Snowmass to close 2019 season with a bang
The Aspen Times
Anna Stonehouse/Snowmass Sun
CLOSING DAY FESTIVITIES – SNOWMASS AND ASPEN
While Aspen Highlands is certainly the big closing day, in recent years Snowmass Tourism and Aspen Skiing Co. have ramped up their end-of-season programming at Aspen Mountain and Snowmass Ski Area.
Here’s a rundown of what you can expect from the back-to-back closing day debauchery at Snowmass Ski Area and Aspen Mountain:
SNOWMASS (April 20)
“Surf & Snow” beach party
Elk Camp, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Elk Camp restaurant will host its third annual end-of-season dance party complete with leis, margarita blender bikes, Goslings Rum specials and a pond skim. Skiers and snowboarders are encouraged to participate in the pond skim and wear swim attire. For those who don’t ski or snowboard, foot passes to Elk Camp on April 20 are free. The third annual “swimsuit ski-down” from Elk Camp restaurant to Base Village will commence at 3:30 p.m.
“Highway to the Danger Zone” party
Gwyn’s High Alpine, 12 to 4 p.m.
A “Top Gun” themed party, featuring games, drink specials and DJ Berkel Beats spinning on the deck will take place at Gwyn’s High Alpine. Aviators, 80s denim and leather jackets are encouraged. Prizes will be awarded to the most outrageous Top Gun costumes.
“Spring Fling” beach party & pig roast
Base Village, 2 to 8 p.m.
Snowmass will close the season with an extravaganza in the Base Village plaza. There will be hot tubs and a DJ playing 80s hits, as well as costume contests, a corn hole competition, bounce houses, a pig cook-off and more food vendors. Participating restaurants include Base Camp Bar & Grill, Sake, Slice of Italy and State 38. Proceeds from the food vendors benefit Challenge Aspen.
A number of restaurants in Snowmass Village also will offer food and drink specials and live music throughout the resort’s closing weekend. Visit gosnowmass.com for more.
ASPEN (April 21)
80’s prom closing day party
The Sundeck, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The 80’s theme will continue at Aspen with a prom party at the Sundeck. DJ Dylan will spin tracks at the party, which again will offer up Goslings Rum drink specials. Prom attire is encouraged and a king and queen will be crowned.
Après closing party
Ajax Tavern, 2 to 6 p.m.
The final hurrah at Ajax Tavern will offer “street-food inspired bites,” drink specials and a DJ.
After her first winter as the town’s tourism director, Rose Abello remembers looking around the ski area on its 2015 closing day, thinking Snowmass could do better.
“We kind of looked around and thought, ‘Wow, that’s how we close?’” Abello quipped.
Chalking it up to “more a whimper than a roar,” Abello said, “We felt like we could really try to support the local businesses in trying to make things happen.”
Consequently, Snowmass Tourism met with a number of stakeholders and local businesses to contemplate ways to bring life to the resort’s final hurrah of the season.
Snowmass restaurant and business owners responded overwhelming well — for the third year, end-of-season parties will pepper Snowmass from all the way up to the mid-mountain Gwyn’s High Alpine Restaurant to the Elk Camp area and down to the Base Village plaza.
Topping the day’s events are the pond skim, which will be at Elk Camp (near the climbing wall), the scantily clad swimsuit ski-down and the pig roast-meets-party in Base Village.
The “spring fling” beach motif continues this time around, while also welcoming an ’80s “Top Gun” theme. See right for a breakdown of closing day events at Snowmass.
Another important part to growing Snowmass’ end of season revelry is to not compete with Aspen Highlands or Aspen Mountain, Abello said.
This is why, for the past few years and this season, Snowmass has held its “closing” festivities the Saturday before the ski area closes.
According to Abello, Snowmass’ closing date in previous seasons fell on the same day as Aspen Highlands — a celebration with which no ski area can compete.
Moving forward with the Saturday programming, Abello said, “I think that’s going to be our sweet spot.”
