Teva Mountain Games Day One

What's going on everybody?! I do apologize for the long hiatus but life doesn't stop (no not even to write about daily epics)..But I have an excellent adventure I want to share with ya'll!

So about a year ago, Me and Aimee had been watching the tube when a highlight reel for the 2011 Teva Mountain Games came on. I was familiar with the games due to the importance of the Bouldering Event, The World Cup. But the beautiful scenery of Vail, Colorado made my pupils dilate. Jokingly, I mentioned how awesome it'd be to travel there and experience the games. She smiled.

Jump ahead to December of last year. Aimee surprised me one day by seriously comtimplating the trip. Next thing I know, BOOM plane tickets purchased, BOOM hotel room booked, BOOM got psyched!

Last Friday, Myself and Aims were dropped off at the airport geeking out big time, but the lack of experience in an airport kept us in check. The fear of missing our flight, turbulence
or something worse (watch The Grey) had me tripping out a little. Yea, it wasn't a smooth plane ride to Denver and Denver to Eagle wasn't much better. The big highlight of traveling was a New Belgium Brewery Cafe in the Dener airport. My friends will tell you, Fat Tire is my beverage of choice. We enjoyed two beers each and ate breakfast burrito's (2 hour time change)..good times. A 45 minute shuttle and a crazy driver named CJ later, we stepped into Vail Village! Aims was dressed super heady and my swag was on full attack...Hello Teva Mountain Games!

  

Peace Out Charlotte

Capturing something while getting captured

Denver Airport

Eating a Colorado breakfast and drinking some Fatties at the New Belgium Brewery Cafe

The Teva Mountain Games is one of the top venues for all things outdoors. They host an array of events such as the Bouldering World Cup, Eukanuba Dog Long Jump, the Gibbon Slack Line Championships, Kayak Freestyle and River Run and so much more. Navigating Vail Village felt natural with its winding alleyways, restaurants, bars and stores. There were probably 200+ booths set up with vendors ranging from Thule racks, Black Diamond climbing equipment, Gibbon slack lines to GoPro cameras and Otterbox. Being a total gear junkie, I was foaming at the mouth.

TMG..Boom

We had come up with a pretty solid agenda (when I say "We", I mean Aimee) and Bouldering qualifiers was few hours away so we kicked it at the Gibbon Slack Line Championships for awhile.

Yea thats a backflip

Unreal...no other words describe what these cats did on a 2" piece of webbing. It's quite amazing to watch people who are incredibly good at their craft and I can say that Slack Lining is pretty legit. These dudes were back flipping, front flipping, 720's and other tricks I couldn't begin to describe. There was one dude in particular that stood out, a blonde afro, squinty eyes and massive grin, Andy Lewis. Those of you who watched this past year's SuperBowl Halftime Show, saw Andy rip it up on the slack line while Madonna performed. All the dudes went ham, Andy won his qualifier and Aimee and me moved on.

Yoga master

AL

Yes that tornado is Andy Lewis

Andy Lewis with some super style

Next stop was the Kayak Freestyle Competition. Dudes were flipping in their kayaks in this death eddie like it was nothing. I found myself having a hard time letting go of the shutter button on my Nikon d90, it was just too sick.

After awhile, we had to keep chugging along. Winding through massive crowds of people just as psyched as us and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the event, we were having a seriously good time. Then came time for the Men's Bouldering Qualifier! Walking for what seemed forever, I began geeking out about the pro's such as Daniel Woods, Kilian Fischhuber, Alex Puccio and Anna Stohr that were gonna be there. I'd seen one other bouldering comp in SLC with my good buddy, Chad DuBard a couple years back. Seeing people who you look up too and respect in person is pretty dope so I knew how cool the experience was gonna be. We cruised up the hill to a pretty descent size crowd and soaked it all in. The wall was just stupid cool with mirroring features on each side. The routes themselves were immaculate and aesthetically pleasing with the Volumes (by Motivation Volumes) and holds from Teknik and E-grips creating intricate sequences. This was just the qualifier for crying out loud!

Going into this adventure, I had chosen a pro who I wanted to win, Daniel Woods. In my opinion, this dude is the best boulderer in the world. Style oozes out of him while he shreds and I definitely respect his humility. He came out guns blazing, but quickly found out that this competition wasn't gonna be given to him. The routes fought back, but Woods fought harder. He made it up all the problems and I told Aims we could roll.

                

Before we bounced off to dinner we grabbed some high quality h2o and then it happened, I met Chris Danielson! To the average joe out there, the name Chris Danielson probably seems insignificant, but to a climbing fanatic and head route setter, meeting this dude is an honor! Chris Danielson is a genius route setter and probably is the best in the world at what he does. I have read countless interviews, magazine articles and watched every route setting video featuring this guy. He is also the sales rep. for the best climbing hold companies in the U.S. and Canada such as Teknik, Egrips and SoIll. Trust me, You'd be stoked! I said whad'up, shook hands, chatted a bit and took a pic..dinner time!

The man, the myth, the legend - Chris Danielson

The first tasty place that took our money was BOL. This restaurant was dope! It was super modern, ultra clean and cooked simple food with a lot of style. Aim's had some bomber chicken and mash potatoes and I inhaled some fancy spaghetti, washing it all down with some delicious brews.

With daylight running out and exhaustion from traveling, we had enough gas in the tank for one more event. Mountain Bike Slope style. Its one thing for dudes to bust tail whips and front flips on BMX bikes, but its a whole other beast on a mountain bike.

Our stomachs were full and our eyes were heavy, we quickly retreated back to the hotel and conked out. Day one had been truly epic and with an early wake up call the next morning, we needed a good nights rest. Day two was only a few hours away....

Photo Dump for Day Uno:

Stay tuned for Teva Mountain Games Day Two and Three