ATW Agenda, Jan. 20-26: X Games, Gay Ski Week & More
Our picks for the best events in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, Jan. 20-26
SPORTS
You are welcome back to X Games at Buttermilk this weekend, with fans welcomed back to the venue after the 2021 comps went fanless for the pandemic. For the return, vaccinations are required for all fans except children age 2-12 who are required to wear masks.
So when to go? The prime competitions, of course, are Sunday night’s Men’s Ski SuperPipe final (Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m.) with Aspen’s own Aspenite Alex Ferreira in the pipe and Friday night’s Women’s Sku SuperPipe final (Jan. 21, 7 p.m.) with Basalt’s Hanna Faulhaber making her X debut. Faulhaber looks like the future of the sport for the Americans and will . And, if you want to ski while you watch, the slopestyle comps (Friday 10: 30 a.m.; Saturday, 10: 30 a.m. and noon; Sunday 11 a.m.) are the way to go, with the course viewable from the Summit Express. xgames.com
COMEDY
X Games and Gay Ski Week are overlapping and crossing over this year, and kicking off the collaborations are “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Monét X Change and Bob the Drag Queen, who will give a live stand-up performance and will record an episode of the podcast “Sibling Rivalry” at the Wheeler Opera House on Thursday, Jan. 20. wheeleroperahouse.com
POP MUSIC
No, there won’t be an on-site music festival portion of X Games this year, no superstar artists playing in sub-freezing temps to rowdy crowds of thousands at Buttermilk. Hopefully next year. But Belly Up has stepped up with a line-up worthy of that main stage with rapper Ferg (Thursday, Jan. 20), EDM artist and X Games alum Illenium (Friday, Jan. 21 and Saturday, Jan. 22) and X alums Louis the Child (Sunday, Jan. 23). bellyupaspen.com
ART
Minnesota-based artist Julie Buffalohead, of the Ponca Tribe, is visiting Anderson Ranch Arts Center this week and will give a talk about her work on Thursday, Jan. 20. The talk will also be live-streamed on the Ranch’s YouTube page. andersonranch.org
This week in Aspen history
“Without any exception the worst snow storm known since the advent of the railroad west of Leadville has been raging over the crest of the continental divide since last Thursday,” asserted the Aspen Tribune on January 31, 1899.
