Frisco, Colorado Running in the Winter

Whatever you decide, just be sure to keep calling it Frisco, they love that there and you'll really be thought of as a native.

That's the name of the town you moron. Frisco, CO (as in Colorado).

Whatever you decide, just be sure to keep calling it Frisco, they love that there and you'll really be thought of as a native.

Since it's actually called Frisco, it makes perfect sense to call it that. But what's in a name?

To the OP: Golden is an hour away if you truly need to run some longer/faster efforts on safer footing. It's tough to find safe snow/ice-free routes otherwise. But it won't take much to find a hotel with a treadmill. You could try some YakTrax type of cleats, but even then the options are limited. No one expects to see someone out running as they drive their monstrous SUVs toward the slopes and the roads are all narrower due to the snow-pack/snowplows.

I'd claim that it all depends on what winter brings, but it's the Colorado high country in the height of winter, so expect to run indoors.

Between the drought out west and global warming, there likely won't be much if any snow. If your family doesn't cancel the trip, being able to run won't be an issue.

There are several paved bike paths in and around Frisco which may be good for running. There is a path staring in downtown Frisco that runs along I-70 all the way to Vail, and even climbs Vail Pass. This could make for a great long-run route. There is also a path which goes around Lake Dillon, and continues down to Breckenridge. I am not sure how good the snow removal is on those paths, but they are worth checking out. As someone above suggested, you should look into getting some YakTracks in case you are running on compacted snow.

ifrm wrote:

Whatever you decide, just be sure to keep calling it Frisco, they love that there and you'll really be thought of as a native.

I love it when idiots try really hard to make you look like an idiot.

Trails are going to be doubful , but it will likely by clear enough to run on the paved paths around summit county then. It could be cold, but it could be 30s-40s. No indoor tracks, but last resort could be a treadmill at one of the rec centers. Here's your map:

http://www.co.summit.co.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/910

The path up to Breckenridge (you could take the free bus up and run downhill) is probably the nicest run. 500ft gain over 10mi.

The aforementioned bike path from Frisco to Vail Pass (12mi, 1600ft gain)/Vail (15mi past the pass) travels through Copper Mountain (8mi up with 650ft of gain).

You could follow the reservoir and climb up to Keystone.

When I lived in Breck, I liked running the dirt roads to the Left of Hwy 9 as you're driving into Breckenridge. Oh, and make sure you ski. Preferably up high and Breck or Copper.

I ski in breck every spring. Your best bet is the blue river bike path. Just hope it's plowed.

http://www.traillink.com/trail/blue-river-bikeway.aspx

Like Joggernaut said, getting out of the mountains is your best bet, and it's really not a bad trip, particularly if you make sure to go in the opposite direction of ski traffic.

Golden and nearby Morrison have great places to run - north/south table mountains, green mountain, red rocks, etc.

In Frisco, at best you'll be running on packed snow around town, which is actually pretty nice for any easy/recovery run (provided it's not 10F with blinding wind/snow, but it's no place for a high quality workout.

Lived in Frisco for a winter, back in the day.

As mentioned the path/road around Lake Dillon, and around town in Frisco are best. Also try the bike path that heads up to Copper-Vail pass. It was packed and we'd run that all winter.

Try some snowshoeing and XC skiing. The ski trails are very good.

I ran up there in February a few years back. Just run wherever the snow has been packed down. I got up early in the AM to run on the side road that goes from Frisco to Dillon. That early morning there was not too much traffic and the snow was packed down with just a few inches fluff on top - pretty good ground to run on without yaktrax.

On the flip side - if you are hit hard with a snowstorm during your stay (this is an El Nino year so it's possible) then all bets are off. You don't want to be anywhere exposed in those conditions. Average low in Frisco is in the low single digits.

Something else: a lot of the evergreen trees in and near Frisco have been cut down because of bark beetle. I think this has a positive effect in melting the exposed areas of trails and such.

I have a place up in Frisco, and during the winter, it is really hard to get a good workout in outside. The paths are NOT plowed, but some of them may be packed down enough that you can get in some easy runs or slow, long runs. The only plowed road where I have been able to get some speed in during the winter is the dam road connecting Frisco to Dillon, but there isn't a very wide shoulder and traffic can be heavy at times. Treadmill workouts are your best bet (there is a private gym in town, or rec centers in neighboring towns) if you want to stay in the area. However, it can be hard to get a quality workout in at 9000 ft. in Frisco, so it might be worth the one hour drive down to the front range (Golden, Lakewood) where you can run at 5500 ft. on a dry surface / track.

I grew up in Leadville, which is 30 miles away. Unless it's a mild winter, the roads will be snowpacked in December January. Running on snowpacked roads isn't that bad-you'll run a little slower, but you would anyway because of the altitude. If you can cross-country ski, there are some great Nordic centers in Frisco, Breckenridge, and Keystone. If you are willing to backcountry ski, there are some great areas for that as well-Montezuma, Shrine Pass, Mayflower Gulch, and the Climax observatory (though they might have closed that area down-new corporation owns the Climax mine.) The bike paths previously mentioned are also skiable, but there's no set tracks.

If you've got to run on dry roads, the hour drive to the west suburbs of Denver is not bad on a weekday. The Bear Creek Reservoir has paved roads that are plowed-and will be dry a day or two after a 2 foot blizzard. Best of all, almost no traffic. Park at the fox hollow golf course, and run on the road over the dam. 5 miles of cleared asphalt-not a loop, but out and back is a 10 miler.

If you want an indoor track, there's a 160 yarder in Leadville. (11 laps to the mile-if I had a nickel for every lap I've run on that puppy.......) Couple bucks to get in the door-half hour from Frisco. There's some free cross-country trails at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, and a really nice Nordic center at Cooper Hill north of Leadville on Hwy 24 (the road to vail, not frisco) They'll even cook you a ski in gourmet dinner in a yurt. Well worth the trip.

I guess I'd advise you to enjoy the mountains of Colorado, rather that commuting to Denver to run on your vacation. Don't worry too much about the training. Seriously-if you can't XC ski, take a couple lessons, and I bet by the end of the week you'll be doing well enough to get a decent workout in.

I grew up in Leadville, which is 30 miles away. Unless it's a mild winter, the roads will be snowpacked in December January. Running on snowpacked roads isn't that bad-you'll run a little slower, but you would anyway because of the altitude. If you can cross-country ski, there are some great Nordic centers in Frisco, Breckenridge, and Keystone. If you are willing to backcountry ski, there are some great areas for that as well-Montezuma, Shrine Pass, Mayflower Gulch, and the Climax observatory (though they might have closed that area down-new corporation owns the Climax mine.) The bike paths previously mentioned are also skiable, but there's no set tracks.

If you've got to run on dry roads, the hour drive to the west suburbs of Denver is not bad on a weekday. The Bear Creek Reservoir has paved roads that are plowed-and will be dry a day or two after a 2 foot blizzard. Best of all, almost no traffic. Park at the fox hollow golf course, and run on the road over the dam. 5 miles of cleared asphalt-not a loop, but out and back is a 10 miler.

If you want an indoor track, there's a 160 yarder in Leadville. (11 laps to the mile-if I had a nickel for every lap I've run on that puppy.......) Couple bucks to get in the door-half hour from Frisco. There's some free cross-country trails at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, and a really nice Nordic center at Cooper Hill north of Leadville on Hwy 24 (the road to vail, not frisco) They'll even cook you a ski in gourmet dinner in a yurt. Well worth the trip.

I guess I'd advise you to enjoy the mountains of Colorado, rather that commuting to Denver to run on your vacation. Don't worry too much about the training. Seriously-if you can't XC ski, take a couple lessons, and I bet by the end of the week you'll be doing well enough to get a decent workout in.