Founded in 1993, 5280 is the largest local magazine in Colorado. The magazine's stories often make national headlines, and since 2005 5280 has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards. Get 5280 Magazine digital subscription today.
I grew up on East Coast ski hills with names like Canaan Valley Resort, Winter-place Ski Resort, and Snowshoe Mountain Resort. At the very most, there were 1,500 feet of vertical drop and 50-some runs. And at the very least, there were always two inches of solid ice on which your skis chattered and on which you prayed you could set an edge. Still, there was something charming and, for me as a kid, magical about those small resorts, where my parents let me ride lifts with my friends long before cell phones became de facto tracking devices for teenagers. Three decades later, many of those modest resorts are still around but have become more accessible—and maybe more name recognizable—as they have hitched their chairlifts to the megapasses, particularly the…
On a bluebird day in late March, ski patrol director Tessa Dawson stretches her arm toward a tantalizing swath of powder dotted with lodgepole pines that spills down Aspen Mountain. She’s showing off Hero’s: 153 acres of new groomers, glades, and steeps that will increase the resort’s acreage by more than 20 percent when it debuts this winter. “We haven’t added terrain on Aspen Mountain in a long, long time,” Dawson says. In fact, Hero’s is the biggest thing that’s happened here since the Silver Queen Gondola started spinning in 1985. Skiers and boarders will certainly enjoy the extra space and new high-speed quad chair, but there’s a grimmer reason for the expansion: climate change. “The threat is extreme,” says Auden Schendler, Aspen Skiing Company’s senior vice president of sustainability.…
1 Aspen After a $50-million-plus renovation, the former Molly Gibson Lodge will reopen in December as the Mollie Aspen, a boutique hotel complete with a rooftop pool and lobby bar by Gin & Luck, the folks behind the award-winning Death & Co cocktail bars. 2 Breckenridge Ski Resort The Peak 8 base area’s makeover continues with the conversion of 5-Chair, its last slow-speed lift, into a high-speed quad, a welcome upgrade for the mountain’s most notoriously crowded loading zone. 3 Keystone Resort A high-speed six-pack will now whisk skiers to the Bergman and Erickson bowls, 550 acres of intermediate and expert terrain that was previously only accessible by slinging your skis over your shoulders and hoofing it. 4 Steamboat Ski Resort When Steamboat drops the inaugural rope on Mahogany Ridge…
1 Dogdrop 985 ALBION ST., SUITE 110 Don’t leave your best friend behind. Dogdrop, which opened in July, is a membership-based daycare that allows you to deposit your pooch between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., no reservation required (from $60 per month). Plus, it offers curbside pickups and drop-offs and separates its wards into three rooms based on each canine’s energy level and size, so you needn’t worry about a golden retriever trampling your Shih Tzu. 2 Kochi Cafe 4100 E. EIGHTH AVE. Across East Eighth Avenue from 9&CO, five-year-old Kochi Cafe specializes in loose-leaf teas, around a dozen of which it sources from a single organic farm in the mountains of northern Thailand. If you need a pick-me-up, the Boulder Blues is a bright mix of strawberry, rhubarb, and…
When Hollywood’s actors joined the industry’s writers on strike in July to fight for better pay, royalties, and protections against artificial intelligence, an unnamed studio executive told Variety that “fall festivals are fucked.” But what the foul-mouthed C-suiter really meant was that, with striking actors barred from promoting studio-backed films, big-budget gatherings like the Toronto International Film Festival lost one of their biggest draws—celebrities. Events focused on independently produced movies, such as the Denver Film Festival (DFF), however, were mostly unaffected. Not only are indie films largely exempt from the strikes against major studios, but DFF attendees also don’t come for star sightings. “They’re looking for the hard-hitting, esoteric fare that they’re not going to be able to see otherwise,” says DFF artistic director Matthew Campbell. So while he can’t…
Ay Papi is a vibe. From Culinary Creative Group, the Cherry Creek North bar and eatery—which opened just a block away from its sister location, cocktail hot spot Forget Me Not, in July—evokes sultry Havana nights and a posh Miami attitude. Menu highlights include halibut ceviche, Cuban sandwiches, and appropriately rum-centric cocktails, but Ay Papi’s captivating island aesthetic is worth savoring on its own. “The space is meant to [transport you] someplace you’re not,” says Nicole Lebedevitch, Culinary Creative Group’s director of operations and beverage, of the breezy interior inspired by vintage paintings of the Cuban capital and Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Inside, the back bar’s arched walnut built-ins and brushed-gold shelving ground the space, while mosaic tile flooring, rich goldenrod-upholstered seating, and soft aqua blue accents add color…
