Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/205356
A bonfire lights up Buttermilk Mountain. Full-moon parties at Buttermilk are typically followed by a rowdy and beautiful ski descent. photography by Will Cardamone "We've thrown full-moon parties for as long as I can remember…. it appears to be a somewhat 'learned' action of those immersed in the Aspen culture." ist, or duct-tape-clad ski bum howling. "Those parties are about being out in the forest with your friends under the moon," says lifelong Aspen skier and frequent full-moon partier Willie Volckhausen. "The atmosphere around the fire on top of Buttermilk is awesome. It's dark and cold, you can see your breath, but at the same time it's bright because of the glowing moon, and it's warm by the fire." Families with last names that have been a part of Aspen's tapestry for decades—the Sewells and DeVores—have been hiking up Buttermilk under the moon for years. "We've thrown full-moon parties for as long as I can remember," says Carly Sewell. "My dad used to party under the moon nce we're at the peak of Buttermilk, the fire back in the '70s, too. So it appears to be a somewhat melts a hole in the snow the size of a fox'learned' or subconscious action of those immersed hole. Flames jump off wood schlepped in the Aspen culture to hike up and situate themuphill on sleds. Every now and then, when the urge is selves under the moon and stars." too strong to ignore, guys and girls tilt their heads —Carly Sewell Sometimes they tote racks of beer, large speakers upward and howl. Architects and attorneys, ski shop for music, or flatland visitors from New York or employees and moms, honor the moon in a guttural and animalistic way. It's a tribe of locals reveling in the moonlight and par- Chicago. The full-moon parties are a hyper-local celebration. Tourists aren't excluded; many just don't know that's how we roll in Aspen, until a taking in an age-old Aspen tradition. Every 29.5 days the moon opens up above our mountains, so huge and chance meeting at a local bar, perhaps. On these full-moon nights, fathers sometimes bundle up their young ominous that the synthetic illumination of streetlights pales in comparison. The panoramas that unfurl from the tops of Aspen's ski resorts glow like a kids in the West Buttermilk parking lot, zipping parkas over Patagonia beacon in the moonlight. Looking out over the Maroon Bells and Hayden layers to keep warm. The dads are eager to share the full-moon Aspen Peak on a bright night is enough to get any young professional, Texan tour- tradition with their children; the kids are keen on spending time with There's an earn-your-turns ethic that runs deep in Aspen. The sweat equity built during the climb makes the return on investment even richer on the way down. With the bootpack up Highland Bowl, the 10th Mountain Division dating back to WWII, and the network of huts that surround Aspen—going uphill is part of Aspen's DNA. As such, on these winter nights—when the moon is so big it will stop you in your tracks—Aspenites migrate uphill toward the cabins, warming huts, and crackling fires atop Buttermilk Mountain. Circled around bonfires and passing bottles of whiskey, they celebrate the moon and this amazing valley we call home. 176 aspenpeak-magazine.com 172-177_AP_F_Moonlight_WIN13_SPR_14.indd 176 10/29/13 1:27 PM