Play Hard, Party Harder in Aspen

Play Hard, Party Harder in Aspen

By ALISON BERKLEY

A LINE formed around the block as hundreds of sweatshirt-clad professional snowboarders and their navel-ringed girlfriends crammed into the Caribou Club in downtown Aspen, Colo., for FHM magazine's "Girls of the X Games" party during the ESPN Winter X Games, in January 2004. The private club normally charges $1,000 for a temporary weeklong membership during the holidays and another $12 for a cocktail on top of that, but during this Winter X Games soiree, entrance to the club and drinks were free for anyone who managed to get on the guest list, which seemed to be just about everyone who is under 30 and just happened to be in town.

Other weeks of the year, the below-ground club, with its mahogany wood paneling, oversized upholstered furniture, and dead animals mounted on the walls, is typically frequented by celebrities and jet setters who summon flights out of Aspen on the red house phone that provides a direct line to a local private jet charter. On this night, teeming with hard-partying youth, the stodgy old members-only club looked more like a scene out of the Playboy Mansion, with hordes of scantily clad hard bodies draped all over the deep upholstered furniture. Guests of honor included Aspen's own hometown star, Gretchen Bleiler, an X Games Superpipe champion who was featured on the cover of FHM alongside two other X Games athletes in nothing but body paint.

Forget gawking at fur coats, monster homes and little dogs in sweaters. Ever since the X Games came to town in 2002, Aspen has undergone an annual (and brief) metamorphosis soon after the new year. This year, from Jan. 28 to 31, the only sights worth catching there are all those extreme winter action sports athletes, flipping and spinning their way to X Games glory. An estimated 65,000 fans will transform the town into a stadium for an adrenaline-filled party that's part circus, part athletic competition and part rock concert. The vibe is almost naughty, like having a party at someone's parents' house while they're out of town.

It's more than a little funny that this sports event would land in the same resort that banned snowboarding on Aspen Mountain until 2001. Eager to ditch the stigma of being a winter country club for the rich and famous, Aspen embraced the ultrahip Winter X with open arms. In the celebrity-studded 80's and afterward, the counterculture in and around Aspen that was personified by Hunter S. Thompson was replaced with designer labels and luxury police cars. The focus shifted from mountain town living to five-star dining and boutique shopping: the place to ski and be seen.

Despite the odd coupling of a youth-oriented sports scene with a resort for the ultrawealthy, the relationship seems to work. ESPN extended its contract with Aspen Skiing Company to seven years. In contrast to the high cost of everything in Aspen, the X Games are free. Five days of snowboarding, skiing, snowmobiling, on-snow motocross competitions and the X Games Concert Series don't cost spectators a dime.

With the X Games scheduled less than two weeks before the Winter Olympics begins in Italy, all eyes will be on Olympic medal hopefuls like Ms. Bleiler and Shaun White, who won the first two Olympic qualifying events back-to-back.

The event is held at the base of Buttermilk, the smallest of Aspen's four ski areas, since 2002. Since there are three ski areas nearby - Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, and Aspen Highlands - the X Games doesn't really interfere with the resort's skiing business. Buttermilk, has a flat, wide-open base area that provides the perfect place for ESPN to set up camp. A sizable fleet of 18-wheelers and production trailers make the parking lot look like a highway truck stop. The base area is overrun with sponsor booths and a merchandising area that doles out free swag like candy on Halloween. Children of all ages run around with plastic bags stuffed with giveaways, wearing T-shirts covered with athletes' autographs over their winter coats.

The constant buzzing of motorcycle and snowmobile engines sounds in the background, and occasionally an upside down airborne athlete soars above the crowd. Two or three events are held simultaneously and can all be seen from the base area, so it's hard to know what to focus on. Giant television screens glow in the night sky, the commentary echoes through the valley, and the screams of the crowd cause sensory overload.

At last year's men's Superpipe preliminary competition, three young girls from Aspen, Polly Lopes, Nichole Bechamps and Victoria Morris, screamed like Beatles fans while waving Mountain Dew glow sticks with "I love Shaun White" - their favorite snowboarder - painted on their cheeks and foreheads in eyeliner. Aspen public school students are given the Friday of the X Games off, a decision made by Aspen High School's principal, Kendall Evans when 380 of 470 students failed to show up for school when the X Games made its debut in Aspen in 2002.

Even though the venue is three miles west of downtown Aspen, the party spills over into town as soon as the evening competition is over. The X Games crowd isn't interested in trying to get reservations at upscale restaurants like Matsuhisa or lounging around extravagant hotel lobbies like the one at the Little Nell. Crowds overrun more casual spots, places so relaxed they're virtually unprepared. Last year, the Cantina, a Mexican restaurant on the corner of Main and Mill Streets, ran out of beans and limes. New York Pizza, the cheapest eating place in town and the only one that stays open to feed the drunken masses when the bars close at 2 a.m., had to close early because it ran out of dough. The Red Onion, an Aspen watering hole since the 1890's that still feels as gritty as it probably did during the mining era, had a line stretching out the door.

Streets are closed down for block parties and free live outdoor concerts. The band Offspring played in 2004 in front of 6,000 people who turned out despite 17-degree weather. Restaurants and hotel ballrooms are rented out for private parties, with the banquet room at the Hotel Jerome, taken over for the Powder Magazine Awards, converted into something like a fraternity house. Young athletes and industry people indulged in the best of Aspen luxury at the expense of sponsors who wanted to show their clients a good time. As far as the staff at Carl's Pharmacy liquor store could tell, no one was enforcing open container laws. "There was a permanent party going on in our parking lot for five days straight," said one, Maurice Eaton, 35. "It was pretty crazy, but no one seemed to mind."

IF YOU GO

The ESPN Winter X Games take place Jan. 28 to 31. Details are available online at www.expn.com and www.aspensnowmass.com.

GETTING THERE

Aspen is 220 miles west of Denver. Flights from New York to Aspen on United Airlines require a change of planes in Denver. American Airlines flies directly from New York to Eagle/Vail, 70 miles from Aspen. Denver is three and a half hours from Aspen by road and driving can be treacherous in winter. Round-trip air fares in early January for X Games week from New York to Aspen or Vail started at $352 to $366.

GETTING AROUND

Cars are not necessary in Aspen and parking during X Games is a nightmare, so use public transportation. Buses from the center of Aspen to the X Games are free and run frequently.

WHERE TO STAY

The best way to cope with Aspen's high lodging costs is to rent a condominium with a group. In early January, availability included a three-bedroom condo that sleeps eight people for $499 a night and a two-bedroom that sleeps six for $470. Condos typically require a five-night minimum stay. For online booking and information go to the Web at www.stayaspensnowmass.com or www.ski.com.

The lowest-priced hotel rooms start at $200 a night. They generally sell out early. The Annabelle Inn, 232 West Main Street, 970-925-3822, on the Web at www.annabelleinn.com, newly rebuilt with funky, charming rooms, two hot tubs , and a courtyard with waterfalls and a fire pit. Rooms are $225 to $375 during the X Games. The Limelite Lodge, 228 East Cooper Avenue, 970-925-3025, www.limelite-lodge.com, is an Aspen institution, family-owned for four generations. During the games, rooms range from $150 to $269.

WHERE TO EAT

Finding restaurants with entrees for under $20 in Aspen is a challenge. The Cantina, 411 East Main Street, 970-925-3663, serves Tex-Mex food with a portion-to-price ratio that is one of the best in town with giant combo plates bubbling in melted cheese for and one of the only late night menus in town, serving food until after midnight. Jimmy's, a bar, upstairs at 205 South Mill Street, 970-925-6020, serves food until midnight. Try its inexpensive fare, like a side dish of macaroni and cheese for $4, the best crab cake in town for $10 and chicken or beef quesadillas for $8.

WHERE TO PARTY

In a town where 80 bars and restaurants are packed into 10 square blocks, there's a distinct circuit for the bar hopping crowd. You can revisit the gritty mining era with a pint of Colorado microbrew beer at one of the town's historic bars, like Bentley's, 970-920-2240, in the Wheeler Opera House at 328 East Hyman Avenue, The Red Onion, 420 East Cooper Avenue, 970-925-9043, or the J Bar at the Hotel Jerome, 330 East Main Street, 970-429-7674.

At 11 p.m., follow the herd to Eric's Bar, 315 East Hyman Avenue, 970-920-6707, where you're likely to run into everyone you know and a few beautiful people you might wish knew you.

Catch last call on the dance floor at Chelsea or Lava, Aspen's only two dance clubs, both on the Cooper Street Mall.

There is live music most nights at Belly Up, Aspen, 450 South Galena Street, 970-544-9800. Check www.bellyupaspen.com for listings.