Many Boulder residents rely on the beautiful and abundant outdoors to keep physically fit and mentally sound. But when we look out our windows and see a pillar of smoke rising from behind the Flatirons, we may consider alternative ways to stay in shape.

A park ranger died during a rescue yesterday on Mt. Rainier, a 14,410-foot glacier-coated volcano in Washington State that attracts thousands of climbers each year.

This Saturday, many people will rock climb, hike and walk around in the beautiful Colorado sunshine. But some of them will do so in support of ovarian cancer research with the HERA Women’s Cancer Foundation’s Climb4Life Colorado.

We left Vail just before 7 a.m. for the hour ride to the No Name exit in Glenwood Canyon. Stunning vistas and curving turns threatened to lull me back to sleep until Swanson, raft guide trainee and the person I had secretly put in charge of resuscitating me if I ended up swallowing copious amounts of mountain runoff, murmured, “That’s where we’ll be rafting today … right down there.”

An avalanche on Mt. McKinley's West Buttress during the early morning hours of June 14, 2012 is presumed to have claimed the lives of four Japanese climbers. The five-member Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation (MWAF) expedition was descending Motorcycle Hill near 11,800-feet at 2:00 am Thursday morning when an avalanche swept them all downhill. The five were travelling as one rope team, although the rope broke during the avalanche.

Seven-time Tour de France champ and cancer activist Lance Armstrong is back in the news, but not for great physical feats.

In addition to completing personal mountaineering goals this climbing season, Moniz says he hopes to gain a deeper grasp of the impacts his mountain travels have had on his brain, and he is working with a team of brain scientists to study his brain.

Ever since Olympic basketball gold medalist Sergei Belov's memorable torch run in 1980 at the Moscow Games where he appeared to run over the heads of athletes into Central Lenin Stadium, lighting the Olympic Cauldron has become one of the most anticipated events of the Opening Ceremonies. We've seen the fire lit via bow and flaming arrow (Barcelona, 1992), and from a pool of water (Sydney, 2000).

Scott Jurek lopes down the road before taking a seat at a table outside Boxcar Coffee on Pearl Street. He sips water while talking about what he eats, how he runs ultramarathons and his new book about both.

Alex Willie might just be the best bike racer you’ve never heard of. He’s fast, damn fast, and he’s headed for the big time, with sponsorships from some of the best brands in cycling.