The Snow Must Go On!
Diehard snow junkies know that springtime is the best time onmountain. The days are longer, the temps warmer and the aprés ski can't be beat. So what are you waiting for? Strap on your skis and show a little skin. It's time to go spring skiing.
SPRING LOVE
Over a Thai foot ritual at the Viceroy Snowmass spa, X Games gold medalist, Dew Tour Superpipe champion, FIS World Cup winner and Olympic medalist snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler muses on how Aspen, CO, won her heart.
INTERVIEW BY ORION RAY-JONES
● STEP 1: Scrumptious creamy foot scrub I hope you don't mind the unique interview location. After all of your recent competitions, I thought you might be due for some healing. "It's very relaxing, and a footrub sounds delightful right now."
It must be a nice change of pace to return to your hometown during the busy season. Do you remember first laying eyes on Aspen as a kid on your winter vacations? "I remember that the environment was so different from Ohio. It's raw and rugged and outdoorsy. Whenever I came here, I would get altitude sickness. I remember going up on the mountain and being cold, because I get cold easily. It's ironic that I've become a professional snowboarder."
Sick and freezing? Moving here fulltime must have been traumatic. "My overall view of Aspen was that it was this gorgeous vacation spot. But for me, I was 10 years old when we moved, and I had all of my best friends in Ohio. I played soccer, and was on the swim team. That was my life. So when we moved to Aspen, I was kicking and screaming the whole way. My mom bribed me: 'If you get in the car so that we can move to Aspen, I'll let you get your ears pierced.'"
Sounds like a lot of resistance to relocating to a place most consider paradise. "It was tough the first year. But it was also totally crazy and awesome at the same time. I immediately went to this private school — Aspen Country Day School. The very first experience I had there was going on what they called an Outdoor Ed trip. The first one was in the fall and it was snowing. So what did we do? We climbed a 14,000foot peak! I went camping for the first time, backpacking. We carried all of our own stuff, and it was just so different — like another world. 'Where am I that we're going on a camping and climbing trip for school?' Another amazing thing was that every winter Wednesday, we had a halfday off to go up on the mountain to ski, snowboard, snowshoe. My two older brothers were snowboarders, and I was always trying to do what they were doing, like a little tomboy. They had cute friends, too, so on one of those Wednesdays, I was like: 'I think I'm going into this snowboarding thing.' It was perfect, because I grew up skiing, and I was getting bored with it. It was something totally new and different. It was hard; it was a challenge. So, immediately, I thought: 'Alright, I'm going to figure this thing out.'"
● STEP 2: Clay mask on feet, wrapped in hot booties You figured things out and reached the highest levels of the sport. Now you have a clothing line and an ecofriendly water bottle. What's most exciting to you about your new roles off the mountain? "Giving more meaning to and having more impact on the world around me — that's been the environmental aspect. I'm passionate about talking about climate change and the things that I've been seeing, because I have been chasing snow around the world for the past 10 years. Last fall I went with Protect Our Winters, to Washington, DC. We spoke to a bunch of congressmen and senators about climate change, urging them to vote on climate legislation."
Looking at your fashion line, I was surprised to see such an emphasis on sustainability. "Oakley came to me after the 2006 Winter Olympics and asked if I wanted to collaborate with them on a signature collection. For me that was obviously a dream come true. I've always had a very strong opinion on how I look up on the hill. And Oakley was my very first sponsor. That first year I told them, 'Absolutely, let's do it. But I would love to have an eco section to my collection.'"
When I think of eco clothing, I think organic cotton yogawear, not hightech snowboard gear. "It's tough to do that in outerwear. It's more expensive; materials are harder to get. But they decided to be trailblazers. I think they realized, too, that it was authentic to do in my line. They found this material called Eco Storm. Oakley is incredibly technical, so it had to live up to their expectations when it came to breathability and waterproofability (I don't know if that's a word, but we'll say that it is!). Eco Storm is 100% recycled and also 100% recyclable. It was cool to be able to create this jacket and pants that were not only recycled and recyclable, but they also look good. It was really important, to show you don't have to sacrifice style to be ecofriendly."
● STEP 3: Foot massage As a diehard Aspen girl with a side career in environmental advocacy, do visible patches of grass in December make you a little nervous? "When we first moved here, I remember we would have avalanche danger days, where there was so much snow at the bottom of this Vshaped valley that it was in danger of avalanching and we could all be buried under the snow. We haven't had a winter like that since — I even saw it rain in December last year. There's a shift, where the winter is taking longer to become winter and then spring snow is lasting longer. Everything has shifted back a month."
That sounds like good news for spring skiers. "Last year, we were here over my birthday in April, and we were having vacation days up on the hill. We would come up and ride the park from 10am to 1pm, and then go down and get a nice lunch and have a margarita outside at the bottom of Snowmass. We hiked up Buttermilk and snowboarded down the mountain. And I love spring conditions. I'm not too good with the extreme cold, so the warmer it is, the looser I get, the more motivated, I and have more fun. The days are a little longer, a little bit warmer. People are hanging outside aprèsing a little bit more. It's friendlier and warmer and nicer."
The springtime sun is blazing, the snow is perfect — where do you go? "Naked Lady on Snowmass was my alltime favorite run when I was younger. The reason they call it 'Naked Lady' is because there are tons of rollers and bumps and burns... lots of shape to the run. We didn't have tons of snowboard parks, so that was a great run to go and do a backside 180 off a roller, a frontthree off a bump... And the parks and pipes at Snowmass and Buttermilk are the best in the world. I still love to do it all. It's a healthy combination of everything for me on a regular freeriding day."
Do you still get powder in the warm months? "You definitely get powder days in springtime. I really love riding powder. On powder days, go up to Aspen Highlands and hike the bowl. Or Rock Island on Snowmass is a fun run. The Wall is a great one, too. You go up the High Alpines Springs lift and then you hike for about 10 minutes to a double black diamond. It's a little steeper at the top, but on a powder day it's really fun."
Since the weather's so nice, it must be tempting to get out into the more natural, rugged parts of the mountain. "You can take a snowcat and have a guided tour experience on the backside of Aspen. That's a lot of fun; there's really good snow. The Aspen Valley Snowboard Team built jumps back there in the past, and that's where all the kids go to learn new tricks."
Any other good ways to see Aspen's natural side as the days grow warmer? "I love going up Smuggler and mountain biking the Smuggler Loop. It's the classic mountain biking trail around here — a really good workout with a fun downhill part. There are also some great hikes around, like the Ute trail. It's a crazy, anaerobic workout full of switchbacks. I did the Conundrum
Hot Springs hike last year with one of my best friends. I think it's about 19 miles there and back. Most people go up and spend the night. We did it in one day."
I'm exhausted. How about an adventure that doesn't require a superhuman heart? "Go into town, get a hot chocolate and check out the shops. Mezzaluna is a good après place for sitting outside in the sun and people watching while having a good drink. And then for dinner I love Jimmy's and Campo de Fiori. Those restaurants have been around forever. The guys who work there are awesome."
Having found fame and fortune in what must be the greatest job in the world — pro snowboarder — you must get stopped a lot while walking around? Does it appeal to your sense of celebrity? "I always say that I'm so lucky that I get to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world, these resort towns. Wherever I go, I always compare it to Aspen, and I still haven't found a place that I like better. This is it. I have so much support from the community. I'm not a celebrity; I'm a snowboarder. I feel like I belong to Aspen. During the X Games here, I am Aspen; I'm representing Aspen. And I think Aspen gets behind me because I represent them."
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