Vettes On The Rockies 2001 - Chevy Corvette Extravaganza

For most of the year, the small town of Frisco, Colorado, is a quiet resort community an hour or so west of Denver, located high up in the Rocky Mountains. But for one long weekend each summer for the past 28 years, Corvette lovers from all around crowd into Frisco, replacing its peacefulness with an edge of excitement. How do the locals feel about their town being overrun by Vettes? They love it!

From August 2-5, 2001, Frisco and its surrounding Summit County communities swelled to life. The theme this year was 2001: A Corvette Odyssey, and it certainly felt like a journey into a whole different world! Vettes on the Rockies, organized by the Looking Glass Corvette Association, was oriented exclusively toward one goal: FUN! The weekend agenda included an autocross, funkhana, poker rally, dinner banquets, and, of course, a Corvette show. They also offered golf tournaments, self-guided driving trips through the scenic back roads of the Rockies, a costume contest, and happy hour parties aboard pontoon boats on Lake Dillon, adjacent to Frisco. All of this was set in the beautiful and picturesque backdrop of some of America's most glorious high-country, with lakes, lots of trees, and crisp, clean-albeit thin-air.

While Vettes on the Rockies is a modest-size event by some standards, it packs a very big punch. Strong connections with GM, Purifoy Chevrolet (a large dealership in Colorado), various aftermarket manufacturers, and the people of Summit County allow for an impressive weekend getaway. And at over 9,000 feet elevation, it could very well be the world's highest Corvette event! The four-day Corvette extravaganza has grown so much in recent years that it has actually outgrown Frisco itself, so some activities have spread into the neighboring communities of Silverthorne, Copper Mountain, and Breckenridge.

V.T.O.R. 2001 kicked off on Thursday evening with a Welcome Party at the Silverthorne Pavilion. Additional Corvettes continued to flow in throughout the weekend, but an impressive 370 Vette aficionados were already present and ready for four days of fun. L.G.C.A. went so far as to charter busses to chauffeur Corvette devotees from the Holiday Inn and Best Western hotels in Frisco, both of which were booked almost exclusively by Vette persons, to the catered dinner and dance at the Pavilion, 11 miles up the road.

Friday's festivities began bright and early with an non-timed driving rally through gorgeous mountain vistas. The morning sky was crystal clear as Vettes of all vintages partook in the five-stop, 96-mile poker run that took them over Vail Pass at 11,000 feet, and by historic Camp Hale, home of the Army's 10th Mountain Division. Professional photographers were on hand to snap portraits of owners and their cars at the fourth checkpoint, after they added another card to their poker hand. For the diehard golfers, Friday morning also offered an optional golf tournament at Mt. Massive Golf Course, the highest elevation golf course in North America.

For Saturday's autocross, L.G.C.A. borrowed a parking lot at Summit High School to set up a tight and fairly complex, "low-speed" cone course. Cars were separated by vintage and degrees of modification into heats that ran from 8 a.m. well into the afternoon. This was a popular and highly organized event. At least 100 cars took part, and L.G.C.A. volunteers worked diligently along with hired experts to ensure everything flowed smoothly. Joe Reese from Texas ran the best time of the day, 35.337 seconds in his '96 coupe.