tao Berman, Vail’s local boy Brad Ludden, and Andrew Holcombe. In the women’s division, Kiwi Nikki Kelly trumped again, followed by Lizzie English and Katie Hilleke. That evening, it was standing-room only at the Flix and Picks event at the Donovan Pavillian, featuring a selection of mountain-inspired films from the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival, plus the Zest For Adventure Photography Competition, in which the winner’s photo will be printed in a future issue of Outside. The late night scene at Vendetta’s was sleepy—mainly thick-crusted pizzas and a vodka, lemonade drink special—which probably means all the smart athletes are resting up.

Teva Mountain Games: Day 1

The first day of the Teva Mountain Games culminated with a battle of the boats in a kayak paddlecross.  Four kayakers set out head-to-head on the Class IV rapids of Dowd Chute on Vail, Colorado's Eagle River. Today's winner in the men's category is—surprise, surprise—Eric Jackson, the recent champ at the 2007 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships on Canada's Ottawa River. "I am not afraid of the pressure of a do or die ride, but why put myself in that position?" Jackson has said.   "Get in, do it right the first time." Jackson beat out Tao Berman and Jason Beakes for second and third place, respectively. In the women's category, New Zealand-bred kayaker Nikki Kelly took the top podium, with Shannon Carroll and Tanya Faux rounding out the top three.

Teva Mountain Games: Floyd Landis?

You heard right. Outside's July 2006 cover boy, Floyd Landis, who is famously awaiting final rulings on the doping charges made against him after his victory at last year's Tour de France, has signed up to compete in two events at this weekend's annual Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado. Landis will be competing in the Nature Valley Mountain Bike Championship, three laps on a rugged seven-mile course, on Saturday, and the Trek Road Bike Hill Climb, a steep ascent up Vail Pass, on Sunday. He'll be part of a team entering the GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge, a four-part event that also includes a downriver sprint kayak race and a 10K trail run. His partners? Pro kayaker Tao Berman and pro trail runner Simon Gutierrez. Something tells me this desk-bound editor (who's been duped into signing up for the Ultimate Mountain Challenge solo!) doesn't stand a chance against this team. Check back for regular on-the-ground updates from the Teva Mountain Games from Thursday through Sunday. And read about what it feels like to get smoked by Floyd.