Aspen

From the mountains to the prairies, Colorado’s housing crisis is squeezing state residents in ways that make drastic choices an all-too-common part of their cost-of-living calculus. Colorado faces a shortfall of 100,000 homes and apartments, the second worst deficit of any state after California, according to a study last year from Up for Growth. A homebuyer misery index from the Common Sense Institute found households in the state’s largest counties facing record-high levels of stress. When The Denver Post put out a call…

Decades ago, Colorado’s mountain communities, struggling with sky-high real estate values, implemented “inclusionary” ordinances that required developers to set aside a share of the units they built at a lower price or lower rent. Aspen, Colorado, consistently tops the list of the most expensive places in the world to live on March 4, 2024. Nestled in the Roaring Fork Valley, Aspen boasts one of the highest concentrations of ultra-expensive real estate globally, intensifying the struggle for affordable housing options…

Denver-based Stranahan’s distillery marks its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, the whiskey maker is tracing its roots back to Aspen with a new tasting room and restaurant opening in March in the mountain town. The Aspen Whiskey Lodge, at 307 S. Mill St., serves alpine-inspired dishes alongside drams and cocktails featuring the distillery’s original spirits. It opens March 9 and given its proximity to Aspen Mountain, head blender Justin Aden expects it will be a popular après ski destination. “My favorite part…

On a sunny morning last winter, I found myself facing an oh-so-Colorado predicament. My friend Tom was visiting from Michigan and he wanted to go skiing. Of course I wanted to go with him, but I had two non-negotiable work deadlines to meet that day. What to do? Take my work to the ski area, of course. As Tom loaded up the ski gear, I packed my laptop and charger. We made our way up Boulder Canyon and arrived at Eldora Mountain a little before 9 a.m. While Tom skied over to the chairlift, I found a cozy corner in the West…

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Quick Answer: You can watch the 2024 X Games Aspen with a free trial to DirecTV Stream or on the X Games website. The world’s best freestyle skiers and snowboarders have descended on Colorado’s Buttermilk Mountain for the 2024 X Games Aspen. Games including SuperPipe, Slopestyle, Big Air, Knuckle Huck, and, for the first time, SLVSH will all be on display. Another…

A wealthy Aspenite said that he shouldn’t have to repay $56 million in loans to a Denver bank that has caused him a “public disgrace” and is trying to foreclose on his estates. Dan Burrell, 45, was sued by First Western Bank in November. It claims to have made four loans to the entrepreneur between 2019 and 2022 and is asking an Aspen judge to let it foreclose on a half-dozen properties that are collateral for those loans. Burrell then countersued First Western this month, accusing the bank of violating federal lending…

New technology to enhance information flowing into the 911 dispatch center could help the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office break a trail for other agencies that are juggling calls, texts and videos coming from people lost in the backcountry or injured while skiing. The sheriff’s office will install a mapping technology that is intended to consolidate and prioritize the incoming information, “a kind of one-stop shopping” for the dispatchers, said Brett Loeb, 911 division chief for the department. “With all the new 911…

Leaders in Colorado school districts are trying to solve a big problem: They want to attract and retain teachers, bus drivers and other educators, but the state’s high cost of living keeps outpacing employees’ wages even after administrators dole out raises. So now they’re entering the housing market themselves. Districts are building tiny homes, becoming landlords and partnering with developers so that they can find ways to either lease housing to their employees at below-market rates or make homeownership possible for…

William H. Macy describes his first visit to the mountains near Aspen, Colorado, as “pretty much love at first sight.” It was sometime in the mid-1980s, Macy recalls, and he was traveling with then-girlfriend Felicity Huffman back to the area where she grew up. “Her mom was a magnificent cook, and they ride horses,” Macy said. “From a middle-class boy, I thought it was beyond the beyond.” These days, the actor is embedded in the local beverage community. He and Huffman own a home and some land in Woody Creek where they…

The owner of the Aspen Snowmass resorts is complaining about a high-end fashion company that keeps sending so-called “influencers” to its ski areas to be photographed in pricey attire. Aspen Skiing Co. filed a lawsuit Wednesday that accuses Perfect Moment, a London-based skiwear maker, of trademark infringement, among other allegations. The dispute began in March 2021, when Perfect Moment posted photos of female influencers modeling its skiwear on Instagram and other social media sites. Within weeks, Aspen Skiing noticed…