After receiving a foot of fresh snow over the weekend, Loveland Ski Area officially enters the 2007-08 ski season at 9 a.m. today with a 1,000-vertical-foot run with top-to-bottom, side-to-side coverage and a minimum packed base of 18 inches.
“Thanks to the foot of natural snow we received and the efforts of our snowmakers, this will be one of the best opening days in recent memories,” marketing director John Sellers said. “The coverage is amazing.”
Skiers and riders will access the run via Chair One at Loveland Basin and will use the Cat Walk, Mambo and Home Run trails to reach the bottom.
Loveland’s hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Early-season lift tickets are $42 for adults and $20 for children (ages 6-14), with discounted season passes and “4-Paks” available through Nov. 23.
Chipotle adding heat. Chipotle Mexican Grill is hoping to ride the Slipstream Cycling Team’s anti-doping attitude to the Tour de France. The Denver-based restaurant has signed on as co-title sponsor of the recently renamed Slipstream/Chipotle Professional Cycling Team for the 2007-08 season.
Slipstream recently implemented the most aggressive anti-doping program in professional sports. The move prompted Chipotle, a minor sponsor for the past two years, to step up its support.
Team Nike nets first place. Jenny Johnson joined adventure racing champions Mike Kloser of Vail and Michael Tobin of Idaho to form the latest edition of Team Nike in Hidalgo, Mexico, but the results turned out the same. The trio captured the three-day, 260K Hidalgo Extreme Adventure Race last week by topping teams from as far away as Spain and Finland.
“Jenny was awesome to race with,” Kloser said. “She always seemed to be smiling and upbeat, even after nearly 18 hours of racing on Day Two and countless hours in the saddle on our mountain bikes that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning.”
Challenges at the multisport race included Tyrolean traverses over massive canyons, wet and muddy canyon swims, seemingly endless cobblestone roads and cactus and thorn-covered hills and trails.
Film fest goes to Golden. The Alpine Rescue Team is bringing the best of Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour to the American Mountaineering Center in Golden for its annual fundraiser Friday night. The films celebrating mountain life, cultural diversity and environmentalism will be screened beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and are available at , REI stores in Denver and Boulder, or at the door Friday. The American Mountaineering Center’s Foss Auditorium is located at 710 10th St. in Golden.
Footnotes. Erica Mueller of Steamboat Springs led U.S. snowboarders with an eighth-place finish in parallel slalom as the alpine World Cup season opened Friday at SnowWorld’s indoor slope in Landgraaf, Netherlands. Olympic bronze medalist Chris Klug of Aspen topped U.S. men in 11th. … Paige Higgins, a graduate of Mullen High School and the University of Kansas, finished seventh at the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7 and was the second American behind Katie O’Neill. Despite sweltering conditions that sent hundreds to the hospital, Higgins finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 14 seconds and qualified for the Olympic marathon trials in Boston in April. Higgins, who won the citizen’s race at the Bolder Boulder last May, teaches at Mullen.
Compiled by Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
