Hibernation in the Aspen Core

The bears have already gone to sleep for the Winter.  The social vampires are just starting to arrive.  25 ski days into the ski season and I already need a rest.   The storm known as Christmas in Aspen is on the horizon.  The billionaires are about to descend upon our little town in their fleet of private jets bringing big city problems and their entourages and hanger's on with them.   It's cougar season in Aspen.

It's a fact of life in Fat City. 

"No Construction".rules in effect.The S & P is at all time highs.  Bonuses on Wall St. are looking fat and phat.  Real Estate is back.  Business is good. Let's splurge this year...we deserve it.

Aspen has many faces.  The Christmas holidays is one of them.  Aspen is wearing it's best party dress, but it doesn't always look good at the end of the night. The town is fully merchandised.  The pop-up shops are finally ready to go.  The "no construction" rule is in effect.  I met a guy in a plush fur coat and asked him " you here for the holidays?"  he replied, "hell no, ho, you know i'm here fo snow polo".

For most locals, it's time to make bank.

In prep for the next two weeks I needed to touch base with reality, to see how the real people live.

This morning  my body ached and my head ached. When I get like that...in a funk...I know what to do. I need to balance my chi.   I need to vape.  That's right, I drove 40 miles straight down to Glenwood Springs and the real world.   I passed Wal-Mart, McDonalds and Taco Bell.   I didn't stop until I got to the Yampah Vapor Caves.  The Vapor Caves are pretty grungy.  The locker room is smaller than the Gondola.   The stairs that lead deep down into the earth are slippery and well worn.  The caves themselves are dark and smelly with marble slab benches.  Natural mineral hot springs run through the caves with the water at 125 degrees. The temperature in the caves themselves tops out at 112 degrees. White men have been imbibing the goodness of the Vapor Caves for 120 years.  The Indians took vapors for generations before that.  I'm not sure if it's the science (34 minerals) or magic or all up in my head...but a session in the vapor caves always make me feel good.  Pouring the scorching hot water on my knees always loosens me up.  Crazy.  Today was perfect...I had the place to myself.  A little schvitz and everything always seems OK again.  

A trip quick to Target and lunch at Restaurant Nepal, a stop in El Jebel just in time for Anchorman 2....and I was back to my fun-loving, lap-skiing self.  A day off is good for the head.

120 years of Vapors can't be wrong.So bring on Snow Polo...bring on AAM's Freestyle fur fest. Park your Ferarri on the sidewalk?  See what I care?  Stare at your screen, buy-out the bar,  take my skis by mistake, wear your fur hat and fur coat and fur boots and LuLu pants. Act like you own the place. It's all good.  I can handle any drama that the Christmas crowd has to offer.  I'm gonna rip a few laps, take a few pix,  go to a few parties...what ev's? bro.

This may sound funny coming from AspenSpin...but I'm trying to go low key this holiday season.  If you see me out there...gimme a hug.

A dog (not my dog) runs free on the turf of Snow Polo Stadium (which includes a big screen) at Wagner park.

 It's grungy... and hot as f*#K...but it feels so good in the Vapor Caves. Highly recommended.
Namaste...please pull with force. Kind of ironic. Nepal Restaurant.

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.

Christmas in Aspen.

Merry Christmas from Aspen, Colorado.The Christmas rush is on.  Aspen is going full throttle into the Holidays.  Everyone is here. 

The mood is festive, the sky is blue and the slopes are hard packed.  We haven't had any real snow to speak of in a while.  There has only been one 6 inch day so far this year and it's getting frustrating for those of us who thrive on POW.

Who doesn't like to speed ski  straight down a steep, icy-hard Aspen Mountain going waaaaaaaaaaaay too fast---- just hoping to stay upright.  Turn?? Naaaah, we've been doing figure 11's for weeks now.  Avoiding those tourists texting in the middle of Spar Gulch or the slow skiing snow snakes (led by a red-jacket) going sideways across the fall line has become a necessity.

The Christmas Holidays are PRIME TIME in ASPEN (click 4 pix). 

Hopefully you saw the Front Page of the Aspen Daily News and the SKI BUM PROFILE.  It's a great piece...thanks to Carolyn Sackerisian and Chris Council for making me look good.

Coming Up in Aspen.

Trombone Shorty at THE WHEELER     Tue 12/27

Dennis Basso FreeStyle for AAM          Wed. 12/28

AVSC AJAX CUP Celebrity Ski Race       Friday 12/30

NEW YEARS EVE (it will be sick)

* Snow Leopard Party, Beautiful People Partying (CALL 4 Tickets) 970 390-3131

* LOCAL's NYE,  (David Bromberg, Fireworks and open bar at The Wheeler $50)  

* Caribou Club   (Call for Reservations)  970-925-2929