Colorado Mountain Games shifts river races, adds higher run route
Low snowpack pushed Gore Creek races to Glenwood Springs and the Colorado River, while the 20K climbed to Mid-Vail for the first time.
The weather reshaped the 2026 GoPro Mountain Games in real time. Low river levels forced organizers to move several paddling races off Gore Creek, while rapid snowmelt opened a new, higher route for runners that climbed to Mid-Vail for the first time in event history.
The 24th annual festival ran June 4-7 in Vail, and organizers said the winter’s historic low snowpack had affected river levels across the region. Five water events still went forward, but each had to be adapted to current conditions. The Pacifico Kayak Freestyle shifted to the Glenwood Whitewater Activity Area in Glenwood Springs for qualifiers and semifinals on Friday, June 5, with finals on Saturday, June 6. The GoPro Down River Kayak Sprint, Pacifico Down River R2 Raft Sprint and Slifer Smith & Frampton Down River SUP Sprint moved to the Upper Colorado River between the Pumphouse and Radium recreation areas in Bond for Saturday, June 6. The YETI Catch Wars also moved to the Upper Colorado River on Friday, June 5.
Not every river race could be saved. The Pacifico Gore IV Kayak Challenge, Pacifico Gore IV Raft Challenge, Pacifico Kayak Cross and Pacifico Raft Cross were cancelled for 2026 because projected water levels were too low. Peggy Wolfe, the Vail Valley Foundation senior director of operations, said contingency planning is part of every Mountain Games, and the goal is to keep the event safe and memorable.
On the running side, the adaptation played out in a different direction. The adidas TERREX 20K Trail Run became a single-loop course that climbed to Mid-Vail for the first time, gained 2,500 feet of elevation and topped out at nearly 9,900 feet. The festival hosted eight running events across the four-day schedule, including a new Kids Mini Dash for runners ages 6 to 12, a Nature Valley Mountain Mud Run with one larger Mega Mud Pit, and a post-race clean-up station that replaced the old rinse zone with rinse-free body wipes and towels as part of the Protect Our Playground water-conservation effort.
The scale of the weekend made the changes matter well beyond the course tape. More than 90,000 people came to the 2024 edition, and the 2026 spectator guide said all 35-plus athletic competitions were free to watch, with evening concerts at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and a new drone show at dusk on Saturday, June 6, marking Vail’s 60th anniversary, Colorado’s 150th and the United States’ 250th. For anyone planning rafting, trail running or a high-country weekend, this year’s Mountain Games offered the clearest lesson in the Rockies: when snowpack and runoff shift, the map shifts with them.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
