Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Events Around Town, Late Jan. and Feb. '08

Free Astrophysics lecture, anyone?
Just one of all kinds of fun stuff to do from the Aspen Chamber Resort Assoc.
(They think of everything, don't they? How come they get to have all the fun...)
All of February's schedule will be posted soon.

Edited By Richard Dietz (schedule provided by Aspen Chamber)


7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Poetry Night at Zele Cafe
Phone:970.379.2136
Location:Zele Cafe, Aspen
Contact:Lisa Max Zimet
Monday, January 28, 2008
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Sing-A-Long by the Campfire
Phone:
Location:
Contact:Sue Whittingham
5:30 PM
Bud Light Hi Fi Concert Series
Phone:
Location:
Contact:Jenny Marshall
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
FREE Astrophysics Lecture
Phone:970-925-2585
Location:Wheeler Opera House
Contact:Patty Fox
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
WINTER WORDS: Ann Patchett
Phone:
Location:
Contact:Natalie Lacy
7:00 PM
"Why is Aspen SAD? What We Know (and Don't Know) about Sudden Aspen Decline in Colorado"
Phone:963-3977
Location:Dos Gringos Burritos, 588 Hwy 133, Carbondale
Contact:Dave Reed
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Italy: Sicily and Her Outer Islands - Joyce Falcone
Phone:970 925-5756
Location:Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
Contact:Lindsy Stinnett
Thursday, January 31, 2008
7:30 PM
"Why is Aspen SAD? What We Know (and Don't Know) about Sudden Aspen Decline in Colorado"
Phone:963-3977
Location:Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES)
Contact:Dave Reed
Saturday, February 2, 2008
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
JazZELE
Phone:379.2136
Location:Zele Cafe, Aspen
Contact:Lisa Max Zimet
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Phone:970.379.2136
Location:Zélé Café
Contact:Lisa Zimet
Beads, Beads, and More Beads!
Snowmass To Host Annual Mardi Gras Celebration, February 5, 2008

Snowmass celebrates 26 years of Fat Tuesday revelry with the biggest Mardi Gras bash in the Rockies!

Mardi Gras got its start from native New Orleaners. It starts off with the The Mother of All Ascensions, a wild, costumed, 1,741-foot vertical, uphill race at the crack of dawn. Non-stop action follows all day long, including King Cake giveaways, a bead and prize throw, crawdad boils, live music, a wild costumed parade, mask-making & face painting for kids and partying late into the night at local bars.

Events Schedule
6am-10am
16th annual Mother of All Ascensions Snowshoe Race
The race starts at the crack of dawn from the bottom of Fanny Hill and goes up to Gwyn's High Alpine Restaurant
Description: Racers kick off Mardi Gras with a challenging 1,741-foot climb up Fanny Hill on snowshoes, track skis, hiking boots or running shoes. $15,000 in prizes will be awarded for such categories as best time, worst time, and best costume. COSTUMES ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED!
Registration: $35, includes T-shirt & goody bag. Pre register at Christy Sports in Snowmass, The Ute Mountaineer in Aspen, or Summit Canyon Mountaineering in Glenwood Springs.
For more information: (250) 266-0022 or (970) 618-2225
Schedule:
5:30 am: Registration at the Snowmass Ticket Pavilion
7 am sharp: Race starts from bottom of Fanny Hill
8:30-10:30am: Awards Ceremony at Gwyn's High Alpine

11 am- 2 am
Crawfish Boil
Where: Zane's Tavern
Description: Party around the clock from opening to closing with Crawfish and hurricane specials, Mardi Gras music & giveaways, and more.
Contact: 970 923-3515
12-till closing Snowmass Party Central: Big Hoss Grill, Mountain Dragon & More
Where: One level above Snowmass Mall
Description: These locals' favorites are packed with crowds and offer prime parade route viewing from their outdoor decks. The Big Hoss goes big with giveaways, music, party favors and specials, while the Mountain Dragon offers free appetizers with the purchase of a drink and plenty of drink specials. Brothers Grille in the Silvertree also fetes Mardi Gras with specials.
Contact:
Big Hoss Grill: 970 923-2597
Mountain Dragon: 970 923-3576
Brothers Grille: 970 923-8285


1p-3 pm
Kids Carnival! Face painters, stilt walkers, clowns and characters lark about the mall spreading
Mardi Gras spirit.

1 pm King Cake
Where: The Snowmass Village Mall, outside Christy Sports
Description: Come grab a slice of delicious free King Cake!

2pm -Closing
The Cirque's Mardi Gras Party
Where: at the Fanny Hill end of the Snowmass Village Mall
Description: Get your fill of Crawdads & Hush Puppies at The Cirque. Then come back later for live music, drink specials, prize giveaways, and wild revelry.
Contact: 970 923-8686

3 pm
What: Fat Tuesday Bead Throw
Where: Snowmass Village Mall just outside Christy Sports
Description: Over 28,000 beads and prizes will be thrown into the crowds during this favorite Mardi Gras tradition that revs up the crowds for the party to follow.

4 pm
What: The annual Snowmass Mardi Gras parade.
Where: Throughout the Snowmass Village Mall
Description: Get ready for the "GREATEST SHOW ON SNOW," the wildest, wackiest parade in the mountains. Kings and queens, mountain jesters, the EL Jebel Shriner Pipe & Drum Band, the Basalt Dance Troupe, jugglers, jokers, and feather-festooned fools strut their big top style through the Snowmass Village mall. The Parade is open both to floats and costumed folks.

Floats: Everyone who participates in float making receives a $100 credit for float supplies. Simply bring in your receipts to the Snowmass Marketing Dept. to be reimbursed. To register a float or costume, stop by the TOSV Marketing Offices in Snowmass to pick up a registration form or call Jacqie Stewart at (970) 618-2225.
Prizes: Best Float: $450, Best Use of Theme (The Greatest Show on Earth): $200, Best Costume: $150.

Après Parade and Evening Parties Into The Night!
Stick around Snowmass, because when the sun goes down, Snowmass remains lit up in the afterglow hues of purple, gold, and green. The Cirque, Zane's Tavern, Big Hoss Grill, Mountain Dragon, and others offer festive Mardi Gras parties into the wee hours.

For more information please visit: http://www.snowmassvillage.com/annual-snowmass-mardi-gras-celebration
"Aspen-Snowmass Ski & Snowboard Open" Purse To Total $50K This Year
Edited By Richard Dietz, Editor-At-Large

The annual Aspen/Snowmass Ski & Snowboard Open will take place at Buttermilk, February 7-10, 2008. Now in its third year, the Aspen/Snowmass Open is a must attend event. New for this year, the event will feature a prize purse of $50,000, almost doubling last year's purse. Held at Buttermilk, this event allows skiers and snowboarders, men and women, the opportunity to compete on the Winter X Games 12 slopeslyle and superpipe courses before they open to the public.

Here are details on REGISTRATION:
Fees for registration will be as follows:
Slopestyle – Men $125
Superpipe – Men $100
Slopestyle & Superpipe - Men $200

Slopestyle – Women $75
Superpipe – Women $75
Slopestyle & Superpipe – Women $125

SCHEDULE (Subject to Change)
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 5 – 6, 2008
Training (SS and SP course open to credentialed competitors only)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Ski Superpipe (men) – Qualifying
Snowboard Slopestyle (men) – Qualifying
Friday, February 8, 2008
Ski Superpipe (women) - Qualifying
Ski Superpipe (men and women) – Finals
Snowboard Slopestyle (women) - Qualifying
Snowboard Slopestyle (men and women) – Finals
Ski Slopestyle (men and women) – Practice after Finals
Snowboard Superpipe (men and women) – Practice after Finals
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Ski Slopestyle (men) – Qualifying
Snowboard Superpipe (men) – Qualifying
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Ski Slopestyle (women) - Qualifying
Ski Slopestyle (men and women) – Finals
Snowboard Superpipe (women) - Qualifying
Snowboard Superpipe (men and women) – Finals

For more information please visit:
http://www.aspensnowmass.com/travelinfo/events/detail.cfm?&eventID=10



ResortQuest Aspen News & Doings,
Things To Do

By Richard Dietz, Editor-At-Large

ESPN Winter X Games concluded here on Sunday. It was another successful year, the 12th, for the ESPN Winter X Games held at Aspen's Buttermilk Mountain. Inn At Aspen staff never had a dull moment!

Airport Envy

You say you just want to get to the slopes after touchdown without a long drive from the airport like most of those ski resorts in California and Canada?
As if "Ski In, Ski Out" at the Inn At Aspen was not enough to quench thy ski-fever thirst, how about this: Fly in, fly out to Aspen's favorite family hotel and conference facility. The Inn At Aspen boasts the closest proximity to an airport of any ski resort in North America. Sardy Airport, if not the most traveler-friendly airport in the country, with its shortest walk from arrivals to baggage pick-up of any airport (unless you've got an airport in the back yard, and you might), is located just one mile from Aspen's favorite family Inn, which is situated at the base of Buttermilk Mountain.

Around Town News, Things To Do

New Clubs & Eateries In Town
Social, on Hopkins Avenue in the same building as Elevation, is a lounge and tapas bar with small-dish entrees, owned by the people who own Elevation. The owners say it is way different than any other Aspen restaurant.

The Regal opened Dec. 7 in the former Shooters space on Galena describes itself as a casual lounge. DJs spin 'em while you dance on leather floors. (What?!)

Fly Lounge. No, you won't need a swatter, or even see anybody that looks like Vincent Price at Fly Lounge. Cool name. Waitresses dress up as flight attendants (don't call them "stewardesses" unless you want to get short changed on the peanuts). It's a concept that started in Washington, D.C. and looks like the inside of an airplane, only with much fancier seats and lighting and carpet; probably a much better audio system, too. All seats must be First Class 'cause there's high-priced bottle service at "V.I.P." tables. Want a $900.00 bottle of Dom Perignon? Fly Lounge is the place to be. On the Hyman Ave. Mall in the former Lava Room, sub-sidewalk entry.

Restaurant Bits & Bites

The building that houses Aspen's famous dinner theater, the Crystal Palace, has been sold. Aspen Times reports no announcements have been made about closing, but this will be the last season for Mead Metcalf, who plays piano there and who started the entertainment venue in 1957.

Blue Maize, which was open only for dinner, is now open for lunch. It offers eight varieties of tacos at $3 apiece. Salads, $9, for example. A new dinner menu was also introduced: try the chimichurri steak for $18; or roasted pulled pork tacos with ancho-cucumber barbecue sauce for $17; grilled chipotle chicken with an orange juice and chili reduction for $19; or tortilla-encrusted trout with cholula garlic lime sauce for $17, to name a four samples. Mmmm...

Best View At A Lounge/Restaurant
Best [daylight] restaurant and lounge views goes to Elkhorn Lounge at the Inn At Aspen. The southeasterly view of Buttermilk Mountain can't be beat. Watch for incoming jets as they approach Sardy Airport one mile to the west. Last week and over the weekend, if you were here, you would have seen one of the highest snow pipes built for the X Games along with lots of banners and spectators and television cameras. Were you and your family or friends here for X Games XII? Tell us about it!

Are You Foolishly Bold? Boldly Foolish?
Either way, try the new Temerity run at the Highlands, a new lift and steep-and-deep run opened on the SE side of the Highlands accessed from the Loge lift. Opened a couple of years ago, but I haven't been there yet; it's new to me, darn it!

When I'm out to try as yet un-explored terra cota at any of the four mountains, I always look for an Ambassador for direction and advice on pitch (it's just me...), but never find one. They're there somewhere....

Survey: What do you think this blog needs? What would you like to see us add to it? What do you need to hear, read from us? Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Monday, January 14, 2008

January Snow...




photos taken by Jeremy Swanson

We've received 45 inches of snow in January. 45 inches is the monthly average for the ENTIRE month of January. We have received 14.5 ft of snow this season.







Thursday, January 3, 2008

Happy New Year!!




HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
this image is of Aspen Mountain when the clock struck Midnight on January 1st
  • 106 inches (270 cm) of snow has fallen on top of Snowmass and more is on the way!
  • Almost 9 FEET of snow fell in December!
  • Aspen/Snowmass has been buried in over 100 inches of snow in December alone
  • 270 cm and counting this month alone!