Aspen Sports Summit: Do Not Miss It.

One of the best parts of living in Aspen is the vast array of cultural, educational and entertainment options...in addition to our fabulous landscape.  

One upcoming event that I am truly excited about is the Aspen Sports Summit, a two day conference scheduled for March 27 & 28 at Aspen Meadows.   Aspen Sports Summit will bring together top professionals in the fields of HEALTH, FITNESS, MEDICINE and SPORTS TRAINING to present their cutting-edge ideas about how one can achieve peak physical performance.  These industry leaders will cover a wide spectrum of topics about the human body, health and fitness and the best ways to get the most out of your physical, mental and nutritional training.   Aspen Sports Summit is Education with a Mission.

Click  ASPEN SPORTS SUMMIT to get all the info and to register.

Presented by Bill Fabrocini and The Aspen Club, Aspen Sports Summit will have something for everyone. Whether you're a professional athlete (almost everyone in Aspen is, right?) a competitive amateur or just an old ski bum like me...you're sure to learn something at Aspen Sports Summit that will help you improve your athletic performance and keep you healthy.  

Click the SCHEDULE to review the agenda and click SPEAKERS to see the talented group of health and medical professionals.   

Aspen Sports Summit is a "do not miss" event.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Early Bird Special - Aspen Style

An EARLY OPENING DAY in Aspen/Snowmass??  Sounds good right?  Sign me up for that. Ski Season 2011/12 is here.  In Aspen, ummmm Snowmass the lifts fired up and the ropes dropped 5 days early.  Snowmass Mountain was primed for action.  Plenty of early season snow storms up top created an early-bird treat for the locals.  AspenSpin and many others officially kicked off the 2011/12 ski season on November 19, 2011 at Snowmass. 

Click 4 Pix:  EARLY BIRD SPECIAL - ASPEN STYLE

AspenSpin doesn't get out to Snowmass very often, but we jumped on the opportunity to click in EARLY and RIDE.  Turns out it was POW day (sort of). Super-freaky high winds on Thursday and Friday blew most of the snow off of the Big Burn...but it was still open for business. There was even some freshies. Ankle deep in spots...but we can't tell you where.   Another 3-4" fell during the day.

Our commute was extended a wee bit, but it was "all good" on Saturday.   Being "steps away" from the Gondy on Ajax spoils us. It makes the high speed 20 minute ride on Owl Creek Road, free parking (nice) and the 2 lifts to the top seem a litlle management intensive.  For the record, AspenSpin loves FREE PARKING.  Forgetting your boots in town is not a good way to kick-off, but we realized our false start before the round-about.   It was AWESOME to get out there on the mountain and do some figure 11's.  It was pretty cold and windy...that's why they call it Winter, but we were skiing... and it was fun to have the breeze and snow in your face again.  Plenty of people were ripping at high speeds on the variable early-season conditions.  We avoided any and all human-on-human collisions and we didn't eat any wood... which is always good.  The speed, the freedom, the physical activity... there's a reason people are passionate about skiing and riding.  In Aspen, ski season is officially upon us and it came 5 days early this year.

Friday Night kicked off the weekend in style at THE WHEELER OPERA HOUSE with a screening of ALL.I. CAN. from Sherpa Films and the locally shot movie,  IF YOU WANT TO FLY from Vital Films.  Both flicks were AWESOME and helped raise money and awareness for ALPINE INITIATIVES a non-profit that strives to get action-oriented people to take action against climate change.  Click their link to learn how you can help take action.  ALPINE INITIATIVES.  The Siiiiick after party at THE RED ONION went all night long.

Turns out AspenSpin is 2 legit 2 quit. We're hoarding a bunch of new equipment from KJUS, KASTLE, HESTRA and others.  GORSUCH even tuned up our rock skis (just in case) and THE ASPEN CLUB's ski-conditioning class definitely paid dividends.  

So we'll see ya out there...almost every day. We're doing the snow dance right now. Let's get it on, Aspen.   Click 4 Pix  EARLY BIRD SPECIAL-- ASPEN STYLE

V.P. of Marketing Christian Knapp samples the goods. Photo: Jeremy Swanson / ASC.Torin Yater-Walace shows his opening day form. Photo: Jeremy Swanson / ASC. click 4 pix.

Ski Conditioning at The Aspen Club.

Ski Conditioning @ The Aspen Club.Everybody knows that A.Party has a body that's built for comfort.  The truth is I work it pretty hard for an old cuddly dude who got in 106 ski days last season. I owe a debt of gratitude to my brothers and sisters at The Aspen Club  and the group ski conditiong classes they offer.

The thing about Aspen...there is really no "recreational" division.  Most of the locals love to compete.  Whether its the ladies who lunch comparing  laps on Smuggler or the bro-brah's posing for ski mags, hucking cliffs and getting 200 ski days per year.  The Gentleman of Aspen Rugby Club recruits players from all over the world, the parks & rec hockey league provides ice-time to former pros,  the biking is phenomenal and you can't forget about the world class athletes who train at The Aspen Club.  Aspen takes it's Ski Conditioning seriously.

Plyometrics will get you in shape every time.For what has become an annual ritual for many in Aspen, Ski Conditioning at The Aspen Club is no picnic. Every season, Amy and her gang of hired guns put together a program that gets everbody ready to shred.  A-Spin attends the noon sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  There is a 5.30 session on those days too.   The music is loud and the work out room gets hot and steamy.   We start off with 30 minutes of stretching and fast paced step aerobics.   We then get 30 minutes of circuit training with a wide variety of exercises.  Stressing balance, power, agility and speed the short sets employ Bosu and Medicine balls, TRX, ladder drills, plyometrics, speed skating, sprints and more.  It's fast, it's sweaty and I love the variety.  5 minutes of wall sitting, squat pumps and see-saws forces everyone's quads to burn.   The 30 minute, so called  "cool down" phase is were the pedal meets the medal.  Cool Down makes me think of dimmed lights and mellow music and a few stretches.  At The Aspen Club, cool down translates into a series of intense exercises featuring balance discs, weighted bars and a lot of planking.  Planking is more than just a fad.

After that I can barely negotiate the stairs to get to the steam room.  There's nothing better than a good "schvitz", and The Aspen Club has the best in town.  The piles of clean towels, the sandals and the rack of razors are like comfort food to me.  5 minutes in the steam is a great reward for all the hard work.

Amy makes me sweat.Don't worry, I can still pound as many In-N-Out Double, Doubles (animal style) as  anybody.  Today was tough, it was freezing, it snowed a foot, I was out late, and maybe a little hung over.  I had to push myself to show up at The Aspen Club. Luckily the 12 Lu Lu Lemon clad ladies and the rest of my classmates inspired me to concentrate on my posture and fitness and pushed me to my limit.   Ski Conditioning at The Aspen Club is never bad, even when it hurts, it's still good  One thing is for certain, the snow stoke is starting, and thanks to The Aspen Club and  the trainers the entire student body and I will be ready to rip on Thanksgiving.                                                                                                                                       

Fast paced step aerobics are part of Ski conditioning at The Aspen Club.Circuit training stresses Balance, Speed, Power and Agility.The speed skating drills helps to engage those skiing muscles.The Wall Squats are designed to burn your quads. start with a minute and increse from there.

The Aspen Club = Aspen Living

Michael Fox of The Aspen Club gets a thumbs up on expansion plans.Congratulations to The Aspen Club and Michael Fox for receiving approval from  Aspen City Council to move forward on their much debated expansion.  Aspen Living will include 20 residential units sold as fractions, 12 affordable housing units and a completely remodeled state-of-the-art fitness facility which will be energy efficient and LEEDs certified. 

Fox and his staff finally convinced the toughest panel of judges in the world,  Aspen City Council, that Aspen Living should be "a go project".   Everyone knows that Aspen is "BIGGER than Prime Time".  The laborious and invasive approval process proved that Fox; has talent, he can dance and he's not the biggest loser.  AspenSpin is confident in the whole team at The Aspen Club, and we're looking forward to Aspen Living.

Pictured below is a rendering of Aspen Living.

Aspen Club is in the spotlight with its proposed expansion, Aspen Living.