Author: John Schroyer

I climbed the Black Canyon of the Gunnison for the first time Halloween weekend with my pal Mike Hedlund. One of the routes we did was a classic 5.9, called Escape Artist. Here is another video of my Officer Friendly climb in August. A web cam photo of Black Canyon, Nov. 4, 2013. (courtesy National…

Nestled in the heart of Clear Creek Canyon, just west of Golden, is a classic climbing sport route known as Officer Friendly. For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a sport route is a line up a rock face that has pre-placed bolts that climbers clip into as they ascend. Though I’ve climbed Officer Friendly totally…

MANITOU SPRINGS – The Manitou Springs City Council on Tuesday set up four possible courses of action on retail recreational marijuana sales for a vote at its meeting next week. Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder asked staff to prepare draft language for two potential moratoriums on retail sales, a ballot measure that would ask voters…

The Hear Here poetry slam rocked Stargazers Theatre Wednesday evening, when poets from up and down the front range blasted the venue with verse on everything from outrage on education to the beauties of shoelessness. “It’s a word circus,” laughed Hear Here curator Susan Peiffer, who’s been slamming competitively since 2007. “It’s performance poetry.” Slams…

The Hear Here poetry slam rocked Stargazers Theatre Wednesday evening, when poets from up and down the front range blasted the venue with verse on everything from outrage on education to the beauties of shoelessness. “It’s a word circus,” laughed Hear Here curator Susan Peiffer, who’s been slamming competitively since 2007. “It’s performance poetry.” Slams…

Belly dancing. Just the name of the art conjures up images of desert sands, wealthy sultans, and veiled exotic women. On Saturday, the pastime came to Colorado Springs, in the middle of a blizzard. The professional dancer Sadie, who doesn’t use a last name, has begun offering classes to local women at the multicultural event…

It’s a race against time. A test of coordination. It can be a solo trial, or a team effort. It’s… sport stacking. From around Colorado, roughly 250 competitors converged on the Olympic Training Complex in Colorado Springs on Saturday to see how fast they truly are at what’s often called “cup stacking.” Stacking is a…

Swagger the sheepdog just won’t stop winning awards. After taking second place for best in show and winning the herding group at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach bestowed the Spirit of the Springs award on the pooch at a small ceremony on Tuesday. “Swagger is an unbelievable dog,” Bach…

In the late 1980s, when Lance Armstrong was 17 years old, he happened to stop in at Criterium Bicycles in Colorado Springs. Brian Gravestock was a mechanic at the shop at the time, and he’ll never forget meeting Armstrong. “In 30 years as a bike mechanic, I’ve never met anyone as rude as him,” said…