WINTER 2017/18
ASPENLUXURYLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
JIMMIE JOHNSON ASPEN’S FASTEST MAN OFF THE SNOW
WINE | DINING | ART | FASHION | PLAY
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DEPARTMENT
“For the Tequila Connoisseur”
- USA Today
Find Out More: www.Codigo1530.com or A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 3
@Codigo1530
APPRECIATE RESPONSIBLY. Código 1530® Blanco 40% Alc./Vol., Código 1530® ROSA 40% Alc./Vol., Código 1530® Reposado 40% Alc./Vol., Código 1530® Añejo 40% Alc./Vol., Código 1530® Origen (Extra Añejo) 40% Alc./Vol. Imported by Código Imports, Miami, FL ©2017
DEPARTMENT
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DEPARTMENT
It’s your home. Let us treat it that way.
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DEPARTMENT
Do you own a beautiful home in Aspen? With Inspirato, you can generate rental income with confidence and peace of mind. That’s because your home will be managed by an established luxury hospitality company and rented exclusively to Inspirato guests. We provide marketing, booking, customer service,
on investment without any hassles or worries. You’ll even have the opportunity to reserve dates for your personal use.
Your home is in good hands with Inspirato. Interested in learning more? I NS PI R AT O.COM /A S PE N L I F E
Submission of your home does not guarantee your home will be accepted into the Inspirato property management program. Your home will be evaluated by a number of criteria, at Inspirato’s sole discretion, prior to acceptance. Personal use may only occur on specified dates and is subject to availability. All offers subject to change or cancellation at any time. Inspirato® is a private travel membership club that requires a non-refundable Initiation Fee and either an Annual Membership Fee or Monthly Membership Fee, as applicable. Membership is subject to acceptance of terms and conditions and other eligibility requirements. Availability, benefits, and nightly rates and taxes may vary by accommodation, date and membership option selected. See website (www.inspirato.com) for complete details. Inspirato is owned by Inspirato LLC and operated by its subsidiary Best of 52, LLC, 1637 Wazee Street, Denver, CO 80202, info@inspirato.com, 303-586-7771. Operator is registered as Florida Seller of Travel Registration No. ST38403; Washington Seller of Travel Registration No. UBI 603086598; California Seller of Travel Registration No. CST 2107465. ©2017 Inspirato LLC.
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housekeeping, and maintenance. So you can earn a strong return
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DEPARTMENT
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DEPARTMENT
CAROLINE SUMMERS 214.597.7513
csummers@briggsfreeman.com Cisforcaroline.com
DEPARTMENT
5131 Shadywood Ln • $6,995,000
3636 University Blvd • $4,250,000
4332 Potomac Ave • $3,995,000
4401 Lorraine Ave • $5,795,000
4433 Bordeaux Ave • $3,700,000
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 7
SOLD
SOLD
3801 Marquette • Listed for $2,399,000
SOLD Chrystal Falls • Listed for $9,499,000
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
5315 Wenonah • Listed for $2,775,000
&
TOWN
COUNTRY
SOLD 5011 Shadywood Ln • Listed for $8,999,000
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DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT
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HAWTHORN HOUSE, ASPEN | The architecture of this distinctive contemporary home seamlessly compliments the interior design. The living space boasts unbeatable views ranging from Independence Pass to Shadow Mountain. The reflecting pool at the entry engages the senses while the 20’ by 20’ sunken garden brings nature and light to the entertainment area on the lower level. Interior finishes including limestone, rich walnut wood, white quartzite and Taj Mahal slabs provide richness and warmth. $25,000,000
HAWTHORN HOUSE
Chris Souki
970.948.4378 | chris@masonmorse.com
514 E. Hyman Avenue, Aspen • 970.925.7000 • www.masonmorse.com
CONTENTS // DEPARTMENTS
WINE
BUSINESS
A wine business is born that gives back to the community.
The inside scoop on the world’s foremost ultra-luxury guide.
PLAY
ART
One custom boot fitter’s quest for sure feet.
A Cuban artist fosters the art of understanding.
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REAL ESTATE
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GEAR
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2017 sizzles with high-end property sales.
Our gear picks to outlast your wildest adventures.
HEALTH
LIMELIGHT
The fountain of youth has been found—in Aspen.
Celebrating at some of Aspen’s finest summer parties.
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O U R S H O W R O O M S S T I M U L AT E A L L F I V E S E N S E S. S I X , I F Y O U I N C L U D E Y O U R S E N S E O F A C C O M P L I S H M E N T.
Hear sizzling steak. Taste chef-made bites. See exceptional appliances. From cooking demos to product classes, you’re invited to discover the potential for your kitchen. subzero-wolf.com/showroom
Atlanta • Boston • Charlotte • Chicago • Cincinnati • Cleveland • Costa Mesa • Dallas • Detroit • Kansas City Miami • Minneapolis • New York • Philadelphia • Salt Lake City • San Francisco • St. Louis • Washington, D.C.
Asp
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CONTENTS // FEATURES
58 RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM
Race car champion Jimmie Johnson opens up about his career, family life, and his time in Aspen.
68 SNOWMASS TURNS A PAGE 76 THE STORY OF CÓDIGO 1530 Season-long celebrations mark local ski hill’s big 5-0.
Jalisco’s best private tequila goes public.
82 A WONDEROUS WEDDING 92 WHEN A TRIP GOES WRONG Tying the knot in high style in Aspen.
Count on this travel risk mitigation agency to make things right.
AT ASPEN HIGHLANDS
98 FAST TIMES
Local skiwear company hitting its peak stride.
Custom Stainless Steel & Copper Aquatic Products Residential Commercial Hospitality Specializing in Rooftop Pool & Spa Installations Luxury Custom Bath Fixtures Spas Swimming Pools Glass-Walled Pools & Spas Cold Plunge Pools Water Features Built to Client Specifications Sustainable Durable Sophisticated
A r c h it e c t : William Petrone B u i l d er : Deluccia Construction St o n e : Elegant Stone
Diamond Spas
AspenLuxLife #521_Layout 1 10/14/17 9:43 AM Page 1
1.800.951.spas (7727) 720.864.9115 fax 866.605.2358 www.diamondspas.com info@diamondspas.com
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 18
CONTENTS // FEATURES
106 A LIFE OF ART 112 THE WILD FIG
French gallerist family brings Opera to Aspen.
Where it all started for husband and wife Aspen restaurateurs.
Hot styles for cold days.
Get outta town, and discover one of these special places.
WINTER 2017/18
ASPENLUXURYLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
118 BOLD LUXE 126 LUXURY BEYOND ASPEN ON THE
COVER
NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
JIMMIE JOHNSON ASPEN’S FASTEST MAN OFF THE SNOW
WINE | DINING | ART | FASHION | PLAY
Unparalleled Service for Your Next Vacation Home Loan
Learn More at FortisPB.com or Contact
Lori Greenly
Ryan Chase
Managing Director, Private Banking | NMLS #637129
Managing Director, Private Banking | NMLS #499264
720.644.2365 | lgreenly@fortispb.com
720.644.2353 | rchase@fortispb.com
Fortis Private Bank is located in the heart of downtown Denver at 1550 17th Street Banking, mortgage and home equity products offered by Fortis Private Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender and wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Financial, Inc. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.
WINTER 2017/18
ASPENLUXURYLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
SENIOR PUBLISHER Scott Weber PUBLISHER Carly Weber EDITOR IN CHIEF Joani White
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ART DIRECTION Kissane Viola Design PRODUCTION MANAGER Jamie Werner DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Nick Tininenko LUXURY TRAVEL & SPECIAL FEATURES Risa Feldman SALES ASSOCIATE Greg Jefferson MARKETING & LOCAL SALES Alesha Sands PRODUCTION Kissane Viola Design COPY EDITOR Catherine Lutz Aspen Luxury Life | AspenLuxuryLifemagazine.com | 970.948.2766 Colorado Luxury Life LLC | Aspen, CO © 2018 All rights reserved by Colorado Luxury Life, LLC (DBA Aspen Luxury Life Magazine). Aspen Luxury Life Magazine is an independent print magazine published quarterly and has no affiliation with any other luxury brand online or print publications. This issue was printed by American Web on recycled fibers containing 10 percent post-consumer waste, with inks containing a blend of soy base. Our printer is a certified member of the Forestry Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards.
PUBLISHER’s letter
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ow! We are celebrating our first anniversary of
Aspen
Luxury Life Magazine, and what a year it’s been. From photo shoots to planning sessions to
amazing events, we could not have been happier with how each issue has turned out. We want to thank everyone for the ongoing support.
What an exciting issue to ring in 2018. We catch up with Aspen’s newest part-time resident, NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. He talks about the ins and out of racing and what makes Aspen so special to him and his beautiful family. With snow already pounding the peaks, we’re excited to hit the slopes and try out this year’s new gear. We all know how important it is to have your boots fit right, so don’t miss our article on Surefoot, and if A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 22
you’re looking for the ultimate in outerwear, be sure to check out the piece on local favorite Strafe. Don’t miss our fashion feature to peruse all the latest and greatest new gear. With such a jam-packed issue, it’s hard to cover it all. We sneak a peek at an Aspen luxury wedding, find out what’s making the local real estate market tick, and learn the secret to eternal youth. Discover Codigo 1530, one of the best new tequilas out there, and get the right protection for your next worldwide adventure from Valor (just don’t call it insurance). Speaking of travel, don’t miss our picks for your next off-season vacation. If you’re thinking of checking out the art while in town, take a look into Opera Gallery with us and enjoy our artist spotlight on Cuba’s Michel Mirabal and his politically fueled work. We dive into some delicious fare at The Wild Fig and talk with our resident wine expert, Carlton McCoy, about his boutique wine business. Last, but certainly not least, we celebrate 50 years of Snowmass, taking a look back and seeing what the future holds. We look forward to seeing you out there on the slopes and hope that everyone enjoys the wine, the dining, the art, and the fashion that makes up our Aspen Luxury Life. Scott and Carly Weber
editor’s letter
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s we celebrate our one-year anniversary with this winter 2017 issue, I can’t help but think what all I would have missed out on, the people I may never have met, and the creative challenges I would not have been a part of if I hadn’t answered my phone when Aspen Luxury Life magazine came a-calling. “Let’s do this” was our battle cry ... and oh, what a year it has been! My summer memories are all packed up and neatly organized in my Instagram feed, and we are ready to ring in the new year with a bang. While planning this issue with Scott and our talented team of contributors, we knew we wanted share with our readers some incredible stories from beyond Aspen paired with local stories of some of our beloved hometown heroes. Prepare to go fast as you read on about Jimmie Johnson and his choice to put down some roots in the 81611 zip code. I have reviewed a bit of must haves for your next extreme adventure and share with you what’s in my suitcase for my next excursion. Aspen and winter go hand in hand, and my skis are waxed and ready to go swooshing down Ajax with my fellow ski bums by my side. Time spent with friends on the gondola or chairlift are some of my most cherished memories, and I never take those fleeting moments for granted. One of my goals this year is to finally see as many shrines as possible on the mountain that I have always heard about and never actually seen. Winter not only brings the excitement of a new ski season—for me, it brings some personal adventure as I embark upon a month-long journey to photograph and explore one of the most extreme continents on earth: Antarctica. My adventurous spirit is always fueled with time spent in Aspen, and I encourage you all to read on as this anniversary issue is filled with inspirational people, destinations, dining hot spots, fashion, extreme gear, and more that will hopefully entice you to pack your own bags and fulfill your own personal wanderlust. Cheers, and let it snow!
Joani White Instagram: @jetsetjoani | joani@aspenluxurylifemagazine.com
ASPEN KITCHEN captures the best flavors and ingredients of Colorado serving a modern, fresh menu that offers a unique take on classic cooking. We pay tribute to the heritage and traditions of the West through rustic American cuisine.
515 E Hopkins Avenue, Suite 200, Aspen, CO 81611 970.300.4525 | www.kitchenaspen.com
This elegant, second level dining room is surrounded by three walls of windows that allow 180 degree views of town and the mountains with warm, rustic wooden design elements accented by brightly colored tapestries and a bustling open “action� kitchen.
DINE WITH US YEAR ROUND!
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CONTRIBUTORS
Amanda Rae
Jonathan Boxer
Olivia Daane
Award-winning writer Amanda Rae discovered Aspen during a cross-country solo odyssey in 2011, and she’s been grinning ever since. After a stint working at Hunter S. Thompson’s Owl Farm in Woody Creek, now she’s a food columnist at the Aspen Times Weekly, and copy editor for culture: the word on cheese. When not working on a screenplay based loosely on her Triumph Bonneville motorcycle escapades, she’ll be shredding Aspen Mountain—catch her if you can!
A longtime resident of the Roaring Fork Valley, Jonathan Boxer has worked as a Realtor in Aspen for over a decade with experience in luxury homes sales, fractional real estate, and commercial and residential investment property. He brings years of sales and marketing experience in real estate and financial services as well as considerable expertise in the digital and social space, having co-founded the Mountain iJournals, a Colorado based online news network.
Olivia Daane received a BA from Vanderbilt University in 1992. She then studied with Syracuse University’s undergraduate and graduate programs in Florence, Italy, followed by an apprenticeship with internationally recognized artist Paul Harmon. Daane opened her LIVASPENART STUDIO in 2006 in Aspen, Colorado. She is a painter, art consultant, songwriter, and mom.
Risa Feldman
Christina Oxenberg
Julianne Murphy
As a travel journalist and host of Epicurean Exploring, a show on Healthy Life Network, Risa Feldman travels to destinations all over the world experiencing resort/hotel openings, attending events, interviewing/ dining with chefs, and keeping up with trends in the travel and culinary world. When she is not traveling for work, she calls home Hermosa Beach, Delray Beach, New York City, and Aspen, where she has spent the last eight summers as a volunteer camp counselor with Challenge Aspen.
Christina Oxenberg started her professional carreer at Studio 54 where she was hired in a public relations capacity. This was the gateway drug that introduced her to everyone and everything she would ever need for the rest of her life. A Pandora’s box, if you will, to be used with great care. The culmination, to date, is a heap of published books, a great deal of wonderful experiences including five magical years in southern Colombia (not as a hostage).
Julianne Murphy is a professor of sociology at San Jose State University. Her first book, The Girls Guide to Money Etiquette, was featured in the 2012 AMA celebrity gift bags. She has also written several articles for the L.A. magazine Feedback. Currently a full-time resident of Aspen, Murphy spends her time hiking, skiing and writing.
FROM RESERVATION TO DEPARTURE
YOUR DESIRES ACHIEVED Connect with agents on the cutting edge of modern luxury travel who are passionate about making your next vacation or destination event a unique and unforgettable experience.
connect@diamante.life www.diamante.life/
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 28
Carlton McCoy and Csaba Oveges, partners in La Carafe Wines.
Introducing
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Here is a little info about the wines:
Bottoms of wine bottles help reveal plan to give back.
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TOURAINE SAUVIGNON: This wine is made by the Davault family. They have been growing grapes in Touraine since the 1850s. A perfect alternative to Sancerre—crisp, mineral, and delicious.
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HAUTES COTES DE NUITS BLANC: We work with Domaine Nuiton-Beanoy on this cuvée. The Chardonnay grapes are sourced from higher-elevation vineyards behind the hill of Corton. The wine is mineral medium bodied. The wine sees very little oak, so it’s made more in the style of a premier-cru Chablis.
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CORBIERES ROUGE AND ROSÉ: Both of these wines are made by Vincent Dubernet. The red is a cuvée of equal parts Syrah Dan Carignan with a touch of Mourvèdre. A perfect blend of northern and southern Rhône styles. The rosé is a blend of Grenache and Syrah. A classic Provençal-style rosé.
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SOON TO BE ADDED TO THE LA CARAFE FAMILY: Bourgogne Rouge, Fines Bulles, and Fines Bulles Rosé.
The wines can be found in most local retailers and restaurants in Colorado. If you have any questions about the wines or the charities, you can contact me at carlton@lacarafewines.com. The wines are distributed by Stelvio Selections. We really hope that the community can get behind the wines. The cause is very important to us, and most importantly the wines are delicious. u
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ypically, I do everything in my power to stay away from speaking in clichés. Phrases like “the early bird gets the worm” often make my stomach turn. But when I think of a way to explain the birth of La Carafe Wines, one of the most brilliant and equally overused quotes of all times comes to mind: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” La Carafe was started with this ideology. In my case, Aspen has a done a lot for me. I came to Aspen for work, and Aspen Skiing Company has become the only company that I could ever work for. I learned to ski and found cycling and long distance running. I passed my master sommelier certification here and met my amazing girlfriend in Aspen. So, I owe this town a lot. One aspect of being a part of the management team of ASC is that part of your job is to serve on a board of a local charity. This makes me very proud to work for this company. And let me tell you, I have tried very hard to fulfill this commitment, I promise, but life is demanding. My best pal and business partner Csaba Oveges found himself in the same dilemma. So, just like every other time we are torn, we opened a couple bottles of wine. And after we found the bottom of said bottles, we conceptualized La Carafe Wines. La Carafe is a wine brand that partners with winemakers in very traditional wine regions to make delicious table wines that are incredibly value driven. After our costs are covered, all of the profits are donated to three local charities: The Buddy Program, Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, and the Shining Stars Foundation. These three charities are very near to our hearts as they all involve helping young local children.
Park City Canyons Deer Valley Vail Beaver Creek Aspen Snowmass Copper Keystone Breckenridge Steamboat Sun Valley Mammoth Squaw Santa Monica Killington New York City Whistler Verbier
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SUREFOOT MEMORY FOAM
IT CHANGED THE WAY WE SLEEP, IMAGINE WHAT IT WILL DO TO YOUR SKI BOOTS Experience the comfort of a memory foam mattress, in your ski boots! Using Surefoot’s proprietary injection process we will mold a ski boot to your foot like you have never experienced before. Combine that with our computer-fit insole and get ready for the best skiing of your life. Whether it’s your first time on the slopes or you are a seasoned expert, Surefoot has the perfect boot for you and your ability. We carry all the top brands including our legendary Surefoot Custom Boot. So come in and discover the Surefoot difference today.
SKIER: Russ Shay, Co- Owner, Surefoot
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WE’LL FIND YOURS.
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JONATHAN FEINBERG • PJ BORY • ASHLEY CHOD • COLTER SMITH • NICK LINCOLN RYAN ELSTON • TONY DILUCIA • JAMES MAGUIRE • LAUREN BULLARD RYAN THOMPSON • SCOTT DAVIDSON • CHRIS FLYNN • MONICA VIALL
RANKED
IN SALES PER BROKER*
Start searching properties now at
AspenAssociatesRealty.com *Based on total dollar volume sold from ABOR 2016 year end stats.
970.544.5800 • Info@AspenAssociatesRealty.com
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Ski Boot
Nirvana Surefoot has mastered the art and science of well-fitted boots, with a humanitarian bent.
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grown into the biggest and best ski boot specialty store on the planet. Surefoot’s mission remains simple to this day: to provide customers with the best performing ski boot possible with a 100 percent guarantee, a promise unmatched in the industry that sets Surefoot apart from many other custom boot fitters. With multiple stores in North America and Europe close to many major ski towns, Surefoot provides customers with a convenient computerized profile that can be referenced worldwide from one of its twenty-four locations. Surefoot takes the speed and ease of this process to another level with its highly trained staff, many of whom are avid skiers, who will guide you through the process. The company continues to improve what it offers based on equipment advances and developing technologies and has sold over a half million ski boots along the way. If you’ve come to that realization that there just may be something better out there than the generic one-size-fits-all stock liner that comes with the ski boots you purchased, your first stop without a doubt should be Surefoot, the custom orthotics ski boot leader who has mastered the fit of the custom ski boot over the past thirty years. And by the way, Surefoot is not limited to customizing ski boots. Custom orthotics can be created at any of the store locations for general foot comfort as well as for snowboard boots and many other high-impact sports like running. Surefoot also has of a wide variety of helmets, goggles, socks, gear bags, and boot heaters, and you can even purchase gift certificates that would be sure to delight the recipient with the luxurious gift of a custom boot fit. You may be wondering what such a large company such as Surefoot could possibly do with all the old stock ski boot liners it has accumulated over the years. Well, it has partnered with the SAVEarth project, an organization created by orthopedic surgeon Mark Barry. A serendipitous conversation between Barry and the store manager at the Whistler Surefoot location (where he was getting his pair of custom ski boots created) led to the brilliant idea to repurpose the generic ski boot liners for reuse and combine them with a waterproof outer rubber boot liner to create weatherproof boots to withstand the elements. The finished boots have been successfully distributed to developing cold regions such as Mongolia so that vulnerable populations could have warm, waterproof winter boots. By continuing to support this partnership, Surefoot is making a difference on a humanitarian level so that others less fortunate can also experience a little piece of ski boot nirvana. u
Local Surefoot locations: Aspen | 520 E. Durant Ave #104 | 970.925.9235 Snowmass Village Mall | 45 Gateway Center | 970.923.2131
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he definition of nirvana is a state of perfect happiness; an ideal or idyllic place where there is a release of all forms of suffering. For many of us skiers, we have come to realize that without properly fitting ski boots, this could mean the difference between unmentionable torture and a pure state of blissful nirvana on the slopes. There is no piece of equipment more important in skiing than boots. That being said, what are some of the advantages of a well-fitted boot? For starters, better comfort, better circulation, greater warmth, and ultimately better skiing that requires less energy. This adds up to more quality ski runs with less fatigue and ultimately longer ski days. Ask any skier, be it an Olympic athlete or a fair-weather beginner tackling the bunny slopes with Surefoot custom ski boots about their fit, comfort, and performance, and the answer you will likely get is that they love their ski boots. Surefoot understands that ski boots are a long-term investment, and achieving a correct customized fit will affect your entire body by isolating and aligning your ankle and thus supporting your posture in a neutral position that will dramatically improve your skiing. Once the stance of the foot is adjusted with the customized orthotic and liner, the foot will now rest in the optimal neutral position in the boot, and you will no longer inadvertently be putting pressure on the skis. Poor alignment directly related to ill-fitting ski boots can have an adverse effect on proper turning, controlling crucial downhill speed, and stopping correctly, all the while putting you at risk with your reaction times while trying to maintain your form. How exactly does the custom boot-fitting process that Surefoot has perfected over the past thirty years with state-ofthe-art technology translate into the best ski boot you have ever owned? The first step is getting a highly accurate 3D scan of the bottom of your feet, including your arches, toes, the ball of your foot, and how much pressure you exert while standing. Once the comprehensive scan of the entire foot has been completed, based on that scan the computer’s controlled lathe generates a pair of orthotics tailored specifically for your feet. The custom orthotic is then put into one of Surefoot’s customizable foam liner inserts and placed into the hard plastic shell of the ski boot you’ve chosen, or your existing ski boots. The final step is putting your feet inside the shell liners with your custom orthotics while a liquid foam is injected into compartments in the liners through tubes, solidifying almost instantly around your foot, ankle, and calf and giving you a true custom fit. If extra warmth is a concern, your Surefoot technician can also install a boot heater with remotecontrolled settings to offer that extra relief from the cold. What started off with two brothers, Bob and Russ Shay, in a small ski town and their relentless passion for skiing has
By Joani White | Photo by Nick Tininenko
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CASTLE CREEK SANCTUARY • Ultimate mountain and river showpiece
CastleCreekSanctuary.com
• Minutes from town • Five bedrooms, five and one half bathrooms • 8,302 SF custom residence • 6.17 private acres • Floor-to-ceiling steel windows • Unparalleled amenities and attention to detail • Remodeled in 2010 • Gorgeous views and extensive Castle Creek river frontage
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Price upon request
RED MOUNTAIN — ERIKSON RANCH • Largest Red Mountain lot available in over 10 years • 6,803 SF with seven above grade bedrooms and five and one half bathrooms EriksonRanchAspen.com
• 11.8 acre lot with 51 contiguous common acres complete with horse barn and caretaker quarters • Horse Property with flat usable acreage • Additional FAR available to add on to main house or build a guest house • A beautiful creek (Slaughterhouse Gulch) runs through the north end of the property • 2 car garage with the ability to add a third bay • Senior water rights (3.14 CFS) • Jacuzzi
Price upon request
WEST END CONTEMPORARY Clean, open and light • 9,000 SF lot Four bedrooms • Four and one half bathrooms • 4,154 SF
Offered for $10,500,000
WEST END Location, views, privacy, space, quiet corner lot, walk to town Seven bedrooms • Four and one half bathrooms • 4,488 SF Picture window frames Aspen and Shadow Mountain
Offered for $7,999,000
Lifestyle. Luxury. Legacy.
WE’LL FIND YOURS. Tony DiLucia
Chris Flynn
Colter Smith
Ryan Elston
Lauren Bullard
970.544.5800 AspenAssociatesRealty.com Info@AspenAssociatesRealty.com
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 36
Sunnyside Lane on McLain Flats has added several new homes to Aspen’s ultra-luxury inventory in recent years.
455 Sunnyside Lane was one of seven sales over $20 million in 2017. The property was developed and listed by Bob Bowden, now of Coldwell Banker Mason Morse; Chris Souki, also of Coldwell Banker Mason Morse, brought the buyer. 455 Sunnyside is a study in Bowden’s ability to sculpt both landscape and home into a category-defining masterpiece of indoor and outdoor living. Through 14,000 square feet, Bowden programs a perfect mix of intimate and expansive spaces. The profound sense of arrival sets the stage for a flawless journey through eight bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, and jaw-dropping amenities including both indoor and outdoor pools that blend seamlessly into the architecture. Bowden elevates the crisp, modern palate with materials that add warmth, subtlety, and personality. Ultimately, like Bowden himself, his homes have a sense of charisma that continues to make them a pillar of the Aspen ultra-luxury real estate landscape.
High-End Sizzle 2017 Is a Record Year for $20 Million Property Sales
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By Jonathan Boxer
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he Aspen real estate market continued to surge into the fourth quarter with 2017 sales volume rocketing past 2016’s by nearly 80 percent. The ultra-luxury segment led the wave with seven properties selling for more than $20 million—more than in any other single year as far as the local MLS records go back, and likely in the history of Aspen real estate. In the already rarified world of Aspen real estate, properties listed and sold for over $20 million occupy a unique place in the market. Although the $20 million threshold may seem a bit arbitrary, the optics for market watchers are notably different. There’s something about the news of a $20 million-plus sale that generates a distinctive buzz within the real estate community. And beyond just the sizzle, there’s something about the steak. Homes that sell above $20 million offer next-level experiences, quality, and amenities, with location perhaps being the most critical criteria for properties to make the cut. Among the neighborhoods represented by the thirty-two sales over $20 million in the last decade, Red Mountain has consistently outperformed others, grabbing thirteen of those sales. With the unique combination of proximity to town, privacy, and drop-dead views of Aspen Mountain, Red Mountain is the standard bearer for the Aspen ultra-luxury segment. And while the homes themselves are stunning buyers with otherworldly perfection, it was in part Red Mountain land deals that grabbed headlines in 2017. Tucked between the Roaring Fork River and Rio Grande Trail, 205 Shady Lane is an idyllic two-and-a-half-acre parcel at the base of Red Mountain that sold for a record-setting $27 million. Although there is an existing house on the lot, there’s every expectation that the home will be entirely replaced. Just across Red Mountain Road from Shady Lane, the Rubey subdivision has been making headlines for over a year with a tantalizing mix of river access, views, and oversized lots. Rubey Lot Five, a nearly twelve-acre parcel along Hunter Creek with views from Independence Pass to Mount Sopris and rights to build a 20,000-square-foot home, traded this year for a cool $22 million. Both the Rubey subdivision and Shady Lane offer the unique amenity of being a breezy stroll away from downtown Aspen. While Red Mountain remains the epicenter of the ultra-luxury segment, McLain Flats has risen over the last decade and is second only to Red Mountain on the scoreboard, with seven $20 million sales since 2007. Luxury home developer Bob Bowden could be credited with almost single-handedly putting McLain Flats on the ultra-luxury map, having listed a series of new homes on Sunnyside Lane in what has become known as Aspen Lakes, the most recent of which sold for over $24 million in early 2017. Despite the banner year for sales over $20 million, the supply remains healthy with notable new spec homes coming to market in the West End, on Red Mountain, and at the Maroon Creek Club. u
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A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 40
Dr. Julian Gershon outside his Aspen clinic
Fountain Aspen doctor unlocks secrets to anti-aging and age-related pain management
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Words and photo by Joani White common. Costs are not as prohibitive, and financing options are available at Gershon’s practice. From the initial consultation to the blood panels and lab work, to the recommended personalized therapies, you can begin certain treatments and therapies in the neighborhood of $2,500, according to Gershon. The benefits are tremendous, and most of his patients tell him they have never felt better. With all these options to stop the clock on aging, I couldn’t help but guess that for vanity purposes, more women than men were beating down Gershon’s door for age-reversal options. Yet the opposite is true among his patients. New patients come mainly from referrals, local seminars, and speaking engagements, where Gershon often talks about the benefits of age and pain management. What is also exciting is his ongoing research and education. He tells me he is constantly being introduced to new therapies to bring to his clinic and patients. Just for fun, I ask Gershon, if he were traveling to outer space and had to pack only one thing, what would it be? “Testosterone!” he exclaims. “I feel great.” He goes on to say that it’s rare for him to have aches and pains with some of these protocols he follows as well. What is the secret to living a long and healthy pain-free life? Can you defy statistics and thrive with longevity on your side? Gershon has some of the answers. But don’t just take my word for it. Recently, he was recognized by his peers by being named one of America’s Best Physicians of 2017. This esteemed award, which came as a complete surprise to Gershon, puts him in good company with some of the world’s leading experts in the medical profession. Given all the well-educated people in Aspen who lead active lives with all that the mountains have to offer, and who are receptive to maintaining a healthy lifestyle in every way, Gershon is excited to finish out his career in a town he loves, to be linked with this community that has embraced his practice and passion. If there really is a fountain of youth, I am pretty sure Gershon is serving it up. With all these effective alternatives and advancements surrounding anti-aging, healing, pain relief, and regenerative medicine, one thing is certain: Age truly is only a number. u The Aspen Institute for Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine is located at 122 W. Main Street. aspen-regenerativemedicine.com
of Youth
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umans are living longer and longer, but inevitably, age happens to everyone. Time marches on, no doubt, but do we really have to accept the physical effects of aging while coping with aches and pains, or are there alternatives to help reverse the signs of aging while helping us to feel better now? I recently sat down and talked with Dr. Julian Robert Gershon Jr., owner of the Aspen Institute for Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, and learned that the answer is yes—there are many viable alternatives when it comes to improving how we age, and many of these options are readily available, affordable, and becoming more mainstream than ever before. Dr. Gershon is a triple-board-certified physician in family medicine, sports medicine, and anti-aging regenerative medicine. With such a diverse background, his focus could have remained in any number of specialties; however, his passion and dedication to anti-aging led him to narrow the scope of his practice to helping patients feel better in their lifelong journey to better overall health and well-being as they age. Gershon has also come full circle in his lifelong journey of always wanting to get back to the basics of the alpine lifestyle. A former ski racer, athlete, and all around outdoorsman, he is excited be a part of a community like Aspen, where like-minded individuals value his knowledge and expertise. His ties to the ski community run deep: Over the course of his prestigious career he has served as a resident physician for the US Olympic training center in Colorado Springs and was selected to travel with the US Freestyle Ski Team to Chile in the summer of 2006. Some of the exciting and cutting-edge services and medical treatments offered locally at the Aspen Institute for Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine are non-invasive stem-cell replacement procedures that have had proven results to help repair damaged areas using your own cells and tissue to heal, bioidentical hormone replacement therapies (BHRT) that are customized based on blood panels taken, and specific protocols created on a case-by-case basis. As we age, many things are tied to hormone imbalances, Gershon explains, so optimization of hormone levels is key. Also available in his clinic and on his comprehensive website are vitamin supplements and skin-care lines that Gershon has co-created with leading labs. Stem-cell therapies and BHRT, which have typically seemed out of reach for the average patient, have now become more
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A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 44
Robb Report Executive Editor Bruce Wallin on one of his many adventures.
Robb Report Inside the
BUSINESS
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ost people can buy what they need. Some people can buy what they want. Few people can buy what they dream. For forty years, the Robb Report has been the manual of luxury. It’s synonymous around the world with affluence and only features the best of the best. I recently met Bruce Wallin, executive editor of the Robb Report, at a luxury travel conference, and asked him about the world of luxury and his thoughts on what has made the Robb Report remain at the top of its class. RISA FELDMAN: What’s your personal definition of the term luxury/luxury life?
RF: How would you define what Robb Report is? What’s its category? BW: Well, I will tell you what it’s not. It’s not a travel magazine. It’s not a car magazine. It’s not a fashion magazine. It’s a magazine with a little bit of everything for high-net-worth individuals, showcasing what they may want to or can spend their money on. RF: So, basically a lifestyle magazine.
An interview with the luxury mag’s executive editor
BW: Yes, but ultra luxury lifestyle. It’s a magazine about all the fun and amazing things that connoisseurs can do with their money. We’re not about giving investment advice. Whether it’s buying wines, watches, automobiles, travel ... we have experts in each of the categories that we cover. We have a jewelry expert, we have a men’s fashion expert, we have two car experts. Like yourself, travel has always been my area of specialty. We rely on each of those people to really understand the market for the types of people who have the money to collect watches or wines, or who can travel anywhere they want.
RF: A lot of the products in Robb Report are gender neutral; however, who is the main demographic? BW: Our readership is primarily male, married, in his fifties, and has the financial resources to enjoy life to its fullest. RF: High-net-worth individuals typically stay on the lookout for what’s new in the luxury product market—the BBD (bigger, better deal). Over the years, have you seen any changes or trends in what they are spending their money on? BW: Yes. I’ve been with Robb Report for over fifteen years, and things have drastically changed in that timeframe. One major change was after 9/11. That tragedy woke many people up, and they started to spend more time with family and less on solo activities. Up until 2008—the Great Recession—there was a lot of emphasis on cars, watches, planes, yachts. Since then, we’ve seen a shift far more toward people spending their money on experiences. They want to spend their money experiencing things and creating memories with their families and friends rather than buy an expensive product. One example I’ll give: Our January 2009 issue was a travel issue and included ten ultimate trips around the world. These were incredibly expensive, hundreds of thousands of dollars, to different parts of the world. We really debated about running the story as the financial outlook was so bad, and many were really struggling. We decided, we couldn’t be apologetic for who we are, the Robb Report, a luxury publication. We had to continue to produce this material. We came out with that luxury travel issue, and the owner of the company we highlighted for an Africa trip called me and said he had sold two safaris, each worth over a hundred thousand dollars, since our story had come out just two weeks before. That was telling for us. In that okay, supposedly people are walking out of Tiffany’s with brown paper bags right now, hiding their purchases, and everyone is afraid to spend money because it appears showy. Even the people who still do have the resources are being hesitant. People were still spending their money, but they were spending it more on things like travel. I would say it was kind of a shift away from conspicuous consumption and more toward experiential.
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BRUCE WALLIN: For me, I think of luxury in terms of experience. Luxury is the ability to do things that other people aren’t doing and don’t get to do. It’s the privilege of having experiences that—I shouldn’t say money can’t buy, because it can buy—are yours and yours alone.
By Risa Feldman
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 46
BUSINESS
RF: Is the Robb Report published both domestically and internationally?
RF: Does your publication speak more to those who come from old money or speak to those with new money? Am I OK asking that?
BW: What we publish here in the United States is the mothership edition. We publish sixteen different editions around the world: Russia, China, Singapore, Brazil, so on and so forth. So, basically it’s available worldwide.
BW: Ha, sure. Well the truth is, it’s for both. We have a number of readers who fit into both of those areas. A lot of the old money have read us for a long time, and they look to us as collectors, as connoisseurs of luxury things. I think the new-money readers are those looking to us as, now that they can afford these things. There’s a whole world out there to discover, and with new money one starts to figure out who they are and what their interests may be. Is it art or collecting automobiles? I like to think that we help shape some of those decisions and point them in the right direction, should they choose one path or another.
RF: How has the internet and social media impacted your market-segment circulation? BW: The internet has been a huge opportunity for us to reach a younger, more aspirational audience that wasn’t necessarily going to pick up an issue for $12 on a newsstand. The internet provides a way to access our content in a different format and an easier way to digest the medium. Both our social media and website have really enabled us to reach a younger demographic that we feel will soon be that fifty-something, high-net-worth individual who can afford to buy that yacht and our publication.
RF: Does the publication try and cover more items that are new and trendy versus classic and traditional? BW: We certainly aim to cover products that will maintain the
BW: Correct, there really isn’t. We are actually launching one this spring. It will be for the high-net-worth woman who is a collector/connoisseur. RF: Any products or subject matter that the publication has not covered or won’t cover? BW: We cover a lot of wines, spirits, and cigars. Now that cannabis has become legal, we are starting to get pitches on both the product and also the experiences that have been created around it. To date, we’ve avoided it, but there is a luxury market. Just like there is with some bottles of whiskey that cost $200, some bottles of whiskey cost $10. You have the same thing with marijuana, and at some point I think that that’s probably a market that we would finally cover. But we’re not going to jump into it anytime soon. RF: Are there any travel trends right now that you see from Robb Report readers?
highest level of quality and desirability. Most important, it’s about the lasting quality and the lasting style that these products have. I wouldn’t classify Robb Report as cool and trendy. RF: So if a super expensive new watch that offers something different than any other watch contacts you, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will feature it? BW: Exactly. We do run into that situation quite a bit. We are introduced to a brand new product that looks great, but we don’t know anything about its longevity or the company. So we need to be really careful. Whereas, if Patek Philippe is coming out with a new watch, we already know who they are and have a strong level of trust in their name. We would still look at the watch to decide if it is a fit for our publication, and chances are it probably would be, because it is a Patek Philippe. RF: I’m trying to think of a magazine comparable to Robb Report, but geared towards women? I can’t seem to think of any.
RF: That is exactly the thinking with my “Luxury beyond Aspen” feature: introducing new experiences and destinations to our readers. What’s one place that you haven’t been to that is on your bucket list? BW: Antarctica. RF: Really, Antarctica? What’s the appeal? BW: Yup. That’s the only continent I haven’t been to, and timingwise I want to get down there now to see it, as it’s changing faster than it’s ever changed before. I also just love the kind of sense of vastness and unspoiled wilderness that it offers. I think it would be a fascinating place. Plus, I really want to see penguins. RF: Well, that’s reason enough. From one luxury magazine to another, we wish you safe travels and continued success with Robb Report. I’ll be on the lookout for its new sister publication, and if they need a story about penguins in Antarctica … count me in! u
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BW: There is definitely more of a drive to go to new and different places and be the first person to go somewhere. There are also the iconic places that will always remain a favorite of our readers, such as Aspen, no question about it. That said, I think a lot of people are also saying OK, instead of spending all our time in Aspen, where else might we go this year, in addition to Aspen? Having an adventure is becoming more and more important to people. A family that has been going to Aspen every year for years and years are now saying, ‘Aspen is great and always will be, but let’s add on something new.’ Maybe heli-skiing in Iceland. They can stay in a luxury lodge and ski these pristine slopes that no one’s ever skied on before. Name your own run because no one’s ever gone down that chute before. And then next year let’s go back to Aspen and enjoy the absolute level of luxury that we’re accustomed to.
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Michel Mirabal visited Aspen this summer, leaving the town with a taste of his native Cuba.
Artist Spotlight:
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 50
Michel Mirabal
ART
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Words and photo by Joani White
Cuban artist takes Aspen by storm with his politically fueled works at Aspen Art Gallery.
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spen Art Gallery has a rising superstar artist who is making waves internationally. Through his artwork, Cuban-born artist Michel Mirabal showcases strong influential historymaking changes in the vibrant political environment between the United States and Cuba, two countries that are close geographically and artistically offer powerful side-by-side comparison. This past summer I was privileged to meet and talk with Mirabal during his first-ever visit to Aspen as a guest artist in residence for Aspen Art Gallery, where he was hosted by gallery owner Damian Guillot. Mirabal traveled from his home in Cuba with several friends and associates and enjoyed many of the special experiences Aspen has to offer, including hikes to the top of the Aspen Mountain and a music concert at the Benedict Music Tent to see Earth, Wind & Fire. His art is quickly becoming the face of Cuba and most recently was chosen to be on the first Mastercard useable in Cuba. Mirabal’s art has even taken to the skies, quite literally, where it can be seen flying high on the tail of a Havana Airlines aircraft. But even with all this international success, he still remains true to his Cuban roots. “Every country has problems,” says Mirabal. “My hope is that other countries, especially the US, can be open to Cuba and embrace what my country has to offer the world.” He goes on to say that “art is subjective, and if I can make a difference with my paintings and create thoughtprovoking ideas and conversations, then that is even better!” His art is a contribution to both America and Cuba in many ways. His current flag series is painted using the traditional bold red, white, and blue colors of the US flag while layering and juxtaposing the painted image with current newspaper headlines from Cuba and the United States. While in Aspen, he even incorporated headlines from The Aspen Times and Aspen Daily News into some of his new works. Mirabal also tells me that rice represents a human connection with the most basic foods we all eat to survive, barbed wire represents problems and restrictions of basic freedoms that his country is facing, and the bullet shells, keys, and other materials are also significant to fighting and both closed and open doors within each one of the powerful art pieces he creates. The highlight of his visit was a well-attended art reception at Aspen Art Gallery, where he presented many of his new works painted on US soil. Galley director Ben Tomkins tells me, “Michel’s continuing global rise can only be described as meteoric. The way the work has been received at the gallery reflects that, too. The collection is almost half sold out already.” An impressive list of diverse private and public collectors of Mirabal’s works includes Muhammad Ali, the Martin Luther King Foundation, the Rockefeller Museum in New York, Fidel Castro, former Haitian president René Préval, and the Bellas Artes museums in Cuba and Colombia, in addition to many other collectors and public spaces. The king of Morocco just commissioned eighteen new works, and if there’s one thing that former president Barack Obama and current president Donald Trump agree on, it’s Michel Mirabal—both are collectors. u
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DEPARTMENT
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UNPARALLELED VIEWS, ASPEN | This five-bedroom European inspired contemporary home, nestled in the Hunter Creek hillside, features a thoughtful floor plan that offers spacious openness in gathering areas coupled with well-designed private areas for sleeping, living, library and office spaces. Exposed timber, native stone accents, hand distressed wood floors, and varied peaked rooflines mirror the alpine setting of this exclusive estate, creating a harmony from within and without that make this a stand-out one-of-a-kind haven to call home and only a short, easy, walk to town. $11,850,000 Web Id#: AL150330
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EDITOR’S PICKS
Gear Up
FOR YOUR WILDEST ADVENTURES
BY JOANI WHITE
Speedway 13”–15” Impact Laptop Sleeve by VELOMACCHI If you are like me, your laptop can take a beating on long trips between travel to extreme destinations. This laptop sleeve helps keep your computer protected from high impacts and clean from debris. Its tough construction is made from a nylon exterior surrounding high-impact foam and a polyethylene plate to disperse the load across the surface of the laptop. This is superior protection over any neoprene sleeve on the market. A tablet sleeve is also available.
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WHERE TO BUY: VELOMACCHI.COM
Monarch 5 Binocular by NIKON
My number-one piece of gear I can’t live without are my binoculars. With its products’ excellent optics, Nikon is my go-to manufacturer for camera equipment, so it goes without saying that this pair of eyes is of superb quality and one of the best of the best choices, in my opinion. I like this model for many reasons: It’s lightweight, durable, and built for extreme use and has a comfortable grip. The Monarch 5 is waterproof up to three feet, fog proof, and provides excellent visual brightness and clarity. Available in three magnification options, this set of binoculars won’t break the bank at around $300. Great for wildlife enthusiasts, stargazers, hunters, and allaround extended viewing opportunities. WHERE TO BUY: NIKON.COM
Thylacine sleeping bag by KAMMOK (with optional liner for additional warmth) I love this super-comfy, lightweight sleeping bag with customizable capabilities. This bag packs down very small in a handy drawstring pouch and has a functional design made from lightweight fabric and durable hardware. Choose from synthetic or down for your base bag. Adjustable to be wide and roomy, or slim and snug. This sleeping bag is a must for all of your travel and camping excursions, easily fits in a gear pack, and will keep you toasty warm. Added bonus: it comes with a lifetime warranty. WHERE TO BUY: KAMMOK.COM
As I embark on my bucket-list adventure to one the most extreme places on earth, Antarctica, I have put together some high-performance gear selections to accompany me on my journey, yet designed to outlast my wildest adventures.
Everyday Backpack by PEAK DESIGN Over the years, I have struggled to find the ultimate camera-gear backpack that is stylish and functional. My search is over. The awardwinning Everyday Backpack holds a wide variety of equipment and comes with three FlexFold dividers to protect and organize photo, drone, and everyday gear—it even has a dedicated 16-inch laptop sleeve. I love the contemporary clean design with all-custom hardware and reinforced leather grab handles. This durable weatherproof pack is cleverly designed with multiple zippered pockets to provide quick access and organization, and provides endless configurability options for all or your camera gear. Three colors to choose from: light gray ash, dark gray charcoal, and tan.
Karma Drone by GOPRO The GoPro Karma Drone is basically another accessory that works with your existing GoPro Hero series cameras. The Karma has been designed with simplicity and portability at its core, paired with cutting-edge technology. Aerial shots of your travels with Karma’s bird’s-eye view is a must-have for those looking to take their video footage to new heights. As far as drones go, it’s rather good looking. It may not be as technologically advanced as its biggest competitors, but the GoPro Karma is incredibly simple to control and doesn’t require a smartphone. GoPro Karma ships with a hard case and an easy-to-use controller. My favorite aspect is that it’s less cumbersome than other models on the market, making it my go-to drone for trips where I’m tight on space in my gear pack. WHERE TO BUY: GOPRO.COM
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WHERE TO BUY: PEAKDESIGN.COM
Anita & Jim Bineau Jim Cardamone
970.688.0609 970.948.2832
STUNNING PANORAMIC VIEWS | Quality newew construction in a gated community. Mountain paradise on 35 acres, views from every room. Open concept, soaring ceilings, fireplace, wet bar. Temperature controlled wine room, sprawling entertainment spaces inside and out. $4,950,00
Anita & Jim Bineau Christian Messner
970.688.0609 970.390.3131
PERFECTLY LOCATED IN MAROON CREEK CLUB, ASPEN | Nestled on .54 acre of privacy, open floor plan, expansive great room, gourmet kitchen, breakfast room, office, six fireplaces, media room, wine room. Private master suite with two sitting areas. Walk to Buttermilk/Tiehack. Golf offered. $8,500,000
Anita & Jim Bineau Tami Word
970.688.0609 970.274.4388
ROOM FOR EVERYONE | Five bedrooms, first-floor master, sliders to private deck, vaulted ceilings, living room, fireplace, splendid yard and patio for outside entertaining, sauna/hot tub, two car garage. $3,100,000
The Bineau Team – James & Anita Bineau Luxury Property Specialists 970.688.0609 | thebineauteam@masonmorse.com
514 E. Hyman Avenue, Aspen • 970-920-7362 • www.aspengloballuxury.com
Dream Runnin’ Down a
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 58
RACIN’ AND LIFE IN ASPEN WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON | BY RISA FELDMAN
S
hould you happen to hear what sounds like a car doing burnouts in the distance, there’s a good chance Jimmie Johnson is in town. Ask anyone who attended last summer’s Fourth of July parade in Aspen what made the crowd cheer the loudest, and they will say it was when the seventime Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion did a few burnouts in his No. 48 Chevy SS down Cooper Street. Having chosen this mountain town as his family’s second home, Aspen has embraced Johnson as much as Johnson has embraced Aspen. I caught up with Jimmie before a critical race weekend, but you would never know it. His nerves appeared as calm as they come, and his demeanor was incredibly lighthearted. We talked race-car driving, his career, family, and of course Aspen. All I can say is Aspen is damn lucky to have such a genuine family guy to call our own.
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RISA FELDMAN: I don’t know a hell of a lot about NASCAR, but what was it about stock-car racing that hooked you, rather than GT or Indy racing?
have been going in circles more than I have on roads. I enjoy the challenge, really, I really do, but I just have more experience going in circles than anything else right now.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Well, I grew up in southern California and IndyCar was really on my radar. It’s what I kind of aspired to do. I dreamt of racing in the Indy 500. I had a lot of different off-road racing heroes. I was in the off-road industry and kind of cutting my teeth there. I watched guys like Rick Mears, Roger Mears, Robby Gordon, all progress into IndyCar, so it seemed like a very natural progression for me. As my time came and my involvement with Chevrolet, they were pulling out of IndyCar racing and supporting the program there. They said, “If you want a future in motorsports, you need to move to North Carolina and look at NASCAR.” A week later I had a one-way ticket to North Carolina!
RF: Do you recall the first time in your career you thought to yourself, “Wow, I made it”?
RF: So do you like road racing as much as NASCAR? JJ: I do. Road racing is kind of where I started with my off-road stadium racing and also the off-road desert racing I did. On the asphalt, I’m pretty limited with road racing experience. I got into NASCAR really early and
JJ: There were a couple different moments along the way. Let’s see, in May of ’95, I was very convinced that if I joined a certain team, I could make a career out of racing, and I was still racing off-road trucks back then. I just felt like if I could join the Herzog’s [team]—which was the team that drew me within off-road truck racing, and then helped me bridge the gap to asphalt stock car, and then actually had me in their vehicles when I was spotted by Hendrick Motorsports. So I had probably a six- to seven-year stint with them, but I knew their vision and where they wanted to go. I knew if I could drive for them, I would have a career in racing. Then once I actually won, I think my second championship, many years later, that’s when I finally took a deep breath and relaxed and was like, “Okay, I made it.” Once I had two championships, I really calmed down and was much more comfortable in my own shoes, to be quite honest.
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RF: There’s a lot of skilled drivers out there; what do you think it is that you have that has made you so successful? JJ: I would have to say my journey was much different than a lot of guys. I didn’t get my start at the highest level until I was twenty-five and then turned twenty-six that year. When you look around how young a lot of these guys are coming in, I don’t even know if some the guys I’m racing with on Sundays are even in their twenties yet! For me, it was a long journey and there were a lot of difficult forks in the road. I was slow to progress compared to people that I was racing against. Through that journey, I learned a lot about myself and why I was racing. Then, when the right opportunity came along for me, I think I was just much more mature and certainly older and ready for the challenges of the driving. I also feel that inside the car itself, my upbringing on the dirt, you really have to make a lot of compromises on the asphalt. When I started, guys were really hyper-specific about a certain way their car had to drive. I felt like with all the different tracks we race on and the variables that are thrown at us, ability to compromise and just deal with things, well, it all came from my dirt racing—that really played a big role in my success. RF: Do you have any pre-race-day or race-day superstitions or rituals? JJ: I’ve been racing since I was five and believe me, I have had many superstitions along the way, and none of them have been consistent or have done a damn thing.
kept us coming back. We came for a lot of winters, and we heard so much about the summers, and then maybe eight or ten years ago we spent our first summer, and we’ve spent every summer there since.
RF: Have to ask, what do you wear under the jumpsuit? Did that just sound like I was asking boxers or briefs?
RF: Everyone always asks which is favored, summer or winter? For you?
JJ: Ha! Well, neither, at least not while racing. Under the jumpsuit, it’s a lot like your base layer for skiing or boarding, but it’s a fire-resistant under layer that you wear. In general, NASCAR specifies that you need two minutes worth of burn time, and so each layer of clothing has a thirty-second burn rating so the fire suit is three layers thick. Then, I have my Nomex underwear layer as well. That’s my vast little chunk of thirty seconds. . RF: Let’s talk Aspen. What made you choose Aspen over other mountain towns?
JJ: I would say from a consistency standpoint, the summer’s probably better, but if you catch the right week or two when it’s dumping, then … hard to make that call. I spent months here this winter, and I caught a lot of stretches with no one on the mountain. It just snowed day after day. Man, I’ve had dreams of being a ski bum and finally did it. I was so proud of myself.
JJ: Well, my wife and I, when we first started dating, we skied a lot of areas in Colorado. I grew up skiing mainly in Utah. There are so many pieces to why Aspen, but I have to say that the friendships that I’ve built in town
JJ: The girls have both been on skis since about seventeen months, in the Powder Pandas program at Buttermilk. They’re starting to ask questions about a board, but we’re like, let’s wait, for whatever reason, until they are
RF: Good for you. So the ladies in your life—your wife, Chandra, and two girls, Lydia and Genevieve—boarders or skiers?
RF: Is there a favorite trail you have for hiking, biking, or skiing? JJ: We hiked to Crested Butte this summer for the first time, which was insane. I had such a great experience doing that. Mountain bike, I would say, for me, up Smuggler through Hunter Creek, up to Four Corners, and descending down from Four Corners. That’s my favorite area to ride my mountain bike in the summer. That whole side over there is pretty steep but such cool views. Ski wise, I’d have to say the [Highlands] Bowl. If you catch the Bowl right, obviously it’s an epic day. I had one day where I felt really adventurous last winter, and I started in the parking lot on my AT skis and went from the parking lot to the top of the Bowl, and my legs were definitely tired but it was a heck of an adventure.
RF: Dining in Aspen—favorite spots? JJ: Oh boy, there are so many and I’m friends with them all, so I can’t really say. LOL. RF: OK, I won’t make you say—they are all my friends too ... we’ll leave that one alone. We’ll just say like ’em all. JJ: Yes, there are so many good ones. Friends with Jodi, Dave, Jimmy, Raphael—who I ski with. RF: Aspen does have a great dining scene, and if I had to choose, well, I’m all for Raphael’s French bistro [La Creperie du Village]. I just love the food and ambience— there, I said it. LOL. JJ: OK, I agree, I’ll say it too. It’s such a quaint little spot. In the summer you can sit up there on a sidewalk table and chill. It’s awesome. RF: OK, we should move on, I know you don’t have a lot of time. Your girls, which do they prefer: New York City, Charlotte, or Aspen, since you have [homes in] all three?
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ten. We’re at least using that to our benefit right now to wait until they’re ten. When I met my wife and we were dating, she was a boarder, and I grew up skiing, so I put on a board and learned with her and ended up proficient on the board. Once we had kids, we knew we needed to get back on skis and kind of ski with them and help them, so for probably seven years now I’ve been back on skis.
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JJ: I think they are a lot like their parents and love all three places. I don’t know if it’s our opinion that swayed them or if they picked up this opinion on their own. Charlotte is an amazing place to raise a family, plus great friends and a great foundation for us to be most of the year. Plus my business is obviously there. We love Aspen for all the obvious reasons, and then New York ... I met my wife in New York, and her heart has such a spot for that city, and it has such amazing cultural experiences. When we are in NYC, the girls have their full schedule lineup from zoos to museums. So the answer is they love all three.
a lot of places, so ... I don’t know, it was an interesting discovery for us that we do like to bounce around more than we gave ourselves credit for. So if we can make it work—all three.
RF: Not a bad trifecta of locations! Why choose one if you can have a couple?
RF: So there is an 18-year age gap between you and the other drivers, which is kind of major. Do you see a difference in style or attitude from the new generation of drivers versus the past generations?
JJ: Exactly! We moved to Aspen last winter and just planned to stay for the winter, and it ended up seven months. We’ve had this vision that we have to pick a place someday, especially when I’m done racing down the road. We have to call somewhere home and we learned ... well, we love
RF: Hey, if you have the ability of doing that, and if the kids are comfortable with it, I think there’s no problem to call three different places home and rotate. It’s doable, even with schooling. JJ: Totally. That’s what I’m thinking!
JJ: I definitely do. Our sport has also changed some with the stage racing and the way we crown a champion now. It puts a big premium on the shorter segments. The era that
I grew up in, you started the race at 80 percent and built your way into that 100 percent mark, took care of your equipment, you raced people respectfully on track. There was kind of an unwritten code of working with each other. If you’re a little faster, you’d let ’em go by. Then when it’s your turn, they’ll let you go by until you get to that last window at the end of the race. Now, we have the young group of guys that are in here that have the bit between their teeth and just ready to go. There’s two extra flags now, and there’s points awarded, and it’s really broken a long race up into three small races. I think that it’s benefiting these younger guys coming in and it fits their style more as young aggressive guys. As a veteran, prior to this, when a young guy would come in, you know you’d start the race and go like crazy, but at the halfway point, you’d make some mistakes and you’d get it back. We don’t have that opportunity in the way the racing works today. RF: Do you have a favorite NASCAR driver you look up to?
RF: When your wife drives and you are the passenger, are you a backseat driver to her? Do you tell her to speed up or if she is driving bad? JJ: OMG, she is the best rule follower. I mean the best. I usually irritate her because she’s like dead on the money with the speed limit or overly cautious at the stop sign. I’m like, “Go!” So yeah, I guess I definitely do that. RF: Cocktail of choice? JJ: I grew up in southern California and tequila was my thing, and I still absolutely enjoy tequila/margaritas, but the last few years I’ve been on this whiskey/ bourbon kick. It fits really well in the mountains, especially in the winter time. I just found my way into this bourbon world. RF: So what’s the Jimmie Johnson legacy? What do you want to leave behind once you do retire? JJ: Legacy-wise, I mean, I’ve never been one really motivated by stats. I’ve been able to accomplish way
I DON’T LOOK AT THE SPEEDOMETER AS MUCH AS I SHOULD. ...IF I’M GETTING PASSED, IT KIND OF TRIGGERS SOMETHING IN ME... experience on me. It was somebody that I looked up to and idolized and also opened many doors for me and drivers like myself, coming from California, coming from a different background, and kind of opened up doors for us to move into NASCAR. RF: Have you ever gotten pulled over for speeding; did you get out of the ticket? JJ: Ummm … yup. I’ve definitely been cited. I luckily have also had things go my way when I’ve been recognized. Typically though, I’m not very aggressive on the streets. I get to fulfill that on the weekends at the race track. RF: In Aspen, it must be brutal for you to drive so slow: 25 miles per hour. JJ: I don’t look at the speedometer as much as I should. Although if I feel like I’m slowly progressing someone,
more than I ever dreamed of. I’m very proud of that but what’s more important to me is the way I’ve gone about it. I like to have a good time. I like to have friendships and relationships and be a positive influence. Although, I honestly didn’t aspire to be a role model, but I do like to lead by example. I don’t know, I just try to be a good citizen. As a father of two, I try to raise my children right. That aspect of it is much more important to me than anything. RF: Last question: If you had to pick a song title to describe this time of your life, what would it be and why? Oh, and just FYI, I plan to use it as the title of the article, so think about it. JJ: Got it! “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, because I’m chasing my eighth championship. u
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JJ: From the past, growing up I was a big fan of Davey Allison. There are few different races where he raced against his father, which is really cool. With my dad in racing, I always dreamt about that. Cale Yarborough is another name, and then Jeff Gordon. He was an age, not too far ahead of me, but had probably ten years of racing
I’m satisfied. If I’m getting passed, it kind of triggers something in me, and then …
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Aspen Historical Society photo
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50 YEARS OF SNOWMASS
AT 50, SNOWMASS THROWS A SEASON-LONG PARTY CELEBRATING PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. BY KELLY J. HAYES
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Turns a Page
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50 YEARS OF SNOWMASS
“It’s Happening Saturday, Baby!” With that Austin Powers-like panache, an Aspen Flyer newspaper headline heralded the opening of the new Snowmass-at-Aspen ski resort in the winter following the Summer of Love in 1967. Now this December, fifty years later, the resort reaches, uh hum, middle age, and it has never been better. Let the festivities begin. Snowmass was famously conceived as a family ski hill, but in subsequent seasons it matured into a monster of a ski mountain. While generations of families still come annually for holiday cruising down the iconic Big Burn, it is the rocky cliffs of the Cirque, the deep snow in the Hanging Valley Glades, and the never-ending double fall lines of Powderhorn that give the 3,300-acre behemoth cred amongst the downhill cognoscenti. Today, there may be no more versatile place on the planet to ski than Snowmass.
To honor the history of the mountain and Snowmass Village, and to promote the current reinvention that is taking place with new developments, Snowmass will host a season-long celebration, beginning December 15. That Friday will feature $6.50 lift tickets (for a single day, on Snowmass only) as a homage to the price charged on the first day of operations back in ’67. That’s a savings of, call it $148.50, over today’s base single-day ticket rate. It’s good to be fifty. The weekend will also see a retro party at the Elk Camp Restaurant, fireworks over Fanny Hill, a return of the longlamented Banana Days scavenger hunt, and a Golden Gala at the newly renovated Viceroy Hotel (already sold out). Many Snowmass eateries will turn back the clock, offering dinner deals for $19.67 or $50. Throughout the season, skiers can look for the golden
Aspen Historical Society photos
A backcountry skier in 1960 takes in the view before skiing what would later become the Big Burn on Snowmass.
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Skiers riding one of Snowmass’s original double chairlifts to the top of Sam’s Knob in 1970.
Aspen Historical Society photo
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50 YEARS OF SNOWMASS
Ski patrollers surveying some of Snowmass’s challenging terrain in the early days of avalanche control.
anniversary signs that designate the first runs that were opened the winter of ’67, along with a retro-timeline mural in the new base village that wraps the Limelight Hotel. And Snowmass will be the focus of the sliding world come January 10-14th when it hosts one of three legs of the 2017-’18 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. Athletes will compete for spots on the US Olympic team in ski and snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe, totaling five Olympic-qualifying events for the PyeongChang Olympic Games in February 2018. Of course, all of this takes place above a backdrop that is destined to define a new identity for the next fifty years of Snowmass as a resort. Over the next decade, the Aspen Skiing Company, East West Partners, and KSL partnership will spend $600 million to create a Snowmass Base Village for the future. With a nod toward the designs of Aspen architect Fritz Benedict, who created the original West Village, the new complex
Artist’s conceptual rendering of future Base Village plaza in winter.
Freestyle skiing on the Big Burn, back in the day.
HIGHLIGHTED SNOWMASS WINTER EVENTS SNOWMASS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND | DECEMBER 15-17 This winter, Snowmass celebrates its 50th season-long anniversary. The actual anniversary weekend, December 15-17, kicks off season-long revelries with a retro costume party, fireworks, anniversary dine-around with $19.67 and $50 prix fixe menus at participating bars and restaurants, revivals of classic events such as Banana Days (an on-mountain scavenger hunt featuring 1,967 bananas), a vintage invitation Cabin Jump and rail jam, and more. Throughout the season, 50th anniversary events and activities denoting the mountain’s original runs, dining specials, an art installation, frequent parties and fireworks, official merchandise for sale, and more.
TOYOTA U.S. GRAND PRIX | JANUARY 10-14 Joining two stops in Copper Mountain and one at Mammoth Mountain, Snowmass is set to host the third of four stops of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix. U.S. Snowboard Team and U.S. Freeski Team athletes from around the country compete in Snowmass for a chance to be named to the U.S. Olympic Team. Athletes compete in five ski and snowboard One of Snowmass’s wackiest former events, the Ski Splash, during Wintersköl in 1978.
slopestyle and halfpipe qualification events on Snowmass’s award-winning park and pipe. NBC Universal will present over 15 hours of coverage from all events on NBC and NBC Sports Network.
MARDI GRAS | FEBRUARY 13 A 35-year tradition in Snowmass, Mardi Gras kicks off with the early morning Mother Of All Ascensions uphill race, followed by an afternoon of revelry with a traditional bead
of hotels, retail, restaurants, and residential spaces will incorporate a more contempory design vernacular. There will also be public spaces including a Discovery Center and a five-story climbing wall, sure to inform and entertain kids who have yet to be born. Much of the work is already under construction, with completion dates for the Limelight expected in time for the 2018-’19 ski season. Fifty years ago this winter, Snowmass-at-Aspen flew in actress Jill St. John and singer Jack Jones, the Kimmie and Kanye of their day, to celebrate the opening of the resort. Stein Eriksen flew over the heads of the assembled in freestyle leaps that were the cab 1080 double cork of their era. And if you had $25,000 in those days, you could buy a ski-in, ski-out lot at the fledgling resort. Much has changed. But to this day, the alpine sun on your face and the soft snow beneath your skis on the Big Burn still feel exactly like they did in that first season of ’67-’68. Groovy, baby. u
toss at 3:00 p.m. and a finale of fireworks at 7:30 p.m. Bars and restaurants around Snowmass Village offer food and drink specials and a fun, festive atmosphere.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY | MARCH 17 Get lucky in Snowmass! Enjoy festive drinks and delicious fare both onmountain and off-mountain with highlights including live music, plenty of green beer, along with Irish stew and corned beef and cabbage. STARLIT TREKS & MOONLIT TREKS Spend the evening under the stars with a 1.2-mile snowshoe or cross-country ski around the Snowmass Club golf course, with a stop for cookies and hot chocolate. End with a family-style pasta dinner at Black Saddle Bar and Grille with live music and s’mores. Starlit Treks and Moonlit Treks occur on the Saturday nearest the darkest night (Starlit Treks) and full moon (Moonlit Treks) of each month. Starlit Treks feature an ACES (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies) astronomer on hand to chat about the night sky, while Moonlit Treks feature a guided tour with an ACES naturalist.
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keep the celebratory spirit alive, including historical mountain tours, golden trail signs
the deL mccoury bAnd “still experimenting after 50 years.”
wednesdAy, december 6 7:30 pm
co-presented with wheeLer operA house
WHEELER ASSOCIATES …presents the winter lineup… at affordable prices! All shows at the historic wheeler opera house
tickets on sale!
www.aspenshowtix.com · 970.920.5770
bruce cocKburn “he took up the guitar and learned to walk.”
or visit www.wheelerassociates.org for more information and link to ticket sales. wheeler wins! pricing is available
Los Lobos “not just another band from east L.A.”
sAturdAy, feb. 17 7:30 pm
co-presented with mgp
fridAy, mArch 2 7:30 pm · ticKets on sALe
co-presented with wheeLer operA house
with generous support from
RAW, ORGANIC JUICE BAR & CAFÉ
501 East Hyman Ave, Aspen, CO (Inside the Ute Building) 8AM-5PM www.jusaspen.com
A S PE N LU X U RY L I F E 76
The Story of Código 1530 JALISCO’S FINEST PRIVATE TEQUILA GOES PUBLIC BY CHRISTINA OXENBERG
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A man walks into a bar… OK, no… In 2007, American businessman Ron Snyder jumped the fence and moved to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Snyder embodies the American dream of self-made super success beyond measure, thanks to his brilliance at many a company, including stupendously popular Crocs footwear. Officially retired, he is always on the lookout for a good thing—it’s in his nature, and his track record speaks for itself. Snyder moved to Cabo because it’s scenic, the weather is delicious, the people are warm, and there’s tequila in them thar hills—quite specifically the hills in the state of Jalisco, where, close to the town of Tequila, there has existed forever the village of Amatitán. Here we discover an elixir known only to a few and imbibed solely by five local families for five generations. With no pressure for financial gain, this home brew was guarded by those who partook. That was until Snyder came to town. When he moved to Cabo, Snyder made a friend of Federico Vaughan, a gentleman of Mexican and Irish heritage and a member of the exclusive Amatitán tequila drinking club. Turned out Vaughan was the critical link to
accessing this secret supply of spirits formerly unknown to the world beyond. Snyder and Vaughan, likely over a glass of the good stuff, at some point noted and toasted to the combination of their mighty skillsets. So, five men walk into a bar … OK, not quite— actually, five men go into the tequila business. Snyder brings his business acumen, Vaughan his moonshine especial, and their financial partners are Grammy Award winner and country singing star George Strait—because he loves “the special stuff”—retired NHL star Brett Hull, and former NFL coach Mike Shanahan. No one is quitting his day job—they are involved with the business because, as Strait puts it, “it’s the best tequila.” While this private supply was lovingly referred to as “the good stuff” or “the special stuff,” both of which would have been workable names, Snyder is a visionary who saw the big picture—no cheap puns for him. He christened the liquor Código 1530. Código means “code,” referring to the tradition of their tequilamaking techniques, enhanced with modern touches and
photos: supplied by Código
seasons and reasons. It has you covered from breakfast with a tequila Bloody Mary, to brunch with its tequila margarita, afternoon cocktails with a tequila cosmopolitan, and an end-of-day tequila cognac, which Snyder recommends should be sipped. With five flavors, the brand has a brew for every hue of your day, and its slate of tequilas are priced between $49 and $299 a bottle. Código officials assure that the agave is sourced from superior plants, and they do not use additives at any point during the distillation process. Their concoction meets the highest possible standards and is boosted through its processing, such as keeping “the good stuff” in barrels acquired from Napa Valley’s finest vineyards and formerly used exclusively for the most select and rarest of wines. The trace of vino imbued into the wood affects the tequila for the better. With a goal of dominating the market by providing the ultimate experience, Código 1530 is currently found through online retailers and in locations in California, Texas, New York, and all over Colorado (company headquarters are in Boulder), including Aspen stores and fine restaurants. u
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always striving for perfection. (A detailed review of the manufacturing process can be found on the company’s website, codigo1530.com.) Referring to the year of an important event in Amatitán’s history, 1530 is a sleight, winking at the days of the conquistadors. That’s clever branding for you, and they can get away with it because the product is sublime, with or without a lime. The great news is that tequila is on the cutting edge of healthy living. According to the latest science of the alcohols available for your good times, tequila is a healthier spirit. Another sign of a shift in the collective palate is how the industry of intoxicating substances is substituting former favorites with tequila. Furthermore, it’s a trend right now to make, invest in, or merely consume tequila from smallcraft, lesser-known brands. Código 1530 is one such brand. Snyder tells me that his tequila pairs well for any occasion. “Only wine,” he pronounces, “is on equal footing and in a category of its own. However, the latest fashion with mixologists is combining wines with Código 1530.” These days, Código 1530 has exploded onto the market with a fully developed concept, a tequila for all
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ASPEN NUPTIALS TAKE THE CAKE WITH EXTRAVAGANT DETAILS AND METICULOUS PLANNING. BY JULIANNE MURPHY PHOTOGRAPHY BY CUSTOM CREATIONS & C2 STUDIOS
a
Wondr There is a statistic that most couples allocate a mere hour and a half to plan their marriage, but a whopping 15 months to plan the wedding. There are weddings, and then there are weddings. Considering this is a $4 billion per year industry, it isn’t surprising that marketing for this once-in-a-lifetime day has convinced us that the more lavish the reception, the more in love the couple must be. As little girls, we spend our playtime mimicking fantasy brides such as Cinderella. When we slightly mature, the days of dress-up are exchanged for daydreaming about our future white weddings, complete with choosing bridesmaids from our seventh-grade class, first-song selection, and color scheme—evidently, envisioning the lucky someone who will be sharing vows is insignificant at this point. Some of us even covertly skim bridal magazines, imagining ourselves as the cover girl dressed in the perfect gown and cathedral-length veil. For most, our actual weddings fall short of our years of conjuring the perfect day, but for a few, their dream becomes a reality.
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drous Wedding
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Aspen has all the components of Aspen has all the components of turning fairytales into truths. The combination of a spectacular setting, five-star service, and accommodating anything you desire with a substantial bankroll is all a girl needs to become a real-life princess, at least for a day. If you conjure visions of the most elaborate Kardashian nuptials, Aspen luxury weddings do not disappoint. The level of intensity for throwing a perfect affair was showcased in the Calabrese/Kruger wedding held in September 2017. What catapulted this day from a lovely experience to an are-you-flippingkidding-me extravaganza was the meticulous detail and simply over the moon ideas from the bride, Laura Calabrese — such as having the St. Regis ballroom re-carpeted in all white just to keep the theme of the ultimate white wedding. Her vision was executed with the aid of veteran wedding planner John Tobey and his team of ten, who were flown in from Denver.
The scenic Roaring Fork Valley, sprinkled with newly turned autumn leaves, was the backdrop for the ceremony. The location was picked because of the couple’s sentiment for their Roaring Fork home and their love for their country club community, whom they describe as going above and beyond normal requests. Guests arriving at the outdoor venue were greeted by heaping vases of hydrangeas and roses. A ceramic walkway embellished with the Kruger crest paved the way for the wedding party to gather at the alter. We would later see the Kruger crest present throughout the many regal details of this gala. After the pronouncement of husband and wife, the couple was whisked away in a convertible blue Bentley to the next phase of the day. Entering the Something Blue cocktail hour at Aspen’s St. Regis Resort courtyard felt like arriving at an elegant soiree. A quick photo op at the step and repeat, personalized with the slogan je
t’aime, made you feel like you were walking the red carpet. The décor of infused French country and Chinese motif with white lacquered furniture, empire lounges, and Chinoiserie vases was inspired by Calabrese’s love for design. Custom linens and silk pillows were made to accent the courtyard. Blue and white Persian rugs and antique Chinese statues completed the ambiance. Guests were invited to partake in this lavish party prior to the formal reception. The bride and groom entered down the grand courtyard staircase to be met by Chefs Club Master Sommelier Jonathan Pullis, who swiftly sabered a jeroboam bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne. Guests splurged on passed hors d’oeuvres and signature cocktails: The Warren, The Lala, and a French Kiss, to name a few. The center of the courtyard housed a castle of charcuterie and a mountain of fresh seafood, showcased by a
ginormous iced sculpture of the Kruger crest. Crooner Meredith Seidel of Soul Fusion from Baltimore serenaded us with light jazz and soft rock songs that enhanced the sultry vibe. Many of us have enjoyed cocktail receptions in between the ceremony and the reception, but this extraordinary affair was so extreme, it could have been the main event. In fact several people actually left because they sincerely thought the reception was over! The anticipation of what would await the primed guests was palpable. It would stand to reason that the encore to the ceremony and Something Blue party would certainly not disappoint. And the White Wedding reception that awaited friends and family was nothing short of spectacular. Imagine walking into a floor-toceiling heavenly space rich with towering floral arrangements set in imported crystal vases. (Calabrese hand selected and purchased all of the reliquary to support the more than 6,000 flowers as a
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turning fairytales into truths.
tribute to her mother, who was a Waterford collector.) Canadian florist Frank Rea was pursued months prior to the wedding. While the logistics of using an international floral designer came with its own set of complications (and expense), Calabrese’s admiration of his work that she had seen in magazines cemented her choice. In fact, when the final touches were placed, Rea was heard saying, “I hated to copy my own work, but I’ve outdone myself !” The abundance of flowers was only one component to this White Wedding anomaly. The ballroom was transformed with Grecian hanging mirrors, sparkling chandeliers, and estate seating surrounding the custom acrylic dance floor and six-foottall wedding cake. The Louis XVI chairs accenting the 40-person table were procured after a coast-to-coast search. Forget the standard plates, cutlery, and glasses that are normally used at a sit-down dinner—Calabrese ensured the cohesion of her dream
by importing porcelain china, Reidel stemware, and linens embroidered with the Kruger crest. While the atmosphere was mesmerizing, the entertainment was invigorating. On opposing platforms, two entertainers intertwined different genres of music, alternating between one another. Jimmy Hopper from California, seated at a white grand piano, played four decades of retro tunes including the first dance, “Meet Me Halfway.” The song was selected to reflect the colorful journey of this Tulsa businessman and his bride, who has dedicated her life to charity work, which culminated in a surprise proposal at Kruger’s 60th birthday bash. Next, DJ Kat Vi from Chicago cranked up the volume with pop songs, accompanied by her playing the electric violin. The dancing started the moment the bride and groom entered the ballroom and didn’t end until they danced out under an umbrella of sparklers.
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While the atmosphere was mesmerizing, the entertainment was invigorating.
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What does a princess wear to such an event? Of course one dress would not suffice. Calabrese first stunned in an ivory Isabella Armstrong dress made of silk and organza accented with Swarovski crystals. Custom Joyce Echols shoes and 32 carats of diamonds adorned her ears and wrist. Later the bride would change into a white lace gown with crystal straps, custom made by designer Pnina Tornai and purchased at the exclusive Kleinfeld Bridal salon in New York City. The ongoing joke regarding the cost of ensembles and multiple trips to New York for fittings was,
“Forget the price of the dresses and shoes—all of the trips to the Big Apple to make sure they fit doubled it!” The level of luxury showcased in this celebration, which began with a 100-person over-the-top rehearsal dinner at a Starwood estate and culminated with an opulent White Wedding, would certainly rival any Hollywood dream. And if it does stand to reason that the more elaborate the wedding, the more in love the couple must be, then Cupid must have struck Warren and Laura Kruger with a 24-karat gold arrow. u
VENDORS: John Tobey Event Design: John Tobey, Shannon McLaughlin, and team (planners). Forget Me Not Flowers, Canada: Frank Rea (flowers). Imperial Events, Miami: Katy (furniture). Donovan Designs: Mary Donovan (monogrammed napkins). Jeff Hughes Construction, Tulsa (carpet). Eclectic Hive (flooring and draping). Piranesi of Aspen (jewelry). Noori Collections, Aspen (rugs and statues). Paul Werlin (ice sculpture). D’Elissious (cake). Queen B Salon, Aspen: Rita (hair). Full Circle: Cheyenne (makeup). Premier Party Rental, Aspen (rehearsal dinner). Conundrum Caterers: Kip (rehearsal dinner). Maru Sushi (rehearsal dinner). Jimmy Hopper, California (singer/entertainer). Soul Fusion, Baltimore: Meredith Seidel, vocals, and Ro Cube (performers). DJ Falomi (entertainment, rehearsal dinner).
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DENVER-BASED AGENCY RESPONDS TO TRAVEL CRISES AROUND THE GLOBE
Four years ago, Aspen resident Shaun R. planned an amazing family vacation for his wife, their two children ages 14 and 16, and his mother-in-law. Shaun was senior vice president at a well-known finance company and a seasoned world traveler. He chose India as the destination instead of the family’s annual British Virgin Islands sailing trip. India had great sites to see, fabulous dining, and high-end hotels, plus he had been there many times on his own and always planned to go back with his family. Shaun and his long-time luxury travel agent planned an incredible itinerary. Everything had been thought of and arranged perfectly.
BY RISA FELDMAN
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“My daughter and her boyfriend were stranded in St. Maarten due to Hurricane Irma. She had poor access to communications, but each time she could make contact, the situation was more dire. They were huddled together in the resort conference room, without power. Due to lack of power and limited staff at the hotel, and looting and violence in the streets, the resort informed them they could no longer be treated as guests and they were now legally refugees. If they left the resort, they would not be allowed to return. As any father would understand, I’d do anything to protect my children, but I didn’t know what to do. I rang the consulate, elected officials, and traditional evacuation providers. Finally, a colleague referred me to Valor Agency, and they quickly leapt into action. The Valor Agency team worked tirelessly to help get my daughter home safely, despite the many logistical, safety, and extreme weather issues. The Valor team never gave up and were truly invaluable in getting my daughter home safely.” — Frank Stallworth
That is, everything until a serious crisis occurred. Shaun and his family never anticipated that a series of bombs would go off in the hotel they were staying in, that guests would be held hostage, and that his family’s lives would be at risk. When Aspen resident John C. and his buddies planned a dream fishing trip, they spared no expense
in the details. The location, the boat, the staff, the chef, down to the cigars and scotch—all of it first class all the way. What hadn’t been planned for was a serious medical emergency. During the best trip of their lives, a large hook accidentally went through the cheek of one of the guys. What do you do when a medical emergency happens in the middle of an ocean, with the closest doctor being hours away, and not knowing if the doctor would even be equipped to handle this type of injury? Obviously, you can’t plan ahead for all the what-ifs that can happen when you travel, but you can be a member with a company that does just that and is fully prepared. Denver-based Valor Agency is the elite medical, security and personal safety team for the world’s elite individuals, families, and executives. Valor prepares and responds to members’ crisis needs on a 24/7 basis anywhere in the world. Keith Binkley, COO and president of Valor Agency, is passionate about its mission. “Our mission is to help keep people safe in an uncertain and dangerous world by providing global emergency medical and security services,” Binkley says.
VALOR AGENCY SERVICES • Global medical, security, kidnap and ransom response and evacuation • Pre-Trip intelligence, training and planning • High net worth focused insurance coverage •
Medical 2nd opinion services, even at home
• Safety, security and medical response inside the US • Personal and business crisis management services • Tracking and duress response for aircraft, ships and vehicles • In-flight aviation medical equipment, training and 24/7 medical assistance Valor’s executive team includes (from left) Anthony Moorhouse, Jade Pender, and Keith Binkley.
Jade Pender, vice president of Valor, explains that, “We asses all needs before one embarks, and if necessary, we provide our client with the most advanced tracking and duress response technology. These devices determine their exact location without the use of cell service or internet.” Pender went on to describe how the process works when a member is faced with an emergency: “The case manager will work with the caller to understand their situation and the type of assistance they need and determine who needs to be involved and contacted. It may be a simple medical inquiry with a referral to a reputable local clinic, to highly complex and timesensitive air ambulance evacuations.” While medical assistance may be more common, the experts at Valor and Dynamiq stand ready to assist should an issue of personal security arise as well. In the case of Shaun R., highly trained special forces in India would have been immediately contacted to help determine the best plan for Shaun’s family, from coordinating an escape route to where to hide out until help could reach them. “Travelers now have resources that were once only available to diplomats and country leaders,” says Binkley. Valor provides personal, white glove service with badass response. Whether business, pleasure, or both, Valor provides the peace of mind necessary to travel with confidence and the freedom to make the most of your journey. u For more information on membership and services, contact Valor Agency at (303) 717-9524, or visit www.valoragency.com
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Even with substantial financial resources medical emergencies happen frequently while traveling. Most travelers assume that either their health or personal insurance would cover expenses in the event of a medical crisis, but more often than not, it’s not the case. In many countries, medical facilities demand large up-front cash payments before taking care of the patient, or for the institution to confiscate the patient’s passport and not allow them to leave until payment has been made. “Our team at Valor does not want people to be put in such a situation,” Binkley says. According to Binkley, Valor’s veteran staff is made up of medical professionals, crisis management experts, and former special forces and intelligence agency personnel, all of whom are trained specifically to assist with health, personal security, or business emergencies. For an annual membership fee, Valor members are offered a vast array of services, available 24/7 on a global basis and provided by Valor’s strategic operations partner, Dynamiq. Dynamiq looks after over one million travelers annually, and responded to 12,000 cases in 155 countries last year alone. Valor members in need of emergency assistance while traveling abroad contact the Dynamiq 24/7 Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) and are immediately placed in contact with the highly experienced case management team. The EOC is designed to help troubleshoot any medical or security emergency. In the case of John C., and his fishing trip, I asked how Valor would have been able to know exactly where the boat was, Since they were so far out they didn’t have access to internet or cell service.
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Top Row: Fredrik Marmsater
TIMES AT ASPEN HIGHLANDS
Word travels fast in Aspen, but rarely does it echo across demographics for years, as it has for Strafe Outerwear. Launched by John Gaston, 30, nearly eight years ago, and today run alongside his twin brother, Pete, Strafe is the unofficial kit for Aspen skiers and snowboarders as well as the uniform of elite athletes including the U.S. Ski Mountaineering National Team (of which John is a member). Strafe designer and developer Pia Halloran heard the brand’s influence loud and clear when she dropped by the high school before the annual ski swap this fall. “I was shocked,” she says. “All these kids were wearing Strafe hats and T-shirts. One kid who helped me carry stuff I was selling asked my name, and said, ‘Oh, you’re Pia! You used to work with my mom at Obermeyer, that’s so cool!’” Says Ted Mahon, who has skied 100 of the highest peaks in Colorado and completed the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse backcountry race from Aspen to Crested Butte twelve times, “The Recon jacket and pant offer enough protection from the weather, but
THE EIGHT-YEAR CLIMB OF LOCALLY GROWN STRAFE OUTERWEAR PROVES THAT BROTHERS JOHN AND PETE GASTON CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP | BY AMANDA RAE
Nick Tininenko photo
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FAST
Left: Ian Fohrman photo; Right: Nick Tininenko photo
Top Row: Fredrik Marmsater photos
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“I didn’t like to hike,” John admits, “but on a low-snow cycle you can find incredible skiing up there, when the rest of the mountain is turning into bulletproof sheet ice.” Still, the legendary 12,392-foot peak is “very deceptive,” he continues. “It’s right there, at the top of the lift … but not a five-minute-hike situation. You have to work to get to the top. It can be apocalyptic—70 mile-per-hour gusts on the ridge. Then you get on the chairlift and your sweat freezes. It gets vicious if you’re dressed improperly. We were in junky, cheap park gear, realizing its limitations every day.” They accepted those limitations, though, because they had no choice. Functional, well-made outerwear by brands such as Arc’teryx in the mid-2000s was too slim, too short, too blah for their tastes. The brothers dreamed of longer, baggier styles sharp enough for a Seth Morrison ski video yet suitable for hiking the Bowl as well as hucking off cliffs—which they did some four days per week in Aspen for every three days of class back on campus. In 2009, during a senior-year spring break trip to the Arlberg region of Austria—home to some of the most accessible high-elevation terrain in the world—the Gastons discovered that ultra-techy all-mountain gear
Nick Tininenko photo
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are also extremely breathable and cut athletically so you can move across that course quite comfortably—more so than anything else I’ve used through the years.” Mahon also favors Strafe’s durable yet packable Cham 2 combo, inspired by Pete’s ski mountaineering (skimo) adventures in Chamonix, France, during the label’s nascent years. “It’s not bulky and heavy,” he explains. “NeoShell makes it really breathable. Going backcountry skiing, on a hut trip, or skiing a 14er, I don’t think there’s a better kit than the Cham 2.” Strafe’s avalanche-like popularity across ages, activities, and abilities can be traced to Aspen Highlands. There in the base village at company headquarters—consisting of a corner retail shop plus office space on two floors for ten employees and counting—the Gaston brothers know exactly how they got here, as founder-owners of a locally grown apparel brand now sold in at least 150 shops around the world. They got here by skiing fast. While freshmen at the University of Colorado Boulder, the freeride fanatics developed a “singleminded obsession” with the steepest, sickest, and often most treacherous terrain in these parts: the Highland Bowl.
Nick Tininenko Photos
Left to right: Pia Halloran, Carl Walker, George Rodney , Whit Boucher, Zach Hayes, John Gaston, Pete Gaston
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did exist. “Sweet Protection and Norrøna—I was blown away at the time,” John says of the European labels featured in a St. Anton ski shop. Back in Colorado, John launched into go mode after graduation. He made his first sketch, found a designer, and received the first Strafe prototypes—the Nomad Jacket, Nomad Bib Pant, and Sickbird Suit—in December 2009. He and Pete wouldn’t suffer through wearing “shells with T-shirts underneath, knowing we were gonna find that good level after a lap or two,” much longer. The brothers tested the samples during that winter’s 2010 Battle in the Bowls at Highlands, which they won (and again in 2013). John wore the first iteration of Strafe’s Sickbird Suit, named for a Snowmass freeride contest award he won in college. (All three styles remain in the 2017/18 line.) “Strafe is an attack from a low-flying aircraft that’s about speed and efficiency,” Pete explains. “Battle in the Bowls is the definition of that: Hike fast, ski faster.” While Strafe’s alpine collections over the years mirror the evolution of the Gastons’ hard-core personal preferences—Pete’s thirst for adventure, apprenticing with Aspen Expeditions, and completing skimo-guiding
protection while managing crucial airflow—in a similar fashion. Then Polartec released stretchy, breathable, hydrophobic NeoShell; triple-layer eVent membranes followed. Today Strafe uses new-and-improved versions of both, which the team prefers over anything else— Gore-Tex included. Details are deliberate, too. Flat zippers with smoothpulling, chunky teeth by YKK (the Japanese manufacturer of roughly half of all the zippers in the world) are nonnegotiable. Media pockets with hidden headphone ports are ubiquitous, but Strafe’s include inner mesh sleeves to corral bouncing cell phones, plus a reinforcedwebbing tab to loop around an avalanche beacon strap, should one choose to forgo the safety harness. Hamstring vent zips are offset behind side seams, minimizing snow blow-in when open and maximizing comfort while striding. Powder skirts are constructed from a single swath of stretchy fabric coated in waterproofing spray—no cheap, easy-to-rip taffeta here—cut longer in back for a cleaner, tighter fit. “It’s a feature people might not think about, which is a good thing,” Halloran says. “You forget about it if it feels natural.” And that’s exactly the point: Impressive design doesn’t distract, it fades into the background of the overall experience. “None of us at Strafe take our bibs
Nick Tininenko Photos
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courses and exams; John falling down the rabbit hole of endurance racing after recovering from a broken back—the brothers acknowledge that most resort-goers just want comfort. “For the 99 percent of the population that has no interest in earning their turns, our products apply equally if not more to them,” John says. “Stop your average skier in the middle of a Steeplechase lap, they’re breathing so hard they can barely talk. You want to stay warm on the lift ride but then not overheat on the descent.” Air vents matter, of course, but a garment’s peak performance starts with fabric. Serendipitously, Strafe was born during a perfect storm within the ski industry. “Back in those years, there were materials that fared okay in terms of breathability and waterproofness, but they were often really bulky and didn’t pack well,” recalls Mahon, now a Strafe ambassador. What’s more, “There was less focus on cuts and designs that function well while moving. John and Pete arrived on the scene with the advent of the ski-mountaineering, backcountry boom, where movement is incredibly important.” Though fledgling Strafe was unable to secure an exclusive-use Gore-Tex license (a blessing, it turns out), it forged deals with a lesser-known Japanese company that produced traditional membranes—layers that provide
Nick Tininenko Photos
Such designs exhibit Strafe’s unique freedom to pursue more unconventional ideas. “Working with younger people—they’re more open to taking risk,” says Halloran, formerly a senior soft goods buyer for Aspen Skiing Company for nine years and a merchandiser at Obermeyer for almost five years after that. She joined Strafe in December 2015. “Our customers and retailer buyers haven’t put us in a box yet where they expect us to do things year after year. We’re blazing our own path.” That path is just a chairlift ride away. “I first encountered Strafe while hiking the Highland Bowl,” says Eric Warble, who left Oakley after nineteen years to become VP of sales and marketing in 2014. “Joining Strafe was an easy choice because of everyone’s passion for adventuring in the mountains. It’s amazing that most everyone on the team gets over 50 days on the hill.” Strafe employees being its main product testers and more (marketing director Whit Boucher was the company’s first official athlete and ad-campaign star), it’s little surprise. Adds Pete with a grin, “The lunchtime Bowl lap is almost a requirement.” u
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off,” John says, arguing that the Nomad’s engineered shape renders them inconspicuous. Still, in addition to a standard zip-off bib, this year Strafe introduces a permanent bib version. For ladies, Halloran designed the new Scarlett Bib Pant with a clever halter neckline that flips forward over the head, eliminating the need to unclip shoulder straps or remove a jacket during bathroom breaks (genius!). The bestselling women’s Belle Pant is lined with Polartec Alpha fleece, originally designed for U.S. Special Forces in combat; hot-running chicks can skip long underwear and still stay cozy. Strafe’s 2017/18 collection hints of the new frontier: pieces that transition off the hill, since that’s where most of us spend our time anyway. Jarka Duba, founder and CEO of ZG Holdings and former president of Poc USA, is a huge fan of Strafe’s new Alpha Shirt Jacket. “It looks like a button-down, but quilted and super-thin,” he enthuses of the lightweight Polartec construction. “They took a material you’d only find in an incredibly techy jacket and made a shirt you can wear out to dinner and not feel out of place. I travel with it everywhere.”
Lee Mulcahy Gallery at 53 Forge Rd at Burlingame Ranch, Aspen leemulcahy.com
Untitled(Africa Water Wells in honor Bud Mulcahy), 2013-15, 90 x 120 cm
Lee Mulcahy displays international and local artists that capture the themes of freedom and liberty in the American Wild West & elsewhere in their paintings, sculptures, music, and film. The mission of Mulcahy’s co-op is to inspire freedom for critical dialogue and to engage the community by pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. Exhibitions tie the gallery to both the global art centers of Berlin and Beijing to encourage transparency on democracy and justice; but Mulcahy wants art to also be fun, funny and create conversations. The Mulcahy family believes in God’s love, justice and helping our less fortunate, whether in Aspen or Kenya (africawaterwells.org). It is for this reason that we are donating $10,000 to Aspen’s homeless shelter currently in dire need of funds for their operations for Winter 2017/18. Art matters. Aspen shouldn’t evict artists. Historically, governments harass artists and dissidents first. We worked 5 hard years & built our house with our own hands. The bureaucrats are determined to railroad us out of town by evicting us. We’ve never been late on taxes. A certified letter for eviction was sent while we were in Kenya digging ditches for water distribution pipes. We’re lonely Republicans in a Democratic town. When the art records were taken into the appointment to show compliance after the Kenya mission trip where I took my Dad’s place who had just died, Aspen’s housing department refused to look at the records, instead declaring that Aspen was suing to evict us. We just want peace with Aspen. I am sorry we missed a deadline and ask forgiveness. Is justice eviction after 5 years of work? My late 78 year old Dad was on his hands and knees working. We believe the tens of thousands of dollars going to lawyers is wasteful. All we want to do is show the City bureaucrats the records they refused to look at over 2 years ago. Please email us to sign our petition for mercy to Aspen’s Mayor & Council. 12.21 Sue Tatem Winter Solstice Music 5pm . 12.27 Adult children’s book reading 5pm . 01.02 africawaterwells.org community pot luck dinner 5pm 01.06 Vivre Libre ou Mourir: Guns & Roses curated by Lee Mulcahy 5pm . 04.15 Sue Tatem Open Studio . 05.01 Choose Love Burlingame Ranch bus leaves ice rink at :20 & :50 after and returns from Lee Mulcahy at the hour and half past the hour. By appointment: 970.429.8797 or leemulcahyphd@gmail.com
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GREGORY LAHMI AND HIS OPERA GALLERY START A NEW CONVERSATION
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BY OLIVIA DAANE | PHOTOS BY NICK TININENKO
ON HIS READING LIST The Selfish Gene Doctor Zhivago the Iliad ON HIS PLAYLIST
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Queen ’90s Metallica AC/DC
Another gallery has entered the Aspen scene. Opera Gallery has been open a year now, with Gregory Lahmi at the helm. But this is no ship of fools. The why: “to educate. I love to teach people,” Lahmi answers emphatically. He also points out that Opera fills two gaps. One, the gap in Aspen’s gallery presentation of unique works from Opera’s level of fine art selection: old masters, modern masters, and emerging masters in the multimillion-dollar price-tag category. Gap two was the one found in Opera’s worldwide presence. Aspen fills a spot in the central United States that the family enterprise didn’t occupy before. They have galleries in Paris—the mothership, under the charge of Lahmi’s aunt Florence and the company’s founder, his uncle Gilles Dyan—as well as in London, Geneva, Monaco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beirut, New York (where the location recently moved from Soho to Madison Avenue), and Miami (also with a new location, in the Design District). Lahmi is not only in love with what he sells, he is also in love with the continuum of time and history he can hold together, educating from the platform of Opera’s visual feast of Bernard Buffet to Damien Hirst. He met Buffet as a young man—Lahmi was born and raised in Montmartre across from the living artist’s
studio. He migrated from Paris to Geneva to Aspen. His clients, for the most part, already know what they are seeking and the price tag of their purchase. “There are no good deals in this category,” Lahmi explains. “They are not spending money. They are exchanging currency.” The price tag of an artist’s signature is hard earned in Lahmi’s eyes. Of the thousands of artists in each movement over history, from fauvism to cubist to modern, perhaps five will land in the annals of time or at the podium of auctions, and only one in the collective consciousness of the viewing audience. He can tell you the other four. Lahmi grew up surrounded by the pulse of art, part of a family of art connoisseurs in a cultural Eden. Art is real to him. “It is what I live, my physical experience,” he says. The racine, or beginning, the roots of art and life are what hold him as a gallerist and move him forward— propel him to guide Opera’s footprint. “To understand Rothko, one must know what preceded,” Lahmi says. His intense sense of responsibility to carefully and proactively shepherd his gallery and its Aspen audience are palpable, refreshing, and thought provoking. His choice for the next artist who will remain standing? He agrees with Warhol, musing that “this could be a computer creator”—namely, AI. Despite his connection
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with antiquity, Lahmi does not shy from the future. Go inside his gallery and start a conversation with this new space and its captain, who is committed to the goals of art: “the first of which is to be beautiful, and if it is not the case, at least be elegant.” Art, in Lahmi’s opinion, has a responsibility to heal and “cancel the ugly side of our world.” Discussing and experiencing art with him is like being held and propelled simultaneously through time, like a man blurring, translating past to present. Lahmi’s exhibition aspiration for next year is to transform the gallery into an atelier— specifically, recreating the studios of Chagall, Picasso, Buffet, and
Brasilier, with canvases on the walls and floor. Art brought to life. If anyone can achieve this, it’s Lahmi with his Opera space. His art logic and fervor bring to life the beauty of art—its process, evolution, denouement, and the relevance of this intertwined relationship he lives each day. Insurance and shipping hurdles will exist with this quest. “It is a point of interrogation,” he admits. Hats off to Lahmi, his family’s heritage of galleries, this new gem in Aspen, and his steering with an inquiring mind. He’s vitalizing the continuum, the quaquaversal line of past to present, and stoking the fire of Aspen’s cultural connection. u
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Left: Dan Bayer; Right: Nick Tininenko
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THE RESTAURANT THAT STARTED AN ASPEN EPICUREAN EMPIRE BY JOANI WHITE
establishments they were working for, both Craig and Samantha had a vision of how they could improve upon the way things were done here in Aspen and decided to open their very first establishment together. With a baby on the way and a growing family to support, this was a huge risk, both personally and professionally. Opening a restaurant in a ski town is quite challenging. Obviously, rent and location are huge factors, while slim labor and the seasonality of a touristdriven town are also concerns. However, the CordtsPearces firmly believed in their concept and went full steam ahead. Against all odds, the combination of talent, hard work, and sheer determination led to the opening of The Wild Fig in 2003, and it has remained in the same spot since day one. Over the years, Craig and Samantha (both of whom have themselves been bartenders, wait staff, and managers at other establishments) have perfected the way things are seamlessly run, not only at The Wild Fig but at the three other Aspen eateries they currently own and operate. So what is behind the success of the restaurant that started
Above Left: Nick Tininenko; Right: Paul Viola
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Step into The Wild Fig restaurant on any given night, during high season (or off-season for that matter), and you will find this elegant, intimate, and sophisticated bistro overflowing with patrons agonizing over just what to order, because the selection is so amazing it is hard to choose only a few. Think back to a favorite dining experience you may have had on your travels to Spain, Italy, or Greece, or a charming Mediterranean seaside cafÊ where you lingered over the sumptuous wine, decadent food, and unique ambiance of your newest epicurean delight, and this may well be the same feeling you get at this little slice of heaven right here in Aspen when you dine at The Wild Fig. For husband and wife owners Craig and Samantha Cordts-Pearce, The Wild Fig was a huge financial gamble, not to mention a complete labor of love. They rolled the dice, and it paid off big, but it wasn’t always easy. Craig, originally from South Africa, and Samantha, a born and bred New Yorker, met in Aspen while working at various service-industry jobs around town twenty-plus years ago. Frustrated with the
Below Left: Derek Skalko; Right: Nick Tininenko
that had already caught my eye, from the nightly risotto to the steak frites. Other famous menu items, such as the fish in a bag, also tempted me, along with other scrumptious and popular recipes including the whole fish of the day that has been on the menu from day one, I was told. Once our final entrÊe selections had been decided upon, my dinner date and I enjoyed the atmosphere as we sipped our drinks and eagerly awaited our chosen appetizer, the butcher board, an insanely delicious sample platter of cured meats, cheeses, marinated figs, mixed olives, and grilled ciabatta—which is simply to die for and served with an impeccable presentation. I had narrowed down my selection and painstakingly decided on the lobster ravioli with handmade pasta, while my dinner companion settled on the kale salad paired with the roasted chicken. Once the menus had been taken away, I was already in my mind deciding on what I would try on my next visit, even before the main course arrived at our table. In my book that is a sign of an exceptional dining experience. PS: There may just be another Wild Fig restaurant on the horizon, so stay tuned! u
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it all for them? Excellent food, excellent service, and excellent design. I decided to indulge to see (and taste) for myself what others had been telling me was one of their favorite restaurants in Aspen. Upon my first visit to The Wild Fig on the eve of a month-long off-season break, I wandered inside this Aspen original not expecting the entire restaurant to be completely packed for that time of year. If I were to have been blindfolded upon my arrival and not known what zip code I was in, my natural assumption would be that I was in some other city, perhaps Paris or Rome. The warm and inviting ambiance and attention to every detail was fresh and exciting. As my dinner companion and I cozied up to a corner booth, we were greeted by our friendly server and pondered our many choices from the boutique wine list, choosing specialty crafted cocktails and appetizers to start off our meal with. The menu is seriously unbelievable. If I were to dine here every single night for a week, I still do not think I would be able to taste half of the mouthwatering choices that were tempting my taste buds. I asked the waiter what some of the most popular items were, and he quickly pointed out a few
ASPEN COLORADO
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GET THE LOOK Goggles by GIRO giro.com Skis by VÖLKL voelkl.com Ski bindings by MARKER marker.net Jacket by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Pants by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Ski boots by DALBELLO dalbello.it Gloves by HELLY HANSEN hellyhansen.com
Luxe STYLING BY JOANI WHITE | PHOTOS BY NICK TININENKO
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Glasses by RAY BAN ray-ban.com Jacket by HELLY HANSEN hellyhansen.com
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Goggles by OAKLEY oakley.com Jacket by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Vest by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Pants by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com
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Pants by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com
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GET THE LOOK Glasses by RAY BAN ray-ban.com Jacket by BOGNER bogner.com Pants by JOHN VARVATOS johnvarvatos.com
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GET THE LOOK Glasses by WONDERLAND wonderlandsun.com Jacket by BOGNER bogner.com Gloves by ASTIS astis.com Skirt by BOGNER bogner.com Pants by LULULEMON lululemon.com Boots by MANITOBAH manitobah.com
GET THE LOOK Goggles by GIRO giro.com
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Jacket by AVEC LES FILLES aveclesfilles.com
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GET THE LOOK Glasses by WONDERLAND wonderlandsun.com Jacket by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Pants by STRAFE strafeouterwear.com Skis by VÖLKL voelkl.com Ski bindings by MARKER marker.net
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Luxury Beyond Aspen BY RISA FELDMAN
FOR THOSE WHO VISIT ASPEN FOR SEASONAL SKI VACATIONS, WE SHARE YOUR PAIN IF RYAN BOUDREAU, ASPEN’S GO-TO WEATHERMAN, OFFERS A LESS-THAN-EPIC FORECAST, OR WHEN THAT DREADED DAY IN APRIL ARRIVES WHEN THE HIGHLANDS LIFTS CLOSE, BUT NOT YOUR CRAVINGS FOR PARTYING AT CLOUD 9. IN EVERY ISSUE, “LUXURY BEYOND ASPEN” WILL SPOTLIGHT DESTINATIONS, RESORTS, CRUISES, AND EXPERIENCES THAT WE PROMISE WILL MAKE IT WELL WORTH LEAVING THE ASPEN BUBBLE FOR.
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AS MUCH AS WE ALL ADORE ASPEN AND BRAG THAT THERE’S NO DESTINATION QUITE LIKE IT, RESIDENTS OF ASPEN HAVE TO ADMIT WANDERLUST DOES OCCUR FROM TIME TO TIME, ESPECIALLY DURING THE OFF-SEASON.
Fairmont Grand Del Mar
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DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA
With its combination of elegant décor and European-inspired architecture, upon entering the lobby of the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, you will feel transported from the bustling city of San Diego to an old Mediterranean estate. This pristine coastal canyon resort lies on 400 acres and is only five miles from the Pacific Ocean. If you are like me, you won’t need or want to leave this resort during your stay. Having an incredibly relaxing massage in the Fairmont’s spa, followed by high tea served in the elegant Library Room, was the perfect day of pampering for my girlfriends and me. Careful of those scones—they are irresistible, and if you don’t want tea, you can opt for champagne instead. If a golf getaway is what you’re after, a Tom Fazio golf course boasting dramatic elevations and lush fairways is on property. Plus, sailing, fishing, shopping, horseback riding, paddling, and biking all can be found within a fifteen-minute drive. I suggest spending a day at the Del Mar thoroughbred horse-racing track, and try the Turf Club’s Bloody Mary—the best! There are two amazing options for dining at this property: Addison and Amaya. Addison features Relais & Châteaux’s Grand Chef William Bradley. Chef Bradley takes an artisanal approach to cooking, combining local ingredients with contemporary French influences. Amaya serves Continental cuisine with stunning views of the golf course for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. It’s no wonder The Fairmont Grand Del Mar is a Forbes Five Star/AAA Five Diamond luxury resort—they surely earned it.
Hotel Ambassador à l’Opéra ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Right in the heart of Zurich, this luxury boutique hotel is perfect for the discerning traveler. Exuding a casual elegance, the hotel is part of the former Uto Castle, which was built in the neo-baroque style in 1898. Being just steps away from beautiful Lake Zurich and across from the Zurich Opera House makes this one of the most sought-after properties in Zurich. There are forty-five stylish rooms, all luxuriously decorated. Chef Pascal Gloser has made the experience of dining at Restaurant Opera a culinary gift. While surrounded by inspiring surrealist-baroque wall paintings (depicting scenes from the world of opera), Chef Gloser tempts diners with sophisticated dishes. The restaurant abides by the same motto as the hotel: “Sustainably Yours.” My favorite part of this property was The View, a rooftop bar with a secret passageway. It offers anything from popup yoga in warm weather to fondue and wine tasting in the winter. The views from the roof are spectacular, overlooking the lake and the city, with the Alps in the distance. A stay at the Hotel Ambassador à l’Opéra will make you feel as though you’re the royalty for whom this castle was built.
The Cape, A Thompson Hotel LOS CABOS, MEXICO
Entering this new beachfront retreat where every vantage point overlooks El Arco (the arch) and the Bahia Cabo San Lucas horizon made me stop in my path, close my eyes, and say, “ahhhh!” The architecture, by visionary Javier Sanchez, is intuitively interwoven within the natural landscape, creating a relaxed 1960s southern-California-meets-Baja aesthetic. All rooms at this luxury boutique hotel include a freestanding copper bathtub as well as a swinging day bed on the oceanfront balcony (loved this). After a sun-filled day at the pool, visit the spa. It is nestled within natural rock formations,
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
In the midst of Scotland’s Granite City lies a gem: Malmaison. With the décor being a mix of deep colors, warm woods, and fine leathers, you will be welcomed into this boutique property where old charm Scotland meets modern day luxury ambience. The location of the hotel couldn’t be more perfect—just a few minutes from Aberdeen city center and a short drive to many castles, golf courses, and historical sites. The rich, dark, and warm elegance of the hotel extends to its guest rooms, which are tastefully decorated in traditional plaids, each with a traditional Scottish rolltop bath. Be sure to dine at Malmaison’s award-winning Brasserie, and if private and sultry is what you are looking for, the intimate private dining room, Boudoir, is for you (talk about sexy). Top off the evening with the good stuff in the cozy Whisky Snug for a personal tasting or a classic cocktail in the casual Malbar lounge.
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Malmaison Hotel
and with the subtle interplay of light and shade, it offers a beautiful ambience. Dining at Manta will treat you with one of the most desirable views in Cabo San Lucas. Chef Enrique Olvera’s incredible menu celebrates Pacific coast traditions by taking inspiration from Mexico and adding influences from Peru and Japan. Plus, Manta offers a specialized beverage menu focused on tequilas and sakes, which all complement Manta’s fresh local ingredients. This dining experience will not disappoint. A bonus about The Cape: It has an incredible rooftop lounge with live music that is the perfect spot for a sunset cocktail.
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Aspen Kitchen Breckenridge Distillery’s Food and and Wine Luau. Food and Wine revelers danced the night away while enjoying a Cochon 555 Hawaiian-style pig roast.
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960 +/- acres available • Adjacent to BLM Senior water rights with live water • No conservation easement BuckPointRanch.com
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SOPRIS MOUNTAIN RANCH Picturesque equestrian facility with a polo field, stables and a club house • Sweeping mountain views • 35 acres Four bedrooms • Four and one half bathrooms • 6,031 SF
Offered for $2,700,000
Lifestyle. Luxury. Legacy.
WE’LL FIND YOURS.
Scott Davidson 970.948.4800 Scott@AspenAssociatesRealty.com AspenAssociatesRealty.com
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Food and Wine River Party The Agency, Sopris Liquor and Wine, and Aspen Luxury Life Magazine hosted a fabulous summer soiree on the banks of the Roaring Fork River.
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EXCLUSIVE LUXURY RENTALS
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710 N. THIRD STREET
SKI-IN/SKI-OUT DOWNTOWN CONDO MONARCH ON THE PARK
Six bedrooms • Five and one half bathrooms 4,485 SF
Three bedrooms • Three bathrooms 1,708 SF
Three bedrooms • Three and one half bathrooms 2,672 SF
SKI-IN/SKI-OUT CONTEMPORARY
ASPEN CONTEMPORARY
SNOWMASS VILLAS
Five bedrooms • Five and one half bathrooms 5,500 SF
Six bedrooms • Four and one half bathrooms 5,000 SF
Two bedrooms • Two bathrooms 1,128 SF
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CALL FOR AVAILABILITY AND PRICING.
PJ Bory
Ashley Chod
Nick Lincoln
Ryan Thompson
970.544.5800 AspenAssociatesRealty.com Info@AspenAssociatesRealty.com
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DJ Logic Event Aspen Luxury Life Magazine celebrated the end of the summer by hosting the New York turntablist DJ Logic at Rickhouse Social. Guests danced the night away while sipping on Exotico Tequila and Yellowstone Whiskey drinks.
in the limelight
Snowmass Vintage Car Race Party Jetlinx, Mike Ward Maclaren, Fortis Bank, and Aspen Luxury Life Magazine came together to celebrate the race in style. Guests enjoyed the fabulous cocktails provided by Codigo 1530.
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BRIAN HAZEN Presents... MEADOWOOD
Exquisite David Easton Designed Estate
Beds 5 | Baths 7 | REDUCED $14,900,000 This newly re-built Legacy Estate sits on 1.19 acres and offers over 9200 sq. ft. of luxury living space. The Chic Mountain Interior was created by David Easton Design, architecture by Rodney Austin of Dallas, and superb construction by Aspen Constructors, Inc. The warm and welcoming decor highlights the dramatic vistas of Aspen Mt, Aspen Highlands, Red Mountain, and Tiehack. Co-listed with Susan Plummer 970.948.6786 Web Id#: AN146953
SNOWMASS VILLAGE
Immaculate Mountain Contemporary
Beds 5 | Baths 5.5 | $7,500,000 Impeccably maintained mountain contemporary estate. Bright and airy spaces throughout. Gourmet kitchen, media room, 2-car garage, in-ground Jacuzzi, large patio areas, and much much more. A must see! Web Id#: AN150096
Brian Hazen, CRS 970.379.1270
vice president/broker associate brian@brianhazen.com | www.brianhazen.com
514 E. Hyman Avenue, Aspen • 970.925.7000 • www.masonmorse.com
REAL SELLERS... attract REAL BUYERS ASPEN
Historic Highland Ranch
$25,000,000 | HighlandRanchAspen.com A chance to own a major part of North American skiing history. Highland Ranch, 85 gorgeous acres with stunning views and Castle Creek frontage with pond, is conveniently located only 10 minutes from downtown Aspen. Highland Ranch consists of the main house (original Highland Bavarian Lodge, 1936), the bunk house, a two car garage, the caretaker unit, the original guest cabin, as well as a large barn and artist studio. Additional Building Opportunities on three different parts of the property. Truly a Once in a Lifetime opportunity to own an irreplaceable property with immeasurable historic value, and development potential. First time offered in over 60 years! Web Id#: AN145229
SNOWMASS VILLAGE The Ziegler Ranch
Beds 10 | Baths 9 | $29,995,000 A completely unique offering in the Aspen/Snowmass Area. Nearly 200 acres, it adjoins Snowmass Village and surrounds the Ziegler Reservoir, home of the high-altitude Mastodon Discovery. The lodge, home, and caretaker house form a totally private alpine enclave with Snowmass Creek frontage and breathtaking views of Capitol, Daly, and Clark Peaks. Access to Snowmass Village and skiing is five minutes on a paved private drive, Ziegler Divide Way. Prominent features and amenities of the property are: trout fishing, beaver ponds, ski-in ski-out connection to Campground Slot Ski Run, private hiking, cross-country skiing, and horse trails through the property plus a gated bridge across Snowmass Creek to access Old Snowmass. Web Id#: AR150726 Co-listed with Jim Cardamone 970.948.2832
KNOWLEDGE. INTEGRITY. RESULTS.
Brian Hazen, Luxury Property Specialist • 970.920.7395 • www.brianhazen.com • brian@brianhazen.com
restaurant - night club - bar - weddings - special events - catering memberships from weekly to lifetime
27Years as aspen’s finest private club
celebrating more than
info@caribouclub.com - 970.925.2929 - www.caribouclub.com