The Ajax Cup: Aspen's Ski Race

The 2nd Annual AJAX CUP Weekend to benefit AVSC is underway.

12 highly competitive teams are ready to compete for The Ajax Cup.  The celebrities, the Olympians, the pro racers, the adaptive racers, the amateurs and the AVSC kids have all been handicapped for time and the lineups are set. The ski racing kicks off today at 10 a.m. on the Little Nell run at the base of Ajax. You can watch the pro skiers rip super fast laps on the GS course.  

AspenSpin will be snapping and posting pix from The Ajax Cup pre-party, at the race and of course at the #1 après ski event in all of skiing.

The Ajax Cup festivities began with a Welcome Party at Caribou Club where the smack talk between racers was pretty thick.  Everybody wants to get their name engraved on The Ajax Cup and take home the prestigious Ajax Cup belt buckle. Each 8 skier team is comprised of a Head Coach (a decorated racer with National Team pedigree, the Captain (organizer), 4 competitors and 2 AVSC student-athletes. Pro athletes include Chris Davenport, Chris Klug, Casey Puckett, Jake Zamansky, David Chodounsky, Wendy Fisher, Kim Reichhelm, David Stapleton, Kristina Koznick, Katie Monahan, Chris Anthony and Gella Sutro.

The Sponsor lineup is stacked too.  Aspen/Snowmass, Kjus, Gosuch, Bombardier, Fiduciary Trust Intenational, Caribou Club and Rowland + Broughton.  The Ajax Cup is a new tradition in Aspen, but it has quickly become a de rigueur event on the social scene.

AVSC will reach 2,100 children this Winter. Skiing and snowboarding helps build self-confidence and shows kids that they can overcome challenges on and off the hill.   AVSC kids  learn core values of COMMITMENT, TEAMWORK and INTEGRITY.  Click for more info: AVSC.

Click for Photo albums:

THE AJAX CUP WELCOME PARTY

THE AJAX CUP RACE  (Race Day in Aspen)

The AJAX CUP APRES SKI PARTY   (Party of the Year).

Jeff Gorsuch proudly displays The Ajax Cup, An Aspen Tradition.The Ajax Cup pro racers are ready to grab bragging rights in 2011.AVSC racers from team Casa Tua. Click for pix.The pre party for The Ajax Cup on Aspen Mountain to benefit AVSC.

 Team Go Fast with Stapes, CDY, The Bucksbaums and Coffey. Click 4 more pix.Team Caribou finished Top 10 at the 2011 Ajax Cup Race on Aspen, Mountaain to benefit AVSC Everybody was a winner at Ajax Cup. But Team Ganzi will have bragging rights for 2012.

Freestyle in Aspen

Dennis Basso Freestyle: A benefit for the Aspen Art Museum  12/28/11

Aspen, Colorado is a great place to visit during the holidays. The natural beauty and the winter sports are the most obvious draw, but the people watching is WORLD CLASS.  There is an extremely wide spectrum of tastes and styles being displayed on and off the slopes in Aspen.  From fine furs to gore-tex, from the bling of exquisite jewelry to the utility of duct tape.

Click 4 sick pix;  FreeStyle in Aspen.

The Dennis Basso Freestyle is always a highlight event on the Aspen holiday social calendar.  The guest-list reads like a who's who in the art world. Many freestylers are also the chief benefactors of the soon-to-be built Aspen Art Museum.  Like peacocks displaying their plumes, the upscale freestyle crowd waited patiently for the photogs at the step and repeat.  Glamour pix. The narcissism was palpable.

This year's event had a special glow.  The newly remolded St Regis played host to glamorous array of guests.   The hors d'oeuvre were succulent, the champagne was plentiful and the auction items were priceless.  Models, hot chicks and rich guys were everywhere.  Security was upgraded to red. AspenSpin got into the mix. We went FREESTYLE in ASPEN. We didn't bid on the $144,000 necklace but A. Party worked that room like a hard-packed  bump run.  Very carefully, at top speed and always moving forward.  We got some sick pix, we hope you agree.

Click  FREESTYLE in ASPEN

Lance was FREESTYLIN'It got FlyGarza Family FreeStyle.Dennis Basso FreeStyle.Lisa,/ Kenny / Greer

Trombone Shorty Blows the Roof Off The Wheeler

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue blew the roof off The Historic Wheeler Opera House last night in Aspen.  Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews brought the "Supafunkrock" to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and packed the house at The Wheeler.  

The action on the dance floor at The Wheeler was furious...that's right, the first 5 rows of seats were removed  to allow the SRO crowd to move and groove to the New Orleans inspired beats of TROMBONE SHORTY and ORLEANS AVENUE.

Occupy Cloud 9 @ Aspen Highlands

A beautiful day at Aspen Highlands. 12/26/11In an effort to effectively open the lines of communication and create an actionable, cohesive message, AspenSpin joined the 1% for a friendly lunch at Cloud 9 at Aspen Highlands.  Our group of six included 4 moguls from Detroit, one mogul from Jersey and one ski bum / blogger....yours truly.

Click 4 pix  OCCUPY CLOUD 9.

Cloud 9 is an exclusive, ski-in, ski-out (if u can) on-mountain restaurant situated in an Alpine Hut slopeside at Aspen Highlands.  The wine began flowing from the get-go.  The A-Team, as this group of skiers is affectionately known, left their wives, kids, nannies and problems behind to enjoy a day of skiing and a bacchanalian mid-day meal at Cloud 9.  Luckily the cell service at Cloud 9 is almost non-existent...therefore we were not interrupted by those pesky "deal making calls" that ring these guys up 24/7.

We were greeted with drinks on the deck by Cloud 9's famed Chef Andres Fischbacher. We kicked our skis off outside and Andres immediately un-corked the first of many bottles of wine.   The place was packed with other "one percenters" willing to pay BIG bucks to eat, drink and mingle like European Kings. 

The Cloud 9 staff is always very friendly...that is until the special orders and food proclivities begin to surface.  "No meat, no dairy, i'm a vegan, gluten free, kosher and completely organic" was the request from one of the higher maintenance members of the group.   "I'll have what he's having" said another guy at the table.  When a third member went for the vegan risotto with no sauce, it left just 3 of us to pound out sizzling raclette made with glorious meats and cheeses.   The meat eaters ordered venison ragu, osso bucco and pheasant sausage to satisfy our cravings for more meat. The vegans focused on the wine.   The food was great...but it was overshadowed by the copious amounts of red wine that flowed like a river.  It turns out that the vegans dig the vino. 

After a 3 hour lunch...no one could move.  We contemplated spending the night in an effort to "Occupy Cloud 9".  The authorities nixed that idea.  As mentioned, cell service is sketch up there...so no bothersome calls from the girls...or the kids...or the office. The lack of communication was defining.   Aspen Spin's inability to tweet or check in on Facebook left us in a tizzy, so we all decided to carefully ski down the steep and icy slopes of Aspen Highlands.  We made it to the bottom safely and without inncident.

Slightly disheveled, we de-booted, struggled with our ski equipment and made it to the safe zone... a fully decked out mini-van complete with a designated driver.  It was a short ride back to the "real world"...that is if you consider Aspen, the real world.  Massive hangovers ensued, and no business was completed and best of all no moguls were harmed by the events revealed above.  TIA.  This is Aspen.

The Six.The meat eaters stuck together at Cloud 9. Aspen Highlands. 12/26/11 click 4 pix.Andres Fischbacher kept us happy at Cloud 9.Veggie Raclette at Cloud 9. click 4 pix.

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