ACTION-SPORTS AFICIONADOS from around the globe started arriving this week in Vail, Colo., for the annual Teva Mountain Games, held May 30 to June 3 in town and on the adjacent mountain slopes of the White River National Forest. This festival of all things outdoors, now in its sixth year, includes kayaking, climbing, trail-running, mountain biking, and fly fishing competitions as well as demonstration areas where spectators sample and test new gear.
Outdoors film and photography contests provide a creative outlet. Nightly concerts and parties, attended by athletes and spectators alike, let the cheering hordes mingle and rub shoulders with their heroes of the sport.
Icons including cyclist Floyd Landis, ultra-runner Dean Karnazes, kayaker Tao Berman, climber Chris Sharma and mountain biker Chris Eatough are among the big names competing this year at the Games.
I attended the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colo., last year, running in the 5K and doing the adventure race, which included 12,000-foot summits, endless uphill biking, and a wild river ride. A blast, actually. Unfortunately, there’s no adventure race this year. I’m not there in Vail either, alas. But the Teva Mountain Games goes on without me.
