5 Best Things About Aspen.

Next Winter will be AspenSpin's 9th ski season in Aspen (6th as a blogger).  It's been a phenomenal run so far, and we are doing everything in our power to get the party body ready to shred in 2011 /12.   Time away in ski hab always provides us with perspective, and while we love the beach too.. we're planning to go HUGE in Aspen, Colorado next Winter. 

The 5 Best Things About Aspen, according to AspenSpin.com

The POWDER : Click to Enlarge.1) THE POWDER: Aspen may not get the most snow (Mammoth) or the best snow (Utah) but we've got it pretty good. Aspen expects about 300+ inches a year and it usually comes in bunches.  As founder of the Aspen Powder Hounds we have our secret spots on Ajax (only a few are actually secret...dat sh*t gets stomped pretty fast).  Aspen has 4 mountains to choose from, excellent and varied terrain and it's uncrowded by de$ign.  It ain't bad, bro.

2) WALKING to WORK:  Many people do not really consider skiing every day and partying every night to be actual "work". At AspenSpin...it's our full-time job.  Scoring a dog-friendly pad within walking distance of " the office" (The Silver Queen Gondola) is never easy and always expensive. Good news. We are locked and loded for 11/12, which some local lawyers would call a "minor miracle".  See you on the Gondy, ooops The Office at Thanksgiving.

The Chicks.3) THE CHICKS: The Ladies of Aspen are awesome, unfortunately there aren't very many of them. After attending every party in Aspen over the past 6 years...and just eye-ballin' it... our estimated ratio, 7-1 boys to girls. 

There are two basic types of Local Aspen Women; the Granolas and the Glitters.  Both types are a handful.  Granolas come from a nice family, they're well educated, (maybe a prep school), decent college, un-hireable major (think Art History or English Lit. or Psych.), athletic, attractive and friendly. They dig the gnar and the gnarly guys that go with it..  They can ride with the boys, but they have their own club too. They look very hot in gore-tex.  Glitters,... well they shop more than they ski and enjoy private jets, designer togs and expensive jewelry.  They are experts at apres' ski and are great at making  reservations. Some are to young to be Cougs, some are to old to be considered, but they always look sparkley.  They aspire to be  trophy wives or at least a "real housewife".

Suffice to say the talent level in Aspen is very high.

Buy 'em all.4) THE RICH GUYS: Everybody's a playa...playa.  There's a lot of BIG money around.  Approximately 5/8 (remember fractions?) of the Forbes 400 has some relationship with Aspen.  Ya mon, everybody from Goldman has a house here.  We've learned to stash some clean socks at the Sundeck just in case somebody throws out a lunch invite to the super-posh Aspen Mountain Club where de-booting is de-rigueur.  Parking spots in town sell for $300,000, real estate trades around $2000 per square foot and the private jets are lined up like a parade.  Doing biz on the Gondola is a way of life.  Money is no object and conspicuous consumption is still alive and well in Aspen. "Feelin' good Todd",.." Lookin' good Lewis".

#winning #roiding5) THE TRUE CRIME:   The Senior Citizen Cocaine Ring, Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton in an alledged dust up, Charlie Sheen (#winning), The Bomb Scare on New Years, the groping yogi....you can't make this sh*t up.  Fraud and embezzlement are the most popular crimes in Aspen.  Our personal favorite is the drunk driving, former Buttermilk ski instructor who led cops on a high-speed auto chase only to roll his porn-filled truck on Owl Creek Rd. (no one was hurt....except the porn collection).  TIA...this is Aspen.  It never gets dull.

So we quote  AAAAHnaaald,  the former Governator of Calif., as well as a tarnished ex- Kennedy, domestic help impregnator and regular Aspen visitor...I'll Be Baaaaaack.  Let's Paaaaaahty.

AspenSpin is still in the game.The 5 Best Things About Aspen, Colorado. Walking to Work is one of them.

AspenSpin goes Hollywood

When you live in a small mountain town...at the end of the road you don't always get to see all the hottest  Hollywood films.  Aspen, Colorado, however, is a little different than the typical Rocky Mountain hamlet.  Hollywood comes to Aspen.   

Thanks to Aspen Film and their 20th annual Academy Screenings  Aspen gets an opportunity to see all the most important movies.  Tonight marks the opening night of programming for the very popular film series that runs from Dec 22-Jan1.  Hoooray for Aspen Film for being Independent by Nature and allowing us mountain folk to see some of the finest films of 2010/11.  The slate is full of outstanding films including Black Swan with Natalie Portman, Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner, Barney's Version headlined by Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman and Casino Jack lead by Kevin Spacey.   That's just a few of the many great films slated for Aspen---click ACADEMY SCREENINGS for a full schedule.

AspenSpin is scheduled to see THE FIGHTER on opening night (Dec. 22) and TRUE GRIT tomorrow night. We are especially excited by these two offerings. Expectations are high.  We love boxing flicks and Marky Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale are two of the most intense actors in show biz. They even made the latest cover of Sports Illustrated (below). The Fighter should be a dooozy.  True Grit stars the coolest guy in Hollywood--- the Dude, Jeff Bridges. AspenSpin had a chance to meet Jeff Bridges and his wife last summer---and he is truly a gentleman and a tinsel town legend.  You may recall the original True Grit and John Wayne's Oscar winning performance made in 1969. Helmed by the Coen Brothers,  the new version of TRUE GRIT is getting tremendous buzzzz in NYC and LA.  See it tomorrow in Aspen.

So grab a date, corral the family, review the schedule....this may be your only chance to see some of these films (unless you live in LA or New York).  Click Aspen Film for all the info.

Aspen Ideas Festival 2010

Can Aspen save the world?

The Aspen Ideas Festival (AIF)2010 is aiming to do just that.  The 6th annual AIF is taking place RIGHT NOW in our little mountain hamlet, Aspen, Colorado.  AIF describes itself as  "a conversation-packed exploration of some of the most important ideas and pressing issues we face" .  We being --mankind as a species and earth as a planet.  AIF 2010 is presented by The Aspen Institute and Atlantic Magazine. 

Bill Clinton makes the scene in Aspen.AspenSpin is still on hiatus in California, so we are not actually attending this fantastic event, however we are covering it via the interwebs.  While we normally like to get the "inside information" and "super-sick photos" for all Aspen events, this time.... we are on the outside looking in.... its still fascinating none the less.  AIF brings together thought leaders from around the globe to chat, network and hopefully change the world.   Topics include World Affairs, Arts and Culture, The American Agenda, The environment and sustainability.   AIF networks a bunch of incredibly smart, well connected, affluent people.  Hopefully they will find the solution the the world's problems, and share it with the rest of us ASAP.

Click AIF 2010 to see photos, videos and more.   All photos presented on AspenSpin are snagged from the internet, please don't sue us.Walter Isaacson President of the Aspen Institute tweets with Twitter founders @ev and @biz neither of whom finished college. Twitter is a phenomenom, but what's the end game?                                                                                             Futurist KR Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy raps about fuel cells and the future of energy.

NY education Czar Joel Klein weighs in on the importance of education.Isaacson with Barbara Streisand, Jane Lubchenco (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NBC's Andrea Mitchell.Barbara Streisand is excited to meet best selling author and Harvard History Prof. Niall FergusonBill Gates spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival 2010 in Aspen.Author Sebastian Junger shared his adventures at AIF 2010 in Aspen.

Aspen After Hours

The Aspen Chamber Resort Association(ACRA) hosted a business "after hours" networking event at the new Jean Robert's Gym in Aspen. 

The ladies and gentleman (singular) of ACRA took networking to a new level at the decked out top floor workout facility.  Il Mulino attracted an A-List crowd with their "live" pasta presentation coupled with wine and beer.  Jean-Robert Barbette's  new remodeled space along with JR's Gym (the former Aspen Athletic Club) impressed Aspen's biz crowd.Catherine, Sally and Sarah netwokring in Aspen. 

Click the pix to ENLARGE.  

  Fisa Z. and Jean-Robert Barbette celebrate the grand opening of JR's Gym.                     The Dream Team from Il Mulino. Francis, David and Chef Michael. Olivia and Eliza in between sets at the ACRA event.  Carole, Benoit and Sarah working out at Jean-Robert's.Video pros Chris and Heather joined Kim and Nicole from The Aspen Club.                                                                                                

The Last Lap

CannonBall . click 4 pixAspen's 2008/09 Ski Season came to a glorious end on Sunday 4-26 @ Aspen Highlands. It was an awesome season to be sure, and the super-stars of Aspen came out for THE LAST LAP.  We experienced Winter & Spring conditions all in the same day as the unpredictable Rocky Mountain weather spit-up a final POW storm to close it out.  It was freezing, windy and dumping in the morn.--followed by a bluebird afternoon. Ankle shots all day. What a way to go out.  See the pix, click  THE LAST LAP.

Sure the economy sux and all- but we get to crib & breathe it all up, right here in a little place we like to call Aspen, Colorado.  The Roaring Fork Valley, ZG, A-Town, Fat City, the Capital of Skiing, Cougar-city---call it anything you want ---we call it siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.Jello shots? click 4 pix

AspenSpin registered 101 ski days this season. NOT BAD for a gaper.  That's 101 ski dayz, in addition to all the insane partying that we documented for A-Spin.   Special thanks go out to our equipment sponsors, they kept us properly geared-up all season: Kudos to  KJUS, CLOUDVEIL, IBEX, BLIZZARD / TECNICA, & HIGH SOCIETY. Extra-special thanks to GORSUCH for the spectacular tunage and the fat boyz that we "borrowed" for all the really BIG days.   Thanks to THE ASPEN CLUB for keeping us in shape (sort of) and to the boyz @ CRYSTAL PALACE GRILL for filling our belly with grub all season. ACRA was a great promotional partner. TREW GEAR, RED BULL & OAKLEY kept us swimming in swag all season.    Our Real Estate partners RAIFIE BASS, RESORT QUEST and AJAX Real Estate  are 100% ready to make a GREAT DEAL for you in Aspen---right now.  DR. KEN MARK made us "camera ready" all Winter long with various botox treatments, derm-abrasions, zit cream and even a full-on face-lift.  How do I look? Good enough to party @ CARIBOU CLUB---right?

Cougar Hunting? This is real.Congratulations go out to BERLONI AMERICA on the opening of their new big-daddy U.S. showroom.  We want to share the luv with our affiliates VINTAGE SKI WORLD, STAY ASPEN/SNOWMASS, Buckaroo Builders, Aspen Skiing Company and CHARITY BUZZ, along with the hoards of non-profits we worked with all season including AAM, Susan Komen, Chris Klug Foudation, Shining Stars,SpingBoard, Aspen Deaf Camp, Aspen Historical Society, Grassroots TV etc. etc.  A-Spin is not just about the parties and good times and stuff---we try to give back too. We helped raise over $100,000 (via on-line auctions and direct contributions) for various local charities. Again, not bad for a gaper

MOST OF ALL we want to congratulate YOU---the loyal, award winning readers of AspenSpin.com--and to those of you who posed for our long lens all season. Without your narcissism, hedonism and voyeuristic tendencies we would not exist.  It's been a great ride, a fantastic voyage and a big BLAST for the past 3 years.  We really are LIVIN' the DREAM in Aspen, Colorado.  As we said from the start--Go BIG---or ?  Well, we're still here Bi-atchs.

PARTY/OUT

BitterSweet POW. It's all over @ A-Spin HQ. Click 4 Pix