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June 28, 2012

Dave Wiens Named Mountain Sports Club Director at Western

Davewiens

Early this week, soon-to-be officially named Western State Colorado University made Gunnison valley super-athlete Dave Wiens the new director of the Western Mountain Sports Team, a separate club director for Skiing and Mountain Biking teams at Western.

Photo: Western Press Release

Western is nationally known for it’s prime location to pursue one’s athletic passions or professional dreams in the action sports world.  Just as Dave Wiens.  If you live in the Gunnison valley and don’t know who Dave Wiens is, pay attention!  Wiens started on the professional circuit in 1988 racing for Diamondback Bicycles and retired from professional cycling in 2004. In his professional career, he won two World Cup series races, finished third in a World Cup final and won the U.S. Mountain Biking National Championships twice. Wiens won six consecutive Leadville 100 races and became the first cyclist to break the seven-hour mark in 2007.  Dave is also known as “the guy who beat Lance Armstrong” at the Leadville 100.

Western athletes at the 2009 Mountain Biking State Championships at Winter Park, CO. Photo: Eric Booton.

Wiens, class of ’90 at Western, had this to say: “”While much about Western is new, excellence in mountain sports is part of our heritage. The Mountain Sports Team will be built on the foundation that has been established by a long list of Mountaineer mountain sports athletes whose accomplishments are part of the history and legacy of Western… I’m motivated to work with the two main pieces we have in place now, the mountain bike team and the ski team, and continue to build on what is already in place and has moved both of these teams forward during the last few years.  Additionally, I think that there are some yet-to-be explored opportunities out there which could fit nicely into the Mountain Sports Team program.”

Possible expansion opportunities include snowboarding, cyclocross and road cycling, ski mountaineering, trail running and whitewater kayaking.  The Mountain Sports teams will have access to some of the top recreational areas in the nation with close proximity to Hartman Rocks and Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

Western athletes at the Freeskiing World Tour World Championships at Snowbird, UT. Photo: Eric Freson.

Students at Western emphatically support the move. Sam Degenhard, a senior who has been heavily involved with club sports since his freshman year in ’09, had this to say: “It’s extremely exciting to see that the college/university has finally recognized the need for some strong, professional leadership in the management of competitive mountain sports at Western. For all mountain sports athletes at WSC whether on the snow or the dirt, the only direction is up. I can’t wait to see things take off.”

We at the West Elk Project are also very stoked that Wiens has taken this new position at Western.  It’s not the easiest thing to balance club sports, academics, and your passion.  We can’t wait to see the athletes out there and what the future has in store!

Information from the Western press release was used and directly quoted in this article!



About the Author

2. Will Dujardin
Will Dujardin is our content editor at West Elk Project. He competes in big mountain competitions and coaches the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team. Skiing is his life and he likes to mix it with other fun things like DH mountain biking and traveling.




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