It’s no secret that our little mountain town is going bonkers for the Bauhaus this year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of that influential school of design and architecture. Town’s 8-month-long celebration, which began in earnest two days ago with a kickoff event at the L…

Shortly after Christmas, I found myself chatting footwear in a local outdoor gear shop.

In the coming days, as Aspen Gay Ski Week descends on town and the festivities move from mountain to mountain and club to club, it’s OK to take a little pride in Aspen’s gay-friendliness. You’re here. You’re part of the open-minded attitude that allowed the country’s first (and, for many yea…

Ah, the dog days of January. Uncrowded slopes, empty streets. Except for the throngs headed to the yoga studio to burn off that December belt.

Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen are two guys who manage to produce a lot of noise. It’s an astounding feat that their wall-to-wall sound comes from just the two, and that sorcery is what inspired the duo to make music the way they do. 

You probably know the quote “If you build it, they will come.” Well, the Aspen Historical Society’s mantra for sharing Aspen history has become “If you pour it (beer that is), they will come.”

Elaine Pagels is a professor of religion at Princeton University known for her bestselling writing on the gnostic gospels, secret ancient texts considered heretical and omitted from what is now the New Testament. These eliminated texts contain many voices (Jewish, Christian, Egyptian and Gre…

Aspen Chapel Gallery exhibit gives area high schoolers their turn in the spotlight

Popular Glenwood cabaret act takes the stage Sunday night

Unless you’ve been completely not paying attention, you’re probably aware that here in Aspen, 2019 is going to include an 8-month-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus school of design in Germany. Events and exhibits are planned throughout the winter, sprin…

We experienced a couple of good old-fashioned cold days this past week, and it served as a reminder that skiing can get pretty chilly if you don’t pay attention to keeping warm. Over my years in the valley, including three stints as a boot packer at Aspen Highlands, I’ve learned a few things…

For this week's Time Out cover story, in talking about celebrating smart folks, I mention tonight’s event at the Wheeler Opera House, a 20th-anniversary benefit screening and discussion of the 1999 film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” The implication of that would be that I count the film’…

Rock climber Tommy Caldwell opens Aspen Words’ popular Winter Words author series on Tuesday, Jan. 8, discussing his memoir “The Push: A Climber’s Search for the Path” with Penn Newhard, founder of outdoor brand PR and marketing agency Backbone Media. But while the choice of speakers seems a…

You might not have ever heard of Kyle Hollingsworth, but I’m guessing you have heard of his main band: The String Cheese Incident. He’s been a member since their early days, and, while they do have an extremely busy schedule, Hollingsworth finds time and energy to pursue his career as a solo…

Simply said, “Alice Isn’t Dead” was my favorite read of 2018. The new novel by Joseph Fink – the eccentric mastermind behind the Nightvale podcast universe (we’ll get to that in a minute) – features cross-country travel of the long-haul trucker type, a grieving wife, an orphaned teenager and…

Throughout 2018 I was drenched in the wines of Italy. From trade shows and tastings, doing consulting work for an Italian import company, to a month-long road trip through numerous wine regions of the north and central part of the boot, I took it to the head.

Living up to its name, the Snow Ball at the Velvet Buck in the St. Regis Aspen Resort was decked out with a stunning white snowflake motif for the inaugural gala at the completion of the World Snow Polo Championships, on Saturday, Dec. 22. The chi-chi party, in its first year, benefitted the…

Cultures mingle at The Temporary during Latin dance nights

In Aspen, there are a lot of ways to spend New Year’s Eve – and spend and spend and spend. 

There’s something about ski gear from Scandinavia that feels more legit. Maybe it’s the fact that skiing has its origin in Scandinavia or the fact that Norway has the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics (39 in 2018). Any way you look at it, this region of the world has…

Despite a few years of French classes in middle and high school and what my teachers said was a good French accent, my grasp of the language is not especially formidable. My French is about on par with my Spanglish, which I learned from a few years in the restaurant industry here in the valley.

Nothing quite says “Happy New Year” like fireworks. Big, colorful explosions are a perfect way to usher in another trip around the sun, so Snowmass will be honoring this practice with its New Year’s Eve Torchlight Parade and Fireworks.

Justice could have played in just about any major city on earth for New Year’s Eve; their performances pull full amphitheaters of fans in Paris, London and New York. They’ve been asked to headline some of the biggest music festivals in existence. This year, the French duo chose to celebrate …

Not so much a rant, but rather resting briefly on a topic timely in many ways. For it is Aspen Peak Week: time to get out and about, stroll with the stars, catch a few turns, turn a few heads and pop some bubbly. No place is as iconic as Aspen during the week between Christmas and New Year’s…

"Is that the American flag?” I said, pulling up to the fortress-like Bushmills Inn, one of Northern Ireland’s Blue Book hotels. 

The St. Regis World Snow Polo Championships galloped into Rio Grande Park for two days of chukkers and champagne. With Aspen Mountain as a backdrop, the world's best polo players battled for top honors at the sixth annual event, which is the only now polo event in North America.  

"Skyward" is Brandon Sanderson's brilliant first installation in a new science fiction series that will carry his unique and creative legacy forward for many years to come. I reviewed Sanderson's series "The Reckoners" for these pages last year and have read a few more of his works since the…

Survey seeks to gauge support for expanded programs relating to homelessness

Don’t worry; this is Aspen, where Christmas is about as all-inclusive as it can get and old traditions never really die.

The time for the last-minute gift scramble is on.

Many people, when they think of the folks who get to vote for the Oscars and other film awards, picture ultra-rich Hollywood moguls and influential media voices and such, but that’s not really the way it is. Award deciders are regular people just like you and me. Well, they’re just like you …

It’s Christmas week in Aspen, and you haven’t made a dinner reservation yet for this busiest time of the year. Well, it’s probably not worth calling around because every restaurant in town is likely full.

After many days of debate, I decided to go to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony last Thursday night at the Belly Up to be surrounded by all things thuggish and ruggish. I had seen them before, and they were great, but I’m getting older and I don’t go to as many shows as I used to, and hip-hop shows are n…

In Iceland, the tradition of gifting books as presents is so deeply rooted that there is a word for the season: Jolabokaflod, the “Christmas Book Flood.”

The solstice is upon us. Winter is nigh, and Christmas, with its related joy and mirth, lies just around the corner. Soon enough the days will get longer. Before you know it, you will be lolling about Bell’s Ridge, taking in the afternoon sun.

It’s house party time! I was lucky enough to be invited to something almost every night this week. Most parties were hosted in homes, big and small, but one thing held true throughout: The dress code was “festive.” What, exactly, is that?  

There are a few places in the world where the conditions align perfectly to make different liquors, such as the Duoro Valley of Portugal and the wine grown in the rocky hills of Napa or France. Likewise it takes a combination of the right soil, elevation and weather for Blue Weber to become …

Pair of museum openings glorify the past, terrify the future

Everyone loves to shop locally, in theory, but in practice it can be easy to succumb to the dark side of Internet purchasing. That’s not shopping! Shopping means getting out and meeting local shop owners and artisans who will be much more thankful for your purchase than some mega corporation…

At times, finding gifts for the gear lovers in your life can be tricky. Many gear heads can seem to have the latest and greatest of everything. Here are several options that might not be in their caches yet.  

I realize that this is our annual shopping guide, and, ostensibly, I should be using this space for more shopping-related information, but I would be remiss if I were to say nothing about the goings-on out in Snowmass this weekend. Change has been a long time coming to Base Village, but it’s…

The Aspen Choral Society has three performances of “Messiah” this weekend.

Meet Miss Bordeaux. She’s regal: part French royal landowning family descendent, part Greek shipping heir. Her father has a collection of scabbards in his study, encrusted with Viking blood. They were archeological finds from a great uncle.

Rose-Garcia self-released his first album, “Roll the Bones,” as Shakey Graves in 2011 and now plays with amp stacks behind him rather than a hat in front.

My favorite genre is mystery. There is nothing like a great plot with lots of twists, great character development and a surprising yet satisfying end. I picked “Norwegian by Night,” a thriller set in Norway, a country I visited two summers ago. It proved to be a good choice.