In this podcast, hosted by NYC real estate broker Phil Wells, Lex is interviewed about the current Aspen market and how he came to be one of Aspen’s Top Brokers. Take a listen!
Winter! An Aspen Classic
Snowy Winter Ahead? The Long-Range Forecasts Are In!
It’s an utterly futile act, prognosticating a season’s snowfall in September, but who can help not getting a little excited when winter forecast emails start popping up in your inbox? So, if you are a sucker for Pacific water temps and how they theoretically will affect the snowfall here in Aspen
NOAA:
Precipitation is expected to have an Equal Chance of being below average or above average.
El Niño or La Niña?
For the upcoming 2021-2022 winter season, there's a ~50% chance that water temperatures will reach below-average (blue bar = La Niña), a less than 10% chance that water temperatures will be above-average (red bar = El Niño), and a ~40% chance that water temperatures will be near-average (grey bar = Neutral).
These model forecasts provide us with a signal for a La Niña event during the 2021-2022 winter season. (EL Nino is the one we want unfortunately.)
The official Climate Prediction Center outlook is similar to these model forecasts, calling for a 70% chance for La Niña to continue through the 2021-2022 winter season.
Lastly, when all else fails, we always have this:
Will it be a snowy winter in Aspen this year?
What Exactly Is a Balloon Festival, Anyway?
Every fall, The Snowmass Balloon Festival fills the skies over Snowmass Valley with big bulbs of brilliant design. It has become one of the enduring images of Aspen: fireworks over Ajax, sunrise on the Bells, balloons over the golf course. But have you ever wondered what exactly IS a balloon festival? Is it a race? A design competition? Who makes these things? This article in the Aspen Daily News gives a great rundown.
Remembering Edward Berkeley, Aspen Opera Director
If you hadn’t heard, The Aspen music community endured a terrible loss this summer. On July 18, Aspen Music Festival and School opera program director Edward Berkeley died unexpectedly just hours before a performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute. From the obituary in Operawire:
Berkeley was born in New York City and became the artistic director of the Willow Cabin Theater Company and director of the Aspen Opera Theater Center where he directed classics and championed new operas including Cavalli’s “Eliogabalo” and “Giasone” and new works by Bright Sheng, Augusta Read Thomas, Michael Torke, Mark-Anthony Turnage, H.K. Gruber, and Bernard Rand.
He also directed the New York premieres of plays by Derek Walcott, Israel Horovitz, Terence McNally, Leonard Melfi, Louise Page, and Tennessee Williams. He also directed at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Library of Congress, Williamstown Theater Festival, Old Globe Theater, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Spoleto and Ravinia festivals. Most notably he directed the Tony-nominated revival of the play “Wilder, Wilder, Wilder” in 1993.
Berkeley also taught Shakespeare at the Circle in the Square Theater School and Pace University. He was also a guest faculty for the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and was a guest professor at Carleton College, Princeton University, and Williams College. He became a faculty member of the Juilliard School in 1987.
Colleagues and singers knew Berkley for his signature shorts, high socks, and sneakers and traveled almost exclusively by bicycle in Aspen.
If you ever had the chance to attend one of his opera workshops, it was wonderful to watch him shape the performances and help literally generations of singers. Opera has lost one its dedicated students.
The Greatest Backcountry Mystery of All Time Finally Gets an Explanation
Ural Mountains in Russia
In the 1960s, a group of Russian college students went for a backcountry trip in the Ural Mountains. When their bodies were discovered a few weeks later, they were in various states of undress, spread out over a few hundred yards, mutilated (tongue and eyes cut out) and ... wait for it ... radioactive!
Did American spies murder them? Was the Russian army covering up a secret military base? Was it a yeti? Aliens? Hundreds of theories emerged over the years, but it looks like they finally figured it out and the answer is ... well you just have to read to find out!
A Guide to Aspen’s Gentle Hikes
Life is Hard … Hiking doesn’t need to be
We love a good guide and for those who haven’t checked out the guide section on the site, you might learn something new! For example, some of these trails tucked around Aspen don’t have the excitement of a Cathedral Lake, but are much more manageable. And especially during the early summer months before the snow has melted at higher elevations.
Aspen Music Festival Summer 2021
Matthew Whitaker Aspen Musical Festival 2021
Aspen Music Festival and School kicks off their 2021 Summer season on July 1st with the piano phenom Matthew Whitaker. The 19-year-old jazz musician has been wowing audiences ever since his piano teacher noticed he could re-play Dvorak movements after a single listen ... at age 5. He was also born blind FYI.
The festival’s talent remains big, but the schedule and school will be much smaller. Seating will be reduced, naturally, and the length of the concerts will be shorter. One of the bigger changes is that you will need a reservation to sit outside the tent (still free, but they are limiting capacity.) Spots will be tight!
The Frick is Crashing at The Met (which circles back to Aspen real estate we promise)
The beloved Frick Museum on New York’s Fifth Avenue recently moved its entire collection four blocks over to the Met Breuer (The Met Breuer was The Whitney Museum of American Art from 1973 until 2014).
The temporary move was made as Annabelle Selldorf kicks off her $160M renovation and expansion of Henry Frick’s manse-turned-museum into high gear. Selldorf designed the Boesky West Gallery at 100 S Spring Street which I recently listed for 7.5M.
Selldorf designed Boesky West Gallery for sale in Aspen.
If you’re in and around New York City we highly recommend checking out this unique exposition. It’s really a whole new experience to see the art curated in a museum. And if you’re in the Aspen area, this is a beautiful, beautiful property, designed by a prominent architect … Could be turned back into a private home pending city approval.
Creative Relief For Local Restaurants
Scrolling through the litany of the negative comments on Facebook when the City Council shut down indoor dining, Kenny and Robin Smith of Meridian Jewelers, thought there has got to be something positive to do ... and then Eureka in the bathtub: “Let’s have people buy gift certificates and then match donations.”
In one week, they processed over 1100 gift certificates for over 350 individuals, generating funds for 61 restaurants! Over 450 gift certificates were donated to a variety of local non-profits, coordinated by Katherine Sand at Aspen Family Connections. These certificates were/are distributed to local families and individuals in need.
“I am absolutely flabbergasted,” said Craig Cordts-Pearce who co-owns the Wild Fig, Steakhouse No. 316, The Monarch and CP Burger with his wife, Samantha to the Aspen Times. “Meridian basically just gave everybody a gateway to finally help. … I think everybody’s been waiting for this.”
Restaurants around the world have taken a terrible blow from the pandemic, but it’s been hard to figure out how to help. One can only order so much take out and let's face it, we all miss the experience of non-pandemic dining. Gift certificates let people indulge in a night out (albeit a delayed one) whilst giving immediate support to the restaurants—a simple, elegant solution.
Our hats are off to these good samaritans!
