Aspen Gay Ski Week holds the honor of being the longest-running gay ski week in the country. The week of events, which includes parties, concerts, comedy, films, symposiums, and dinners, is a celebration for the LGBTQ+ community and a model for other gay ski weeks throughout the U.S.
As a cornerstone in the Aspen Snowmass community for over five decades, Frias Properties is inspired by and committed to the rich cultural diversity that makes this Aspen Snowmass special. We are an LGBTQ+ friendly business and we proudly sponsor Aspen Gay Ski Week and partner with AspenOUT, a local non-profit and 501c3 organization focused on anti-bullying and tolerance.
The History
During the 1970s, a group of local men had begun to have unofficial yearly hangouts with gay visitors from ski clubs from around the country. Jon Busch, David Hoch, Tom Duesterberg, Russell Anderson, and others, along with groups of gay tourists, decided to make these meetings more official and schedule them every January to celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community.
Every year, the host of this gathering varied amongst the ski club, with different parties on different nights to which all were invited. The local contingent’s contribution started as just a welcoming “kick-off” party, but over the years, the all-volunteer effort became the world’s first (and only, for many years) gay ski week.
At one such gathering, local John Busch got into trouble with authorities for dancing with another local man at a bar, eventually spurring his decision to advocate for gay rights (and becoming a springboard for a lifetime of gay advocacy.) In 1979, Busch and other local men pushed for and eventually secured gay rights protections in Aspen—a first in the state. Boulder and Denver soon followed.
Unfortunately, the 1992 passing of Amendment 2 by Colorado voters revoked gay protections and prohibited any new ones from being enacted at local and state levels, thus curtailing further protection against discrimination for LGBTQ+ people. This action led to liberal outrage amongst Hollywood as well as the national and international gay community.
A widespread and effective boycott of Colorado tourism resulted from this anti-gay policy, which was most painfully felt in Aspen, where Gay Ski Week was a major winter event and catalyst for gay tourism all year long. Pitkin County led the state in its opposition to Amendment 2, and the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled the amendment unconstitutional in 1996. At that point, Aspen Gay Ski Week was folded into a new 501c3 non-profit called the Aspen Gay and Lesbian Community Fund (now known as AspenOUT).