Aspen: July 4th Eco Music Festival

The Eco Music Festival takes over the entire Snowmass ski resort Fourth of July weekend (June 30-July 3) to showcase some of the most vibrant musical acts and corporate eco-trendsetters of this generation. Mountainside concerts, guided hiking tours, an Innovation Village, and poolside cocktails make up a festival designed for positive impact for both festival goers and the planet.

EMU is designed to be environmentally friendly from the ground up with 100 percent sustainable tents, biodegradable water bottles, plates and utensils. In addition, the festival’s ticket vendor will plant a tree through the nonprofit organization Trees, Water & People for each ticket sold. These efforts will help offset up to 220 pounds of carbon emissions for every tree planted, and once the concert is sold out, the festival would be offsetting 1.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

Unfortunately, many of the adventure activities like the 3K Uphill Climb and Capture-the-Flag have been canceled due to all the snow we still have. Luckily, there’s stilly plenty of mountainside music! Among the musical acts scheduled to entertain at Snowmass are local faves Leftover Salmon, plus Perpetual Groove, Tea Leaf Green, The New Mastersounds, Stokeswood, and RJD2.

General Admission tickets are $70 and VIP tickets are $250. Kids 12 years old and younger are free, with the purchase of an adult ticket.

Aspen: More Skiing! Ski til 6pm

Rotating across the mountains are extended lift hours: ’til 6pm or later! Even better? Each of the late days has a theme and a party!! What could be better??

Lifts: Summit Express

Hours: Lift serviced skiing until 6:00p.m.

Theme: St. Patrick’s Day

Party: Cliffhouse until 6:00p.m. then the party moves to Bumps at the base!

Special: Terrain Park remains open until 6:00p.m.

Lifts: Silver Queen and Ajax Express

Hours: Lift served skiing and riding until 6:00p.m.  Downloading on the Silver Queen Gondola until 9:30p.m.

Theme: Moonlight Dinner

Party: Sundeck Moonlight Dinners

Date: April 1st

Lifts: Village Express,  Big Burn, Cirque (conditions permitting), Coney Glade

Hours: Cirque until 6:00p.m.,  All other chairs until 6:30p.m.

Party: Party at Sam’s Smokehouse from 3:30 until 6:00. Party then moves to Sneaky’s Tavern

Theme: April Fools’ Luau

Special: Terrain Park remains open until 6:30 serviced by Coney Glade.

Lifts: Exhibition and Loge Peak

Hours: Bowl until 5:00p.m. (conditions permitting) Loge Peak until 6:30p.m.

Theme: Spring celebration

Party: MGR until 6:30p.m. then it moves to the base!

Special: Golden Horn and Thunderbowl (the run) will close at  5:00p.m. Last ride up on Exhibition is at 6:30.p.m. Downloading until 7:00pm.

 

Aspen: TWO Extreme Mountain Mountaineering Competitions!

Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race

Holy extreme! This event has participants covering 11,000 vertical feet of climbing and ski descents on Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands, and Aspen Mountain—without ever getting on a bus. Aspen has a lot of extreme events, but this is serious! It’s the first year, so it should be interesting to see how it goes!

The race begins in Snowmass Base Village at 7:15am.  How crazy is this course: skin to the top of High Alpine via Sheer Bliss and The Dikes, traverse to Hanging Valley Wall, ski down via Roberto’s and Lower Ladder, traverse from Elk Camp to West Buttermilk through the backcountry. Skin to the top of West Buttermilk and ski to the bottom of Tiehack. From Tiehack, cross the footbridge to the Aspen Recreation Center and head across Maroon Creek Road to the Five Trees chairlift to begin the climb up Aspen Highlands. Racers will go all the way to the 12,300-foot summit of Highland Bowl. Ski down the bowl, then ski through backcountry terrain to Castle Creek Road via the Congo Path. Racers cross Castle Creek Road and begin the final climb of the day up Midnight Mine Road to the Sundeck on top of Aspen Mountain. The final ski would be down Copper Bowl and Little Nell before the race ends in gondola plaza.

Organizers estimate that the fastest racers and teams will complete the course in four to five hours, while the slowest racers would take eight.

“It ties in with the brand,” SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle said. “We have four mountains — hit ’em all.”

Registration ends TODAY, click here for more details.

Chris Bove Memorial Uphill Challenge

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Chris Bove Memorial Uphill Challenge (aka the “Buttermilk Uphill”)

The annual events is set for this Saturday too, with racers and hikers of all ages on skis, snowshoes, or other uphilling gear competing in an uphill race and walk-up-a-thon to benefit Challenge Aspen’s local scholarship program and the Children’s Hospital Immunodeficiency Program of Denver.

Less extreme, probably a lot more fun 🙂 Click here to register!

7 Unconventional Reasons to Love Aspen

1. Aspen Boarding Kennel & Animal Shelter: summer camp for dogs year round. The best place to board a dog, ever. Sweet staff, easiest drop off ever (literally, you don’t even have to call ahead!). PLUS, doggie webcam while you’re gone!!

2. Hitchhikers: ok, not really hitchhikers, but random people will still stop to give you a ride. Particularly if you are pulling a suitcase across a snowy road. Ax murderers? Not in Aspen.

3. Bar menus. I’ve never been anywhere else that offers so many bar menus. Cheaper, with smaller portions FTW!

4. Public Hot Tubs. Make new friends while relaxing muscles.

5. Friendly airport staff. They freaking live in Aspen, why wouldn’t they be?

6. Walking. Everywhere. Even in snow.

7. Poop bags everywhere. You’ll never have to do one of those awkward “what do I have in my pockets??” digs around for something to pick up pup poop. There are bags everywhere, on every sidewalk, bordering every corner of every park. Awesome!

Austin & Aspen: Oscar Watch Parties

I’ve gone Oscar-crazy over at EndlessBeauty.com, telling you how to throw your own party, but for the local effect in Austin, stop by J. Black’s for a Moet & Chandon-sponsored party …

… and if you have $160 to spend on the Oscars, check out the Aspen Film party at The Viceroy in Snowmass:

Aspen: Snowmass Restaurant Week!

Eating on the cheap in Aspen (/Snowmass) can be a challenge, so I’m thrilled they’ve introduced Restaurant Week to Snowmass! More than 25 restaurants (who knew Snowmass had that many?!) are participating with prices at $20.11 … cute. Started on Saturday, runs through February 18. My top three picks:

GARNISH (American)

Open Daily for Après 2:30pm-5:30pm and Dinner from 5:30pm-9:00pm. Lunch on Saturdays and Sunday from 11:30am-2:30pm  |  Timberline Condominiums  |  970.923.4004

APRÈS SKI: $20.11 for two. Select either Colorado smoked trout or molasses cured elk appetizer to share and then each choose a glass of house wine or one of our Colorado draft beers.

VENGA VENGA CANTINA & TEQUILA BAR (Mexican) [My Review Here]

Open Daily  |  Snowmass Mall  |  970.923.7777 (reservations)

LUNCH:  $20.11 for two ($10.05 for one) Appetizer:  Appetizer Sampler Entrée:  Choice of two enchiladas, two tacos or two fajitas (chicken or steak) Dessert:  Churros

DINNER:  $20.11 per person. Includes a glass of our house wine. Appetizer:  Appetizer Sampler Entrée: Choice of Chicken Zarape, Chili Relleno, Crab Enchiladas or Venga Asada Dessert:  Churros

EIGHT K AT THE VICEROY, SNOWMASS (American)

Open for Lunch 11:00am-2:00pm, Dinner 6:00pm-10:00pm  |  Viceroy, Snowmass  |  970.923.8000

LUNCH:  $20.11 per person. Includes choice of signature 8K burger or creole BBQ shrimp and your favorite draft brew.

DINNER:  $30.11 per person. Special Chef’s selection three-course tasting menu.

Click here for the full listing.

Aspen: Venga Venga Slopeside in Snowmass

The latest Richard Sandoval modern Mexican restaurant (click here for a HuffPo article on Sandoval), Venga Venga fills the slopeside void in Snowmass. Literally the slope-iest a restaurant could get, it sits right at the old mall, beckoning you with the promise of margaritas, which somehow sound delicious even when it’s -14 degrees outside. Trust me, I know, because we went there when this was the case.

These are margaritas made with Sauza infused with things. The red one is infused with prickly pear, then served with blueberries. The orange one is infused with serrano peppers and made with lots of orange. It is not sweet, which is just the way I like it!

Naturally, the mojito didn’t get photographed again. What can I say? The same fella, however, reported that it was nearly as good as Pacifica’s, which means it’s pretty dang good.

These are delicious nachos. I don’t normally eat nachos, not for any particular reason, they just don’t usually call my name. They did, however, and they were worth the caloric splurge (isn’t that what skiing/snowboarding is for?). The chips stayed crisp under the weight of the toppings, which were generous without being overwhelming.

Add in a little of the Venga Venga salsa, which is absolutely delicious and very fresh, and these nachos were divine. And I ate my weight in chips.

After a day of skiing or snowboarding, Venga Venga in Snowmass slopeside on the Old Mall is the perfect spot to stop. It’s not cheap, but it’s good.

Aspen: Pray for Snow Party in Snowmass

Because nothing in Aspen is ever online, I had to snap an iPhone pic of the event poster:

I know little more than what the poster tells you: Base Camp Bar & Grill is apparently opening under new management with a bang, serving FREE BEER and live music for the price of a canned good. Mammoth stew? Just trying to capitalize on the bones all around …

6p, tonight, 11/19

Aspen: Golden Leaf Half Marathon

I had full plans to run the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon, named by Trail Runner as one of “America’s 14 most scenic races”, which gains 970 feet in elevation on a narrow, winding singletrack before peaking out at 9,400 feet above sea level … but then I ran the Aspen Valley Half Marathon in June and hated my life and decided that as beautiful, scenic, and foliage-filled as the race may be, no way in hell was I running it. Or walking it.

Golden Leaf Marathon pic courtesy of Aspen Rec. Also, I have those Under Armour shorts. At least I think they’re the same. If not, I want the ones she has.

However, should YOU want to run, the 31st run will be Saturday, September 25 beginning at 8:30am in Snowmass Village, heading up Fanny Hill to continue along the Government Trail, finishing in Aspen. Finishers are cheered on at the finish line at Koch Park in Aspen.

Golden Leaf Half Marathon, aspenrecreation.com, 970.429.2093

On a related note, should you be reading from or traveling to NYC any time soon, The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join their Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Marathon on November 7th. Over the past four years the NY Road Runners charity partner for the NYC Half-Marathon’s 325 Fund-Racers have raised close to $400,000 for The Fresh Air Fund!

More info? freshair.org/racers

Aspen: Off-Season Eatin’

One of the best things about off-season in Aspen (the time between summer and winter where no one comes here because it starts to snow but not enough to ski, so it’s supposedly just miserable … I’ll keep you posted) is the amazing deals the usually too-expensive-for-my-budget restaurants have. Check out EatAspen‘s full list of specials, but here are all the ones I want to try:

– Ellina Modern Italian Restaurant is offering a $30 Prix Fixe every evening. Choice of appetizer, main course & either a glass of wine or a dessert. (a friend says this is the best meal he’s had in Aspen …)

– Il Mulino Prix Fixe $20 Lunch or $30 Dinner for Autumn Harvest menu! (a friend’s friend owns this restaurant and I CAN’T WAIT to try it!)

– Brexi offers a $34 prixe fixe – appetizer, entree, dessert (me & the Vermonster’s fave restaurant in Aspen)

– LuLu Wilson offers a $35 prixe fixe – appetizer, entree, dessert

– Takah Sushi is offering $6 sushi rolls & 1/2 priced atomic shrimp & sake

– Syzygy Restaurant offers a 3 course prix fixe for $39

– Silver Queen is now open–don’t know if they’re doing any specials, but definitely want to check it out!

Then, Viceroy Snowmass is offering Colorado residents a special rate of $95 per night per room, including parking.  The Spa at Viceroy Snowmass is also offering 25 percent savings on all spa services!! For Viceroy Snowmass’ spa, call 970.923.8007.

Hear of any more deals? Let me know!