GoPro Mountain Games registration opens Friday for popular summer event in Vail

VAIL — Registration opens Friday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. for the 20th annual GoPro Mountain Games. The event, which welcomes thousands of mountain athletes and tens of thousands of spectators to Vail each year, is set to take place from June 7-12, 2022.

The list of competitions reads like a “dream-come-true” for outdoor-sports enthusiasts. Early-bird registration rates will be available for events including: fly-fishing, kayaking, rafting, stand-up paddleboarding, climbing, mountain biking, road biking, trail running, yoga, disc golf, DockDogs, kids’, junior, and family events, and more.

“When the snow melts and summer comes around there is a lot of bottled-up energy in the outdoor and mountain sports world. People want to get outside, get moving, and get together, and all of that positive energy will find a home at the 2022 GoPro Mountain Games in Vail,” said Dave Dressman, the event director for the GoPro Mountain Games, which is a project of the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation.

New events and old favorites are available as registration opens for the world-renowned summertime celebration of athletes, art, music, and mountains at MountainGames.com. Beginners, weekend warriors and pro athletes are all encouraged to sign up and compete. More than $130,000 in prize money will be up for grabs.

Concerts, art, and free spectating activities are also a big part of the event. The Mountains of Music concert lineup, ancillary events, art installations, spectator entertainment and more will be announced in the coming weeks and months.

The 2022 event will be the 20th anniversary of the Mountain Games. After a year off in 2020 due to the pandemic, the GoPro Mountain Games was among the first major events to open to spectators when a slightly pared-down version was held in 2021. The 2022 edition, according to organizers, will bring the event back to and beyond 2019 levels of activity and celebration.

The event will feature two additional days of competition (June 7-8) and will include new venues, new events, and a top-shelf concert lineup.

Announcement comes as Winter Mountain Games gets underway

The summer GoPro Mountain Games registration announcement comes as the Winter Mountain Games Preview event gets under way, also in Vail, Feb. 25-27. The event, which is also hosted by the Vail Valley Foundation, features USA Skimo national events, the Fat Tire Bike Challenge, XC Snowshoe 5K and 10K events, the 5K Dog Derby Snowshoe Race, the Nature Valley Bootlegger hill climb, plus live concerts from Low Cut Connie, Galactic, JoJo Hermann, and Moon Taxi, at Solaris in Vail Village Friday and Saturday evenings.

A full-fledged version of the Winter Mountain Games is planned for early 2023. To take part or learn more, visit Winter.MountainGames.com.

What’s new for summer Mountain Games?

• Six days of celebrating mountain lifestyle and culture. For the first time ever the GoPro Mountain Games will take place over six days rather than four. The event will open with the GoPro Dual Slalom bike competition qualifying round to take place June 7 at the Minturn Bike Park in Minturn, located 10 minutes away from Vail Village. GoPro Dual Slalom action will continue at the Minturn Bike Park through June 8. This action-packed new event will be held in partnership with the Town of Minturn, Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance and Strait Acres.
• Steep and sweet whitewater. The TINCUP Steep Creek Championships at Homestake Creek has long been known as the elite-level kayaking opener to the GoPro Mountain Games. The event will be held one day earlier than usual, on June 8, at its usual venue at Homestake Creek near Red Cliff. This move allows competitors to rest and shift focus to the GMC Kayak Freestyle qualifiers at the International Bridge in Vail Village on June 9.
• The return of climbing. Climbing makes its return to the GoPro Mountain Games for the first time since 2019 with the very popular CELSIUS Citizen Climbing as well as a North American Cup Series climbing event, in partnership with USA Climbing. The climbing wall will return to Mountain Plaza and events will take place June 9-12, with youth climbing leading the way on June 9.
• The adidas Terrex 20K Anniversary Run to celebrate 20 years. The adidas Terrex 10K Spring Runoff, the adidas Terrex Après 5K Trail Run, and the Rocky Dog Trail Run have long been staples of the GoPro Mountain Games trail running events. This year a new event, the adidas Terrex 20K Anniversary Run, will be added to the lineup to celebrate 20 years of the GoPro Mountain Games.
• Concerts at The Amp, family-friendly competitions, and more. The GoPro Mountain Games will once again feature a vibrant and interactive Mountain House Gear Town sponsor village, where spectators can engage with top outdoor brands throughout Vail. Gear Town opens on June 9 and continues through June 12.

The event will also host a variety of daytime music in multiple venues along with nightly concerts at the Vail Valley Foundation’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, the ever-popular Orijen DockDogs (and other dog-friendly) events, a wide array of kids adventure sports events and activities, slackline demonstrations, the return of the Nature Valley Mountain Mud Run, the legendary Pacifico 8-ball Kayak Sprint and much more.

The 2022 GoPro Mountain Games will also feature more junior divisions in bike and run events to accommodate more levels and age groups of riders.