Aspen spelled Backwards. NEPSA 2012

Klaus Obermeyer kicks off ski season in Aspen with a HUGE yodel at the NEPSA Video Awards. click 4 pix.In Aspen, the NEPSA Video Awards is always the unofficial start to Winter.  NEPSA is the signal to fire up the Stoke for Snow.   NEPSA is a 5 minute video contest for "amateurs " with cash prizes and BIG bragging rights. 

Click 4 pix:  

Aspen Spelled Backwards

This year's 9 NEPSA entrants produced some incredible films.  "Erste Stuhl" or "First Chair", a film by Helga & Hans took home the top honors.  Geoff Stump and Klaus Obermeyer attempted to repeat as NEPSA champs but finished a close  2nd with "Before Aspen".  Third Place & Audience Favorite award went to The Circle of Corduroy who created a siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick time lapse study of Aspen Mountain...mostly shot from a snowcat while grooming the mountain.   Honorable mention must  have gone to the film crew from Jackson Hole who took gnarly to a new extreme with "Skid Luxury".  Their film included some of most gnarly cliff jumping and ski flying we've seen. 

Dav & Trav hosted again and they played it straight this year, no silk stockings, no skirts & no full make-up.  Pat, the Aspen Sign Lady was not in the audience, but it was clearly established that the Historic Wheeler Opera House was private property. AspenSpin had to be on our best behavior. As always, Klaus Obermeyer provided a hearty yodel to kick off the season. Kudos must go out to all the NEPSA entrants as the quality of the vid submissions has never been higher.

Helga and Hans crushing it on grass.Then on to the Sundeck atop Aspen Mountain for professional ski porn from Level 1.  Their film "Sunny" dominated the recent IF3 in Montreal and contained some inspired scenes, including footage of a bunch of Japanese Cops trying to communicate with a trio of jibbers, while they were shooting urban ski scenes in parking lot in Sapporo. The Japanese Police have no idea how famous they are in the ski world.   The Cops are shown throwing the book at the skiers.  Funny stuff.

It's pretty clear that Winter is Coming...as AspenSpin got frozen out of The Meeting 8.  The suits decided that authentic coverage from an independent source was unnecessary.  The blogger does not make the cut.  No media credential for AspenSpin.  Conventional wisdom would suggest that shooting 25,000+  lifestyle photos and sharing more than 500 blog posts about Aspen and skiing would qualify us for something???  Not so, what we did get was the cold shoulder and a seat next to Mohammet, Jugdish, Sidney and Clayton.   Oh, well, bottom line, we'll miss out on the unbridled boozing and the go-kart racing and the gift bags that is The Meeting.  Unfortunately, we'll have to follow the panel discussion on twitter featuring internet BIG WIGS, @scobelizer @chasejarvis and @everywheretrip   Does that sound like sour grapes...maybe so...but at least I'm honest, and honestly...we're tired of sitting with Mohammet, Jugdish, Sidney and Clayton.

 The good news: you can still click the sickest pix from NEPSA.  It's not Gangham style...but it is real.  *All photos taken without proper media credentials*

Click  ASPEN SPELLED BACKWARDS

The NEPSA winners; Helga and Hans came out of nowhere to claim the top prize at the 2012 NEPSA Video Awards. Clcik 4 pix.Slicing and dicing put together a compelling vid, but finished out of the money.

Bromance!! The Circle of Corduroy took 3rd place and won the Audience Favorite award.Is "icing" even relevant any more? It was last night. Click 4 Pix.@sobleizer and @aspenspin havin a mind-meld at 12,000 ft. Click 4 Pix.