Spectator Sports

The Air Force Academy Falcons football team dominates the sports scene, and there are also competitive baseball, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer teams. Call for schedules and ticket information (tel. 800/666-USAF [8723] or 719/472-1895; www.goairforcefalcons.com).

auto Racing -- The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (tel. 866/464-2626 for tickets, or 719/685-4400; www.usaracing.com/ppihc), known as the “Race to the Clouds,” takes place annually in late June or early July. An international field of drivers negotiates the hairpin turns of the final 12 miles of the Pikes Peak Highway to the top of the 14,110-foot mountain. On the way up, there are 156 turns, 2,000-foot cliffs, and no guardrails.

Baseball -- The Colorado Springs Sky Sox, of the Pacific Coast League, the AAA farm team for the Colorado Rockies of Denver, play a full 144-game season, with 72 home games at Security Service Field, 4385 Tutt Blvd., off Barnes Road east of Powers Boulevard (tel. 719/591-7699 for tickets, or 719/597-1449; www.skysox.com). The season runs from April to Labor Day. Tickets cost $7 to $12.

Hockey -- In addition to Air Force Academy hockey , the World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd. (tel. 719/477-2100; www.worldarena.com), is home to the perennial power Colorado College Tigers (tel. 719/389-6324; www.cctigers.com). Single-game tickets run $9 to $35.

Rodeo -- Held annually since 1941, the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo (tel. 719/635-3547; www.coloradospringsrodeo.com), which takes place in mid-July, is a major stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit. Its purse of about $100,000 makes it the second-largest rodeo in Colorado, after Denver’s National Western Stock Show. It takes place at the Norris-Penrose Events Center, 945 W. Rio Grande St., and tickets run $5 to $25. Various events around the city, including a parade and a street breakfast, mark the rodeo.