Aspen Colorado Activities - Apres Ski at Aspen Hotels and More

Aspen, Colorado Activities - Paragliding (2) (Photo credit: richpalpine)

What do après ski and paraglidinghave in common? Not much usually, but they do demonstrate the range of winter Aspen Colorado activities that one can engage in (or at least observe).

Apres Ski - A Favorite Aspen Colorado Activity

While après ski in general is one of the most popular Aspen, Colorado activities, some venues are more interesting to me than others. Recently, I was invited to a guest/invite après ski at one of the iconic Aspen hotels the other day, and a Gluhwein Party broke out!

Things to do in Aspen - Cross-Country Ski Extravaganza

Aspen Cross-Country Ski Extravaganza - eager vendors (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Every year, I look forward to the Cross-Country Extravaganza at the Aspen Municipal Golf Course! It has become one of my favorite things to do in Aspen during the winter.

The Extravaganza is a great opportunity to test out new cross-country gear (skating and classic) and on top of that, one can also take advantage of free lessons in either discipline as well. Of course there’s more – a free ski hot wax, food and an extensive raffle before it all wraps up.

Cross-Country Skiing in Aspen, Colorado in January

Cross-Country Skiing in Aspen, Colorado (Photo credit: richpalpine)

One of the most popular winter events in Aspen, Colorado has once again come and gone, and I missed it.

I usually try to take part in some of the activities related to the annual Winterskol celebration in Aspen, but this year I just missed it. I had too much to do myself to afford the time to be a spectator.

Well, that’s not completely true because I did watch a fair amount of the NFL football playoffs. I usually prefer to be more active in my endeavors, but this year the playoffs had me hooked – for one thing, the Denver Broncos were in it again. Besides, it was really, really cold outside.

Things To Do In Aspen, Colorado - Some of My Favorites

I can’t believe it’s a new year already. It seems like it was just “yesterday” that I started blogging about various activities and things to do in Aspen, Colorado – it was actually March of 2012!

I’ve blogged about a lot of Aspen activities and events, from the annual Fourth of July parade, Aspen Music Festival performances and the 2012 USA Pro Challenge Bicycle Race, to vegetable gardening and ballroom dancing; but it all started with posts about presentations hosted by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and the Aspen Center for Physics.

Here are some of last year’s posts about some of these presentations:

December 2012 Activities in Aspen, Colorado – Moon Watching and Cross-Country Skiing

Too busy at the end of December with holiday activities, cross-country skiing and the awesome full moon display to post anything this week but these photos.

Have to say that Jupiter sneaking in was amazing as well!

Aspen, Colorado - December Moon in the Clouds (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Aspen, Colorado - Moon Above the Clouds (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Aspen, Colorado Moon Riding the Clouds (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Aspen, Colorado - Moon with Jupiter Crashing the Party (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Aspen Colorado Activities -- Cross-Country Skiing 2012

Cross-Country Skiing in Aspen, Colorado December 9, 2012 (Photo credit: richpalpine)

Well, it finally snowed again here in Aspen, Colorado. The timing couldn’t have been better because I, like many visitors and locals, was beginning to get cranky from the lack of snow.
Thankfully, I at last got to engage in one of my favorite wintertime Aspen activities – cross-country skiing.

I was pleasantly surprised that enough of the white stuff fell over the weekend so that even though the actual ski tracks were not yet in place, the basic cross-country skiing trails at the Aspen Municipal Golf Course could be laid out.

Aspen Hotels & Ski Techs – Winternational World Cup Alpine Ski Races 2012

Aspen Events - Aspen 2012 Winternational World Cup Ski Races (Photo credit: richpalpine)

What does it take to win a World Cup alpine ski race? One of the old-time Aspen hotels knows.

I found out a little bit more about this subject last Friday at the Mountain Chalet Aspen, where the main ski tech room labyrinth was set up once again for the NatureValley Aspen Winternational women’s World Cup alpine ski races.

A given athlete’s performance obviously depends largely on how well they’ve trained, how they feel that day, if a specific course fits their skiing style, and on how well their skis are tuned and waxed. What I did not know was just how big a production it is to get these skis in shape.