Aspen Core Party brings double shot of music
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado
ALL |
ASPEN – The Core Party, a springtime ritual in Aspen, returns this weekend with back-to-back outdoor concerts to cap the on-slope fun.
This year’s expanded event features not one but two free shows, on Friday and Saturday nights. The streets will be closed at Cooper and Galena to make way for the musical party, which includes a beer garden. DJ NakaG will warm up the crowd at 8 p.m. both days.
MarchFourth Marching Band, a musical and performance group out of Portland, Ore., takes the stage Friday. Expect instrumental brass-band music in a marching-band style, combined with the theatrics of stilt-walkers and fire- and flag-dancers.
On Saturday night, New York indie-rock band Grouplove performs.
Also this weekend, Big Air Fridays continue at Snowmass. Athletes will launch themselves off the 40-foot jump on upper Fanny Hill starting at 2 p.m.
Saturday brings the Battle in the Bowls at Aspen Highlands. Teams of two will ski or ride the bowls at Highlands as quickly and strategically as possible; each team will be tracked by GPS.
The Terrain Park Boot Camp returns to Snowmass on Saturday and Sunday in the terrain park below the big-air jump. The free park, open from noon to 3 p.m., welcomes those who want to give beginner-size rails, boxes and jumps a try. Instruction is provided.
If you’re hanging about at the base of Aspen Mountain early Saturday, keep an eye out for some winded skiers, and be sure to cheer. Competitors in the annual Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, a 40-mile backcountry ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen, will be reaching the end of a grueling test of stamina and skill. Teams of two in this self-supported endurance event must ski down Aspen Mountain to the base-area finish line after traversing a route through the mountains that involves more than 7,800 vertical feet of climbing. Sound difficult? Check out their skis – skinny cross-country gear is preferred for speed.
Oh, yeah, and they start at midnight Friday in Crested Butte. Last year’s winners finished in about 7 hours, 30 minutes.
On Sunday, Buttermilk will host the Smith Grudgematch Rail Jam for snowboarders as well as a rail jam for skiers and snowboarders.
Go to http://www.aspensnowmass.com for all the details.
