VAIL — The ninth annual Teva Mountain Games again elevated mountain athletes to new heights Saturday.
In the grueling half-marathon up Vail Pass, the youngsters took control. Boulder’s Rickey Gates, 28, bested a masters runner with a time of 1:26:52.
That was one minute faster than Matt Carpenter, 44, of Manitou Springs, a renowned mountain running champion.
Meghan Lund, 25, of Basalt also beat a Manitou Springs masters runner. Lund’s time of 1:40:03 was fastest among the women, followed by runner-up Cindy O’Neill, 47, who had a time of 1:57:17.
Kayakers show off air.
In the new bladder-controlled hole on Gore Creek, the men and women of freestyle kayaking showcased the cutting edge of their sport with monster airs and acrobatics.
As hundreds crowded the creek’s banks, Stephen Wright of Reno, Nev., took control with a first-run score of 1,310, which held up as the best of the competition.
Also in the new Jackson All Star — which company founder Eric Jackson called “The Dominator” — Nick Troutman, who recently married Jackson’s daughter Emily, took second.
Dustin Urban, the break-dancing Princeton grad from Buena Vista who won last year’s Teva Games competition, took third.
Teen sensation continues to win.
The new E.J. — 19-year-old Emily Jackson — continued her utter dominance of women’s kayaking, winning yet another Teva title with a score of 630 points.
Aussie Tanya Faux took second with 470 points, and reigning world champion Canadian Ruth Gordon took third with a score of 310.
Boulderite rises to the top.
The U.S. Climbing Team took the overall title at the international Bouldering World Cup competition. The planet’s best climbers were ultimately challenged by the four routes on the climbing wall at the base of Vail Mountain.
Only three climbers reached the top of all four routes.
The only woman to top out all four routes, Boulder’s Alex Puccio, took the women’s trophy.
Colorado State’s Alex Johnson, who won last year’s Teva Games World Cup competition, took second, followed by Japan’s Akiyu Naguchi.
German tops Longmont’s Woods.
German Jonas Baumann took the men’s climbing title, followed by Longmont’s Daniel Woods. Baumann and Woods were the only men to grab and hang off the sloping holds at the top of each route.
Last year’s winner, Kilian Fischhuber of Austria, took third.
N.C. pro wins sprint.
In the 4-mile downriver sprint on Gore Creek from East Vail to Vail Village, Asheville, N.C., professional kayaker Andrew Holcombe eked past the Teva Games steep-creek winner, Kiwi Mike Dawson. Washington state power paddler Tao Berman took third.
Jason Blevins and Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
