We officially open again tomorrow, just in time for Memorial Weekend. I'm pleased to say we are fairly busy too. It's a great way to start off the summer season.
There are many things happening this summer in Aspen/Snowmass. From music, to arts & craft fairs, to whitewater rating and hot air balloon trips. Truely, summers are the reason we live in the valley.
Snowmass Information: http://www.snowmassvillage.com
Aspen Information: http://www.aspenchamber.org
It’s February already, the winter season is flying by! The snow is fabulous this winter so if you have not booked your reservation, call now; 800-843-1579 as space is very limited!
Snowmass has many activities planned this month. Here’s what you can look forward to:
This February, Mardi Gras celebrates 25 years by adopting New Orlean's adage "Let the good times roll." But it might as well be a motto for the entire month! From the 5th annual Poker Run and a free concert with The Samples to the start of Bud Light Big Air Fridays and The Ski Tour stop, Snowmass' event calendar sizzles. Don't forget to stop by the beautiful new visitor center for information or visit the Artisan and sample their new breakfast menu. From breakfast to big air, Snowmass just has more.
Upcoming Events
Feb. 16: Start the weekend off right at the first in a weekly series of 2007 Bud Light Big Air Fridays competition, where regional athletes huck their best moves off a 40-foot jump, followed by music & fireworks.
Feb. 18: The 5th Annual Snowmass Rotary Club Poker Run fundraiser invites card sharks to circle Snowmass, while the Bud Light Hi Fi Concert Series offers a free concert by The Samples on the Snowmass Village Mall.
Feb. 20: Snowmass celebrates 25 years of Mardi Gras mania with a packed day of fun including a costumed uphill race, parade, bead throw, Cajun food, mask-making and kids' carnival, drink specials, prize giveaways, and more.
Feb. 22: The hottest new skiing event in the country stops in Aspen/Snowmass as part of its four-stop tour. Check out the skier cross and superpipe competitions in Snowmass, a live music festival in Aspen, and the best skiers in the nation competing for a total purse of $500,000.
It’s a beautiful sunny day in Snowmass Village. This is a change from the rain, although the news is reporting that we still need more rain! We had a big hailstorm 2 days ago, dropping enough hail to cover the ground. In all my years here, I’ve never seen that much hail fall at one time. Growing up in Nebraska, I’ve seen a lot of hailstorms, even one storm that dropped softball sized hail. But in Snowmass, we just don’t get any big hailstorms. Is it global warming or nature’s cycle?
With the sun out, it’s a perfect time to get out and explore the mountains. Whitewater rafting is always fun. To book a trip go to:http://www.blazingadventures.com
You can rent a bike at any of the bike/ski shops. A fun ride is from the Woody Creek Tavern to Aspen and back. This trail follows the Roaring Fork River all the way to Aspen. It’s pretty flat so good for adults and kids and the views are breathtaking.
It’s been awhile since I last wrote. I went on vacation and it’s simply been so busy since my return that this fell by the wayside. Snowmass Village’s summer is well underway. It’s been an absolutely perfect June with temperature in the high 70’s during the day and low 40’s at night. We could use some rain though! Fireworks were cancelled in Aspen for the 4th and most of the other mountain communities have had to do the same due to the extreme fire danger. It still will be a fun filled 4th of July so if you haven’t book your reservation yet, call now!
If you like the arts, you know about the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass. It is a world-renowned arts education community promoting individual artists development through workshops, residences, exhibitions and community outreach to adults and children. The Galleries feature artwork by Ranch artists. Visitors are welcome! For more information go to: http://www.andersonranch.org
Snowmass Village is going through a transition. Last fall the Town of Snowmass passed a group sales tax. With the passage of this tax, the Snowmass Village Resort Association agreed to have the Town take over this function. So we are busy setting up the transition. We thought this was going to give us more monies to work with and get the entire Town to participate instead of only part of it. Sounds like a good partnership.
The only problem is now the Town feels we need “new blood” and think instead of letting the lodging people work with the group sales effort, a new advisory committee should be set up with a lot of people, not involved in lodging. New blood can bring in new ideas. Maybe I should suggest this idea to the hospital and could help with a knee replacement. I might be able to bring in “new ideas”. Maybe the lodges can tell the hospital how to run, the restaurant community can run the roads department, the merchants can tell the bus company how to do business. New blood, new ideas!
They also plan to bring in an outside “consultant” to tell us who are clientele is. They are right; we only talk to our guests and groups on a daily basis. How would we know who they are? If the Town is able to come up with this “consultant” and a group of people, not in the lodging industry to make the group sales effort a huge success, they are true geniuses and Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and every lodging company in the world will be calling them.
Does the Town really feel like the local lodging community is so incompetent or does this community have a few people with egos completely out of check?
Winterskol official starts tomorrow in Aspen and Snowmass. This is a 51-year tradition started for the locals. Now it feature winter sculptures made of snow in the Aspen Mall area created by artist with Anderson Ranch Arts Center. There’s a parade on Saturday and fireworks that night. Throughout the rest of the week there are events on the mountains in Aspen and Snowmass, concerts and fun. So, if you are in the area, enjoy the week! For a full schedule of events, go to: http://www.aspenchamber.org
It’s a beautiful day in Colorado with sunny blue skies. They are calling for snow, but it doesn’t look real promising this morning. We like to get a foot or two of snow a week! We have 10 inches of snow on Sunday. The base is now at 60 inches.
We still have space at the Snowmass Mountain Chalet so pick up the phone and call 800-843-1579 to book your reservation or go on line at www.mountainchalet.com.
It’s another beautiful day in Snowmass Village, Colorado with bright blue sunny skies! Today is a perfect day to hit the slopes. I may even try to get out and snow shoe a bit.
If you live in the Denver area, check out the Denver Post ads for great deals for skiing in Aspen/Snowmass. In past years, everyone came from Friday to Friday or Saturday to Saturday. That pattern has change in the last 5 years. Many guests come out for 5 – 10 nights, leaving 2-3 night holes for lodges to fill. We are hoping the Front Range can fill in some of those openings. You will want to get a Classic Pass so head to Christy Sports on January 13 & 14 at Flatirons Crossing and Park Meadows malls to pick them up. And we hope to see you in Aspen/Snowmass very soon!
New Year’s is just around the corner. Wow, where did the year go? There are many wonderful parties to attend on New Year’s Eve at restaurants and private homes in Aspen and Snowmass Village. Check the local papers. Also, if you are looking for lodging reservations, several of the hotels have 1- 2 nights available. Personally my family and I we will go to a friend’s to ring in the New Year.
Last night we went to the Cirque D’Aspen. What a performance!!! These people are some of the most incredible athletes. The teamwork and trust it takes to perform some of them is simply amazing. I highly recommend this show. It benefits the Aspen Youth Center, a wonderful place for all of the local children. My oldest daughter has participated in some of their activities and loves it. They hope to make this a yearly event.
We had 5 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. Skiing and riding is great. If you have not made your reservations, please call 800-843-1579 as we do have some space available throughout the winter season.
Brrrrr, it’s cold out! Again it was below zero when I arrived at work this morning. A few high clouds and a chance of snow, but mostly, just cold weather! But this weather keeps the ski slopes in great shape.
We are all busy getting ready for the Holiday’s. The decorations are up and most gifts are bought. (One last shopping trip tomorrow). I need to send a few more packages out too. Many of the Snowmass Mountain Chalet guests have been writing their cards out here as we have taken many of them to the post office. Since the ski slopes open at Thanksgiving, November and December become a blur for everyone connected with the resort business. We would all prefer that Christmas be moved to April 25th! Today is the last day of school before Winter Break in Aspen. The kids are ready and excited.
Many repeat guests will be coming back for the holidays. It’s wonderful to see them and catch up on the year they had. We truly have incredible guests and feel they are part of the family.
It’s a beautiful sunny day today in Snowmass Village! We had 6 inches of snow yesterday so the powder hounds were out bright and early this morning. For more information on ski conditions go to:
In the local news, the voters recalled District Attorney Colleen Truden. Martin Beeson will take over her position. I don’t know either of these people but I do know that there were many unhappy employees and a large number of employees left their job under Ms. Truden’s her short term as DA. That is a big red flag waving to say something is not right! I proud the voters recognized the big red flag and feel they made the right choice this time.
The new Deep Temerity chairlift at Aspen Highlands is getting some wonderful reviews from the extreme skiers. I have not made it over there but hope to sometime this winter.
We have 2 groups in the hotel this week, the Jacksonville Ski Club and the Vail 50 Club. Jacksonville is from Florida and has been coming to the Chalet for many years. It’s good to see them again. This is the 2nd year for the Vail 50 Club. These are homeowners in Vail that have a very active club, trying out the area ski resorts. We welcome both to our home!
It’s another beautiful Colorado blue-sky day in Snowmass and Aspen. Tomorrow is supposed to bring us 1-3 inches of new snow. Snow is always welcome in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The Woman’s World Cup just finished in Aspen. It’s amazing to watch these people come down the mountain. Being a recreational skier only, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go down the slopes that fast. My daughter’s 4th grade class went to watch the races on Friday. When we asked her how she liked it, she responded, ”Boy, there were great things to buy there, let me show you what I bought!” I said, what about the races, she said, “Oh, they were fine.” Shopping to her (she gets that from her mother), was much more important that flying down the mountain. The X-Games are at Buttermilk in January. We’ll have to see if shopping takes the priority over watching those extreme games. For more information on the Women's World Cup go to: http://www.aspensnowmass.com/travelinfo/events/aspenworldcup.cfm
Once again it is snowing in Aspen and Snowmass Village. We have had 7 inches of snow in the last 2 days. The weather forecasters are calling for 10-20 inches today! It’s a perfect time to dust off those skis and snowboards and hit the slopes in Snowmass Village. We still have some space this December at the Snowmass Mountain Chalet!
We are getting ready for 2 groups this week, the Ole Ski Club and Bodacious Airlines. Both groups have been coming to the Snowmass Mountain Chalet for many years. They have become part of our family and we look forward to seeing them again.
A locals children’s theater production opened yesterday with “42nd Street” at the Basalt Middle School. The children range in age from 7 to 13 years old. It is a very big production for children this age. There are 16 different songs and dances along with costume changes these children are running for the 90-minute production. It’s a wonderful show and I highly recommend it!
What a beautiful snowy day in Aspen and Snowmass Village, Colorado! The snow is very dry so it’s fluffy and you can blow it right off your car - no need for a snow scraper today. The forecasters are calling for additional snow tonight and tomorrow. The schools in Basalt and Carbondale were cancelled today due to the snow but in Aspen and Snowmass, where there is an abundance of snow removal equipment, the kids had to go. To the disappointment to all our school children, rarely does a storm cancel school in Aspen and Snowmass!
We are so excited about our staff at the Snowmass Mountain Chalet this year. They are truly a wonderful group. We look forward to getting to know our new employees better and look forward to a fun and enjoyable ski season!
What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! The skiers and boarders enjoyed 15-inches of new snow! There is now a 36-inch snow base in Snowmass! Today the sun was bright, the skiing was fabulous and the slopes wide open. The weather forecasters are calling for more snow tomorrow!
Many of our guests checked out on Saturday and Sunday. A new wave of people starts arriving on Friday. Each year we welcome back the Ole’ Ski Club and Bodacious Airline Group the first week of December. They have all become family and we are looking forward to seeing them again this year.
Aspen Mountain and Snowmass Mountain open for skiing tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day. The new lift is Snowmass - the six-pack Village Express is ready to go. Skiing should be wonderful! The Snowmass Mountain Chalet openned yesterday for the season. Once again we will be serving our annual Thanksgiving Dinner. We are excited to see all of our guests!
There is a good snow base. The evenings have been cold enough to make snow. Aspen has a variety of activities this weekend. On Friday in Snowmass you can enjoy the comedy acts of Jeff Wozer and Lori Callahan.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!