Vail Valley Foundation to launch Winter Teva Mountain Games in 2012

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery certainly rings true in the case of the enormously successful Teva Mountain Games in Vail, as the Vail Valley Foundation announced plans for a new Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer event to be held Feb, 9-12, 2012. The announcement was made Friday at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"The idea of a Winter Teva Mountain Games is something we have talked about for several years," said Ceil Folz, president of the Vail Valley Foundation. "We believe the success of the summer Teva Mountain Games lends itself well to creating a similar event for the winter season. And with great collaboration from partners like Teva, Eddie Bauer and Vail, we are able to make this happen."

With the inaugural event set for 2012 in Vail, the Foundation plans to utilize the summer model to create a similar vibe among outdoor winter adventure athletes and fans. Created in 2002, the human powered, environmentally-friendly Teva Mountain Games has quickly grown to the point of hosting more than 2,500 adventure athletes and 40,000 spectators over the course of the annual four-day event.

"This is a natural evolution for Teva, the event and frankly the entire outdoor industry," said Joel Heath, global marketing director of Teva and the founder of the Mountain Games. "As Teva has evolved from a sandal brand to a year-round adventure footwear company offering winter shoes and boots, we wanted to support a platform where winter athletes could showcase their skills in front of the masses. Vail is the best place in the world to do that. We are excited to be a part of this epic offering to the adventure world and our shoes will be in the middle of the action."

The initial competition schedule for the four-day Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer calls for events that include ice climbing, on-snow biking, telemark skiing, Nordic competitions, running, dog events and a Ultimate Mountain Man/Woman combination event.

"All of us at Vail Resorts are excited about the 2012 launch of the Winter Teva Mountain Games with a core collection of events," said Chris Jarnot, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. "The summer Mountain Games has grown into an incredibly interactive event that allows outdoor lovers of all ages -- athletes and spectators both -- to become involved and participate, and we look forward to bringing that same spirit to the winter version here at Vail."

The inaugural Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer will feature an impressive year-one prize purse of $60,000, while also allowing amateur weekend warriors the opportunity to toe the starting line with some of the best professional winter competitors in the world.

"Eddie Bauer has seen great returns from our sponsorship of the summer Mountain Games," said Kristen Elliott, director of marketing programs at Eddie Bauer. "The winter event will allow us to reach a passionate outdoors audience that not only enjoys seeing the pros compete year-round, but enjoys the challenge and excitement of participating themselves."

As with the summer edition, the Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer, will include art and music components, with snow and ice sculpture contests, free concerts, films and mountain lifestyle parties. All events will be held in Vail.

"The Town of Vail is very excited about the Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer as an evolution of the highly successful summer model," said Kelli McDonald, economic development manager for the Town of Vail. "This event gives our guests and residents an opportunity to experience a great adventure series in both seasons which promotes the world-class year-round brand of Vail."

The Winter Teva Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer are a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. More information: www.tevamountaingames.com, @TevaMtnGames on Twitter and Teva Mountain Games on Facebook.