This winter, Breckenridge joins a handful of resorts around the country boasting 22-foot superpipes, the new standard-size halfpipe for the Olympics and Winter X Games. The pipe allows riders to go bigger and land tricks considered impossible just a few years ago. Here, a breakdown of why bigger is better. Hangtime Greater height means riders... MORE

 Quick Study  Just two days after he first snapped on skis, Denver native Bobby Brown landed his first trick—a 360. He was 12. Six years later, the skier pulled off the first-ever switch double misty 1440 (four full rotations in the air) at the 2010 Winter X Games in Aspen and won two gold medals. “It was a pretty indescribable feeling... MORE

It’s a windless morning at Steamboat Ski Resort, and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” pulses through a bright Gondola Square. Shuffling across the slushy snow, skiers line up to board the Steamboat Gondola, but first they must unzip, de-layer, and turn out their pockets. Like travelers at Denver International Airport, these would-be gondola riders... MORE

Telluride Boxed in by the breathtaking peaks of the San Juans, Telluride is an enclave revered as much for its scenic majesty as its historic lore and recreational opportunities. It suggests the kind of rugged romance that inspires epic road trips and wistful song lyrics (thank you, Tim McGraw). A 6.5-hour drive from Denver, the mining-turned-ski... MORE

We usually don’t think twice about hopping on that new high-speed quad and beelining it to the virgin backside for some turns—which makes it easy to forget the perpetual drain on the surrounding forests and wildlife. As long as demand continues, however—the ski industry generates a whopping $2.6 billion a year for Colorado’s economy—ski operations... MORE

Day Hikes The Summer White House at Mount Falcon ParkIndian Hills Don't get too excited—you won't spot President Barack Obama and the first fam at Mt. Falcon Park, as businessman John Brisben Walker's early 20th century plan to build a summer retreat for the presidents ran out of money. Today, only a lily-white marble cornerstone and a crumbling... MORE

It's a sunny Saturday morning in the dead of summer. You're in dire need of cooling off. The city streets are practically sizzling. Plan of escape: Cache la Poudre, just over an hour's drive north to Fort Collins. No, not for fishing, nor for swimming—although that is a likely, if unintended, possibility. We're talking tubing, in a good old-... MORE