Midwest Adventures: Hotels Thriving Under New Names
Flying High By Balloon
Year-Round Wonders Abound At Colorado's Playground, Snowmass
Spectacular hot air balloons, featuring every bright color of the rainbow, drift skyward over Snowmass, Colorado, during 33d Annual Snowmass Balloon Festival held last September. (Journal Photo by Todd Wessell)
By TODD WESSELL Journal & Topics Travel Editor
How do you describe a scream when it can't be heard, only seen?
The absence of sound was ghostly as the green, mountainous terrain of Snowmass, Colorado slowly drifted by. Once in a while, we might hear the thump of a truck door slamming, a car engine purring, or the increasingly heavy sound of our own breathing. Other than that, nothing. Above our heads the world appeared much different. The sky was a deeper blue than Paul Newman's eyes. To the west, mountains capped with white snow, thrust their jagged edges over the horizon. And all around us? A dozen hot air balloons, suspended like jellyfish in an ocean of cool, crisp air floating toward the heavens and in the direction of that mountain peak so far away.
No words needed to be spoken. The only sound was western Colorado's beauty squealing with joy.
The occasion was Snowmass's 33d annual Balloon Festival where the crews of 48 balloons of all shapes sizes and especially colors, compete to win prizes and bragging rights. The balloons, powered by flaming hot air propane that's thrust into its huge "envelope" by hand-controlled burners, provides the lift. Once airborne you're at the mercy of the wind because balloons can't be steered. With the exception of going up and down that's determined by the captain's timely maneuvering of the burners, anything can happen, and oftentimes it does. Frequently you don't know if you'll end up in a different county or in someone's back yard. For 90 minutes, the three of us were alone with our thoughts, each other and Mother Nature's majesty. It was quite a ride.
While Aspen, Colorado, located just a few miles away, seems to capture most of the attention of the region, Snowmass, as we learned is starting to flex a few muscles of its own. Both are world-class winter ski areas that a century ago were nothing more than tiny mining and ranching communities. Aspen's reputation today rests in part as a place where Hollywood types like to call home away from home when not practicing their lines or in front of a camera. Snowmass, on the other hand, seems laid back, smaller in size and more family-friendly.
There are two parts to Snowmass. There's Snowmass Village, an actual town with elected officials and a popula tion of around 2,000. Just to the south of the village is the Snowmass Ski Area where most of the year-round recreational activity takes place or embarks from.
Snowmass is part of the Aspen/Snowmass ski resort complex and the largest of the region's four mountains with its 3,128 acres. In the winter, its 88 mostly wide ski runs on well-groomed terrain make it an ideal setting for families and skiers of all skill levels. In summer, Snowmass offers a bevy of activities ranging from riding one of the resort's 26 chairlifts to whitewater rafting.
Developed mainly in the 1960s and 70s, Snowmass is in the midst of a $1 billion facelift of its Base Village with new lodging opportunities, restaurants, shops and family-related offerings such as the new Treehouse Kids Center for children ages five through 14. When building is completed in a couple of years, Snowmass will sport a total of 12 restaurants, several for fine dining. Flanking the Base Village are three and four-level condominium buildings of one, two and three-bedroom units. Many are nestled close to one of the three base high-speed chairlifts that quickly whisk skiers to the 23 other lifts perched at higher levels. A nice touch are the large weather gauges mounted on the facade of the Village Express chairlift that report the summit's wind speed, temperature and barometric pressure.
In summer, the full, colorful majesty of Snowmass pokes through. Visitors interested in walking or hiking can check out alpine forests and wildflower meadows by signing up for leisurely tours that last from two to four hours. A must visit is the Maroon Bells Scenic Area, located in White River National Forest, that's only a short drive from the village. The area epitomizes what the Rocky Mountains are all about by featuring towering 14,000-ft. peaks and sloping meadows of Aspen and fir trees. Early explorers, wowed by the mountain's red color and distinctive bell shape came up with the name Maroon Bells. On clear days, the mountains are mirrored in the clear waters of Maroon Lake which can be viewed from a myriad of vantage points along a level walking trail where "Marmot (woodchuck) Crossing" signs are a reminder that nature is thriving everywhere.
It took me a few minutes to get used to the idea that even though it was early September, major meteorological changes were unfolding in our surroundings. At the top of the beautiful mountain peak before us we learned that it was snowing hard up there. Our sight of the summit had been blocked out. Later, while taking a Blazing Adventures Jeep tour to the top of another remote peak, we came across more evidence of climatic change as bloated marmots continued to fill their bellies preparing for their winter hibernation. At the same time, snowflakes filled the air. The two-hour Jeep excursion took us first on a winding asphalt road then, as we continued our ascent, onto a bumpy dirt road. Several times, we stopped to absorb the breathtaking beauty of thousands of deep purple firewood flowers and yarrow asters and to nibble on some wild raspberries and thimbleberries.
The next morning, the long shadows slowly burned off the layer of frost that had settled on the expansive field where the dozen or so hot air balloons were slowly filling with air being blown by powerful whirling fans. The pilot of our balloon, Jon Seay, Sr. quickly got down to business directing his crew of Robin, Marty, Al and Joe toward the goal of take off. The morning's fun activity, called "Dawn Quixote" was to see which crew could pop the most normal size balloons that would be dangling below competing balloon baskets. Seay and his crew have been participating in the Snowmass Festival for the last 28 years. Seay's balloon is named Western Spirit. Its light blue and brown design includes pictures of cowboys riding the range. The names of other balloons included "Colorado High", "High Plains Drifter" and "No Worries." The largest balloon we noticed that weekend was the massive "Energizer Bunny" balloon shaped exactly like the one in the TV commercial, but a million times bigger.
"You meet a lot of interesting people," remarked Seay in describing his nearly three decades of ballooning. "On one flight in Wyoming, we landed on the property of the woman who wrote the book "Brokeback Mountain". That was way up in the wilderness."
Added Seay, "Balloon flying is like life. You know you're going, but you don't know where."
Eventually our morning trek ended on the side of a hill filled with small trees and sagebrush. We climbed out of the basket and watched as the experienced crew, which had driven the three or four miles to our landing point, quickly shifted into high gear stabilizing the craft and deflating the balloon, all the while cowboy crooner Gene Autry belted out "Back In the Saddle Again." Within 30 minutes the lofty balloon had been folded and put safely away in the back of the pickup truck that bore the Colorado license plate frame,"I'd Rather Be Ballooning". Then, as Roy and Dale Rogers sang "Happy Trails", pilot Seay and his crew knelt in prayerful position to offer thanks for the safe and pleasant ride as they prepared several small cups of champagne to toast our journey. Directing the "newbies" to pick up the cups with their teeth in order to drink the small amount of bubbly, Seay, with a giggling Marty only a few feet away, proceeded to pour champagne on our heads. We were now members of the elite balloonist fraternity.
To get to Snowmass, Frontier Airlines offers regular air service from Midway Airport to Aspen Airport. Crestwood Condominiums, where we stayed, offers courtesy shuttle pickup to and from the airport. The ride is only about 15 minutes.
Important Telephone Numbers, websites
* 1-800-SNOWMASS
* www.snowmassvillage.com
* Anderson Ranch Arts Center: 1-970-923-3181; info@andersonranch.org
* Blazing Adventures: 1-970-923-4544.
* www.snowmassliving.com