Aspen Mountain closes down ... for the second time

ASPEN MOUNTAIN — J.J. Nicholson no doubt will brag to everybody that he skied Aspen Mountain the second weekend of June.

“It’s something to write home about,” said Nicholson, who lives in Basalt.

Skiers and riders like Nicholson paid as much as $29 for a lift ticket to ski seven of Aspen Mountain’s runs Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

One lift at the top of the mountain opened Friday for the weekend.

Some skiers and riders sprayed plumes of slush as they turned down the dirt-patched mountain toward Aspen’s lone open chairlift, Ajax Express. Others launched themselves off a lip over a long patch of dirt to the cheers of those riding the chairlift above.

The wet snow slowed down others as the town of Aspen reached a high of 78 degrees. Some women wore bikinis, while some men wore shorts and skied shirtless.

“Nothing like the breeze going up your bathing suit,” said Denver resident Sam Allen, who wore a swimsuit and T-shirt as he skied.

Bear Palmieri, of El Jebel, wore a pair of blaze-orange socks, a vest and a pair of teal shorts — he said he did not wear pants the entire season.

“It’s not cold — I burn hot, dude,” Palmieri said.

Rich Burkley, vice president of mountain operations, estimated that about 1,500 people showed up to shred Sunday. Around 3,600 skiers and riders might show up on any given day during the middle of winter, Burkley said.

The Aspen Food and Wine Classic took place the same three days the mountain opened, but Burkley said that’s not why Aspen Skiing Co. made the decision to open the mountain a week ago.

“We had the product, and it was fun,” he said. “Those were the real two reasons.”

Burkley thinks the last time the mountain opened this late for skiing was 1995.

The key reason the mountain was able to open later this year was that skiers rode a gondola from the base of the mountain to the top of the mountain, where less snow has melted, he said. Skiers rode the gondola down.

Low temperatures during spring also worked in Aspen’s favor.

“Mother Nature certainly helped us out,” he said.

Crews also worked tirelessly as people skied all day and partied into the night on the Sundeck, Aspen’s top-of-the-mountain bar and restaurant.

“We’ve been having parties up until midnight, and that means they get done at 3 a.m. and we start again at 8 a.m.,” he said. “So these guys have been basically living here.”

After skiing, people gathered at the top of the mountain to revel and listen to a bluegrass band.

Amy Erickson, of Aspen, used to ride horses up the mountain during spring to ski.
“I don’t ever remember it being like this,” she said. “What a winter.”

Victoria Bielunas, who used to live in Vail, compared the re-opening to Vail Mountain’s famed — though now defunct —BB&B party without the beer kegs.

“It’s locals enjoying their last day — their last big hurrah,” she said.

Paul Lovell, of Old Snowmass, said he has been the first one on Aspen Mountain’s gondola at the beginning of every season for the 16 out of the past 17 years, he said.
He joked that he was looking for a boat to use in Sunday’s wet snow.

“It’s kind of like waterskiing, but it’s great that we’re open,” he said.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 970-748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.