Here's a sign that summer is fading and winter's no longer far away: the announcement of Aspen/Snowmass ski passes that go on sale August 22, 2010.
Jake Zamansky, one of the best national team skiers Aspen ever produced announces his retirement at the age of 28.
"If you blew it on Valentine's Day or need to earn some extra points with your snugglebuns, I have two words of advice: Aspen/Snowmass."
Posts filed under 'Skiing'
ASPEN HIGHLANDS—Around here—and throughout the skiing world—it is known as “The Bowl.”
Highland Bowl hangs there above you wherever you are in Aspen, and if you’re a skier the shadow is longer still. The purity of it here at the peak of Aspen Highlands is all but beyond description, and even if you don’t dare hike it and then ski it, you can see the human ants bent over by their tools of ignorance, crawling to their destiny at the top
As I’ve improved as a skier during seven winters in Aspen, I have looked upon The Bowl as something that I would put in my pocket whenever I was ready. I was (and remain) a fool, completely underestimating what was to come when my name was called. That day came Saturday in celebration of my friend Matt’s birthday. He was 37 and I’m not but neither of us had tried the inevitable. We had never hiked The Bowl.
Continue Reading March 7th, 2010
Aspen's ace snowboarder Chris Klug, an Olympic bronze medalist from the 2002 Salt Lake Games, still has a chance this weekend to restore Aspen's honor with an astonishing run in the giant slalom--but no one's expecting a 38-year-old Olympian to magically claim the gold.
Klug will no doubt acquit himself well, as he always does, but a trip to the podium is unlikely if not quite impossible. Should he exit Vancouver without a medal, we can begin to talk about The Aspen Curse at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Continue Reading February 26th, 2010
Within one hour of skiing Powderhorn in Grand Mesa, Colorado, my wife said: “I love this place.”
This revelation is no small thing in our little world because my new bride—we married in May 2009—had lost her mojo when it came to skiing and I’m the one to blame. She had learned in Ohio before skiing Vermont, and she used to love it, and do it better than well, but as I grew slightly better and much more aggressive I would take her through ungroomed terrain that became the height of her misery and perhaps even a metaphor for our marriage.
After a year or two in Colorado, she stopped getting a pass and literally stopped skiing, with me shouldering plenty of blame for same.
Continue Reading January 30th, 2010
Welcome to my personal blog about life in Aspen from the point of view of a 30 year resident who is also the Mayor and likes his job, almost all the time.
Continue Reading December 1st, 2009
Has Aspen taken a dive?
Aspen is so used to being considered the top of the heap in skiing, the coolest of the cool, that the recent drop in rankings from SKI magazine have left the town in a bit of a huff. The very notion that somehow Aspen has lost its way-cool edge, like a skier with untoward skis, has left people hereabouts just a tad unhinged.
First the numbers. Snowmass, despite a raft of on-mountain improvements, has fallen to #6, the top ranking for any of the four mountains that make up an Aspen/Snowmass ski pass. Aspen Mountain, in turn, is falling out of sight—all the way down to #14, while Aspen Highlands is more than holding its own at #17. The fourth mountain, Buttermilk, is barely a blip on the national scene, except when it comes to the X Games.
Four high-quality mountains with top twenty rankings is much better than your average resort, of course, but bordering on disaster for the mighty Aspen/Snowmass empire, the jewel of the Crowns. So what went wrong?
Number one, keep in mind that Snowmass is skiing better than ever, with a new gondola and two new high-speed lifts that have that have left the mountain wide open to exploration. There’s a new barbeque joint at the top of Ajax Express—a good one—and even the abortive efforts at a new base village have added some culinary choices to the mix.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Related Westpac fiasco has left Snowmass with a gaping wound that will probably take a decade to close. And the only thing worse than too much construction is that same construction in gaping abeyance.
The result: things are getting ugly at Snowmass, with no immediate end in sight.
In my opinion, Aspen Mountain has suffered from some negative Snowmass run-off. With new gondola cabins and the same great runs, there’s no reason why the mighty mountain formerly know as Ajax should be falling in esteem, except for this: while the rest of the world continues to improve, improvements at Aspen Mountain are likely to take a backseat to backfilling at Snowmass. The overall result is a weakened Snowmass, albeit one skiing better than ever, that ironically helps Aspen Mountain in the ratings not one bit.
Amidst this flickering picture, Aspen Highlands is a glittering gem. Though modest in size, it is gnarly and beautiful, and Highland Bowl remains a literal rite of passage for skiers everywhere. The lift system is brand-new and without any obvious flaw, and the mountain can ski miraculously well on days with adequate snow or better. Highlands also has great quirky places to eat on-mountain, and a base village worthy of the Ritz that calls it home. (Though Highlands becomes a wasteland off-season.) Aspen Highlands is a natural high, and the ratings reflect that.
In the midst of the recession, there was unfortunate talk by the pols in Aspen about bringing the Aspen brand downmarket as an affordable destination. But once a brand is tarnished, it’s almost impossible to bring it back to its original sheen. If Snowmass doesn’t get its act together soon, all four mountains—even Highlands—might just keep falling down.
September 23rd, 2009
Aspen/Snowmass, Colo., September 9, 2009 – Text the word aspensnowmass to 32075 for a chance to win a free 09-10 Season Pass to Aspen/Snowmass.
Please text in only once, as each phone number will only be counted once. Standard message and data charges apply.
The contest began on September 9, 2009 and ends at 9 a.m. on September 17, 2009.
Passholders who have already purchased an Aspen/Snowmass Season Pass for 09-10 are still eligible to enter.
The Super-Early deadline for the best deal on a Season Pass is September 18, 2009.
For more information about Aspen/Snowmass Season Passes or this specific contest, please visit www.aspensnowmass.com or call 970/925-1220.
Mobile Marketing provided by Qittle http://qittle.com/.
Aspen Skiing Company operates the four mountains in the Aspen/Snowmass area – Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – as well as the award-winning Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen/Snowmass. The area offers unparalleled nightlife and off-slope activities as well. Aspen/Snowmass is accessible by two of the most convenient airports in the mountains – Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) (3 miles from Aspen) and Eagle County Airport (EGE) (70 miles from Aspen). For more information on Aspen Skiing Company, please call 800-525-6200 or 970-925-1220, or visit the company’s website at www.aspensnowmass.com.
September 9th, 2009
Just how badly do people need a vacation these days and can it be explained in a minute or less? Snowmass, a popular mountain ski resort town in Colorado, is about to find out through its’ You Need a Vacation, a SNOWMASS Vacation! YouTube video contest. Contestants are asked to post a video on YouTube explaining, demonstrating or using any other creative means to show just how badly they need a summer vacation in Snowmass.
Continue Reading July 6th, 2009
By Frosty Wooldridge
Each spring, at the closing of the ski season, a sort of corny, crazy, wild and silly malaise overcomes the slopes at Winter Park, Colorado. Early in the morning, the parking lots fill up with characters in costumes ranging from Superman to caterpillars. Tailgate parties sprout out of snow banks! Breakfast becomes a wine tasting fest!
Elaborate snow sculptures attract everyone’s’ eyes such as a snow-island complete with palm trees and diving swordfish. Coconuts, flowered lays and seashells magically appeared on the snow-island. Sure enough, a lady wearing nearly nothing danced to the swaying music of Jimmy Buffet!
Sandi and I buckled into our boots as the sun crested the Continental Divide. Fresh powder the day before gave promise for sweet tree skiing and knee deep glory for the last day of the season. We stood in line at the Pioneer Express six pack lift for a quick ride to the top. From there, we cut through trees and fresh powder to catch the Panoramic Express to the top of 12,065 foot Parsenn’s Bowl.
Continue Reading April 28th, 2009
Yes that is it for the season of skiing/riding in Aspen. I've heard a spook of the rumor that Ajax may open for Memorial Day, but for now that's it. It was overall a great season. I had some great powder days. Although I didn't hike Highlands Bowl more than a dozen times and skied less than a hundred days I'm ready for biking season.
It was good to get out for the real last day of the 2009 ski season at Highlands but it lacked the bang because all the sizzle went to the first "closing day" two weeks ago which if anyone realized wasn't the last day.. Which in our book is lame. Kinda like celebrating Halloween on October 27th.. See these little things mean something.
So does trying to maximize profits before the season crowd leaves town, hence ZG Grill promoting the "Closing Day Party" before it is in fact the last day. Understandable for it will be a dry summer season out in Highlands as it is. Highlands Pizza has done some good things to court business such as the patio, "regular" live music, Aspen Brewing Company Beer, perhaps they have some cool things up their sleeve to make Highlands Plaza a spot to journey out to this summer.
Continue Reading April 26th, 2009
My son and I just returned from Crested Butte’s Prater Cup—a race like no other. It’s a J4 event, which means racers are 11 and 12 year olds. The race consists of three events—slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom. These races are held over four days, one of which is a training day for the super G... That’s a lot to pack in to four days, especially when you’re talking about a field of 77 girls and 120 boys. But what makes the Prater Cup even more remarkable is what event organizers do to get the children to make friends outside their immediate ski clubs. Organizers break the children into groups with roughly equal mixture of males and females, but more importantly, ski clubs are broken apart. Only kids who belong to large clubs find a familiar face in their midst...
Continue Reading February 22nd, 2009
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