Howard Grotts and Todd Wells stood atop unique podiums in Vail while an army of Fort Lewis College cycling alumni went big in Big Sky Country.

Grotts earned another win Saturday at the Vail Valley Foundation’s GoPro Mountain Games when he won the pro/expert cross country mountain bike race. The 24-year-old Durangoan finished in 1 hour, 38 minutes, 3.2 seconds to finish 5:31 ahead of Wells, who was second in 1:43:35.5. The two stood atop podiums made of Yeti coolers, though they were disappointed the coolers were not part of the prize package.

It was a showcase of Durango talent, with Grotts and Wells, who have combined for four Olympic appearances after Grotts’ Olympic debut in 2016, at a mountain festival that features competitions and events across a wide array of outdoor activities. More than 70,000 people attended the games this year.

“There is everything from dog jumping competitions, mountain runs, rock climbing, kayak races, fly fishing and everything in between,” Wells said in an email to The Durango Herald. “They have modified the events offered over the years, but the one constant has been the MTB XC race.”

Another constant has been Grotts’ dominant form the last three seasons. Vail’s course played directly into the skills of the nation’s top climber, with 2,340-feet of elevation gain per lap on the 6.8-mile loop. Racers completed three laps.

“Physically, the GoPro Games are always demanding,” Grotts said. “It’s a couple thousand feet higher than Durango and then this one big climb and one big descent. It was as painful as ever.”

Grotts won $3,000 for his first-place finish, and Wells took home $2,000.

“There is always good prize money, so it brings out the mountain goats,” Wells said.

Wells has struggled on the course in previous years and noted he usually starts too fast and pays for it in the later laps. This year, he took a conservative approach and didn’t try to track down Grotts when he made his early move.

“Howard jumped out to an early lead and, rather then try to climb with him and blow up, I rode my own pace,” Wells said. “Racing at high altitude is funny; it’s not so much racing as it is riding a sustainable pace. If you go over your limit, it takes so long to recover that it normally isn’t worth the effort. That said, I rode nearly the entire race alone, finally crossing the line in second behind Howie.”

Boulder’s Grant Ellwood was third, 8:18 back of Grotts. Levi Kurlander of Durango was seventh, 12:21 back. Durangoan Rotem Ishay was right behind him in eighth, 13:20 back, and Durango’s Jorge Munoz placed 16th, 21:40 back. Durango’s Thomas Gauthier also completed the course and finished 20th, 37:25 behind Grotts. Durangoans Troy Wells and Stephan Davoust did not finish.

Grotts said it was a tough decision to skip the Missoula XC and attend the GoPro Games. Vail’s event paid out more and was closer to home, but he missed out on UCI points that would help his start position at World Cup events in Europe later this year.

“The depth of both races suffered a bit because the field was split,” Grotts said.

The pro women’s race was won by Boulder’s Erin Huck in 2:00:29.4. Amy Beisel of Colorado Springs was second, 5 minutes behind Huck.

Durango’s Emily Schaldach finished seventh in 2:16:28.1. Durango’s Kelsay Lundberg did not finish.

In the expert men’s category race, Durango’s Alexander Martinek was third. Cobe Freeburn represented Durango in the junior expert men’s race and finished second, 2:45 behind winner Bjorn Riley of Boulder. Henry Haggart also completed the junior expert men’s race and placed 10th.

Grotts will look to wrap up the overall championship of the Epic Rides series in Carson City, Nevada, this weekend. He’s targeting a win above all else for the $5,000 payout, and the overall win would come with a bonus of $2,500.

“I’m not going to try to race conservatively to preserve the overall,” Grotts said. “The win is still more significant.”

Wells will target a podium finish on the Epic Rides circuit for the first time this season after being crowned the overall winner a year ago. First, Wells will race Wednesday in The Blitz in Bend, Oregon. It’s an event that highlights what Bend is all about: bikes and beer.

One of the toughest climbing courses on the U.S. mountain bike circuit comes in Missoula, Montana. With Grotts busy in Vail, the race was for the taking among riders willing to complete the grueling challenge of the Missoula XC.

The race starts at 3,500 feet of elevation and features 1,000 feet of climbing per 5-kilomter lap for the UCI Elite and UCI Elite Junior course.

The UCI Elite Men’s race was won by Fort Lewis College alum Keegan Swenson, who is now based in Park City, Utah. He covered the 18.6 miles in 1:35:16 to beat Colorado Springs’ Russell Finsterwald, who was 1:18 back.

Durangoan and FLC alum Payson McElveen finished sixth and was 3:13 back of Swenson. FLC’s Cole Paton was 10th, 6:19 back.

Durango’s Lucas Rowton also placed 26th, 13:47 back. FLC’s Henry Nadell finished 32nd and was one lap back.

The UCI Elite Women’s Race was won by Rose Grant of Montana. She finished the five laps for 15.5 total miles in 1:37:07. FLC alumna Sofia Gomez-Villafañe was second, 2:18 back of Grant. Colorado Mesa’s Alexis Skarda was third, 4:34 back.

In the amateur men’s Category 1 race for juniors age 15-16, Durango’s Quinn Simmons placed second. He finished three laps for a total of 17.1 miles in 1:45:34 to finish 3:16 back of winner Nolan Jenkins. Simmons made the jump into the UCI Elite field for the short-track race Sunday and finished 17th overall, 1:14 back of Swenson.

Swenson completed the Missoula sweep with his short-track victory. Finsterwald again placed second. McElveen was seventh, Paton placed ninth and Nadell was 10th to give Durango a strong showing in the top 10. Rowton placed 13th.

Gomez-Villafañe turned in another second-place performance in the UCI Elite Women’s short-track race. She crossed the line in 24:24, 11 seconds back of Grant, who also swept the Missoula weekend. Skarda placed third in short-track.

It was a sea of Skyhawks talent soaring in Montana. After two big events last weekend, a grueling summer of competition still faces the pro riders.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com