Punch Peaks : Hello From Aspen, CO

View when arriving into Aspen

The last time (and first time) I was in Aspen was pre-aughts, well before Facebook was the norm (I jumped on that bandwagon in 2007) and before digital cameras, well at least, I didn’t have one then.  That particular trip was during a long Memorial Day weekend.  The only real memories I have from the vacation was that I experienced some of the clearest and most scenic views and I fell back in love with nature.  I remember vivid blue skies, vibrant green leaves, and brilliant sunny yellow and when I breathed in, it was just glorious pure air.  I also remember challenging my friends to a race up a hill that we were hiking, claiming “What altitude?”  After almost losing a lung, I realized that altitude can truly alter your ability to breathe.  I vowed to myself that I would return, only to ski.  And maybe in the future for some art or wine and food festival or maybe when I got older and much smarter, I’d be able to attend some Aspen Institute function.  Fast forward to 2012, I’m back and I’m here to ski.  It only took me a bit over a decade.

View from The Residences at The Little Nell

So let’s talk skiing. First of all, it’s been about 10 years since I’ve attached myself to skis and I’ve only skied in PA and West Virginia so I only know icy conditions (what’s powder?) and I’m willing to throw down a few bucks to bet that technology has vastly changed the manufacturing of skis and boots.  So, no, don’t worry, I didn’t pull out either my boots nor skis from way back in my closet.  Those will be going to Goodwill.  And let’s talk altitude. The last time I was up this high was when I was covering SUNDANCE TWENTYTEN for Washington Life magazine. Park City, UT was happening and hopping and no, I didn’t hit the slopes.  Rather, I hit the bars and parties pretty heavily.  Oh and a few screenings.  I had no problem with being up that high, thank goodness. Yes, drinking a lot of water and slathering on the cream became a fast habit, but being closer to clouds didn’t prevent me from having a good time.

The Owners Great Room at The Residences at The Little Nell, where I am writing this blog post

The fireplace in the Great Room at The Little Nell. They serve complimentary breakfast here in the morning and wine and cheese in the late afternoons.

So, here I am, the guest of my boyfriend’s family and I have chosen to write about The Little Nell, try my legs at skiing again (I will be taking a lesson, I’m not too proud), look good in my Under Armour Women’s ColdGear (yes, that’s a plug), eat a lot of great food, shop, and enjoy myself in this darling town.  The difference between Aspen and Park City is pretty obvious, in fact when I was carefully selecting my wardrobe for Sundance two years ago, I was advised to be more casual.  “It’s not like you are going to Aspen, where everyone is like all fur and hoity toity and all dressed up for show.”  I was well aware of the Beverly Hills price points and yesterday after arriving and walking around the town a bit, I was pleasantly surprised that there were a lot of sales going on.  So your $18,000 vest is now a mere $14,000 and matching fur bag can be thrown in for $25,000.  That is what I call a deal.

View from the Great Room at The Residences at The Little Nell, the outdoor dining and ski in/ski out

We’ll be sharing some photos on Facebook & Tweeting, but so far, so great. The Residences at The Little Nell are exquisite with exceptional service.  Found right across from The Little Nell and off Main Street, you can just ski out and jump onto the Silver Gondola or walk out the front door and give your credit card some exercise, which I think I’ll be doing in a bit.  They are three and four bedroom private residences available for sale and nightly rental. Regarding restaurants, we have a variety of places slated to try out for lunch and dinner, so we’ll include those as well.  As far as weather is concerned the citizens of Aspen have been a bit bored with the lack of snow, albeit they got about 20 inches recently and are expecting between 7-10 over the next few days, “This is nothing,” a shop owner lamented to us last night.  “You say, ‘wow’ to 7 inches, but we say ‘wow’ to 2 feet!” she said.  Today it’s a bit overcast with the impending few inches to begin flaking after noon.

Meanwhile, I’m still playing catch up and writing about Wales (Days 4-6) and the last LA trip to the Pacific Punch, which have you check out yet? www.pacific-punch.com  And be on the look out for our March 31st premier charity event at the luxurious SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, a Dream Date Auction benefiting Chris4Life.  More to come, but for now, this gal has to do some shopping.