GoPro Mountain Games are back! This was fantastic news when it was first announced. Now it’s reality. The town is full with athletes and spectators. Water in rivers is rising, bike trails are in great…
Special to the Daily
GoPro Mountain Games organizer Tom Boyd, of the Vail Valley Foundation, says this year could redefine what the Mountain Games mean to people seeking outdoor recreation.
Former NFL player Orlando Franklin; former NHL player Brooks Laich; former mixed martial artist Mark Weir; pro skier Chris Benchetler; eight-time world champion runner Joseph Gray; four-time mountain biking world champion Brian Lopes; and star yoga teacher Arielle Shipe are a few of the participants the 2021 GoPro Mountain Games has attracted.
Boyd said the diverse group of athletes showing interest in this year’s mountain games is a reflection of a collective yearning among people to enjoy some time together in the outdoors.
GoPro Mountain Games/Special to the Daily
Set at the beginning of what could be a very busy summer, the June 10-13 GoPro Mountain Games could be the event that brings us back to some sense of normalcy here locally, said Tom Boyd with the Vail Valley Foundation.
“Every year, the Mountain Games is the kick off to summer in Vail,” Boyd said. “Well now, we’re going to be somewhere along the way to the post-pandemic world, so it could be the kickoff to that here too … pandemics don’t just disappear overnight, but I think this will be the first big celebration that we have. People are dying to get out and see one another, even if it means they’re physically distanced.”