Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/681153
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROss DAniels (AlAin BeRnARD); PHil PuGliese (KARen AnD sORen WesT) Just before ski season officially closed, four gal pals of a certain age got pins from the Aspen Skiing Company— innocuous little forest green jobs, their 100-day souvenir. And I smiled in conspiratorial satisfaction. My own dear mother, who never allowed us kids to call her "Mom" on the ski hill, made her last run down Magnifico Gully at age 87. Klaus Obermeyer, yodeling for the Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at 96, still takes a run every day. Another girl buddy had baby number one at 47. Yup, we still got it. Got what? The fire—if you don't stoke it, it goes out. As Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, "Walk tall, kick ass, learn to speak Arabic, love music, and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, lovers and warriors." Perhaps my reflection on age and aging in Aspen came while I watched Marcy at MSalon transition me to 30 shades of gray. It's a look and it's workin'. Aspen Peak is 12 this year and I still love the smell of ink on press. My children survived to maturity during this time and have lives and businesses roving the West. My daughter travels to festivals in an old school bus with curated vintage clothing, from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival to Envision in California. Ten years ago I sat with Julie Kennedy, 5Point Film Festival founder, as she was about to launch. Now my son, an accomplished speed-winger, climber, skier, and festival promoter, is an MC at Julie's sold-out festival in May. The carousel of time spins madly on (thank you, Joni Mitchell)—old meets new. So we make adjustments, say, to our turns at Ski Hall of Famer John Clendenin's clinic. Or just check into the hum of commerce and culture in our beehive city. What are the kids up to at the Crystal Palace? (Two months of connected and enlightened art, music, dance, food, and fashion, was what.) My peer group is not in denial—I've heard "exit plans" discussed on the gondola. Yes, there's been attrition, but no Aspenite, it seems, chooses to slow down much—that's ice, not fire. So another epic ski season melts into the miracle of a paradise summer. I think I'll go rafting on the Roaring Fork, Arkansas, or Colorado—let a guide show me where the fish hide and see our ancient valley from a new perspective. Let's not call it slowing down, let's call it "adjusting impact." The hum of commerce will be there when I dry off. Van Cleef & Arpels Global CEO Alain Bernard and I regaled in the luxury jewelry boutique's grand reopening celebration; I enjoyed a western sort of evening with Karen and Soren West at the Carl Tellefsen Society Benefit; cheers to my gal pals on receiving their 100 Day pins. 28 aspenpeak-magazine.com Follow me on Twitter at @alexpubap and on Facebook at facebook.com/aspenpeak.magazine. alexandr a halper in LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER