24 Hours of Aspen cancelled

[The AD]

Apparently they couldn't find a sponsor this year:
http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs...ORTS/310240203

[Woodsy]

that sux.
so does this
progress

Freestyle fixture left off schedule
By Troy Hooper/Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

The oldest freestyle skiing event in the country is no more.

Freestyle Fridays at Aspen Highlands will be discontinued this ski season, Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman Jeff Hanle confirmed Thursday, due to what officials are calling a "market-driven decision."

"For the past couple of years, we've had trouble getting athletes to compete in it and spectators to show up and watch it," Hanle said. "So we've taken it off the schedule."

Since 1972, the last day of the workweek was reserved for hot-dogging skiers to showcase their ability to bash through the bumps and soar off jumps at Aspen Highlands, a once independently owned ski area loved by locals for its low lift-ticket prices and unfamiliarity to tourists.

Now operated by SkiCo through a partnership with real-estate mogul Gerald Hines, Aspen Highlands has added a number of new amenities that attract a wider number of visitors from a wider geographic region and require a higher ticket price.

With the changes to the ski area came changes to Freestyle Fridays. The competition became more serious. Fewer locals participated. And more skiers from places such as Vail and Breckenridge began to show up.

But the biggest permutation arrived last ski season when the format was altered from bumps and jumps to a more new-school course that included less moguls and more terrain-park features on a wider layout, similar to what can be found at an ESPN Winter X Games competition. To reflect the new flavor, and the inclusion of snowboarders, Freestyle Fridays was renamed Freeride Fridays.

"I stopped racing because I didn't think it was fun anymore," said Gunnar Sachs, 32, of Aspen.

"When they changed the format, I had at least 30 or 40 people come up to me and say, 'What the hell are they thinking? This isn't fun to watch.' It's a real shame," he said.

"I know the ski company does what they think is best, but when people change the format of something and then see it go under, that responsibility should lay in the hands of the person promoting the race. And that person should give it back to somebody that can do the job right."

The genius of Freestyle Fridays, noted Sachs, who owns Elevation restaurant in Aspen, was that the race series was originally geared toward locals.

"It didn't matter if you were a good bump racer or not. You were going out there to have a good time. If they want to see the crowds increase again, then they should turn it back into a locals' race. When you know somebody that's racing, it's so much more fun to watch."

SkiCo officials, meanwhile, assert that bump skiing "isn't where the sport is going" and that they are simply supplying what the public is demanding.

So in place of Freestyle Fridays, they are putting on Bud Light Big-Air Fridays at Snowmass Ski Area. Bud Light sponsored Freeride Fridays last season.

"We're reacting to the evolution of the sport and we're moving ahead with the sport and moving ahead with our event," Hanle said.

He added: "We're keeping our sponsor."

The importance of sponsorships was underscored Wednesday, the day SkiCo announced this year would be without 24 Hours of Aspen, a grueling race that requires competitors to ski continuous laps on Aspen Mountain from one sunrise to the next. That event was canceled because a title sponsor could not be found to financially support it. Audi, which had sponsored the race the last three years, said it didn't have the budget for it this year.

"The most popular part of Freeride Fridays is the big air," Hanle continued. "So now the event is taking place in Snowmass and it'll have more big air."

Like Freestyle Fridays, cash and prizes will be awarded to competitors of Big-Air Fridays, music and entertainment will abound and the events will be held continuously through February and March. Hanle said eye-popping action is also planned to coincide with Winterskol, traditionally held in January.

Nonetheless, the loss of Freestyle Fridays to make way for Big-Air Fridays isn't sitting well with everyone.

"I realize it's hard to keep things alive and the way they once were, but there are certain things like 24 Hours of Aspen and Freestyle Fridays at Highlands that are so ingrained in what Aspen was originally about and, for some of us, what Aspen is still about. It's a real loss for this wonderful town," said Sachs.

[Plakespear]

It's interesting- Having read the Aspen article in the current Powder, and having read some work by Hunter S. Thompson from the early 70's. It seems like Aspen "locals" have been complaining that Aspen is losing it's soul as long as there have been Aspen "locals".