Miller Sports Grand Opening.

Bill Miller and Miller Sports celebrated their official Grand Opening in Aspen last night.   Miller Sports is latest and greatest upscale ski shop in Aspen featuring top flight ski gear and the hottest ski fashions from Europe.   Bill Miller has expanded his retailing empire to include his name-sake shop, Miller Sports.   Mr. Miller also owns the ubiquitous Aspen ski shop, Hamilton Sports (est 1996) which has been leading the way for stylish skiers in Aspen for 17 years.  Bill and General Manager Ted Davenport welcomed family, friends and customers into the store for a beautiful grand opening celebration for Miller Sports.  

Click 4 pix:   Miller Sports 

Miller Sports is located at 408 S. Hunter, steps from the Gondola and carries some of the finest brands in skiing. Miller features one of the hottest new premium brands in the ski world, TONI SAILER.  Toni Sailer was known as one of the top ski racers of all-time.  In 1956, The Blitz from Kitz (Kitzbuhel, Austria) as Sailer was known was the first ski racer to win Olympic Gold in all 3 disciplines downhill, giant slalom and slalom.  The Toni Sailer line is both super-stylish and highly technical.  Miller Sports carries the full assortment of sizes and colors.

Miller Sports also has a great selection of GOLDWIN another exceptional brand.  Goldwin, a Japanese company uses the finest materials and technology to produce "kigokochi" or ...the best ski gear known to man.   Miller stocks the full compliment of the finest accessories too.  OAKLEY, SMITH, HESTRA and EISBAR to name a few.

The Ski Wall is where Miller Sports is poised for world domination.  KASTLE, BLIZZARD, K2 and ROSSIGNOL are offered in the Miller Sports lineup.   Miller will have one of the largest selections of Kastle Skis in the U.S.   Anyone who has skied with Andy Party of AspenSpin has heard his dissertation on Kastle skis...I love 'em.   As far as I'm concerned...and this is my blog, KASTLE is the best ski you can buy.  Professional big mountain skier and Aspen local Chris Davenport is part of the ownership team at Kastle Skis.  He brings his passion for skiing, his attention to detail and precision and a pure love of the sport to the full Kastle quiver.  A few short years ago, Kastle (from Austria) was a dormant name in the ski world...now it's the best ski on the market...according to me.   Stop into Miller Sports to see which model is perfect for you.  Demo the Kastle MX 83 ( on a non-POW day)...trust me, you will love it.  Stable at speed and quick turning, the MX 83 is like a Porsche on the snow.

Styles aside...the personality of a ski shop is crucial to it's success.  It's already crystal clear that Miller Sports is all about the customer.  Manager, Ted Davenport and the experienced staff at Miller Sports is poised to "knock your socks off" with first class service.   Shop dog, Lauti will be there to greet everyone with a wildly wagging tail.   Miller Sports offers a full service ski rental and ski tuning operation and all the ski services you could ever need.  

Bill Miller has proven himself to be an exceptional retailer.  His eye for fashion and attention to the details has enabled his operation to excel in a very competitive marketplace.  It's already clear that Miller Sports will be a force on the premium retail scene in Aspen. 

The Grand Opening party was pretty sick too.  Click 4 Pix.  MILLER SPORTS

The crew at Miller Sports offer exceptional knowledge and the best customer service.Bill Miller and his sister Mary Ernst celebrate family ties at Miller Sports.Meet the Fockers? Nope, it's the Ernst and Burke families in town for the grand opening of Miller Sports. Click 4 pix.

Aspen Live: For the Love of Music

Aspen Live 2013: Click 4 Pix.Aspen Live, the entertainment think tank,  in it's 18th incarnation, took place this past weekend in Aspen.  Music industry veterans from all over North America made their annual pilgrimage to A-Town for Aspen Live.  The Aspen Live "family" is comprised of  managers, agents, promoters, ticket-ers, venue owners, marketers and really anyone interested in the business aspects of the music biz.  Aspen Live is the brain-child of Jim Lewi, a music industry vet who spent 14 years living in Aspen.  This year, A. Party of AspenSpin, a music biz outsider, was able to get inside Aspen Live and learn the real meaning of " it's all about the hang". Interesting seminars as well as parties sponsored by Voice Media, Access Pass & Design and Belly Up Aspen contributed to the experience.

Click 4 Pix:  For the LOVE of MUSIC

Dan Steinberg and industry icon Alex Hodges. Click 4 pix.Thursday's highlight was Steinymania as Dan Steinberg of Square Peg Concerts hosted cocktails with industry icon, Alex Hodges.   Mr. Hodges, currently the CEO of Nederlander Concerts has used his Southern charm to navigate the music world for more than 5 decades. The first concert he attended was Elvis at the Fox in Atlanta in 1956.  Alex wove stories about promoting frat parties in the 50's and eventually  "breaking" Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and others in and around Macon, Georgia.  He briefly took a real job in Atlanta after college...but when his partner Phil Walden passed him an acetate recording of The Allman Brothers first album... before it was released...he bolted back into the music biz without a second thought.  He told a great story about the rivalry between The Allman's and Lynyrd Skynyrd and how he signed Skynyrd by telling them they would never be billed 2nd to ABB. That deal was eventually renegotiated.   Hodges worked with Atlanta Rhythm Section, Charlie Daniels Band, Stevie Ray Vaughn and many others.   Steiny asked the provocative questions to get the real stories from Hodges.  It's clear why he is one of the most widly loved guys in Music.  A true gentleman.

Day one included an interesting discussion of "Content" led by David Rubin of Rabbi Where and Jeff White from Ticketfly.   The word content was used "317 times"during their slide deck...which did not seem to bother anybody in the room except industry poobah Bob Lefsetz.   Goldstar Events CEO Jim McCarty spoke about mobile.  His presentation entitled "how not to suck at mobile" made several salient observations for the mostly old school crowd.   For me...the take home points were obvious, the incredible rise in the use of smart phones and tablets will continue and that 50% of Goldstar's ticket sales are via mobile.

Day 2 was all about business.  Many Aspen family members skied or rode our mountains.  Several people went on a snowmobile excursion to the Maroon Bells and others took a gourmet cooking class.

Anita Ellberse & Vince Bannon debated Blockbuster Theory.at Aspen Live 2013. Click 4 pix.At 4pm, the school bell rang.   Harvard Business School  Professor,  Anita Elberse presented her findings on the blockbuster theory.  Ms. Elberse has the distinction of being the youngest tenured prof. in the history of HBS.  Her book, Blockbusters...hit-making, risk-taking and the big business of entertainment served as a template for her discussion.  Anita is an empirical modelist who does academic research using vast pools of data in an effort to predict future results.  Her theory in a nutshell...bet most heavily on the most likely winners.  She suggested that our world is quickly moving towards a "winner take all" marketplace.  She put this into perspective for the music people...by sharing her research.  Using a sample size of 8 million songs... 94% of them sold fewer than 10 copies.  A full 1/3 of the songs sold only one and the top 102 songs accounted for 50% of the market.   Basically the odds of an unknown making a huge hit record are very low.  The winners are almost always controlled by the major record companies.  It's a "grab for scale" she added.  "So you're pissing on their dreams"? asked Vince Bannon referring to the huge number of aspiring musicians.  To paraphrase Anita...basically...yes.   Her book sold very well at the merch table.

Jay Sider from Band Page spoke about monetization and engagement.  The concept of "moment of intent" has a 25X greater chance of a conversion on-line.  Band Page is a company that gathers content, commerce and data all in one place for Performers. Nic Adler owner of The Roxy in L.A. and a social-media jaugernaught  shared his thoughts on Curation vs Content and gave an up-to-date overview about what's hot in social media.  

By Saturday everyone was in the chill zone.  The entire vibe of the conference had changed.  It appeared as if a special bonding had occurred.  Maybe it was the altitude?   The Old guard has finally realized that technology has taken over the music business.  Some of the "young guns" of the Aspen Live family found their voices.   The rules of passion for their livelihood, which has thrived for decades on relationships and mutually beneficial goals, has changed drastically in the past several years.  There was a flash bomb toast when the poobah of music, (Bob) interrupted the main speaker to prickly opine. It resulted in an unexpected belly laugh on stage-right.  Everyone seemed more relaxed...or maybe it was just me who was more relaxed.  Plenty of good natured burning was going on throughout the meeting room.  When Jim Lewi suggested that the group have "1 meeting instead of 100" attention was turned to Kristina Wallender.

Founder Jim Lewi calming Kristin Wallender 10 seconds before her presentation at Aspen Live. Click 4 pix.Introduced as "the marketing lady from Ticketfly"  Kristina is a music industry neophyte and she seemed a little nervous, but she actually killed.   Her previous position with an extremely large on-line reseller who is attempting to rule the world.  Hint: it starts with A and ends with mazon allowed her to drill deep into e-commerce.  She shared 5 simple points that everyone can learn from A-Zon.

* Obsess about customers

* Create a loyalty program

* Invest for the long term

* Never stop experimenting

* Use technology (and data) to your advantage.

Kristina compared the statement "I think"  to the concept of "the data says".  Think about that for a second.  The data is usually pretty reliable...right?   She said companies should identify, encourage and do anything in their power to engage "super customers".   The top 5% of customers at Ticketfly account for 20% of sales.

The final presentation raised a few eye-brows.  Stubhub the ticket re-seller owned by E-Bay gave their spiel.  By this point the crowd was chomping at the bit to get to the open bar.  StubHub has "legitimized the ticket scalping business" but you will never hear that come out of the mouths of the Stubhub guys. To summarize...one comment from the peanut gallery..."we are just ahead of the Amish when it comes to adopting technology".

The Aspen Live Family Dinner and a late night after party closed out the weekend.  Old friendships were renewed and new ones formed.  The older generation struggled to find an app for that...while the young guns geeked up.   This year it seemed like the generations were closer to a merger...with the old guys listening a little bit more and the young guys speaking up.

It's still a relationship business.  In Aspen...it's clear that everyone had a blast, made a few new contacts, learned a couple of things...but in Aspen, really...it's all about the hang.

Thanks to Jim Lewi and everyone who participated in Aspen Live 2013, the entertainment think tank.

Click 4 Pix:  For the LOVE of MUSIC

Going social...off-line is a big part of Aspen Live. "It's all about the hang. Click 4 pix.Nic Adler from The Roxy, The Goldberg Bros from Belly Up and Rob Bordan a local real estate pro joining forces at Aspen Live. The Kids Table at the Aspen Live Family Dinner. Click 4 pix.Late Night party sesh with the crew from Aspen Live 2013. Click 4 pix.

The Raptor and Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek.

Both the men and women made FIS World Cup stops in Beaver Creek.  The Womens races were dominated by Lara Gut who won Gold on the new Raptor downhill course and followed that up with another win in the Super G.  America's newest snowsports super-star, 18 year old Mikaela Shiffrin took second in the G.S., her first World Cup podium in that disipline. 

The men showed up with a foot of fresh snow and sub-zero temps.  Not ideal racing conditions...but they put on a show anyway.  The downhill on Friday was shredded by Aksel Lund Svindal.   Fireworks occurred on Sunday for the U.S. Ski Team as Ted Ligety and Bode Miller finished 1-2 in the G.S.  

It was freezing but Vail / Beaver Creek lived up to its status as one of the best ski racing tracks in the world.  Photos and video Courtesy  U.S. Ski Team, FIS, Vail Valley Foundation, Getty Images and ski racing mag.   For all the results click Raptor and Birds of Prey.

Lara Gut wins the Downhill and Super G on The Raptor course at Beaver Creek.Hometown favorite Mikeala Shiffrin raced to a second place finish in the GS at Beaver Creek.Aksel Lund Svindel ripped the fastest lap in the downhill at Beaver Creek.

 Ted Ligety and Bode Miller went 1-2 in the GS on Sunday at Beaver Creek.

Gearing up with AVSC and Gorsuch

Chaos ensues at Gorsuch for AVSC Free Ski Night. Jared stays cool.Every year in early December, kids from all over the Roaring Fork Valley fire up for their special night.   Every kid in the Valley that needs ski gear gets it courtesy of a grass roots program established by AVSC and Gorsuch...and D & E (for snowboards).   Most of these kids would not have ski gear if it weren't for the generosity of AVSC and Gorsuch.   The program originally established by "The Coach" Bob Beattie at AVSC allows about 300 kids to gear up.   It's not new gear...but it's new to them, and it's free, and it's properly fitted.   

Click 4 pix.  GEARING UP

The free ski night is one of AspenSpin's favorite events of the year.   The glowing eyes and  beaming smiles of the kids are transcendent.   The line starts forming in front of Gorsuch at 4 pm sharp.  Hundreds of pairs of boots, skis and poles are strewn about the store.   Semi-organized chaos insues for the next 3 or 4 hours as every kid is outfitted with gear for the ski season.  Jeff Gorsuch, who spear-heads the equipment giveaway siad it loud and clear... "it's all about community".   The Gorsuch staff along with several volunteers crank it up to 11 and keep the assembly line flowing.  Sizing the boots, choosing the skis and setting the bindings for 100's of thankful kids.

Next store in the Gorsuch apparel store, the AVSC staff and National Council welcomed all-time great ski racer Lasse Kjus to free ski night.  Kjus who has done and seen it all in skiing was moved by the joy and happiness on the faces of the kids...and the staff and volunteers.

Hopefully the photos capture the energy of the event.  The kids love the gear and the first class treatment dolled out by AVSC, Gorsuch abd D & E.   Personally, I think it's the best night of the year.

 Click 4 pix. GEARING UP

The whole family gets geared up at Gorsuch. Thanks to AVSC.Who needs boots....I do!!!Renie Gorsuch and Bob Beattie sharing thier love of skiing with all the kids.Reveling in the new gear and first class treatment.Almost all of the Gorsuch Family with Lasse Kjus.

Breathe Deep in Aspen.

Skiing with Lasse Kjus, Hamilton Sports and Kjus USA.Hellz yeah...I know how lucky I am to live in Aspen. Skiing every day...partying every night...you can't make that sh*t up.

Today was the best of times and the worst of times. On the mountain it snowed a few inches...but the flakes were fat...and phat. Today it actually snowed.  Last year it kept misting all the time.  It felt good to feel the flakes on my Movemberless face. I got to run a few laps with Lasse Kjus, World Champ, Olympic Champ, World Cup Champ along with a group from Bill Miller's Hamilton Sports and Kjus North Amrerica. so that was sick.  See a few pix.  Laps with Lasse.

My view of the "work session" on snow poloToday was also the day that Aspen's City Council had their "work session" about snow polo.  The deck was stacked against me...but history and logic were on my side.   I was sticking up for Wagner Park... the crown jewel and most accessible open space in the center of Aspen.  You can read my previous rant here SAVE WAGNER PARK.  Or the articles in the Aspen Daily News:  SNOW POLO 1 :: SNOW POLO 2.

So it shaped up like this.  Andy Party vs. The City of Aspen, a billionaire, Aspen Ski Co.and the entire polo world.  My odds were decent.  My goal was to have the Snow Polo event relocated to a less impactful space 1 mile West of town.  It was clear the new Czar of Snow Polo, Marc Ganzi was willing to do just about anything to get this event produced in Wagner Park.  He hired the ski co. to make and/or truck snow into the park in order to protect the turf.  As a result of the snow polo debacle in 2009 that severly damaged the park, the Aspen Parks Dept. had devised a set of "strict criteria" in an effort to disuade Winter events in Wagner Park.   Yada yada yada...the "strict criteria" was altered substantially to accommodate snow polo 2013.  Snow polo will be allowed to blow snow in the park using snow guns between 9am-3pm and they will be granted a noise variance.  Boom. The billionaire wins.  

They will have to produce a compacted snow base of 6"-8".  A far cry from the 18" previously stipulated.  Who pays for the water?  The good people of Aspen.  Steve Barwick provided and estimate for the cost of the water to make all that snow.  "Minimal" is what our all-knowing City Manager came up with.  Nice answer.  How many gallons is minimal?   Where was parks poobah Jeff Woods during all this brew ha?  He's been in meetings for 4 weeks.  Nice.

 Wagner Park is slated for a $1.25 million "re-do" after Food & Wine so they figure its a good time to "experiment" with more high impact events in the park. The right time to "try it out".   X Games concerts will have a  much higher impact on the park than snow polo according to the parks dept.  Like that somehow makes it O.K.?   Rio Grande Park has been under construction for 3 years.  None of this stuff seems reasonable to me.  Some of the rhetoric just doesn't add up.

So I stuck my neck out in defense of the park.  I layed it out there.  I made a compelling argument, that was considered and then disregarded.  I felt the adrenaline flowing, because I truly believed a line had been crossed.  I believe in transparency.  This deal slipped thorugh the cracks.  I was just trying to keep our city officials honest...which they aren't.  Somehow, behind closed doors it went from...no Winter events in Wagner Park... to... it's OK with an 18" snow base required... to... we support snow polo with a 6-8" base and snow guns blasting.  Sure, I realize that snow polo in the park is a 1% problem.  There are bigger fish to fry out there.  

I truly hope that Snow Polo in Aspen becomes the thing that Marc Ganzi envisions as a "world class event" that provides a "unique public benefit".  He promised to bring to Aspen the "best horse Vet and 3 of the top ten polo players in the World and the current #1".  Ganzi wants to "use sport as a platform to promote social welfare and charity".  Whaaaat?   Ganzi also admitted that his wife "loves her horses as much as she loves her children".

I was in there mixing it up. Keeping it real.  It felt good.  Today was a siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick POW day so that helped ease the pain.  If all I gotta do is b*tch about snow guns and dump trucks to get a foot and a half of natural snow (like today),  I'll do it.   Best POW DAY in 3 years.

Before they were famous.  During my research I was able to un-earth high school senior pictures of our Mayor, the 4 Council Members, The City Manager and the Manager of the Parks Dept.   See if you can figure out who's who.