The Storm that saved Christmas in Aspen.

The Carmelo-meter has been measuring the POW POW in Aspen for 10 seasons. Today's rating...siiiiiiiiiiickIt's not over yet.  Ski season 2012/13 took a huge turn for the positive Saturday night.

15 inches of beautiful, high quality POW POW dropped itself on Aspen Mountain. It was sort of heavy and wet and wind-blown and kind of weird (see previous post), but it was fresh and natural and "not man-made".  This storm allowed the Silver Queen Gondola to open for top-to-bottom skiing for the first time this season.   All the usual suspects were near the front of the line around 8 a.m. and the pent up demand was apparent.  By 9 a.m. the lift line wound all the way down to Durant Street.

For the record, I'm still freaked out about the climate, but I was thrilled to see the ground on both sides of the Roaring Fork Valley covered with snow.  Because of my climate fears I have become more of a student  of snow quality. While this 15" is much appreciated it's really just a start, a good base if you will.  The ski patrol and mountain operations folks have a HUGE job ahead.   Most people riding the gondy were amazed by the huge cracks and fissures in the snow on the back side of Bell Mountain. "Extremely rare, I've never seen that before" declared one 40 year local on the Gondy.   Snow slides in bounds were visible on Keith's Glen and Dipsy Headwall...highly unusual.  Not much was open due to extreme avalanche issues and/or the big rocks and stumps laying in wait just below the newly fallen snow. It was sunny, cold and gorgeous and it was great to be on top again.

Luckily the entire staff at AspenSpin got our laps in early, as the crowd on the mountain built steadily.   The entire posse of hungry pow hounds was funneled into Copper Bowl where they came face-to-face with a large number of "skier visits" as well as powerful snow guns blasting gravel-like man made POW into their faces.   Visibility was "zero" in some spots.   But it was fun and Winter and hopefully no one got hurt.

Snow porn.While 15" does not a season make, this storm was crucial for Aspen.  The entire City of Aspen breathed a collective sigh of relief with the realization that last night's precipitation was for real.  The locals for the most part depend on tourism for their livelihood, and we realize that if conditions are not primo...the people with their own planes and 2nd  & 3rd homes, the 1%ers,  have a few other options.  They will cancel and spend Christmas elsewhere.  The beautiful people want to be where the action is...whether it's Jackson Hole, or St. Barts or Dubai or where ever.  This is the storm that saved Christmas in Aspen.

So fire up the G, brah.  Book your private lessons.  Alert your chef. Lock in your afternoon massages, but remember to pack your woolies...it's Winter.

Christmas isON in Aspen.

First Tracks on the Mall. Christmas is on. Photo: Jeremy Swanson /ASC

Attitude Adjustment at Altitude. Good to be on top. 15 inches of fresh on Aspen Mountain.The pent up demand was apparent as the Silver Queen Gondola opened for the first time all season.The Stoke Factor was high near the front of the line as evidenced by ski bum Brad Unglert.Is everybody happy??? Pat & Kathy were in the 6th gondola car.First Chair on the Ajax Express (lift 3). Before the crowds. The snow was beautiful.

Aspen Community Dinner with Aspen T.R.E.E.

Eden Vardy, founder of Aspen T.R.E.E. with Aspen's Mayor Mick Ireland. Click for pix.Thanksgiving dinner for 1500 people.  Niiiice!!!

Almost 4,000 pounds of food was consumed last night in Aspen. All of it locally grown, all of it organic and sustainable and it was  all free for everyone.  Thank you to Aspen T.R.E.E. (Together Regenerating the Environment through Education) for hosting The 5th annual Aspen Community Dinner.

Click 4 Pix:  Aspen Community Dinner

Nutritious eats were served up "farm to table" hot and tasty at Aspen High School by Aspen T.R.E.E. and a large cadre of volunteers and supporters.  Turkey and all the fixin's was grown and raised entirely right here in the Roaring Fork Valley.  The Aspen Community Dinner has quickly become one of AspenSpin's favorite events.  The free feast draws a very eclectic crowd and feeds people from all walks of life.  It's a true community gathering.  The holiday atmosphere and the "open house" feeling creates a mixture of local families, young people, rippers & shredders, and some folks who live right on the edge here in our Valley as well as some of Aspen's most affluent residents.   It's all in good fun and the room is filled with the smells and sounds of a home cooked Thanksgiving meal along with plenty of smiling faces.

We here in Aspen have plenty to be thankful for.  Our beautiful home is surrounded by mountains that  effectively shelter us from some of the harshities of real life.  Plus we recreate harder than almost any other town in the world.  Thanksgiving means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  This year I'm especially thankful for our environment...or what we have left of it. Please read my previous article, The Party Farm.   It's a true story about my fears of climate change or global warming..whatever you want to call it.  I explored contributing to an urban farming project in Detroit (my home town) as a way to take action.  Eden Vardy and Aspen T.R.E.E. helped educate me about farming and sustainable lifestyle practices prior to my trip to Detroit.   Eden gave me a crash course,, the twitter version of farming 101.  The Aspen T.R.E.E. and their small farm off Highway 82 just outside of town is an example of what can be.  They GROW, LEARN SHARE and INSPIRE.  Their mission:  Empower Youth and Community through Positive, Solution Oriented Sustainability and Healthy Food-Shed Education.  

Click to learn more about Aspen T.R.E.E.The Farm-to-Table Community Dinner is something Aspen should be proud of as a community. We are leaders in sustainability...and each and every one of us can help spread the word to friends and relatives.   We are on the forefront of the climate war...and make no mistake...the war is on.  

I especially enjoyed the joy and excitement on the faces of those being served and on those volunteers doing the serving.  Taking part in the Aspen Community Dinner made me feel warm and fuzzy all over.  The fact that opening day for ski season is 2 days from now, there's very little snow and it was sunny and 50 degrees today may have contributed to the warm aspect of it.  But it was a great event and we at AspenSpin support the great efforts of Aspen T.R.E.E. 

Click 4 pix:  ASPEN COMMUNITY DINNER

Volunteers worked the kitchen at the Aspen Community Meal hoste by Aspen T.R.E.E. Click 4 pix.Max and Shlomo and the boys getting ready to chow down at Aspen T.R.E.E.'s FREE Dinner. Click 4 Pix.Willie was cracking up at The Aspen Community Dinner. Fun for All. Click for pix.

Aspen Style Session: Radio @ The Wheeler

The 10-day warning was sounded in Aspen last night.  There are only 10 days until the lifts in Aspen start spinning for Ski Season 2012/13. Radio Boardshop and The Wheeler Opera House marked the occasion with a "locals only" fashion extravaganza and season kick-off party.  250 of  Aspen's most stylie locals came out on a Monday night for art / drinks / food / music ...and of course some of this Winter's  siiiiiiiiiiickest looks for snow and street.

Click 4 pix:  Aspen Style Session.

The crowd seemed insatiable as they feasted on hors d'oeuvres, quenched their thirst at an open bar while enjoying music and art from local artists. Let's not forget...there were plenty of models in the house.  The 2nd floor lobby at The Wheeler Opera House is a fantastic venue for any event...but last night the room was buzzing and glowing and radiating and vibrating in anticipation of the upcoming ski season. 

Suffice to say... there was a lot of pent up demand for POW POW in the room. 

Click 4 PIX  Aspen Style Session

Psyched 4 Snow: Ski Season 2012/13 is upon us. Click 4 pix.Veteran model John Gates showed off his moves on the catwalk. Click 4 pix.Tyler Lindsey goes full-on Camo at the Radio Fashion Show. Cllick 4 pix.Aspen's supermodel Leslie in Red showing looks for off the mountain. Clcik 4 pix.Local pseudo artist Stosh Bellsky with a bevy of Aspen beauties. Click 4 pix.30 seconds to showtime: Genna and Lauren from The Wheeler and Travis from Radio were ready. Click4 pix.

 

Wiley Maple: Aspen's World Class Ski Racer

Wiley Maple, Aspen's World Cup racer. CourtesyPhoto: US Ski Team.Wiley Maple was born and raised in Aspen, Colorado.  He's the son of a skiing family.  Wiley is now a 22 year old world class ski racer who came up through the ranks chasing gates with AVSC.  As a grom he landed on the podium more often than not.

Wiley Maple now races against the world's best competition on the FIS World Cup circuit,  the major leagues of ski racing.   He scored his first World Cup points last season...and this Winter he's back for more as a member of the U.S. Ski Team.  Wiley is currently prepping for the upcoming World Cup season after overcoming a complicated knee surgery and the corresponding summer-long re-hab.  Wiley trained extremely hard all Summer according to our sources at Park City's Center for Excellence, where the U.S. Ski Team trains.  He is currently ripping laps on the snow at the U.S. Ski Team's Speed Center at Copper Mountain.

Wiley's Boyz came out to support him. Click 4 pix.Last night the whole town of Aspen came out to support Wiley with a fund-raiser at the Wheeler Opera House. It's an expensive proposition to be a ski racer.  Travel costs alone are a small fortune.  Mike Marolt and Montezuma Basin productions helped roll out the red carpet with a siiiiiiiick silent auction and the showing of the cultier than cult film...Deep Winter. 

Click: Wiley 4 more pix

It's not to late to do Wiley a solid.   Wiley needs to raise $22,000 for expenses not covered by the U.S. Ski Team.   He'll be heading to Europe soon,  so  c'mon skiers, Aspenites, all 1% ers, 47 %ers....everybody.  Let's help Wiley realise his full potential.  Click the link to Wiley Maple's Pay Pal  account and give generously.

 WILEY MAPLE's WORLD CUP Page.

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Ed Cross and Richard Allen are Aspen veterans who came out to support Wiley Maple. Click 4 Pix.

Aunt Marlene's decadent Marvelous Hot Fudge was a HUGE seller. Click 4 pix.These groms came out to support their home town hero. Click 4 pix.

The Green in Aspen.

The Green is a kick a$$ band.  They are 6 boyz from Hawaii who together create a distinctive musical sound that combines reggae, pop and soul.  THE GREEN is playing at Belly Up in Aspen this Thursday, Nov 8. Tix are only $18.  Join me for a show that could blow your mind.

The band's breakout single LOVE I  blew up on Hawaiian radio in 2010 and helped make their debut album, The Green,  the #1 reggae album on i-tunes in 2010 and also a top 10 album on Billboards' reggae chart.   Their sophmore disc WAYS & MEANS dropped on October 25, 2011 (my birthday).  

This Thursday night at Belly Up, THE GREEN will be playing their brand of Hawaiian reggae and throwing their shakas out to everyone.  Look for siiiiiiick pix from AspenSpin soon after the show.