Winter X Games 2013

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Or strap in. Or click in. Just do whatever it is you need to do to get ready. This is going to be an intense few days of competition! Since 2002, Aspen Snowmass has been the home to the Winter X Games. In January each year, the best winter sports athletes from around the globe gather at Buttermilk, one of Aspen Snowmass’s four mountains, and battle it out for bragging rights and supremacy. The events line up this year includes snowboarding and skiing big air, slope style and half pipe competitions. There is also a snowboarding street competition, and an online video competition known as “real snow”, where the fans get to vote for their favorite video online. On top of this, there will be snowmobile speed and style competitions and also a snocross competition where snowmobilers race around a track full of jumps and banked turns. Add this to the snowmobile best trick competition and we’re not going to be left short of adrenaline filled thrills and spills! There are plenty of fun facts behind the scenes and also plenty of fun storylines running through the competition too. Shaun White is lining up to win his sixth consecutive gold medal in the snowboard super pipe. Tucker Hibbert is also lining up for his sixth consecutive gold medal in the Snowmobile Snocross. The tallest building in Aspen (by 13 feet) is the 65 foot high super pipe control tower. 75 different scaffolding structures have been built for the competition. Over 1 million people have attended the X Games in Aspen over the years. And over 35.4 million people in the US along tuned in to watch the X Games 2012 on television last year. Come check out the action!

62nd Annual Winterskol Celebration - Vintage Spirit

Winterskol is Aspen’s annual toast to winter, dating back to 1951. A celebration of Aspen’s unique Nordic lifestyle, the four day celebration features on mountain activities, a canine fashion show, a snow sculpture contest, fireworks and everybody’s favorite activity – Soupskol! Beginning today, 4 selected teams have 48 hours to sculpt an 8’ x 8’ x 8’ cube of snow into a freestanding creation. Our sales & marketing director, Jeff, is once again helping out a friend involved in the sculpting process – keep an eye out for an old man in a hot tub! We can’t wait to see the finished product! Soupskol is held on Friday night in the heart of the downtown core. Cooper Avenue and Hunter Street will be blocked off to cars and will play host to a soup contest, with many local restaurants offering up a free sample of their best soup! Participants can text message their favorite in order to vote, and the winner receives the coveted Soup Bowl Trophy, along with bragging rights until next year. This is always a crowd pleaser! Saturday features a canine fashion show on the Cooper Avenue Mall from noon to 1:00pm, and is sure to generate a few laughs and a generally great atmosphere. The highlight of Saturday night is a torchlight descent of Aspen Mountain at 8:15pm, followed by what will surely be a phenomenal fireworks display! Come join us for a fun-filled weekend celebrating all things winter! With a storm coming through on Friday evening, the skiing will be great and the weekend will be one of the best of the season! Visit our website for the latest deals and specials. Check us out on Facebook under The Innsbruck Aspen and on Twitter @innsbruckaspen.

Happy New Year!!

The New Year was celebrated in proper Aspen style – champagne flowing, parties everywhere and once again, an amazing fireworks display put on by our amazing little town! Smiles all around! This time of year comes with a lot of reflection and a lot of anticipation – fond memories of what has been and excitement over what will be. 2012 was a great year for our team, capped off with The Innsbruck reaching #1 of 36 hotels in Aspen on www.tripadvisor.com. This is truly an honor that cannot be understated and something for which we are incredibly appreciative. Given this context, however, is it wrong of us to be thinking solely about the weather? It’s been an incredible run of weather we’ve been having! Plenty of snow has fallen over the past couple of weeks leading up to the New Year, giving everybody the much needed powder turns they’ve been craving! Add to this mix a couple of cold days to keep the snow soft and fresh and now we’re in for a treat – We’re looking down the radar at perfect blue Colorado skies and 30 degree temperatures right through this weekend! It truly doesn’t get any better than ripping turns through fluffy, dry Rocky Mountain snow under a perfectly clear Colorado sky – it is so blue, it should be defined as a different color! Come join us for a well earned vacation and treat yourself to pure Aspen perfection! We hope everybody has a great 2013 and we’ll see you all on the mountain! Photo courtesy of Chris Council/Aspen Daily News.

Current Skiing Conditions

We all know the Colorado didn’t get the start to the ski season we had been hoping for. Not to worry though! As hoped, the snow has arrived. We’ve had up to 30 inches of the fluffy white stuff fall within the last two weeks! As a result, the skiing these past few days has been phenomenal! There are no lift lines, the sun has come out and the skiing is soft. Smiles abound from everybody luck enough to be here in Aspen, CO right now. Snowmass has opened up Coney Glades, the Big Burn, Sam’s Knob, Elk Camp, Alpine Springs and even High Alpine! Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands are both up and running, while Aspen Mountain has all regular lifts turning for the season! What this means is that we are now the winter season of 2012/2013 is now in full swing! Come and enjoy everything Aspen Snowmass has to offer – world class skiing and world class amenities! Café Suzanne at Snowmass has been completely rebuilt for this season, with the Merry-Go-Round at the midpoint of Aspen Highlands having undergone extensive renovations towards the end of last winter. These facilities are perhaps only outdone by The Sundeck at the summit of Aspen Mountain – It’s hard to think of another location that might be more scenic! Extensive views of the Elk Mountain Range, including the Highlands Bowl, Pyramid Peak and the world famous Maroon Bells linger in the background of every diners view. We hope to see you on the mountain! Photo courtesy of www.aspensnowmass.com

The snow is here!

It wouldn’t be a winter in the Colorado Rocky Mountains without snow! I know a lot of people have been questioning whether it would ever snow again, but the good news is that it has! At the time of writing there is only a light dusting outside the window, but we will welcome all new snow with open arms. Don’t forget that it’s a few degrees cooler at a couple of thousand feet higher up – in other words, a dusting down here in town translates to more favorable conditions up on the mountains! In more good news, it appears as though we’re going to be hit by a storm rolling through this weekend, and there’s a good chance of snow each day next week! At long last, the cooler temperatures are arriving and bringing with them the white fluffy powder that we all love! With several collective ski days under our belt thus far, the team here at The Innsbruck could not be more excited about this ski season! No, we don’t have as much terrain open as we would like. But it will open. Moreover, the terrain that is already open is in terrific condition. The snowmaking and grooming crews here at Aspen Snowmass are among the best, and they have been working around the clock to provide us with perfect corduroy and enough vertical to get the lungs hurting and the legs burning! If you want detailed weather forecasts for Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, we recommend www.aspenweather.net. Run by a couple of local skiers (who happen to be very good at forecasting weather), this website offers the most detailed forecast specifically for our four mountains. Translating boring weather patterns into exciting powder days, this website is definitely worth a look.

Get ski fit for the upcoming winter!!

Winter is almost here! That means you have all started booking your trips out to Aspen and are looking forward to doing it properly this year... You've told yourself you'll be as fit and ready as ever! Most people turn up and expect that their monthly workout will see them through. And it will. But those with the extra strength & conditioning training under their belt will be far better off... As the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. The same applies for getting ready for ski season, although there are basic principles that apply across the board. Fitness is a big part of skiing - being able to enjoy a run from top to bottom without needing to stop and "admire the views" is a satisfying feeling. So make sure you're doing what you can to boost your cardio levels. Don't forget, especially for those of you coming from sea level, that Aspen's base elevation is 7,908 feet above sea level - the air carries less oxygen at this altitude, so don't be surprised to find yourself short of breath, regardless of conditioning levels. Strength workouts are also beneficial for both skiing and snowboarding. As with almost every sport (and life in general), a good strong core helps with athletic ability. So spend some time working off that paunch - besides, you want to look good when lounging at Sky Pool, don't you?? Leg workouts are extremely important too. Not only will strong quadriceps, hamstrings and calves keep you on the mountain from first chair to last call on those deep powder days we all crave, but they will help prevent injury & boost recovery time. Squats, lunges and wall-sits are all good exercises for boosting lower body strength. As always though, seek help from a professional if you are unsure of the proper technique. Stability and balance also play a key role when skiing and snowboarding, so be sure to include a variety of balance exercises while boosting your overall strength. And lastly, don't forget to stretch! Many professional skiiers and snowboarders are big advocates of yoga and other forms of stretching workouts. Flexibility helps with balance and keeping muscles loose, and will help you avoid sticky situations when caught out by the flat light days. Even 10 minutes of stretching in the morning will help boost blood circulation, focus the mind and boost energy levels. So on that note, go get ready for the season!! The more you do now, the better your days will be. Happy trails!

American Lake and the Castle Creek Valley

Don’t wait. This is the weekend. We have it on good authority that the clouds currently enveloping Aspen will blow out by the weekend and we will be seeing the absolute peak of the fall colors in the Castle Creek Valley! For those not as familiar with our geography, the Castle Creek Valley lies just to the south-west of Aspen, and is easily accessible via Castle Creek Road (running from the roundabout right outside town). With incredible contrasts between Aspen groves and fir trees, and with Castle Creek at its heart, the Castle Creek Valley puts forward a strong argument as the hiking around Aspen. American Lake is the valley’s signature hike. At 3.2 miles each way, and covering nearly 2000ft in elevation gain, it is not for the faint of heart. You will, however, be justly rewarded. You will enter a large grove of Aspen trees, before emerging into a spruce forest and intermittent alpine meadows. The emerald green water of American Lake is the perfect spot for a packed lunch. For those preferring a more gourmet meal, the Pine Creek Cookhouse is located just a mile or two further up Castle Creek Road and will most certainly satisfy any hunger! They are open for lunch and dinner through October 7th.

Photo courtesy of SILBECL http://www.flickr.com/groups/colorado/discuss/72157607502279267/ For more information, please go to the links below. http://trails.gorp.com/American-Lake-Trail-1083 http://suite101.com/article/hiking-american-lake-trail-in-aspen-colorado-a62020 http://www.pinecreekcookhouse.com/