AVSC 75th Anniversary Party

The Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (AVSC) officially celebrated it's 75th Anniversary with a major blow-out bash at Bumps Restaurant at Buttermilk.    AVSC is the largest local Winter Sports Club in the country. This season AVSC reached 2,175 participants, provided 675 scholarships and donated 300 sets of equipment.  AVSC offers competitive and recreational programs in Alpine, Nordic, Freeride, Snowboard and Adaptive disciplines.   AVSC has produced 23 Olympians, 19 X Games Athletes,  19 members of the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and countless numbers of U.S. Ski Team competitors and collegiate athletes. 

75 years is an amazing acomplishment.  Click 4 pix: AVSC 75

Everyone in Aspen is aware of AVSC's young athletes.  They stand out on the mountain... buzzing around in a variety of distinctive uniforms, ripping up the terrain with skill and speed.  While the competitive teams are known for their success,  the mission of AVSC is to "Provide all youth in the greater Roaring Fork Valley an opportunity to develop as athletes and as people through Winter sports". The History of AVSC is illustrious.  The club started in the Winter of 36/37, 10 years before Aspen Skiing Company.  Learn more  about the club, click TEAM AVSC.

AVSC is an exhaulted member of the Aspen community and it was no surprise that AVSC went BIG for their 75th.  Everybody was there.  Hands were shaken, backs were slapped and kisses and hugs were prevalent.  Families with 3 or 4 generations of AVSC participants filled Bumps to capacity.  Awards were given for Athletic Achievement, Vision, Family, Community Impact, Volunteerism and more.   The award winners are a who's who of Aspen's A-Team. The Marolts,  Bob Beattie, Jeff Gorsuch, Dick Butera, David Stapleton, Aspen Skiing Company, Gretchen Bleiler, Andy Mill and others.  

AVSC also announced their plans to raise $15 million.   $7.5 mil for the Bob Beattie Perpetual Endowment Fund to provide for under privileged kids.  The other  $7.5 mil for is training facilities, tramps, ramps, foam pits and hopefully a nordic jumping site.   AVSC has already received pledges for more than $5mil, so they are well on their way.

It was a great night.  Click 4 pix.  AVSC 75

Gretchen Bleiler (with her husband Chris) received the AVSC Athletic Excellence AwardAspen Ski Co. CEO Mike Kaplan accepted the Most Valuable Partner Award from AVSC. Click 4 pixWold Cup Skier Wiley Maple and his dude Sam met some AVSC ladies at the 75th. Cllick 4 pix.Olympian Andy Mill kept it light as he accepted an Athletic Excellence Award. click 4 more pix.The entire Marolt Family recieved the Legacy Award at the AVSC 75th. Click 4 pix.

Good Deeds and Big Deeds in Aspen.

Aspen Business Luncheon: Neal & DavToday was a great one in Aspen. TIA...This is Aspen,  the paper featured an article about ACRA complaining about locals "b*tching" about the early season conditions. Click:  ACRA (please play nice) .  Then AspenSpin skied 5 quick laps top to bottom. I love the smell of Spar Gulch in the morning.   Then around 10:30 the lighting changed on Copper. It was as if God had shined a flashlight smack down the middle.  Guess what?? No one else was there, except for the rippers I was with--- who were tooling at nearly 70 MPH.  It was hard and flat...and there were a few rocks---but it was fun.  Market that!!!  Then some really good news for AspenSpin.  We were named the #1 snow sports blogger on twitter.  Wow #1 feels good, but the comp. is tight. See the List, Click;  #1 Blogger

Mid-day we hit Todd Shaver's Aspen Business Luncheon at The Wheeler Opera House.  World Class Mountaineers Chris Davenport and Neal Beidleman presented fascinating personal insights and an epic slide show from their recent trip to the Summit of Mt. Everest.  Their most recent expedition, last Spring was compared  to Neal's fateful trip "into thin air" in 1996.  These guys crushed it on Everest, even getting a rare ski decent on the famous Lhotse Face.   Apparently the POW was pretty good at 8000 meters.   It was clear from the intimate discussion that Neal found some peace of mind on his return to Everest.  His previous trip ended badly, as lives were lost and the entire trip was documented in Jon Krakauer's best selling book.  Although Neal  was considered a hero during that first expedition, his return trip to Everest provided an emotional closure for him.  Chris and Neal did a great job, as always, and The Aspen Business Luncheon was interesting, fun and informative.

Late afternoon we hit the AVSC gear event at Gorsuch.  Over 200 AVSC scholarship kids got free ski equipment for the season courtesy of Gorsuch.   This is one of our favorite events of the season.  The beaming smiles on the faces of the kids and their parents as they got geared up for the season was incredible.  Many of these kids would not be skiing if it weren't for the generosity of Gorsuch, AVSC and Ski Co.   One thing was evident, the Gorsuch staff and the AVSC coaches were smiling just as bright as the kids.

Click 4 Pix.  Good Deeds and Big Deeds in Aspen.

Let's be honest.  Aspen probably has more non-profits per capita than any place else, so there's "a lotta love in this Valley".  What makes the AVSC /Gorsuch event so special is the "hands on nature" of it.  One on one philanthropy.  Fittting a kid with boots, handing out skis and poles, treating them to punch and cookies as well as providing a free beanie to everyone....It's all good dude.  Jeff Gorsuch is a BIG man around here...and he has a BIG heart. He and his entire family along with the Gorsuch staff were clearly thrilled to give something back to the kids.  The smiles were gigantic.   Hopefully the joy that was evident tonight at Gorsuch comes through in the photos below.

Click 4 Pix:   GOOD DEEDS and BIG DEEDS in ASPEN.

The Gorsuch Family doing good deeds for the AVSC kids. Click 4 more pix.Over 200 kids got Skis, Boots and Poles...and plenty of good vibes. Click 4 pix.This kid is ready to shred, thanks to Gorsuch, AVSC and Ski Co. Click 4 Pix.Let's do it....Let's Ski. everybody was thrilled to get geared up at Gorsuch. Click 4 Pix.

AVSC at 75

Little Rippers from AVSCHistory.  It's one thing that differentiates Aspen from almost every other ski town in the U.S.  Aspen has roots as a Ute Indian hunting ground, a silver mining boom town and over the past 3/4's of a century Aspen has evolved into a cultural and athletic Mecca.  Since 1937 The Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (AVSC) has been teaching winter sports and life lessons to the children of the Roaring Fork Valley.  If your math is rusty...that means 2012 marks the 75th Anniversary of AVSC.  That pre-dates the Aspen Skiing company by 10 years.  2011 was a big year in the history of AVSC as it was named USSA (U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association) "Club of the Year" and also was chosen for the "Top of the Hill" Award from the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame.

Click 4 Pix:   AVSC at 75

AVSC Executive Director Mark Cole recently spoke at The Aspen Business Luncheon hosted by Todd Shaver.  Cole and a few of AVSC's coaches shared some of the details about AVSC's 75th Aniversary Season.  Almost 2100 children will participate in AVSC's Winter programs this year, a new record. Coaching is available in Nordic, Alpine, Adaptive and Freestyle disciplines for both skiers and snowboarders  through AVSC   450 of the kids compete at the nationally ranked team level, about 650 children are on scholarship.  Almost 25% of all kids in the Valley participate with AVSC in some capacity.

AVSC has a long list of alumni who are World Class performers and Champions.  Names like  Andy Mill, Casey Puckett, Gretchen Blieler, Dave Stapleton, Jen Hudak and more.   Currently AVSC has begat top riders like Wiley Maple, Katie Ryan, Noah Hoffman and Torin Yater-Wallace.

A long standing Aspen tradition is the AVSC Ski Day.  AVAC Day is when Aspen Mountain opens up for friends of AVSC one day prior to the actual opening day.  A $40 donation ($20 for kids) gets you out on Ajax a day before the general public.  This year AVSC day was a super-beautiful bluebird day and Ajax was groomed to perfection and ready 4 shreddy.  165 acres of finely tuned white gold was skiing like it was mid January.  Some of you may recall last year's AVSC day which was a full-on POWDER Day.... going HUGE on day 1.   Either way...Bluebird or POW POW getting out there with the skiers, coaches, parents and friends of AVSC is a treat, but you better bring your A Game.  Those AVSC kids rip!!!

AVSC is to be congratulated on their 75th Aniversary.  Training World Class athletes is an important job...especially in Aspen.  Training the 2000 or so kids who are not World Class is a special task too.  Establishing core values of team work, discipline and training will help AVSC kids in any  future endeavor they choose, weather its academics or athletics.  If you've ever seen a pack of uniformed 10 year olds ripping down the mountain at mach speed, screaming with the joy of freedom and sporting huge smiles on their faces...then you know what AVSC is all about.

Congratulations to AVSC on 75 years and good luck for a great 2011/12 Ski Season in Aspen.

CLICK 4 PIX:  AVSC at 75

Todd Shaver hosted the AVSC for Aspen Business Luncheon.

LET'S RIDE. AVSC SKI DAY 11.23.11 The Tierney's, Zak and Parker.

On the Mountain in Aspen. Yeeeeeeeeah. Click 4 pix.

The Ajax Cup

The first annual Ajax Cup ski race took place today in Aspen, Colorado.  Pro's, am's, adaptive athletes, AVSC racers , Mom's and more buckled up their boots, donned their speed suits and did figure 11's down Little Nell in Aspen.   The Ajax Cup festivities were for the benefit of AVSC.

For more Photos. Click AJAX CUP  (or any of the pix below)