Aspen Journalism

1 day ago | aspenjournalism.org | Curtis Wackerle

The two-part series on the history of the Aspen ski patrol unionization movement — unfolding over decades before the formation in 1986 of the Aspen Professional Ski Patrol Association, which remains the local patrol’s collective bargaining unit — was a reminder that the Aspen of today was forged through contentious battles of the past waged by a generation that believed in something.

5 days ago | aspenjournalism.org | Tim Cooney |Curtis Wackerle

In part two of the history of ski patrol unions (read part one here), a dramatic loss of benefits leads to the formation of the Aspen Professional Ski Patrol Association in 1986. As APSPA nears its 40th anniversary, the separate United Mountain Workers CWA local 7781 represents other ski patrols and mountain groups. To visitors and the community, the Aspen ski patrols could be the last stronghold of the inscrutable Aspen mystique.

1 week ago | aspenjournalism.org | Kaya Williams |Curtis Wackerle

St. Benedict’s Monastery in Old Snowmass has been called a “sacred place in the sacred valley,” a “monastic Camelot,” and a “cathedral of nature” imbued with spiritual and environmental care. More than 3,700 acres encompass irrigated ranchland, a historic chapel and cloisters, a contemporary retreat center and an abundance of open space — shrubby hillsides, dense forests and sprawling fields, stewarded for nearly 70 years by monks with a deep respect for the natural world.

1 week ago | aspenjournalism.org | Tim Cooney |Curtis Wackerle

“When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion,” Ethiopian proverbIn the first of a two-part story, the history of ski patrol unions unfolds in Aspen between 1959-1986, leading to the Aspen Professional Ski Patrol Association. Next week’s second installment will follow APSPA’s perilous path through changing management groups to the present, their dramatic confrontations and the rise of the national United Mountain Workers CWA 7781 union.

1 week ago | aspenjournalism.org | Heather Sackett

It was a tale of two winters for the mountains containing the Colorado River’s headwaters, with the northern ranges seeing an above-average snowpack peak, while the southern half of the state lagged behind with below-normal snowpack. As the season came to a close, the snowpack for the Yampa/White/Little Snake River basin in the northwest corner of the state and the headwaters of the Colorado River mainstem both peaked around April 9 at 113% and 101% of normal, respectively.