{"id":795093,"date":"2019-04-23T10:32:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T16:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=364865"},"modified":"2019-04-23T10:32:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T16:32:13","slug":"taking-outdoor-adventuring-to-the-extreme-sponsored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/taking-outdoor-adventuring-to-the-extreme-sponsored\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking outdoor adventuring to the extreme (sponsored)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mark Koob soars over the Town of Frisco after skinning up Mount Royal and speed-flying from the summit.<\/strong>
Courtesy Mark Koob<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sun isn\u2019t up yet but Frisco resident Mark Koob is already skinning up a mountain so he can launch himself off it \u2014 with or without skis attached to his feet \u2014 to enjoy a frigid flight over Summit County before he heads to work for the day.<\/p>\n

When Koob isn\u2019t teaching band at Summit Middle School, you can usually find him speed flying. It\u2019s kind of like paragliding, but it\u2019s a lot faster and the skiing element always keeps things interesting.<\/p>\n

Some days, he\u2019ll even speed-fly to work. How many people can say they commute to work like that?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of like-minded people here. I\u2019ll wake up and think, \u2018what do I want to do today? I think I\u2019ll go for a run \u2014 I wonder which runner friend hasn\u2019t worked out yet today,\u2019\u201d Koob says. \u201cIn Summit County, when you say you like running up mountains, you don\u2019t get looked at like a weirdo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tight community<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From his home in Frisco\u2019s Peak One Neighborhood, Koob can skin up Mount Victoria, fly down and land in his front yard \u2014 all before the work day begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter running up mountains you have to run down them, and that wears on your knees and legs,\u201d Koob says about how he first got hooked on speed flying. \u201cWith the lightweight harness and light paraglider, I can run up the mountain with a 5-pound backpack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koob says there are about 5 or 6 people in the county who speed fly pretty regularly. It\u2019s just one outdoor adventure out of a seemingly endless amount of options in winter, spring, summer and fall. Living at 9,000 feet also helps him in his other adventurous quests, such as his \u201clittle sea-to-summit project\u201d where he bike tours from sea level up to base camps where he then mountaineers. Last year he biked across Chile, up and over the Andes Mountains before summiting Aconcagua in Argentina, at nearly 23,000 feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to Denali in June and doing a big ski traverse there. Living at 9,000 feet means we can get there and go camp at 12,000 or 13,000 feet, whereas others have to get climatized at 7,000 feet first. It saves us a lot of time,\u201d Koob says.<\/p>\n

One thing that isn\u2019t hard to do in Summit County is find friends who are into some of the same extreme adventures. Koob says the skimo racing community is especially tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see people out on the trail doing fun things \u2014 harder, steeper, more remote lines,\u201d he says. \u201cYou think you\u2019re the only one out there and then you find these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sport as a career<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Joe Howdyshell\u2019s athletic journey led him to create the Summit Endurance Academy, an endurance coaching company that provides \u201cbadass coaching\u201d to private athletes, junior racers and teams. Howdyshell grew up in Wyoming playing baseball, basketball and soccer. He also swam and was a cross-country runner and skier.<\/p>\n

He accepted a job in 2009 at the Summit Nordic Ski Club in Frisco before \u201cdabbling\u201d in mountain biking, road biking and a handful of triathlons. That\u2019s when he got into ski mountaineering (skimo) and racing.<\/p>\n

A typical week for Howdyshell includes plenty of coaching, but he also makes time for about 20,000 to 30,000 vertical feet of skimo. That\u2019s about 90 minutes to two hours worth most days, plus a bigger day on the weekend.<\/p>\n

Living in Summit County surrounded by the Rocky Mountains provides daily motivation for people like Koob and Howdyshell, for whom the mountains are always calling. Howdyshell, who lives in Breckenridge, finds himself skinning up the resort a lot these days due to his busy schedule. In the summer, he says Frisco\u2019s Mount Royal is one of his favorite places in the whole world.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can basically stand on top of the Town of Frisco and it feels like you\u2019re looking straight down,\u201d Howdyshell says.<\/p>\n

Those kinds of rewards are exactly why locals and visitors climb these mountains that test their endurance, strength, willpower and fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very easy test for us \u2014 \u2018I\u2019m going to climb up it or run down it.\u2019 That\u2019s the solo part of it \u2014 it makes us feel good about ourselves having done that,\u201d Howdyshell says. \u201cAnd I also think we like to be part of a group \u2014 we\u2019ve very social animals. It\u2019s very easy up here to find people you get along with socially and who also value that accomplishment of running up that mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chasing dreams<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mike Minor moved to Frisco in 2013 with one goal: become a professional snowboarder. He worked at Copper Mountain as a liftie for two seasons and got hooked up with the Adaptive Action Sports crew. He started racing and immediately winning \u2014 a lot. Within three months, he had his first invite to a major international competition in The Netherlands. Minor also picked up two medals \u2014 gold for banked slalom and bronze for snowboard-cross \u2014 at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n

Minor, who was born missing his right forearm, won the banked slalom World Cup title in his first season of international racing.<\/p>\n

A Pennsylvania native, he says Summit County is his new home. He\u2019s been to 15 countries in three years to compete, but there\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mountains, the people, the lifestyle \u2014 there\u2019s something healthy and holistic about it,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone you meet here when you\u2019re living this kind of lifestyle, they believe in the same things and they want to help you succeed in the goals you\u2019ve set for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howdyshell says the entire Summit County community welcomes and encourages the pursuit of outdoor passions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supported incredibly well by local government and local businesses,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ski areas are all really good about participating in the community and hosting races, and having very kind uphill policies. It feels to me like everybody\u2019s in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find your next adventure in Frisco<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Frisco, there\u2019s no shortage of places for adrenaline-pumping fun. Here are a few favorites:<\/p>\n

Winter at the Frisco Adventure Park<\/p>\n

A multi-lane tubing hill, beginner ski and ride hill, horse drawn sleigh rides and 27 kilometers of Nordic ski trails and 10k of snowshoe trails make the Frisco Adventure Park a hub of winter sports action. This is the ideal place to learn to ski and snowboard with the assistance of a Copper Mountain instructor, or if you want to take a turn at cross-country skiing, the Frisco Nordic Center has you covered with daily lessons and even some specialty clinics. A 4,000-square-foot day lodge provides respite on cold days.<\/p>\n

Summer at the Frisco Adventure Park<\/p>\n

Summer at the Frisco Adventure Park uncovers miles of trails that wind through the forest and along the shores of Dillon Reservoir and are ideal for hiking, mountain biking and trail running. There are also campgrounds, picnic facilities, chuck wagon rides, a ball field and multi-purpose field.<\/p>\n

Frisco Skate Park<\/p>\n

The Frisco Skate Park will open this summer with a $600,000+ redesign and build by Evergreen Skateparks. This park checks in at nearly 30,000 square feet and showcases elements ideal for every level and type of skater. This will be the perfect summer skate destination with a campground, disc golf course and Dillon Reservoir nearby.<\/p>\n

Frisco Bike Park<\/p>\n

The Frisco Bike Park has four different park amenities for riders of all sizes and abilities: a pump track, a slopestyle course, dirt jumps and a dual slalom course. Even if you are not looking to get off the ground with your bike, this park has a lot to offer the average mountain biker who wants to get better at riding trails.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Koob soars over the Town of Frisco after skinning up Mount Royal and speed-flying from the summit.Courtesy Mark Koob The sun isn\u2019t up yet but Frisco resident Mark Koob is already skinning up a mountain so he can launch himself off it \u2014 with or without skis attached to his feet \u2014 to enjoy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-795093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 20:48:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}