We’ve had an amazing winter here in Vail. Actually it was record breaking. Vail Mountain broke their single season snowfall record racking up 511 inches before closing day. Since the lifts stopped spinning on Vail Mountain it has continued to snow. It is after all springtime in Colorado. Just about anything can and does happen.
The current snowpack situation here in the Vail Valley has prompted a lot of questions around where we will be running events at the 2011 Teva Mountain Games slated for June 2-5. To date we have been unable to produce official course maps or elevation profiles for many events that take place on or around Vail Mountain/Vail Pass. We hope to have official maps and race information published soon, however, in the meantime wanted to communicate where we are as of today.
The good news is that snow is melting fast and crews have been busy for some time prepping areas on Vail Pass or Vail Mountain for the Teva Mountain Games. We feel good about where we are today and where we need to be for the event.
VAIL PASS COURSES:
Vail Pass Half Marathon
Korbel Road Bike Time Trial presented by Thule
CDOT has been busy plowing these courses. Throughout the Town of Vail the course is ready to run. As you head up Vail Pass on the old Highway 6 there is still a lot of snow. CDOT has taken a road blower (think snow blower the size of a semi-truck) all the way to the top of the Pass and we anticipate both the Road Bike Time Trial and Half Marathon courses to be ride able/runnable by early next week. The picture above was taken yesterday. It will be fun to see bikers and runners competing with snow banks along the course (but not “on” the course).
VAIL MOUNTAIN COURSES:
Volvo X-Country Mountain Bike presented by Korbel
Volvo 10K Spring Runoff presented by Garmin
Eukanuba RockyDog Trail Run presented by Ruff Wear
Vail Resorts has been hard at work on Vail Mountain. Heavy duty equipment has been clearing Vail Mountain service roads for weeks and they recently dispatched crews to begin clearing single track. We are in the process of evaluating the trails over the next couple of days and will be bringing in additional labor to ensure we have solid X-Country Mountain Bike and 10K Spring Runoff courses. The service roads are currently runnable but we hope to have single track clear for the event as well.
EVENT BASE AREAS:
Mountain Plaza/The Vista Bahn and Golden Peak
Bouldering Events, Slopestyle Biking & Dog Events
The lower flanks of Vail Mountain including Mountain Plaza/The Vista Bahn and the Golden Peak base areas are melting out nicely. Vail Resorts cleared both areas a couple weeks ago and as of today we have a snow free footprint for the Teva Slopestyle presented by Chipotle event. We have been receiving dirt deliveries over the past couple of days and will begin shaping the Slopestyle course on Monday. Both Mountain Plaza and Golden Peak are wet and muddy right now, but should dry out nicely. Construction on the Climbing Wall will begin late next week.
A special thanks goes out to Vail Mountain, the US Forest Service and CDOT for all their time and effort.
0 comments:
Post a Comment