It’s Buttermilk’s closing weekend in the sun, and extra bacon is being brought out.

Today is the second annual Buttermilk Bacon Appreciation Day (BBAD). Two-hundred-and-forty pounds of the stuff has been ordered and fashioned into pepper bacon, jalapeno bacon, bacon-wrapped scallops, bacon brownies and ice cream cones with maple syrup and bacon sprinkles. There’s even Canadian bacon. It’s all free bacon giveaways, up until a special happy hour that includes a bartending competition incorporating bacon.

In the past, Buttermilk closing has been a fairly low-key affair, especially when compared to the raucous Aspen Highlands closing day party, which traditionally shared the same first-weekend-in-April slot on the calendar. This year, as has been the case the last few years, Highlands is staying open later. Buttermilk is further taking advantage of being the only local mountain to close this weekend by brining in DJ Z-Trip to perform Sunday (see related story).

“Other mountains have tended to overshadow our closing in the past,” said Caitlyn Cunningham, who works in the Buttermilk mountain manager’s office and made the secret-recipe waffle mix that includes bacon bits. “But now that we are set apart, we thought it would be a great time to showcase our bacon appreciation.”

BBAD is an all-day affair. Starting at 9:15 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., the above-mentioned waffles will be handed out at the base, outside the Buttermilk D&E shop. From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., there will be sample giveaways at Buttermilk’s lifts and the ski patrol shack at the top of the mountain, as well as No Problem Joe Cabin. Both Bumps and the Cliffhouse restaurants will have bacon specials in their dining rooms. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. back at the base, it’s bacon ice cream cone time. The Bacon Bartenders’ Brawl is at 4:30 p.m. at Bumps, where five local mixologists will whip up their best drinks. Yes, there will be bacon-infused vodka. There will be five special-guest judges, as well as a people’s choice category, where $10 gets attendees five tickets to vote on their favorite drink.

The whole thing was thought up when a previous Buttermilk employee was flipping TV channels and stopped on the Food Network, which was showing a feature about bacon, said Cunningham. That employee figured that Buttermilk could do just as well, if not better, than what was on TV. The rest is history.

Cunningham, who’s worked at Buttermilk for 18 years, said she expects a big turnout, as the event has made a splash on the company’s social media. Also, there was a blizzard on last year’s Buttermilk closing weekend, so Cunningham said she expects the nice weather to help generate the crowds.

Pig costumes are encouraged, Cunningham said.

“You will see plenty of little piggies,” she said.

curtis@aspendailynews.com [1]