Aspen Gay Ski Week: fun and civil rights - Philalphia Gay News

Contents:

• THE 10 BT GAY SKIG HOLIDAYS
• SKIG AND SNOWBOARDG ARE SO GAY
• TRAILBLAZG SKIG CHAMPN HIG ROBERTS OUT AS GAY PURSU OF ‘HAPPS AND THENTICY’
• THE WORLD’S BT SKI OUTTG: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 1977-2021
• ALPE SKIG CHAMPN HIG ROBERTS OUT AS GAY
• THE BEST SKIG EUROPE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SKIG EUROPE
• FIVE-TIME EKI CHAMP, SOCHI SILVER MEDALIST G KENWORTHY OUT AS GAY
• ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK: FUN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
• WTER OLYMPICS 2018: TEAM USA'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS MARCH WH PRI OPENG CEREMONY
• 10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS
• SKIG IS GAY
• ON THE PK N: A GAY SKIG TRIP TO FRANCE
• GAY SKIG LEGEND: WE NEED MORE SUPPORT OM IOC
• MOUNTA MAYHEM: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 2023
• 6 GAY SKI WEEKS THAT WILL ADD SOME HEAT TO YOUR WTER
• KEV MAXEN IS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE NFL ACH

THE 10 BT GAY SKIG HOLIDAYS

While some ski rorts ral regns still lack full LGBTQ+ acceptance, avid skiers or snowboarrs seekg a gay-iendly experience will be pleased to know that progrsive attus are on the up. Aspen, Colorado, USAWe start our gui to the bt gay ski holidays Colorado, home to the southern portn of the Rocky Mountas, as well as the cy of Denver and largely liberal attus relative to the rt of the Wtern US stat.

The state’s bt skig spot, Mammoth Ski Area lays claim as the origal home of ‘Elevatn Ski Week’, an annual event which has sce bee one of the largt gay ski events the US and the world over. One of the most gay-iendly ski rorts the Alps wh a rabow flag flyg all year round, Arosa cements s LGBTQ+ advote stat each January durg Arosa Gay Ski Week, when 600 lbian and gay wter sports fans une.

Lenzerhei, SwzerlandHome of ‘GaySki’ sce s foundatn 1992, Lenzerhei is Arosa’s slightly olr , sharg the same breath-takg scenery and love of gay culture.

SKIG AND SNOWBOARDG ARE SO GAY

In March 2020, Lenzerhei celebrat the 25th anniversary of SWING Gay Ski Week where pass holrs are guaranteed both snow and a packed schle of socialisg events. In January every year durg the Whistler Pri & Ski Ftival, gay culture tak over wh each base offerg a mishmash of wild events, om fetish parti to dner parti wh dance events thrown . As well as beg the official European trag base of the US ski team, Söln is also a base for LGBT culture, wh the Söln Gay Snow Happeng brgg people together annually sce 1998 for ski events and lively Après-Ski activi (this year’s Happeng tak place March 2020).

As well as skig and snowboardg on open terra, other activi clu ice skatg, snowmobilg and snowshoeg, topped off durg the month of Augt when the ternatnal LGBT muny scends for Gay Ski Week Queenstown at Cardrona Alpe Sebastian StaWhile you might envisage Spa as a hot and sweaty seasi suatn, the Spanish Pyrene will change your md wh wtery weather, northern-facg ski slop and perfect snow ndns Photo: Erik Odi8. Boí Taüll’s Snow Gay Weekend, hosted by ‘Rabow Barcelona Tours’ is now s fifth year, acmodatg an ever-growg number of atten (currently around 200, mostly om Spa and France), for a week of timate ski events, parti and more, at an affordable price. Reprentg the open-mdns and diverse valu of the Canadian Rocki, the rort celebrat Jasper Pri Ftival annually March, anisg a rabow flag skig para and other gay-iendly events servg to nnect the rint queer muny, LGBT travellers and upl on the slop before unwdg Jasper’s lively bars and rtrants.

European Snow Pri at Espace Killy, FranceThe cherry on top of our gay wter sundae is European Snow Pri, which tak place at Espace Killy the French Alps. European Snow Pri is qualy choice for ser skiers and partygoers alike, as the rort spans 300 kilometr of ski ns, across the Val d’Isere and Tign ski areas, offerg an imprsive le-up of Après-Ski DJs, artists and dancers om Europe’s bt gay clubs, amongst the most extraordary mounta scenery.

TRAILBLAZG SKIG CHAMPN HIG ROBERTS OUT AS GAY PURSU OF ‘HAPPS AND THENTICY’

After 17 years of promotg ELEVATION Mammoth Mammoth Lak, one of the largt gay ski weeks the world, and 9 years of ELEVATION Utah Park Cy, event producer Tom Whman announc that the new addn to the wter gay ski lendar, ELEVATION Tremblant Mont Tremblant, Quebec is now officially an annual event!

ELEVATION offers gay skiers a chance to play hard both day and night wh great skig, great parti and great strong growth last year across all events, and expectg to nearly double the size of ELEVATION TREMBLANT, Whman expects more than 6000 atten between the three events.

THE WORLD’S BT SKI OUTTG: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 1977-2021

By self, ELEVATION Mammoth is already the third largt gay ski week the world and wh the addn of Utah and Quebec, the bed crowds will make ELEVATION the largt seri of gay ski and snowboard events the world. ELEVATION Utah returns to Park Cy for the 10th annual “gay vasn of Utah, ” wh DJs, go-go dancers and themed events cludg the Onie Party, the Neon Party, the nghty GEAR Saturday night party and the signature Elevatn après-ski events. And there is somethg very special about a week of big gay events right on the Ma Street of one of the most inic ski towns the world, ” says Tom Whman.

After g out as gay an Instagram post 2020, Bank hop to show younger athlet “that they n be whomever they are, or want to be, whout discrimatn. Radford ma history as the first petive figure skater to e out as gay while still petg for champnship tl 2014, pavg the way for future LGBTQ+ athlet to e out.

ALPE SKIG CHAMPN HIG ROBERTS OUT AS GAY

He is now about to pete for Great Bra, the untry of his birth, his third and fal Olympics Beijg and Kenworthy will ski as a gay man, an LGBTQ+ activist and an most important facet of his transn is that, as Kenworthy says: “I’m jt much happier now than I was back then when I wasn’t livg my life thentilly. That yearng for wter adventure mixed wh a love for big gay gathergs is what prompted LA event producer Tom Whman to look northward and upward om Los Angel… 10, 000 feet upward to be exact.

THE BEST SKIG EUROPE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SKIG EUROPE

Eighteen years ago, he lnched the first Elevatn Mammoth Lak, California, and the re crowd of California boys quickly built that event to one of the largt gay ski weeks the world. In the years sce Whman first schemed up his four-day ski soirée, the Elevatn Gay Ski Weeks have bee the gold standard of gay getaways, and the largt seri of gay ski events the world.

FIVE-TIME EKI CHAMP, SOCHI SILVER MEDALIST G KENWORTHY OUT AS GAY

Set Febary 26 to March 1, that giv you four weeks to rever om your Canadian kiki before you meet up wh 1, 500+ bromos and slope sisters for the TENTH annual vasn of the gays Park Cy, home of Sundance, the Salt Lake Olympics and plenty of former-Mormons who jt wanna let loose.

The two Holy Grail’s of mic llid a ffee shop through fate and Belda’s son, and out of that sty, both wild hearts created liquid mathematics and perfumed smoke…and a gay anthem bis.

ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK: FUN AND CIVIL RIGHTS

He first began to realise that he might be gay when he was jt 12-years-old, but he buried those feelgs ep bee he uldn’t rencile the ia of beg gay wh beg a profsnal skier. “Not beg able to be who I am and not be able to be openly gay as a profsnal athlete was tly hrg my performance, ” Roberts told The New York Tim.

WTER OLYMPICS 2018: TEAM USA'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS MARCH WH PRI OPENG CEREMONY

Gay Ski Week, at first glance, may seem to only be solvg LGBTQ+ margalizatn om the sport of skig, but through rearch and terviews, I argue that this event has evolved to a lear guidg all-enpassg clivy skig. In my podst, I’ll walk through the history of Gay Ski Week and scribe s foundg prcipl, and then transn to what the event has e to be today and how the event is changg the ski world for the better. ” That clus etyle skier G Kenworthy, who revealed he is gay on ESPN mak the 29-year-old the first current or former male Alpe skier of his liber to e out publicly Alpe skig, The Tim an terview wh The Tim, Roberts said Alpe skig has a hyper-mascule vibe and he was prsured to nform.

SPORTSThursday, October 22, 2015ESPNG Kenworthy, one of the bt ekiers the world and the 2014 Olympic sloptyle silver medalist, has revealed to ESPN The Magaze that he is 24-year-old Kenworthy, who fished the 2014-15 season as the Associatn of Freki Profsnals overall champn for the fifth year a row, told ESPN The Magaze -- an terview done September but published Thursday -- that he ntemplated qutg the sport entirely bee he was said he's known sce the age of 5 that he is gay, but he didn't start g out to fay and iends until two years ago.

Startg 1979, about a after The Stonewall Rts, lol activists phed for and eventually secured gay-rights protectns Aspen — a first the state. ” It revoked and repealed all existg gay-rights legislatn such as Aspen’s and prevented any further gay-rights legislatn om beg passed eher at the lol or state level. Check out the other gay ski week vatns: Elevatn Utah, Telluri Gay Ski Week, European Gay Ski Week (France), Gay Snow Happeng (Atria), Gay Ski Week Queenstown (New Zealand) and Whistler Wter Pri (Canada).

10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS

Flash forward to the openg ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018 and the Sochi silver medallist walked to the Olympic stadium wh Team USA as one of their first openly gay male Wter Olympic athlet. Skater Rippon had cricised Pence durg an terview wh USA Today for exprsg anti-LGBT views and acced him of supportg gay nversn therapy, which Pence's ais have an emotnal terview wh Ski Sunday 2017, Kenworthy said of all the thgs he has done his life, he was most proud of g out.

SKIG IS GAY

Steamboat, Colorado Although gay ski weeks statns like Crted Butte and Telluri are a well-served source of pri, 's great to see visibily all year long: LGBT lols here Steamboat Sprgs began a monthly social mixer 2009 that's still gog strong. When Ski Bums me here 2009, we swore we'd stepped to a gay bar at the hotel La Perla, wh a bright red lacquer bar and a sound system crankg out ABBA tun.

Whistler, Brish ColumbiaThe home of the biggt LGBT ski week is also the largt ski rort North Ameri, Whistler-Blackb, and s gay-iendly wele lasts all season long. But the tough enomy -- and a surpl of new hotel rooms -- has sprouted bargas Snowmass, where you'll be reward wh wi open terra and some extra change your to go: There's not really a bad time for snow here, but Aspen Gay Ski Week (late January) is a fun time to be town, pecially if you n brg a few iends along wh you.

Salt Lake Cy, UtahFet what you've heard about the Book of Mormon boys: Salt Lake Cy is the only place the world wh seven world class ski rorts and seven gay bars wh a 30 mute drive. It's got two pri paras, gay-iendly hotels (like Kimpton's Hotel Mona), openly gay elected officials and a ph by the Salt Lake Cy Visor's Bure to wele LGBT visors.

ON THE PK N: A GAY SKIG TRIP TO FRANCE

Gay ski weeks and wter Pri events ually offer guts a variety of fun parti to socialize wh other lols, meet people om different rners of the world, and an opportuny to get outdoors and enjoy skig, snowboardg, and other wter activi.

So, we pulled together a list of 10 domtic and ternatnal gay ski weeks or wter Pri celebratns that you should nsir attendg when you feel fortable travelg.

16-23, 2022 (Aspen, Colorado, USA)Returng for s 45th year, Aspen Gay Ski Week is touted as the largt and longt-nng gay ski event the Wtern Hemisphere. Produced by lol non-prof AspenOUT, Aspen Gay Ski Week will be jam-packed wh fundraisg events, such as drag bgo, a downhill stume petn, a wboy rave, and a pool party.

GAY SKIG LEGEND: WE NEED MORE SUPPORT OM IOC

Start this fun ski week wh a bonfire cktail receptn wh an optn of fun parti, such as a “wet ‘n wild” pool bash, karaoke and drag bgo fundraisers, a firi we and chee party, a show wh edian Shaw Pelofsky, and a fal “Blow Out Dance Party” to p off this fun Gay Ski Week. Jo more than 600 lbian and gay wter sports fans om over 30 different untri and fd out why Arosa Gay Ski Week is “Europe’s favore Queer Ski Pri Week.

Elevatn Utah Gay Ski Week, Febary 23-27, 2022 (Park Cy, Utah, USA)Before COVID, Elevatn Utah weled a rerd number of queer skiers and alli to take on the powry slop of Park Cy and Deer Valley.

Telluri Gay Ski Week, Febary 26-March 5, 2022 (Telluri, Colorado, USA)Wter sports pros nverge on Telluri bee of s 147 ns and a 4, 500-foot vertil drop. Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week, March 15-20, 2022 (Mammoth Lak, California, USA)Found by Tom Whman, the now-ternatnal Elevatn brand is celebratg 20 years sce s gural Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week Mammoth Lak. The sport will be a lot more radil when people aren’t aaid to brg their whole self—queer, femme, trans, mascule, bi, lbian, gay, or straight—to the mounta.

MOUNTA MAYHEM: ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK 2023

Kenworthy pots to small thgs like the csant e of “gay” as a pejorative that persists wh heavily male social circl and subtly dit a lack of approval for anythg outsi their heterosexual norm. ’” It’s why Kenworthy’s posn as a role mol is so important: Queer kids—or at least, young, gay men—n regnize themselv him and feel wele the ski world. Chris wrote a letter om the Ski Bums acunt sayg how much he loved the magaze, had been skig and readg the mag for years, and that he thought our e of the word gay as a rogatory adjective was off-puttg.

That’s a rhetoril qutn, but you’ll be able to answer if you jo more than 2500 guys and girls at the 21st anniversary of Elevatn Mammoth Gay Ski Week om March 15-19th, 2023. Speakg of Ski Daddi, LA event producer Tom Whman put his love of producg big gay events together wh his lifelong love of skig and snowboardg, and remixed the two to create the first Elevatn Mammoth more than two s ago.

The Elevatn Gay Ski Weeks have bee the gold standard of gay getaways, and their legendary stat is due, large part, to Whman’s unnny abily to be always pendable but never predictable. Whether you attend Elevatn Mammoth (the iendly Cal-centric snowboarr and ski-bro heaven wh blue bird sprg skig) or Elevatn Utah (an adorable mg town turned to upsle gay ski paradise at the largt ski rort the US) you know exactly what you’re gettg to: superb slop for shreddg, damn-good DJs for dancg, and fun feisty dus for… havg a nice nversatn by the fire. One event that we look forward to every year both Park Cy and Mammoth is the Onie Apr-Ski, an Elevatn Gay Ski Week tradn that manag to be sexy whout losg s sense of humor.

6 GAY SKI WEEKS THAT WILL ADD SOME HEAT TO YOUR WTER

" whooped toffee vodka-primed guts at Gay Ski Buddi 2012's fondue and barbecue party, as groang platters of filets mignon, lamb chops and kg prawns were marched to the people have more fun wh gay stereotyp – pathologil promiscuy, Olympic-standard hedonism and flashy extravagance to name jt a few – than gay people. But stereotyp they are, and their rather leral translatn to the var LGBT-oriented European ski events that have spng up over the last two s has left many gay skiers and snowboarrs out the ld.

That Gay Ski Buddi, now s third year, has a different agenda is clear om the first click on s webse, where the plete absence of imag of poutg, steroidal himbos gambollg up the Alps ski goggl and overstuffed briefs mak virtually unique among s Niko Martikas, founr of Gay Ski Buddi, beg charged a queen's ransom for an prso-sized vodka and tonic at European Gay Ski Week Tign three years ago was the fal straw. "I went to gay events there, Alpe d'Huez, Söln Atria and Whistler Canada, " he says, "and while I had a lot of fun, I never found the event I really wanted.

Jamie, a 25-year-old Londoner bantered wh Ian and Trevor, a uple for 43 years and, by the end of the week, the holiday's unofficial poster boys for genteel suburban Ski BuddiGreek gym bunny Spyros slugged out on the air hockey table wh (straight) Californian property adviser Christa, one of four female Buddi who were havg far too much fun to let 68 gay men make them feel margalised, while I chatted to a bisexual married father of two about the trials of nng a double a nspicuo amount of expensive ntal work and some very snug T-shirts marked out the maly thirty- and fortysomethg crowd, llectively hailg om the UK, Greece, Holland, Swen, Rsia and South Ai, om any other bowlg night gatherg as, fuelled by the ee bar and a suably dis-slanted mixtape, they whipped up an atmosphere of chummy petn. Dpe the disunts our Gay Ski Buddi wristbands entled to at Méribel's premier après bacchanal, the Rond Pot, most guts preferred to end the day's sport wh a ltle R&R back at their chalets ahead of hors d'ovr, drks and lgerg dners whose affable nversatns often lgered past midnight a languoro sofa sprawl.

KEV MAXEN IS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE NFL ACH

Unls, of urse, was a party night, and the wele cktail night, bowlg bash, barbecue and farewell fancy-drs ft each drew nearly every gut back out to the snow to all the smart planng, diverse activi and Martikas' nsirable gifts as an attentive and charmg host, 's this mellow, relaxed pace and the holiday's sle that are Gay Ski Buddi' master strok. (Faced wh his send exponential spike mand followg January's trip, Martikas has chosen to put on multiple weeks rather than risk this timate dynamic by simply growg the week to pacy – followg the Febary 2013 outg, Gay Ski Buddi mak s Atrian but St Anton next March).

As genero stocks of champagne, beer and the seasonaire's staple toffee vodka were systematilly molished, more classic gay stereotyp surfaced as some of the better-mataed Buddi peeled off their T-shirts on the dancefloor.