Book It: Aspen Ski Season 2014-15 Ends with a BANG.

Cheeks, Hess and the Buckaroo's lead the charge for the 44th annual Bell Mountian Buck-off.Very few people in Aspen were prepared for the 18 inches of fresh POW POW we received for closing weekend at Aspen Mountain. Even an experienced ski bum like A. Party had already packed away his warmest clothes and fattest skis.

Click 4 Pix:  BOOK IT, Closing Weekend

But here in Aspen where almost anything is possible, Mother Nature and Ullr conspired to give us one last shot of Winter.  I for one...dug it the most.

Aspen's skiers and riders were packing up their family trucksters to head out towards the beach or the desert or the river or the City.  But now they'll have one final weekend of face shots and partying debauchery to remember all Summer.

Taco Bell Mountain with Jim Smith and Peter King.It was a weird Winter in Aspen...no one can dispute that, not even climate change deniers.  The freeze/thaw cycle played out several times during the course of the Winter.  No will look back fondly on the 6 week snow drought we experienced after Christmas. Or the 60+ degree days in March (although some of those were sweet).   The final ski day day of 2014-15 encapsulated the entire season.  Closing day on Aspen Mountain was cold, windy, snowy, foggy...whoa whoa whoa...then it cleared up to be warm, sunny and a sick bluebird.  Heads were spinnng. All the traditional events took place on Ajax. The 1 pm Buck-off on the Ridge of Bell in its 44th year... was special.  Taco Bell Mountain at the base of lift 5 was tasty...thanks Peter King and Jim Smith.  Aspen 82 jammed at the Buckhorn Cabin.  Family, friends, frenemies and way too many snowboarders from Snowmass were out on the mountain. In fact the entire Roaring Fork Valley was out skiiing.  Of course the required end of the season bash at Sky Hotel was off the hook...again.

It was a decent season.  A.Party booked 107 ski days in 2014-15.  Not bad for a fat old Jew from Detroit.  What does the future hold?  Only Aspen's voters can decide that. We'll see you next Fall...or next month if I get elected.

Click 4 Pix:  BOOK IT, Closing Weekend

Professional Partiers.Closing Day Party at Sky Hotel 4/19/15My last lap. Closing Day on Aspen Mountain 4/19/15

Porn Rapper Mickey Avalon played closing weekend at Belly Up. 

Red Bull and Freeskier Jam at the Sky Hotel

Click for Pix;

REDBULL / FREESKIER

Cannabis Grand Cru fires up in Aspen.

Perhaps you've heard, recreational cannabis is legal in Colorado.  According to the most recent available numbers cannabis sales are surging in Colorado.  Recreational pot accounted for $34 million in sales during August.   Medical weed generated $33 million.   Tax collections from herb totals between $7 and $8 million per month in Colorful Colorado.

Everyone is firing up for ski season in Aspen.  but first;

The first CANNABIS GRAND CRU (click for info & tix)   Nov 14-16

Cannabis Grand Cru represents cannabis culture, lifestyle, business & community in a premier event setting.  Hosted at Aspen's Sky Hotel, the Grand Cru is a "members only event" but you can buy tickets here.  Cannabis tix    Use the PROMO CODE CGC50 to save 50%.

Food & Wine Bacchanalia in Aspen.

Whaaaaat? 

It was a bacchanalian weekend in Aspen for the 2013 Food & Wine Classic. Google it here for the definition.

  Hedonists from all over the world visited Aspen to eat, drink, network, attend seminars, party and in many cases over-indulge with food & drink.  The entire weekend was over the top, a decadent display of sumptuous epicurean delights.  Connoisseurs, gourmets and bon vivants from all over the planet came to Aspen to get after it in the gastro-dome.

AspenSpin enjoyed our very first Food & Wine experience as we successfully crashed the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.   In it's 31st year, F & W Classic in Aspen is an extremely impressive, World class event.  F & W is a well oiled machine, the production and set up are simply incredible.  It's BIG business, BIG money and BIG fun.  I'll admit it...  The Aspen Food & Wine Classic is phenomenal...there I said it.  Kudo's to American Express, Food & Wine Magazine, Devin Padgett and all the chefs, workers, staff and volunteers. 

Starpants servin' it up at F & W Classic in Aspen.Yeah, I've taken a few pot shots at F & W in the past. I admit it... I have a NIMBY-esque & myopic viewpoint.  Mainly because I love Wagner Park (my neighborhood) and hate to see it worked so hard as an event space.  I'm under the impression that with all that cash and brain power that maybe they could set up on the cement...and it'd be a win /win.  Now that I've actually attended F & W I have a little more perspective and about 15 extra lbs to drop.

It's impossible to do it all during Food & Wine weekend...but AspenSpin tried our best.  Without a press pass, but with a little help from our friends...we kicked off the Summer with another HUGE weekend of decadence in Aspen.

Click 4 PHOTOS:

Food & Wine GRAND TASTING (The Bacchanal)

Food & Wine SEMINARS

WOODY CREEK DISTILLERS

MAGNUM P.I./ SKIPSTONE SUITE / MOUNTAIN SPICE

CHOPIN & TY KU

Day drinking with NEGRONI

PATRON MOJITO LAB

ASPEN PEAK Rooftop

GRAND COCHAN / JET SET

SKY / KIMPTON / William Grant & Sons

F & W is a marvelous event.  Even if you're not a foodie or a wine expert...its a lavish spectacle of over-indulgence and depravity.  In fact the people watching on the mall is a circus unto itself.  The level of extravagance and gluttony and public intoxication is beyond my wildest dreams. I had a mental picture...but that was like a 13" RCA...the real thing is a 3D Imax.   There are mountains of fine food prepared by celebrity chefs at venues all over Aspen. The side-parties are off the hook...and the free alchohol flows so abundently that its easier to find booze than a glass of water.  The Grand Tasting in the main tent (Wagner Park) is an unbeleivable procession of taste treats.  The lamb-chop lolli pops from New Zealand, the Alaskan sea food and the tequila popsicles were my favorites.

Intoxication at F & W Classic in Aspen.It's pretty well known that I don't drink much...even when its a hosted bar. So I can say with almost complete soberiety that the level of alcohol consumption that I witnessed this weekend is... off the MF-ing charts.  It seems like the food part of Food & Wine is an important albeit secondary component.  The Chefs, the restaurant & liquor people are a hard partying bunch and Aspen... where everything is completely walkable...is where they choose to let it loose.

After the final bacchanalian Grand Tasting the scene moved to The Grand Cochon.  Grand Cochon is a 10 chef, 10 city competition & tour celebrating Pork.   The giant PIG Out finally threw me into a food coma...or it might have been the tequila milkshake I pounded at the Sky Hotel's gigantic pool party to close out the classic.  Either way...A.Party was spent.

It was a non-stop party for 4 days.

Courtesy Photo: American Express Publishing.Welcome to Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.A.Spin's first ever F & W Seminar....call security.The off-site parties never stop during F & W Classic in Aspen.Patron created the Mojito Lab in Aspen.Thank you sir...I'll have another.

 Chef Andrew Zimmern and actress Allison Janney took home the honors at the Grand Finale Cook-Off at the the Kitchen / stadium at the St Regis.

Freeskier and the Shred Testers

#FreeskierFest in Aspen. Click 4 siiiiick pix.Aspen Mountain is normally the home mountain to plenty of ripping skiers.  During Freeskier Magazine's annual #Freeskierfest, Aspen Mountain becomes the absolute center of the free-riding shredder universe.  Every March, a rotating crew of about 40 testers, some of the most talented free skiers in the Rocky Mountain Region, ride & rate every ski in the world.   The testers get to try out and critque the full quiver  of next year's skis. 

FREESKIERFEST: SHRED TESTNG: Click 4 pix.

Jacuzzi action @FreeskierFest in Aspen. Click 4 pix.So for the 3rd year in a row there's an extra-large posse of super-gnarly, big mountain two-plankers on Ajax for #freeskierfest.  Those guys and gals you see straight lining in The Dumps or sending back flips on Walsh's or negotiating the Ridge of Bell at very, very high rates of speed are probably Freeskier testers.

Freeskier's visit to Aspen culminated with a full on Fash Bash at Sky Hotel's 39 Degrees, the #1 après ski spot in Aspen.  Spyder and Carlsberg Beer joined forces to present next year's outerwear collections with a poolside fashion show at the Sky.  A huge crowd gathered at 39 Degrees in anticipation of the show. The weather was perfect.  Lucky wrist banders drank for free in the VIP as local models did what they do...they modeled.  The skiers strutted their stuff on the catwalk, the brand managers iced each other repeatedly.  The pool deck at the Sky Hotel took on a life of its own.  

Several fully dressed models ended up in the pool...so obviously the event was a tremendous success.

FREESKIERFEST: SHRED TESTNG: Click 4 pix.

Fashion is the passion at #FreeskierFest at The Sky Hotel. Click 4 pix.Models doing what they do...they model. At #FreeskierFest. in Aspen. Click 4 pix.Full on Modeling at FreeskierFest in Aspen. Click 4 more siiiiiiiiiick pix.Jamie from Spyder got iced in front of 300 of his closest aquaintances in Aspen.All the Models into the pool. Freeskier Fest in Aspen was a HUGE success. Click 4 pix.