Latest Posts

There is a still a lot of snow on the ground in Snowmass. Skiing is not quite finished yet but we are already getting excited about summer in Snowmass, particularly the free Thursday Night Concerts on Fanny Hill. Check out this great lineup for the popular Summer of Free Music Series for the 2013 Summer season starting on Thursday, June 20.  The free concerts produced by Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS), will run on Thursday evenings through August 15 on Fanny Hill, with one Friday show on July 5.  Shows start at 6:15 p.m.   The popular Family Fun Zone will return for the kids with free face painting, clowns, a bouncy house and hula hoops.   So dust off those picnic baskets, pull out your summer blankets  and get ready for a great summer of mountain music in Snowmass!

Come stay with us for the Master of the Mass, 2013!  Even if you’re not racing, this event is not to be missed.

MASTER OF THE MASS Bike Race Set for JULY 12-14, 2013 Registration is Now Open for the Race

Aspen/Snowmass, Colo., April 18 , 2013 – Registration for Master of theMass, July 12-14 is now open online at www.aspensnowmass.com/master. This Enduro Mountain Bike Race is comprised of four stages over three days that
test the all-around skills of racers as they face the challenge of using only one bike for all stages which include a chainless downhill,
cross-country, downhill and super-downhill categories.

New this year, final results will be based on cumulative scoring and not cumulative times in racing divisions of pro men/women and amateur men/women. A Junior division for ages 13-17 has also been added to the race this year. The pro division will have a $3,000 prize purse. Parties and events will surround the weekend of mountain biking in one of the most beautiful settings in the Rockies.

Race Course (subject to change):
Friday, July 12 – 4 p.m. – Super-Downhill (Time Trial) The crown jewel of the race is the first stage with a drop of more than 3,500 feet over 8.5 miles from the top of Elk Camp Chair all the way to the rodeo parking lot. The course will feature Vapor, Government, Anaerobic Nightmare and Highline trails.

Saturday, July 13 – 9 a.m. – Cross-Country Race (Mass Start) Beginning at the top of the Elk Camp Gondola this ride will incorporate the best cross-country trails Snowmass has to offer. The cross-country course has approximately 1,000 feet of vertical climbing and 2,300 feet of descent over nine miles and will finish in Snowmass Base Village

Saturday, July 13 – 4 p.m. – Chainless Downhill (Time Trial) Begin at the top of Elk Camp Gondola and descend down the Valhalla Trail and finish in Base Village. A DJ, drinks and party will continue in Snowmass Base Village.

Sunday, July 14 – 11 a.m. – Downhill (Time Trial) Each racer will have one run down Snowmass’ famed Pro Downhill course accessed from the top of the Village Express chairlift and finish in Base Village. Practice for the downhill will start at 9 a.m.

Award ceremony and closing party will be at 1 p.m. in Snowmass Base Village.

To check out the action of the Master of the Mass last year visit:  www.flickr.com/

Aspen/Snowmass would like to thank the Aspen/Snowmass Master of the Mass sponsors: Muscle Milk, Clif Bar, Helly Hansen, GoPro and Shocktop Belgian White.

Aspen Sports

• 970-923-6111
• Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Monday through Friday until mid-May

Daly Bottle Shop, Grain Fine Foods

• 970-923-4100
• Open 3 to 9 p.m. seven days a week

Erica Berens Yoga

• 970-319-8832
• www.ericaberens.com
• Open in the offseason for private sessions

Gene Taylor’s Sports

• 970-923-4336
• Open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays

North Face

• 970-923-0673
• Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week

Patagonia

• 970-315-3364
• Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week

Snowmass Kitchen

• 970-923-8200
• Open seven days a week
• Breakfast: 7 to 10 a.m.
• Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Dinner: (Vue Lounge) 4 to 9 p.m.

Starbucks

• 970-923-8306
• Open 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week

The 45th ski season at Snowmass ended Sunday April 14th in a flurry of fresh powder and great parties.  The parties began at Spider Sabich Picnic Palace with Schneetag, a party and competition  where teams build a float and attempt to ride it out across a man made pond.  Prizes included a GoPro Camera and Smith Goggles.

The party continued in Base Village with the closing party on the plaza.  Base Camp, Slice and Sneaky’s were all rocking and rolling, and the common-consumption area in the plaza made it easy to move within the bars and restaurants.

Maybe the best part of closing day was the dunk tank, with luminaries such as Dwayne Romero, Sue Way and Rev. Robert deWetter.  What a great time!

ASPEN HIGHLANDS TO OPEN FOR A BONUS WEEKEND

APRIL 27-28 Aspen Highlands Will Be Open April 15-21 as Scheduled as well as an Additional Weekend, April 27-28, Due to Consistent Spring Snowfall Aspen/Snowmass, Colo., April 15, 2013 – Aspen Skiing Company announced today that Aspen Highlands will reopen for the weekend of April 27-28 in appreciation of skiers and riders for a great season. While Snowmass, Aspen Mountain and Buttermilk are closed for the season, Aspen Highlands will remain open today through April 21 as scheduled and then reopen April 27-28. Consistent snowfall over the last week has made for great conditions and enjoyable spring skiing and riding on the mountain. “We are skiers and snowboarders and it is snowing like crazy, so of course we will reopen,” said David Perry, Senior Vice President, Aspen Skiing Company. “This is a big thank you to everyone. Let’s finish the season with smiles on our faces.” The mountain will be open to the 12,392-foot summit of Highland Bowl. The Exhibition lift will run daily from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Loge, Cloud Nine and Deep Temerity lifts will run until 3:30 p.m., providing access to the entire mountain. The Merry-Go-Round restaurant, Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro and Four-Mountain Sports will be open for business. The Aspen Highlands Closing Day festivities will remain on Sunday, April 21. All Aspen/Snowmass season passes are valid as they are during the regular season. As of today and through April 28, adult tickets are $62 per day, $57 for youth and senior tickets and $42 for children. As always children six and under ski for free. Additional days for Classic passholders from April 15-21 and April 27-28 are $35 for adults and $20 for Children, Youth and College. Double Flex and Flex passholders can also add a day for $35 from April 15-21 and April 27-28.

Jill Beathard
Snowmass Sun
Aspen CO Colorado

More great info on MTS in Snowmass.

When: Runs through Saturday
Where: Westin Snowmass Conference Center
More information: www.mtntrvl.com

SNOWMASS VILLAGE — Approximately 1,200 mountain travel professionals from resorts across the country are in Snowmass Village this week to network, conduct business and ski and snowboard together.

They’re all here for the Mountain Travel Symposium, an annual conference for ski-resort professionals now in its 38th year. The main purpose of the event is to bring players in all different aspects of the industry together, according to executive director Bruce Rosard. But for businesspeople in Snowmass, it is also an important opportunity to show off.

The symposium includes three separate business exchanges for trade (tour operators and suppliers such as resort companies, hotels and airlines), groups and meeting planners. Some people attend all three exchanges, while others are focused on one area.

Susan Hamley, director of Snowmass Tourism, said members of her organization will take advantage of the one-on-one meetings with buyers in the group block.

“(The group exchange) allows us to increase awareness of our resort among tour operators, for example, generating new business from that channel,” Hamley said.

Many people also attend the educational sessions, which Rosard said are appropriate for all three groups. This year the topics include catering to mobile-device users and using social media for marketing. Executives from Google and Facebook will speak about using their sites for travel marketing at a session Wednesday.

“Many of us attend the educational sessions and workshops to garner very relevant and forward-looking insights, trends and best practices that we can think about applying in our own business,” Hamley said. “Of most value, however, is likely the networking. There are many social functions, which offer the opportunity to share and hear other perspectives, develop worthwhile new partnerships and celebrate the passion we all share for mountain travel.”

Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman Jeff Hanle said that the networking is a key reason to participate.

“Attending (the Mountain Travel Symposium) allows our team to spend time with many of the biggest influencers in the travel industry,” he said. “It is the perfect environment for learning about trends, discussing business and socializing in an environment that represents what our business is all about.”

The symposium bids itself out to different resort towns well in advance of each conference. One of the reasons for choosing Snowmass Village for this year was that the Westin, where all of the symposium’s business events will be held, just completed its renovation, Rosard said.

“It’s a great year to come,” Rosard said. “There’s a lot of great things about the Westin.”

The Mountain Travel Symposium fills hotel rooms in a quiet time of year, Rosard pointed out, and it is also an opportunity for Aspen and Snowmass Village to show off.

“(Residents will) see the industry all over town … from literally just about every major resort in Western North America,” Rosard said. “Represent your town. Show off the hospitality. That is hard because it’s mid-April and you’re burnt out. But this is a time to show off.”

Hamley said Snowmass Tourism is excited to showcase Snowmass to attendees who haven’t been to the resort in a long time.

“We’ve evolved as a resort through the years, and one needs to experience it to truly appreciate it,” she said. “New business will certainly be generated as a result.”

Hanle echoed that sentiment.

“To have this event in Snowmass is an added bonus,” he said. “We get to show off all the improvements and amenities that have been built at Snowmass over the last eight to 10 years. Many of the attendees might not have been here in that long, and it gives them the chance to experience it firsthand.”

Registration for the Mountain Travel Symposium is online. The forum, which is the educational part of the symposium, takes place Wednesday and Thursday. Forum tickets are available at half-day, one-day and two-day rates starting at $245. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.mtntrvl.com.

by Dorothy Atkins, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Snowmass Hospitality is super excited to welcome all MTS participants. This is going to be an eventful week filled with informational meetings and great parties!

The largest gathering of mountain travel professionals in the nation is being held in Snowmass Village this week for the first time in over a decade.

The Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS) is an annual weeklong event that brings travel agents, ski groups and resort representatives together so that they can network and potentially strike business deals.

The symposium is celebrating its 38th anniversary this year and event organizers expect over 1,200 people to attend, according to Michael Pierson, MTS president. It started on Sunday and runs through April 13.

When the symposium was first launched in the late 1970s, it was an excuse for marketing directors from major resorts to get together and ski, Pierson said. Over the past decade, however, it has grown and in 2009, its attendance numbers peaked with over 1,200 professionals participating in the event, he said. Pierson expects this year’s numbers to be similar, he said.

Resorts bid for the chance to host the symposium, which is held at a different location each year. Snowmass won that opportunity this year mainly because the village is able to accommodate the number of people attending the conference and offer skiing, Pierson said. Many resort towns don’t have the kind of infrastructure or conference center capacity to allow for a gathering of this size, he said.

Snowmass last hosted MTS in 2000.

“What’s great about Snowmass is that we have the new base village here,” Pierson said. “… The new Viceroy Hotel and the town is all bright and vibrant. Plus you have Aspen 20 minutes away.”

It’s an honor for Snowmass to host the event because it allows the community to showcase the ski resort to an extremely influential group of people, said David Perry, Aspen Skiing Co.’s senior vice president of the mountain division.

“It’s by far the most important trade show for mountain resorts,” he said. “Really nothing else comes close to it.”

All attendees get complimentary ski lift tickets so that they can experience what it’s like to visit the area, according to Perry. There also are events planned on the mountain throughout the week and at the new Viceroy Snowmass resort hotel and at Snowmass Base Village, he said.

Perry anticipates that by showing off the resort’s amenities, more companies will decide to host retreats in the area in the future. That would substantially boost business over the long term, he said.

In the short term, the symposium is bringing a lot of business to the local economy because it’s putting heads in beds, said Bill Tomcich, president of central reservations agency, Stay Aspen Snowmass.

The town’s occupancy rate has more than doubled compared to the same time last year. Based on a March 15 report, Snowmass is 50 percent full this week, Tomcich said. That percentage is likely significantly higher, though, because people attending the conference have likely made more hotel bookings since then, he said. Last year at this time, the town was about 20 percent full, he said. Meanwhile, Aspen will only be a little over 20 percent occupied.

“Snowmass is where the action is by comparison,” he said.

Most of the attendees are staying at the Westin Snowmass Resort or the Wildwood hotel, both of which are nearly full this week. Many of the people attending the event drove in from Utah or within the state, so the airport won’t necessarily be busy.

It’s good timing for Snowmass to host the event, Tomcich said.

“I’m really thankful we’re hosting MTS this year and not last year,” Tomcich said. “Because obviously the mountains are white now. They are certainly presentable to this very influential audience and I’m confident our resort will make a good impression.”

This year, there are three sessions dedicated to different industry professionals, and there also is a two-day forum that is open to the public. The forum features educational lectures on technology and the travel industry. A pass to both days of the forum goes for $595 each and there will be talks given by representatives from leading tech companies like Google and Facebook. For tickets, visit www.mtntrvl.com.

SNOWMASS VILLAGE — The producers of the Snowmass Mammoth Festival have announced a beefed-up lineup of bands for the rebranded chili and beer festival in June.

Headliners include Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a group of all-star musicians collaborating to perform the Pink Floyd album in its entirety, on Friday night, and the group Awolnation on Saturday. The nine-concert festival will take place in Town Park on June 7 and 8.

Other bands include Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe — saxophonist Denson also will join in the Dark Side showcase, which also includes singer Corey Glover and guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight — STRFKR; Fort Collins-based You, Me & Apollo; and Lord Huron.

Steve Gumble, whose company has been hired to produce the festival this year, said he is flipping the focus of the event toward music — part of the reason for changing the name of the Chili Pepper and Brew Festival, now in its 10th year.

“We sort of felt that was a limiting factor,” he said. “We’re flipping the focus to a music festival with some really cool components.”

Overall, the music is geared toward a younger demographic and focuses on indie acts, although with Denson and the Dark Side rendition, there should be something for everyone, Gumble said. Awolnation, which played in the Bud Light Hi-Fi series in Aspen last year, was an obvious choice for headliner because “they’re just a great mountain-town band,” Gumble said.

In addition to the festival performances, there will be after-hours shows starting at 11 p.m. in Venga Venga on the Snowmass Village Mall and Base Camp Bar and Grill in Base Village. You, Me & Apollo and Fierce Bad Rabbit are slated for the first night, with STRFKR and Lord Huron on the second.

The post-festival shows are a separate ticket, priced at $20. Ticket purchasers are free to roam between the two venues or stake out a spot at one. Gumble said at the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, also put on by Steve Gumble Productions, people tend to roam between the post-festival venues and the late shows have become very popular.

“It works here, and we’re hoping it will work there, too,” he said.

Scheduling shows in the village also is intended to address concerns about moving the festival from Fanny Hill to Town Park, a bigger space that’s also farther away from Snowmass lodges and businesses.

“We’re concerned about it, as well, being new. … We don’t want to rip it out of the heart of Snowmass,” Gumble said. “We know (Town Park is) where it really needed to be to grow. … Give it a couple years to grow, and I think the village will really see that growth, as well.”

The biggest perk to moving to Town Park is the ability for the chili and beer tastings to take place concurrently with the music, Gumble said. All of the festival components will be on the soccer fields this first year, with 300 camping sites available on the softball fields.

There also will be some food and craft booths on site, preferably from Roaring Fork Valley businesses, Gumble said.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. March 15. “Early bird” two-day passes are $60 each, Friday tickets are $35 each, and Saturday tickets are $55 each. Two-day camping passes are $30.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.snowmassmammothfest.com.

Snowmass to host NASTAR National Championships
Snowmass will host the NASTAR National Championships March 20-24, bringing the best recreational racers from age 3 to 90 to the resort for an event-packed week.

Racers from 45 states will compete within their age and gender categories in the division and discipline in which they qualified for the National Championships. Competitors finishing first, second and third place in each category will be awarded gold, silver and bronze Olympic-style medallions and other high-end prizes from Transpack, Kulkea, Swix and Outdoor Tech.

NASTAR is a public, recreational alpine racing program with a presence at more than 100 ski resorts in North America.

Participants at the event will get a chance to meet and race against Ted Ligety, Julia Mancuso, Steve Nyman, Kaylin Richardson and other 2014 Olympic ski racing hopefuls.

Snowmass was the first place to host the NASTAR National Championship when it became a large-scale public event in 1998. Races will be held at the Spider Sabich race area.

The Aspen Skiing Co. has planned an exciting week of activities that includes race clinics, NASTAR races, free concerts, Warren Miller film screenings, competitor raffles/giveaways, awards receptions, athlete autograph sessions and team races.

A complete daily schedule of events for the 2013 Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships can be viewed at www.nastar.com/articles/2013-championships-schedule.

Janet Urquhart
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado

ASPEN — Snowmass Village will outshine Aspen when it comes to tourist bookings as the winter season hits its final stretch, but simply having snow on the ground will be a vast improvement over March 2012.

Last year, the final appreciable snow of the season fell March 1 and 2.

“Summer started right after that,” recalled David Perry, Aspen Skiing Co. senior vice president of mountain operations, during Tuesday’s meeting of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association board of directors.

In town, March snowfall last year set a record — a record low, that is. A mere 6.09 inches were recorded at the city’s water-treatment plant during the month.

This year, Aspen will close out February still gripped in winter. Snow fell steadily Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, Skico reported close to 3 feet of new snow over the previous seven days on Aspen Mountain. Snowmass picked up 25 inches during the same period.

“Normally, this is when our call volume starts to take a nose dive, but we’re holding steady,” said Bill Tomcich, president of reservations agency Stay Aspen Snowmass. This week’s snows have generated an uptick in calls, he said.

“If we keep getting snow, I think we’ll see a lot more last-minute business than we did last year,” Tomcich said.

There are no more sold-out nights on the books this winter in either Aspen or Snowmass, but both resorts wrapped up a strong February in terms of hotel and lodge bookings. March and April, fueled by group business, will be gangbusters in Snowmass, both compared with last year and compared with Aspen, Tomcich said.

The National Brotherhood of Skiers, which brought about 1,000 people to Snowmass for a week, wraps up its visit Saturday. The NASTAR National Championships come to Snowmass March 20 to 24; the event is expected to draw more than 500 people as the top recreational ski racers in the country compete for national titles in various divisions.

The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic will bring about 400 veterans to Snowmass on March 31 to April 5, and the Mountain Travel Symposium, which convenes at a different resort each year, will bring roughly 1,000 buyers and suppliers, including tour operators, ski groups and clubs, resort representatives, lodging property reps and others, to Snowmass Village from April 7 to 13. It will be the first local gathering since the 2005 symposium in Aspen. The so-called “trade exchange” for tour operators, featuring one-on-one appointments, is sold out.

The symposium attracts a key group, said Jeff Bay, general manager of the Hotel Aspen and Molly Gibson Lodge in Aspen and an ACRA board member.

“These are tour operators who send hundreds of thousands of dollars of room nights to our community,” he said.

“Mountain Travel is really big,” Skico’s Perry agreed. “That’s an extremely influential group of people coming in.”

Meanwhile in Aspen, March reservations are showing some gaps.

“We’ve got space to sell in March,” said Warren Klug, general manager of the Aspen Square Condominium Hotel. “And because Easter is on the 31st (of March), April looks pretty sad. We’re not going to have the April we had last year.”

The Hotel Aspen and Molly Gibson are starting March with fewer bookings than they had at this time last year, thanks to 2012′s strong advance reservations, according to Bay.

“That being said, we have seen strong close-in demand in both January and February and anticipate the same in March, and that the gap will close, as long as snow and weather cooperate,” he said.

March reservations at Aspen’s Sky Hotel are tracking ahead of last year at this point, having recently picked up the pace, according to Corey Enloe, general manager there.

Freeskier magazine will hold its All-Mountain Ski Test in Aspen in mid-March, bringing skiers and manufacturers to the slopes to test next season’s equipment and giving a boost to the Sky, which will this year host a skiwear fashion show associated with the event. It’s a gathering that is starting to build some steam, Enloe said.

March also brings Skico’s Spring Jam events, including an outdoor March 22 concert by Brett Dennen at Snowmass Base Village and back-to-back free concerts in downtown Aspen, featuring MarchFourth Marching Band and Grouplove, on March 29 and 30.