Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants: Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants
by maribeth
Comments Off on Great Dining Experiences in Aspen and Snowmass
Great Dining Experiences in Aspen and Snowmass
Corn Soup at Element 47
On a recent visit to Aspen, Colorado I had the pleasure of discovering two of its newest restaurants: Element 47 at The Little Nell and Snowmass Kitchen at The Westin Snowmass Resort. I also carved out the time to revisit Venga Venga Cantina & Tequila Bar, another one of my Snowmass favorites. What a gastronomic trip this turned out to be! All three of these establishments rank tops on my list for ambiance and for providing exceptional culinary moments in a variety of forms.
Aspen, indisputably the swankiest of all our Colorado mountain towns, now offers one of the most sophisticated dining experiences in the Rockies with Element 47 at The Little Nell. I must admit, I felt trepidacious about this renowned hotel’s new signature restaurant. Being the Francophile that I am, I of course loved the classic and oh-so French dining experience offered at La Montagne, The Little Nell’s original restaurant and a landmark of sorts to people from all over the world—just like the hotel’s sunken lounge. Fortunately the lounge was remodeled enough so that it looks fresh and in step with the times, yet not so much that you wouldn’t recognize this “old friend,” a familiar meeting place for the tony crowd of Aspen. The look, however, of Element 47, was changed up completely and the end result is one of sleek, timeless elegance.
Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies: Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies
by maribeth
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Aspen/Snowmass Lodging and Dining Picks for this Summer
The Viceroy Pool at Snowmass: You’d Think It’s Saint-Tropez
I often feel that Vail has tons of hotels to choose from whereas Aspen’s selection seems more limited. That’s just my opinion. Aspen is smaller than Vail in any event. And in Aspen—especially at Snowmass—I think a lot of people like to rent big, luxury homes.
Kissing Kiddies at the Viceroy
There’s still more than enough lodging options to choose from though, particularly since some terrific properties have opened up in Aspen and Snowmass within the past few years. The Viceroy wins hands down as my favorite lodging option in Snowmass. I reported on it a year ago in my story, Sleek and Sustainable: Two Stellar Colorado Properties. I returned there at the end of this ski season and found it to be even more enjoyable second time around. Clearly, they’re off and running and word has spread that the Viceroy rates high as the most fashionable place to stay in Snowmass.
With all its swanky allure, the Viceroy also seems to be a most inviting property for families. This last time I lolled outside in one of their cabanas, sipping an après ski cocktail in ski boots and a down puffy with my hunny, while two families with kids romped about in the heated pool. Nearby a bunch of guys hung out at the hot tub, sipping beers and offering up celebratory toasts to whatever occasion brought them together. As the snow fell softly down around me, I couldn’t help but wonder how fantastic it would be to experience this pool scene beneath a blazing summer sun. The photos that accompany this story give us a clue.
Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Telluride The Rockies: Altezza Aspen Aspen/Snowmass Colorado dining Explore Booksellers Home Team BBQ Inn at Aspen Jour de Fête lodging Meat & Cheese Mountain Lodge Telluride Redstone Redstone Inn Snowmass Kitchen Telluride Telluride Ski Resort The Peaks Resort & Spa The View Bar & Grill The Westin Snowmass Tulips Body Waxing Studio
by maribeth
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A Crazy Happy Holiday Season in Aspen, Telluride and Redstone
Hitting the Fresh Pow in Telluride
Fresh Powder Turns Today in Aspen
Yay, I knew that if I were to write this story, the snows would come! Telluride received 9 inches of fresh overnight, 11 inches the past 24 hours and 15 inches the last 48. And boy, was it needed. Aspen is enjoying a good blanketing as well. In addition to the fresh snow, let’s hope this signals a significant breaking down of the high pressure system that has been sitting over Colorado (and Utah, Arizona and New Mexico actually) for the past two months!
Yet despite the paltry snow conditions, the resorts have managed to crank out a good product.
The Top of Buttermilk this Week
Teaching Snowboarding at Buttermilk
I’m back in Aspen dealing with some family matters. I arrived here Thursday night, just a month after I flew in here from a very extended stay on the east coast. Wow, what a month it has been!
Happy Clients in Telluride at Christmas
Perfect Outside Dining Weather in Colorado this Winter
After an initial few days in Aspen in December, I threw myself into the busy-ness of gearing up for ski season; this entailed rounding up my ski clothing and gear, stocking the house with an almost winter’s-worth of provisions and working my ski legs back into shape by doing my Telluride Ski & Snowboard School training.
Ski School Training in Telluride
Piles of Provisions
A nasty cold almost thwarted the start to my ski instructing schedule but thanks to mega doses of Vitamin C, fluids and fresh, chopped garlic (yes, I even had two cloves for breakfast, lunch and dinner a couple of days–followed by a chaser of Listerine of course) I was able to knock it out of my system pretty fast. I pulled it together–training, shopping, cooking and even a little decorating–to embark upon a super busy holiday season that required me to teach skiing ten days in a row.
Winter Light Show in Telluride
Phew! We always go from to zero to 150mph in no time flat. But that’s life in a resort town, especially one that typically has its busiest week of the year between Christmas and New Year’s.
Torchlight Parade: A Telluride Tradition
Happy New Year to All
By now, you must be wondering when I’m going to mention the elephant in the room–the fact that we’ve all been going about business as usual without much help from Mother Nature. Yes, indeed, it has been shocking how little natural snow we’ve had. Up through the end of last week, the snow totals for the season in Aspen and Telluride rang in at barely 20 inches. Yikes!
Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding: Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding
by maribeth
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Closing the Ski Season in Aspen
Relaaax…It’s Aspen
Smooth, silky, soothing, sultry, relaxing—that’s Aspen. And that’s how my ski season ended this year, and it was lovely. Just what I needed, too.
All kinds of celebrating from pond skimming in bikinis to dancing in ski boots typically take place on closing day at most ski resorts. Skiers and boarders in fun and crazy outfits cut loose as a way of toasting the end of a long ski season marked by few or many turns and often lots of hard work (in the case of those that work in ski towns). I celebrated Telluride’s closing day a month ago and enjoyed closing week festivities on the Front Range mid-April, so I had my share of end-of-the-season partying.
With the closing of its four mountains (Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Highlands and Snowmass), Aspen has certainly seen a lot of colorful merrymaking these past weeks. So it wasn’t surprising that this bonus weekend of skiing on Ajax was marked by a bunch of folks—mostly locals—primarily interested in cruising the slopes of their beloved mountain for the last time. Sure there was a smattering of tutus, tiger costumes and wacky wigs along with a vibrant assortment of flowered shirts and shorts, yet the scene was pretty tame. The emphasis was on the skiing; in this case beneath azure blue skies on what were surely the warmest days of the year thus far. (It hit 70 degrees in the town of Aspen on Sunday.) more »
Aspen Food & Wine Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies: Aspen Food & Wine Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies
by maribeth
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Snowmass Slated for Another Culinary Crescendo
Serving Up a Summertime Salad in Snowmass
I love our mountain towns, especially in the summer when the village squares open themselves to all sorts of food and wine and art and music festivals. I kicked off the summer early June at the Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest and was dazzled by the number of foodies and chili aficionados I met at that event. Boy, there’s some serious competition going on among those cookoff chefs, many of whom travel the country to serve up their prized dishes to fans like me. I’ll be reporting on that in more detail next spring in time for next year’s Chili Fest.
Snowmass is going off again this weekend with even more delectable eats and libations and most likely a more high-stepping crowd (especially now that all the second homeowners are in residence). The village of Aspen’s neighboring town provides an ideal setting for the Snowmass Culinary & Arts Festival that’s taking place Friday, July 22 through Saturday, July 23. Be sure to arrive by Thursday night in order to take in the free evening concert on Fanny Hill, a perfect outdoor venue created by the slope of the mountain on one of Snowmass’s renowned cruiser runs. Otis Taylor, an American blues musician legend, is playing at this year’s concert, so you’ll not want to miss it.
Aspen Colorado Food & Wine Telluride Telluride Festivals The Rockies: Aspen Colorado Food & Wine Telluride Telluride Festivals The Rockies
by maribeth
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The Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest: When Snowmass Sizzles
Chili Fun at Aspen/Snowmass
With all the chilly weather and snow we’ve been having the past few days, I’m ready for some hot, hot, hot. (Can you believe it? It has snowed nearly two feet in Telluride this week and here it is almost mid-May.) It’s all good though—that just means that the rivers will be flowing longer and the meadows will be greener come June and July. At this rate, the peaks should remain snowy white for quite sometime, making for a gorgeous backdrop for all the hikes, festivals and events that take place in our mountain towns from Memorial Day on.
Judging the Hot Stuff
I kick off the festival season here in Telluride with Mountainfilm, certainly one of the best gatherings in the world for drawing awareness to all kinds of issues from protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining to taking action against “big coal” and mountaintop removal. At Mountainfilm, you can also delight in viewing lots of films and photos about adventure travel, mountain life and other diverse subjects. Most of that weekend, however, is spent inside, so some of us almost hope for rain.
But come the first weekend in June, I’ll be praying for blues skies and warm days since I’m headed to Aspen to attend the eighth annual Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest, a weekend of good food and music that jump starts Aspen’s festival lineup. I’ve actually been invited to be a judge this year at this widely popular event that features a Regional Chili Cook-Off and a Champion Chili Tasting. The heat is on because we all know that there are lots of folks out there that take their chili very seriously. Also, the two main chili competitions are organized by the International Chili Society and I’d bet they’re not made up of a bunch of mandy-pandies. In an effort to set myself up well in advance, I’ve opted to judge the chili verde for fear that the red chili and salsa categories might work me up into too much of a lather. Thankfully I can always cool myself down with samples from over seventy breweries, representing top microbreweries from all over the country as well as many brew masters from Europe and other distant lands.
Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies Writing & Books: Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies Writing & Books
by maribeth
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Skiing, Smores and Storytelling at Snowmass
Big Blues on the Big Burn at Snowmass
I woke up to a winter wonderland in Telluride this morning. The mountain’s closed here but I instantly went to the Aspen/Snowmass Web site and saw that they’ve already received seven inches and it’s still snowing. Yes, we’re still skiing here in Colorado! I’m taking off tomorrow for Aspen for a last blast at Aspen Highlands. They always put on a great end-of-season party.
Ten days ago I experienced closing weekend at Snowmass, a mountain I had never skied. Much like in Telluride, their last day of the season was marked by a terrific spring storm that left most people bemoaning the fact that it was the last hurrah. I can only wonder what this Sunday will bring at the Highlands.
So what do I think of Snowmass? Fantastic! I can’t wait to go back and get to know the mountain better. No wonder it’s such a popular choice for all kinds of skiers and boarders, big and small. The groomers seemed endless—long, languorous blues that undulate down the mountain making even the most intermediate skier feel like an expert. It was windy and cold on the last day, so I didn’t bother much with the blacks that crown the summit. But I long to ride The Cirque, a poma lift that runs along the crest of the mountain providing access to the steeper terrain. From there also, I imagine skiers and boarders revel in killer views.
And what about the ambiance? I like it. Although some of the eateries and facilities seem a bit dated, I truly appreciate the strong ski culture embedded throughout the resort. Sure, even on the last day the mountain boasted lots of tourists, yet I could also tell there were just as many local and regional die-hard skiers on the hill. I gobbled up a savory chicken stew at Gwyn’s High Alpine and met new friends that had been skiing Snowmass for years. And then not surprisingly, I found myself at Café Suzanne, a French-inspired establishment, before the last run to sip a hot chocolate with my hunny. Next time, I’ll be back for their boeuf bourguignon.
Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Spas The Rockies: Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Spas The Rockies
by maribeth
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Skiing and Spa Going: Part Two in Aspen
Pond Skimming at Aspen Highlands
Some nights ago I tuned into some pond skimming from Mammoth. I took a double take since we are almost in summer. Then I remembered that Mammoth Mountain doesn’t typically close until mid June; I also realized that I had switched on to RSN, or Resort Sports Network, a local’s favorite here in T-ride, a cable station that can satisfy a sports enthusiast’s hankering for outdoor adventure with the push of a button. The show that followed tracked some of the world’s most harrowing expeditions at both the North and South Poles. The channel was all about snow, risk taking and fun. And here it is mid June. Boy, do I love living in a ski town.
Pond skimming. The words themselves conjure up a variety of curious images. But I’m talking about some of the best end-of-season fun that can be had on skis and boards. I witnessed some impressive pond skimming late April of this year, the last weekend at Aspen Highlands. Crazy kids young and old challenged themselves and wooed the crowd by plunging from atop the hill onto a manmade pond hoping they had gauged their speed and balance enough to carry them across the water. Plouf! Inevitably a few unlucky souls didn’t quite make it. The audience howled.
I’ve since carefully stowed my skis away but thoughts of skiing and the upcoming ski season aren’t too far out of mind. The season ended on a particularly sweet note, so I can’t help looking forward to what next season will bring.
It has become a tradition of mine to ski Aspen once Telluride closes and I willingly obliged to this rite of spring again this year. I actually had been staying in Aspen a good part of off-season with my dad, so it was a given that I’d close the season much as I had in the past, especially since the Highlands opened for an additional two weekends. (Let’s hope they’ll do it again next year.) This year though I was going to be with Steve, my sweetie, and I knew that our last day would mark the end of a very full ski season spent as much happily together as apart. My brother, David, and his wife, Geri, also planned to join us, so it seemed we’d all strike a celebratory chord together throughout our last turns.
