Corduroy Empire

Wut Up? Skiing is on in Aspen. Click 4 pix.Happy Thanksgiving.  Yaaaaay, the ski season is under way in Aspen.  As always,  the lifts in Aspen started spinning on Thanksgiving Day.  There are plenty of things to be thankful for in Aspen, but awesome ski conditions is not one of them.   Aspen Mountain & Snowmass had very limited terrain open for skiing and riding.  Kudos go out to the snow-makers and groomers who got one run open on Aspen Mountain.  It was an "old school" opening day requiring a ride on the little used Little Nell & Bell Mountain lifts to get to the ski able terrain.   Spar Gulch to Little Nell were the only runs open on Ajax. 

Luckily Aspen Spin got out there early, before the crowds and got some super-tasty man-made corduroy.  Spar to the Bar was the run of choice for many.

This weekend should be fun packed with the Women's World Cup racers in town.  Music, events and parties are on the docket...we'll try to keep up.   We're are breaking out the SNOW DANCE every night, lets hope we get dumped on soon.   In the meantime... 

Click 4 Pix.  CORDUROY EMPIRE

First Tracks on the Corduroy Empire. Aspen Mountain Opening Day. Click 4 Pix.The Bell Mountain Chair lift doesn't get much use anymore, but it was spinning for opening day in Aspen. Click 4 pix.

 When home town hero Chris Davenport talks about going BIG. He means it. In-Store at Aspen Sports. Click 4 pix.

The Coach. Bob Beattie and Mountain Man Mike Marolt at Aspen Business Luncheon. Click 4 pix.

Aspen Sports & Chris Davenport : Ring of Fire (in store 11/21)

Chris Davenport ,Photo: SpyderAt AspenSpin we may be a little old for hero worship...but Aspen's own hometown hero Chris Davenport has truly earned and deserves all the accolades he receives in the skiing world.

If you know Chris Davenport you know he's a great guy, a family man, friendly to everybody, nice, polite, patient with the fans and a true ambassador to skiing. Not to mention... he's a ripping skier.   Dav comes from a skiing family and was a ski racer in college at The University of Colorado.  Later, after moving to Aspen he won the World Extreme Skiing Championships, an X Games medal, the 24 Hours of Aspen and competed in many other contests and World Class competitions.  Today, he is one of the most accomplished BIG MOUNTAIN Skiers in the World.

In 2006 when Dav hiked and skied all 54 of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks in less than one year he became a ski mountaineering legend.  Since then he's bagged numerous highly technical first descents, hiked and skied peaks all over the world, including Antarctica.  Chris has been in more than 30 ski movies and appears in all the ski mags.  He's also a highly regarded TV commentator and an author.  Perhaps his greatest work is with POW (Protect Our Winters) a non-profit organization that has mobilized the winter sports community to take action against climate change.

 Davenport's athletic ability and skill along with his complete attention to detail and safety has allowed him to carve out a spectacular career as a professional skier.  He creates his own adventures now.   Last spring, Chris and a bunch of his friends tooled around the Great Northwest hiking and skiing all the Volcano's they could find. 

It became known as:

The RING of FIRE Tour.

WEDNESDAY November 21 at 6 pm at ASPEN SPORTS (Cooper Street Mall location), Davenport will be giving a brief talk about The RING of FIRE Tour.   You'll have a chance to meet & greet Chris Davenport and hear about all his BIG MOUNTAIN exploits. We'll assume there will be posters, autographs and plenty of swag from Spyder.

See all the details by clicking:

ASPEN SPORTS and CHRIS DAVENPORT / RING of FIRE (in store).

Chris Davenport doing his thing. Courtesy Photo: Photo by Christian Pondella.

*AspenSpin recieved promotional considerations for this post.