Best Name Change 2008 | Elitch Gardens | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Name Change

Elitch Gardens

Old-time Denverites never quite sidled up to the idea of "Six Flags" Elitch Gardens. While it might not have made a difference to the typical thrill-seeking park-goer, anyone who remembers the real Elitch Gardens that once thrived near the now-redeveloped intersection of 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street must have smiled, at least a little bit, when Six Flags dumped the relocated Platte Valley amusement park and the new management company immediately reinstated the original name. Now, if they could only conjure up the beautiful flower-filled pathways and picnic grounds of yore, the once-renowned Trocadero Ballroom or the original Wildcat and Mister Twister roller coasters.

Best New Bowling Alley

The Falcon

Cassandra Kotnik
Bowling is the rock and roll of sports. It's loud, unabashedly rough around the edges and involves embarrassing fashion choices. It seemed like the perfect match, then, when the fading Sport Bowl Lanes & Billiards on South Broadway was snatched up last August by Steve Schalk, owner of the nearby Gothic Theatre. Sure enough, Schalk invested the same care and creativity into his bowling joint that he did into his theater, and now the alley, rechristened the Falcon (yes, the name refers to Han Solo's spaceship), features eight gleaming lanes, a top-of-the-line sound system, a 250-person live-music venue, an open kitchen serving Angus sliders and a fully stocked bar. May the force be with you.

Best New Ski Lift

Panoramic Express
Winter Park Resort

When Winter Park opened its Parsenn Bowl, it introduced skiers to miles of great new runs and untracked tree skiing but also the sort of lines it hadnt seen in decades, since there was only one very slow, two-person chair taking you to the top. But all that ended this year when the resort added the speedy, $8 million Panoramic Express, North Americas highest six-person chairlift. The name supplied by Winter Park fan Pat Barron, who was inspired by a train that once had that moniker is fitting, because the Panoramic takes you above 12,000 feet, where you get a stunning view of the mountains and the valley below.

Best New Ski Lift

Panoramic Express

When Winter Park opened its Parsenn Bowl, it introduced skiers to miles of great new runs and untracked tree skiing — but also the sort of lines it hadn't seen in decades, since there was only one very slow, two-person chair taking you to the top. But all that ended this year when the resort added the speedy, $8 million Panoramic Express, North America's highest six-person chairlift. The name — supplied by Winter Park fan Pat Barron, who was inspired by a train that once had that moniker — is fitting, because the Panoramic takes you above 12,000 feet, where you get a stunning view of the mountains and the valley below.

Best New Ski Terrain

Montezuma Bowl

Granted, Arapahoe Basin is still teeny tiny compared to its sisters in the Vail Resorts umbrella. But this season marked the largest expansion of its sixty-year existence. With 400 acres and 36 blue, black and double-black runs, the opening of Montezuma Bowl made the ski area 80 percent bigger. Accessed by the new fixed-grip quad Zuma lift, the area is wide open, with lots of different terrain options — from soft bumps and moderate steeps to rocks and drops and trees. You can spend the whole day there and never go down the same way twice.

Best New Sport

Recreational Tree Climbing

After "Ponderosa" Harv Teitelbaum saw an arborist on television talking about a new sport he'd just invented — recreational tree climbing — his life was never the same. Recreational tree climbing uses a harness, arborist rope and special techniques to safely climb into trees. Teitelbaum met the arborist and trained under him, and now he's the Evergreen man behind Tree Climbing Colorado, an affiliate in good standing of Tree Climbers International. Private climbs are available for booking at $25 to $30 per person; individual basic tree-climbing courses, which are designed to teach potential climbers everything they need to know to climb on their own, are $450. You could use the tree in your mom's back yard, of course; just try not to break any limbs — yours or the tree's.

Best Nostalgic Sports Signing

Peter Forsberg

In the course of one week, the Rockies re-signed former fan favorite Neifi Perez, the team's shortstop from 1996 to 2001, and the Avalanche brought back Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg. All inspire good memories for sports fans, but the Forsberg deal was clearly the best. Not only is Foppa, who skated for the Avs from 1995 to 2004, the player who could have the biggest impact on his team, but he's a reminder of the two Stanley Cups he helped the Avalanche win. Welcome home, Peter.

Best Nugget

Eduardo Najera

Yeah, we know: The Nuggets would be nowhere without Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and so on. But we also realize that the team would be in a much better playoff position if everyone on the squad exhibited the passion and heart of Eduardo Najera. Although he's not as naturally gifted as many, if not most, of his fellow ballers, Najera expends maximum effort each time his sneakers touch the court, hustling after every loose ball, risking life and limb against bigger, stronger players and making defense a priority. If Melo, A.I. and company followed suit, the Nugs could be world beaters instead of underachievers.

Best Old Bowling Alley

Wheat Ridge Lanes

Wheat Ridge Lanes caters almost exclusively to league players during the week, but on Friday and Saturday nights, anyone can enjoy open bowling and $6 pitchers of Bud poured from the bar. And not just any bar: This one is called Ye Olde Country Club, and while it is indeed olde, it doesn't look much like a country club. But that's a good thing, because the goal here is to sit back and relax, maybe catch a game on TV. The twelve-lane alley has remained relatively free of the newfangled gimmicks found at other spots around town. This is kickin' it olde-school.

Best Old Ski Lift

The Ski Train

Between increasingly heavy traffic and Texans who'll never learn how to maneuver in snow, the drive up I-70 has become a double diamond, the toughest run you might make all day. All aboard the Ski Train! This Denver tradition got its start generations ago, when kids in the Eskimo Ski Club met up at Union Station for the trip by train to Winter Park; it was resurrected in the late 1980s, when Phil Anschutz acquired the train along with its parent company, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Over the past twenty years, the train has gotten a complete overhaul, including new cars with comfortable seating and bars, and it's also expanded its schedule from just weekends to include Fridays in February and Thursdays in March. No matter the weather, the Ski Train pushes on, depositing you at the base of Winter Park, Denver's own ski area. But the real treat is the return trip, when you can ride — and drink — in style while I-70 drivers just spin their wheels.

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