RSS
Great White Shark Greg Norman swims in former glory at British Open
Jul 18, 2008 —
Editor’s note: This story on golfing great Greg Norman first ran in Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine in 2006. Since then, Norman divorced longtime wife Laura and married tennis legend Chris Evert, whose former husband, ski racer Andy Mill, first introduced Evert and Norman. Norman, now 53, improbably was leading the British Open after three rounds at Royal...
First Descents and so much more: the life of Brad Ludden
Jun 22, 2008 —
In the summer of 2001, pro kayaker Brad Ludden was in the passenger seat of a Cessna 182 airplane, flying over the famed Chugach Mountains of Alaska. From beneath his well-trimmed blonde hair, Ludden peered out of a tiny window, scanning the mountains below for any sign of a runnable river or whitewater creek. Along with him were other pro kayakers and a film...
SkiEO: Vail chief makes jump from Wall Street to Pearl Street
Jun 1, 2008 —
In just over two years on the job, Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz has warmed to his very public position at the helm of the state's top ski company, emerging from the lucrative but relatively obscure world of a Wall Street private equity firm to grab numerous headlines directing Vail's new-found environmental ethic.
His first day on the job in 2006, which Katz...
Frequent Vail visitor Jerry Springer talks trash TV, political ambitions with realvail.com
May 21, 2008 —
Politics are still very much in the blood of former Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer, but talk to him these days – as realvail.com did last week – and it's clear he's resigned to the bloody spectacle of his wildly successful and theatrically violent television show.
Springer, 64, still calls Ohio home, but vacations every summer in the Vail Valley,...
On edge: skiing with Phil Mickelson at Beaver Creek
Apr 27, 2008 —
My question was a simple one - could you beat Tiger Woods on a NASTAR course? - but the devilish grin on Phil Mickelson's face was classic Lefty, revealing the hyper-competitive complexities of the man: "If he's comparable to you, yeah.
We were riding Centennial chairlift in mid-March of 2005, and Mickelson had just beaten me head-to-head in three straight...
Aviation pioneer Fossett remembered at Beaver Creek service
Mar 21, 2008 —
Renowned aviator Steve Fossett was remembered by friends and family Thursday as man driven by the loftiest of ambitions but grounded by the most down-to-earth of characters.
In his opening remarks to a gathering of nearly 200 well-wishers at the Vilar Center for the Arts, friend and fellow Beaver Creek homeowner Jim Donohue noted the upscale resort...
Scot Schmidt: still limiting his exposure after all these years
Feb 22, 2008 —
Extreme-skiing pioneer Scot Schmidt built his whole career on the exposure of ski-film classics such as “The Blizzard of Aahhh’s” and “License to Thrill,” but he always tried to avoid exposure when it came to the impossibly steep lines he skied.
The current push to bag first descents on big mountains never appealed to Schmidt.
“I never really considered...
Dr. Richard Steadman: an active legacy
Jan 22, 2008 —
Dr. Richard Steadman’s skills with a scalpel have earned Olympic medals, NFL sack records, Super Bowl rings and countless world championships.
But the Vail Valley’s own “surgeon of the stars” would much rather be remembered for something other than salvaging or prolonging the careers of skiers such as Phil Mahre, Picabo Street and...
From stretch pants to riches
Dec 11, 2007 —
One of the prerequisites of being a “local” in the Vail Valley – far more important than tenure (after all, newbies who moved here this millennium affix “longtime” to their local tag) – is a good story about how you got here.
For instance, I was celebrating my birthday with some friends on the Beach at Arapahoe Basin ski area in the...
King George: Gillett a lasting local icon
Oct 21, 2007 —
George Gillett Jr. is one of the most media-shy moguls in America, a man who is at once intensely private and at the same time amazingly adept at using mass media and marketing schemes to sell his products to a fickle public – from all-natural hamburgers to new cars to pro hockey season passes to ski lift tickets.
Rarely one to seek...
RSS