February 23rd, 2012 at 4:19PM
It was so face-crispingly windy today—55 mph gusts!—atop Aspen Mountain (Ajax) today that the Silver Queen Gondola shut down. The scene on the mountain—accessible via double chairs lacking safety bars!—was similar to that of a violent Saharan sandstorm (above)…but with powdery snow and temps of 19 degrees. At one point, my ski buddy from Miami and I turned our tips downhill, and we stopped dead in our tracks. It was that fierce. By 2 p.m., the sun had slipped beneath dull clouds that cast dark shadows over the solid, slick terrain. And at that point we agreed: we didn’t come all the way out to Colorado for Ice Coast conditions! Time for hot cocoa.

It was so face-crispingly windy today—55 mph gusts!—atop Aspen Mountain (Ajax) today that the Silver Queen Gondola shut down.

The scene on the mountain—accessible via double chairs lacking safety bars!—was similar to that of a violent Saharan sandstorm (above)…but with powdery snow and temps of 19 degrees. At one point, my ski buddy from Miami and I turned our tips downhill, and we stopped dead in our tracks. It was that fierce.

By 2 p.m., the sun had slipped beneath dull clouds that cast dark shadows over the solid, slick terrain. And at that point we agreed: we didn’t come all the way out to Colorado for Ice Coast conditions! Time for hot cocoa.

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#Colorado#Aspen#Ajax#skiing#snownboarding#frozen
February 23rd, 2012 at 3:00PM

My housemate was Anna Wintour’s housekeeper.

For six years, in Manhattan. So far I’ve learned that set designers got it oh-so-right in The Devil Wears Prada, and that, despite her ice-cold reputation, Ms. Vogue is sensitive to her workers emotions—and never, ever raises her voice—plus she tips very generously.

I have photographic proof—Ana, holding a signed letter from the Queen B herself—but she doesn’t want me to put it on the Internet. Alas.

2 notes #VOGUE#fashion#Anna Wintour#wisdom
February 22nd, 2012 at 8:39PM

Gonzo Shrine in a Snowmass Glade

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Fact: shredding the slopes in search of fresh pow is a mission best shared with a buddy. Also, I never would have found this forest shrine to Dr. Gonzo, tucked deep into a pine glade on Snowmass Mountain, if I’d been by my lonesome. (And I certainly would not have been able to take this photo without assistance.)

It started with a casual challenge:

“Hey, wanna go find the Shrine to Hunter S. Thompson?”

“Um…yeah!”

The quest began. It wasn’t much of a quest, though, since my pal, a seasoned Snowmasshole, knew the location: midway off of the aptly named Gunner’s Way trail. (Aspen Skiing Company, which owns the four local mountains, was founded by a member of the Tenth Mountain Division after World War II.)

Partway down the trail, we slowed to a snail’s pace, scanning the edges for telltale tracks. We saw them, and slipped beneath the frosty canopy….

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Following a short ride through a dense thicket, at the base of a steep drop, we found it: Fear and Loathing…in the Colorado wilderness.

Read More

1 note #Aspen#Colorado#Fear and Loathing#Hunter S. Thompson#Snowmass#gonzo
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:08PM
GPOYW: One Step Closer to Winter Bliss Edition [Snowmass, Colorado, Mardi Gras, 2012]

GPOYW: One Step Closer to Winter Bliss Edition

[Snowmass, Colorado, Mardi Gras, 2012]

2 notes #Snowmass#Colorado#snowboarding#Aspen#GPOYW
February 22nd, 2012 at 11:57AM
I might add: with a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure twist. [via Explore Booksellers, Aspen, Colorado]

I might add: with a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure twist.

[via Explore Booksellers, Aspen, Colorado]

21 notes #life#books#Alan Moore
February 19th, 2012 at 1:20PM
Join the party for Presidents Day Weekend! (Burgers, sushi, beer, DJ: stellar après.) [110 Carriage Way (facing Elk Gondola), Base Village, Snowmass, Colorado]

Join the party for Presidents Day Weekend! (Burgers, sushi, beer, DJ: stellar après.)

[110 Carriage Way (facing Elk Gondola), Base Village, Snowmass, Colorado]

#Aspen#Snowmass#Colorado#skiing#snowboarding#apres
February 19th, 2012 at 10:53AM
I live right across the street from the Aspen Airport, so I see GVs pull in every morning and every night. It’s humbling, sure, because I’m usually trudging to the bus stop (using the area’s free public transport system is far more convenient than trying to find/pay for parking). But it also reminds me that this little town of 7,000 is a destination, a place to be. I’m living in an isolated mountain paradise that is cosmopolitan to the core. Yesterday, on the chairlift at Snowmass Mountain, a local originally from New York commented that she’s noticed an uptick in international visitors this season more than ever before in her twenty years here. (Mediocre ski conditions notwithstanding.) I wondered aloud if this is a real trend. She was adamant that it was. In my own experience, I work for a German and with three South Africans and one Japanese; my neighborhood baristas are all from Italy or Russia; my bus-stop bud moved here from Peru going on twelve years ago; and one housemate is from Argentina. On the next chair, I chatted with a spinal surgeon from Holland. He actually said that it’s less of a hassle for him to fly out to Aspen for the weekend (for a medical conference, natch) than it is for him to drive to the southern French Alps. The hyperbole leaps off the page, but still: the fact that he’d rather be here than there is pretty cool.

I live right across the street from the Aspen Airport, so I see GVs pull in every morning and every night.

It’s humbling, sure, because I’m usually trudging to the bus stop (using the area’s free public transport system is far more convenient than trying to find/pay for parking). But it also reminds me that this little town of 7,000 is a destination, a place to be. I’m living in an isolated mountain paradise that is cosmopolitan to the core.

Yesterday, on the chairlift at Snowmass Mountain, a local originally from New York commented that she’s noticed an uptick in international visitors this season more than ever before in her twenty years here. (Mediocre ski conditions notwithstanding.)

I wondered aloud if this is a real trend. She was adamant that it was. In my own experience, I work for a German and with three South Africans and one Japanese; my neighborhood baristas are all from Italy or Russia; my bus-stop bud moved here from Peru going on twelve years ago; and one housemate is from Argentina.

On the next chair, I chatted with a spinal surgeon from Holland. He actually said that it’s less of a hassle for him to fly out to Aspen for the weekend (for a medical conference, natch) than it is for him to drive to the southern French Alps.

The hyperbole leaps off the page, but still: the fact that he’d rather be here than there is pretty cool.

#Aspen#Colorado#airport#GV
February 16th, 2012 at 12:40PM
This journey had been like a full dinner of many courses, set before a starving man. At first he tries to eat all of everything, but as the meal progresses he finds he must forgo some things to keep his appetite and his taste buds functioning. —

John Steinbeck (via Kiko)

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  [Woody Creek Tavern, Woody Creek, Colorado, February 15, 2012]
#John Steinbeck#food#wisdom#journey
February 16th, 2012 at 12:14PM
Time to get organized. (I miss having an office!) [Tijuana, B.C., Mexico, December 15, 2011]

Time to get organized. (I miss having an office!)

[Tijuana, B.C., Mexico, December 15, 2011]

#office space#Mexico
February 15th, 2012 at 12:49PM
GPOYW: Desert Flashback [Highway 68, Embudo, New Mexico, August 22, 2011]

GPOYW: Desert Flashback

[Highway 68, Embudo, New Mexico, August 22, 2011]

3 notes #GPOYW#New Mexico#tractor#woohoo