Auden Schendler, one of the biggest climate advocates in the outdoor industry, doesn’t start his new book, Terrible Beauty, with any of the myriad lessons he’s learned over decades of environmental work. Schendler, who is vice president of sustainability at Aspen One (parent company of Aspen Snowmass), doesn’t drop into scare tactics, or data, or the myriad ways global warming is harming recreation, business, and our ability to thrive. Instead, he opens with a camping trip in the Utah desert with a couple of buddies, chasing down dirt devils for the sheer glee of being outside in a storm.

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The book goes on to examine the ways we need to approach environmentalism if we want to experience that joy in the future. In his 25 years heading up sustainability initiatives for one of the ski industry’s biggest corporations, Schendler has been at the forefront of climate action. He converted Aspen’s utility to renewables, convinced its tissue supplier to stop cutting down old-growth trees, and led the outdoor industry in political lobbying. But he says we need to do more. A lot more. Corporate sustainability is failing, he says, and individuals aren’t leveraging enough of our personal and political power because we’ve been cowed into thinking we don’t have any. And now, the clock is ticking. According to Schendler, modern environmentalism is broken—but he has some ideas about how to keep it moving forward.

Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul is a book about citizenship, the pursuit of purpose, and uphill battles you might not win but have to keep fighting anyway. It’s a book about right now.

What do you hope people take away from this book?

I want to suck people into the joy of the universe, then give them that technical payload on climate in a way that motivates them. When you ask people, “What do you care about?” It’s things like community and family and wild places. But when you ask them, “What are you doing to protect those things against this existential threat?” they throw up their hands. I wanted to give people tools to figure it out. So there’s a bunch of stuff about banks and how the financial sector impacts climate change, but this is a book about the human experience. I’m trying to say modern environmentalism is failing, but what can replace it? Can it be exciting?

Let’s talk about that failure. You’ve that skiing is toast, and that we’ve failed on climate as a society. How do we go forward in the face of that?

When you’re in a movement that’s losing it’s not glamorous, but this is where I think there’s a connection to the outdoor world. The purpose has to come in the doing of the thing. It’s like type 2 fun. It’s not about winning or losing—I think in any human endeavor it’s very rare to be able to say, “yes, we won.” Instead, we have to think about it like a practice. We’re improving the world. As much as a day in my life as a climate fighter is depressing, it’s also fascinating and weird and filled with these odd twists and turns and micro wins and crippling losses. There’s a lot of glee in getting into mischief.

You argue that the ways we’ve largely been doing environmental work, particularly corporate sustainability, isn’t actually addressing the root causes of global warming. How do we change?

When we discovered that CO2 was going to be a problem in the fifties, we should have started getting off [fossil fuels], but we didn’t because we were misinformed, or because politicians were bribed, and since then we’ve been working toward targets that are in line with what the fossil fuel industry would want. For instance, in my world, the outdoor world, you could say, “let’s talk about recycled skis,” but that doesn’t really move the needle. Instead, we need to be publicly lobbying our peers and elected officials on climate.

What can someone like me, who isn’t part of a big business or advocacy group, do to move the needle?

My prescription is this: You get a six pack and you get a few smart friends, and you ask each other “Where do we have power?” You come up with an answer, then dismiss it if it’s not to scale.

Think about environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who said “I’m going to sit in this one spot for a year.” That helped. You have to just try some stuff. The question is really: Do we want to be citizens or not? Can you go to a town council meeting and talk about the planning and zoning board? You can’t just sign an online letter and call it good. You have to do real stuff and move your body and get out into society, instead of giving into the inclination to stay in or avoid confrontation.

That requires bandwidth, and there are people who don’t have that, and that’s OK too. Revolutions don’t come from 100 percent of the population mobilizing, it’s typically 4 to 9 percent, and that can make a difference.

Bandwidth, and who has the ability to act on climate, seems like a really big part of the conversation.

When climate is forcing you into survival mode, you don’t have the leisure that humans need to thrive. You can’t just be recovering from the last fire or flood all the time. This is environmentalism writ large right now. You think I have the luxury to care about climate? I can’t feed my family or pay my health care bills. This gets to the broader question of whether we’re actually taking care of each other, and we’re not.

The tension in the book is that the thing that could destroy us is also a fundamental opportunity for change as a society. How do you walk that line?

The cover of the book meant to express that. Like, “Damn, this thing is kind of fucked up, but it’s still beautiful.” I think about Tolkien’s idea of the long defeat, and how we’re in this long battle of good versus evil. We’re slogging through Mordor. I think this is humanity’s biggest project but we’re still making things better. It’s going to be uncomfortable and hard, but it can still be full of purpose and joy.

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They don’t call it lifestyle property for nothing. Anyone who is fortunate enough to live in a beautiful place can expect visitors and a lot of houseguests. I know because I live in a mountain town.

When I was younger and living in a shared house in Aspen, I rashly, widely urged friends to visit, to crash in sleeping bags. But then there were more and more. Someone who supposedly knew my brother from college called and asked if she and her brother could stay a few days. (It’s always “a few.”) One of my housemates had a romance with a visiting British guy, who came back the next winter with two of his friends. By then she’d met someone new, and so she left the three Brits sleeping in our living room for days, until I was elected to tell them to decamp.

In those days of land lines, one time when I came back from work, a visiting friend said, “I called Russia.”

“You 
 what?”

“I had to call Russia. You can tell me when you get the bill.”

Of course, I’ve stayed in many a friend’s house, and I love having people for dinner and to visit. But early on in Aspen, my housemates and I realized we had to manage the situation. I started warning people ahead to say I would be working and couldn’t ski with them every day, nor go out every night. Guests who are on vacation and locals who are not are fundamentally at cross purposes.

Eventually I got married, moved 30 miles down valley to Carbondale, entered many years of kids and schools, and had visitors, but not the same sort of volume. Lately, though, they are surging anew.

Friends are taking early retirement. Some are self-employed or have reduced their hours, and some are working “very part time.” And there are always teachers with summers off, or just people on breaks: lighthearted, blithe.

Recently a friend said he was coming to town and asked to stay. My husband and I said sure. “I’ll get there Monday or Tuesday,” the next text said. He arrived Sunday morning: “Oh, I thought it was Monday.”

Friends pass through on long road trips, with loaded roof racks and bike racks. People I haven’t seen in years write, “How are you?” and I know what that means. People ask all the time if I can take time off or do things on weekdays. But I work full-time, and in the last month we’ve had six sets of visitors. I wanted to see every one of them (and insisted on hosting some for certain events), but PTO is finite.

The other change is this: now I work at home. The pandemic. A friend who also works at home recently told her nephew sorry, no, he and his wife couldn’t come stay on a Tuesday through Thursday. Her old guest room is now her office, which she must use to work. It’s always easier to have friends on a weekend, but visitors forget, because they’re on vacation.

So, a few suggested tenets for visiting friends in mountain towns and other beautiful places.

1. Ask your hosts well ahead of time if a date works, and offer an easy option to decline. I.e.: “We can also camp, so no worries if you have too much going on.” A dear friend came through last week, knew we had our son and his girlfriend here in addition to two people in a van in the driveway, and mercifully said, “Can you come meet us for dinner one night?”

2. It helps to keep your stay to three nights, per the old saying about fish. (An exception is family, especially our now grown kids 
 er, and all their friends.)

3. No one was ever anything but pleased with a thoughtful house gift. Anything’ll do. And/or bring food! A cooler is good, too, so you can bring more!

4. Offer to contribute to meals and cover at least one dinner, whether it’s cooked in your host’s house—that’s fine! that’s heaven!—or at a restaurant.

5. Please put your dishes in the dishwasher. They can’t make it there from the counter on their own.

6. On leaving, put sheets and towels in the laundry room, and clean up the bathroom a little.

7. Aim to visit on weekends. At the end of “Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen,” Baz Luhrmann says, “Trust me about the sunscreen.” Trust me about the weekends. Midweek is tricky when people work.

8. Help me out. I work a lot. I prefer people not bang on my office door shouting, “Time to stop!” Or chide, “You’re not working again, are you?” or ask, “When are you going to retire?” I like my job, and I’d like to keep it.

Last, I practice what my brother and his husband—who hosted me and everybody else under the sun while they were in the State Department in embassy housing overseas—always called benign neglect. Make your own plans, come and go as you like. I’m glad to see you and will join in if I can, but mostly give you a hug and a house key.

Alison Osius, a senior editor at șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű, lives in Carbondale, in Western Colorado. Having stayed with her brother and his family in Indonesia and Vietnam, she hopes they will take her up on visiting her to ski in Colorado next spring break. She’d hit the slopes with them on the weekend.

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I want to live and work in a mountain town this summer, but finding affordable housing is proving to be near impossible. Can you give me any tips or direction so I can turn this dream into reality? —A Frustrated Flatlander

“I came for the winter and stayed for the summer” is a common mountain-town refrain. That sentiment, combined with a pandemic-fueled real estate boom, has resulted in a dearth of affordable housing, both seasonal and permanent, in mountain towns across America.

In many small western communities like Steamboat Springs, Durango, and Snowmass, Colorado; Sun Valley, Idaho; and Mammoth Lakes, California, it used to be that employees and locals lived in houses, and tourists stayed in hotels. The reverse is now true: houses are monopolized by Airbnb and VRBO rentals and second homeowners, and some hotels are being purchased by ski resorts and converted to affordable employee housing.

Sadly, more and more essential jobs are going unfilled, some with six-figure salaries, because potential employees can’t find reasonably-priced rentals. As a result, many mountain towns are shifting their focus to year-round, affordable-housing programs. In Wyoming, for example, Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area helps to fill critical nursing and teaching positions by building homes for individuals and families making between 30 to 80 percent of the area’s median income.

What does this mean for seasonal workers? Here’s my advice for finding affordable summer housing in a mountain town.

Find Towns Working on Their Housing Shortages

Whitefish, Montana, the gateway to Glacier National Park, is one such place. Its , which supports full-time and seasonal employees, is funded in part by a added to local lodging, food, and transportation. Half of the contributions from its participants go to Housing Whitefish, a nonprofit that facilitates affordable housing.

Part of last year’s $52,000 allocation went toward a newly launched rental-assistance program, modeled after a similar one in . Over 12 months, Housing Whitefish will distribute a total of $64,620—or $5,385 a month—to 17 qualified applicants. (The money goes directly to the property owner or management company.)

The , which advocates for better options in the North Tahoe and Truckee, California communities, aims to add inventory for the local workforce through its recently launched Accessory Dwelling Unit pilot program. Homeowners are incentivized to add rental space that includes a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, and in return they receive assistance with building, permitting, and leasing processes.

Although the organization can’t help you find housing, it does direct prospective renters to resources through the .

In 2022, Breckenridge, Colorado, allocated $50 million to a five-year workforce housing plan to create some 1,000 new units. The town’s housing fund also receives money from a short-term rental fee requiring owners to pay a set amount for each bedroom they rent. The goal is for nearly half of the town’s workforce to live in Breckenridge, with a little over a third of the housing inventory reserved for locals.

In 2016, Aspen Skiing Co., the town’s largest employer, purchased six 280-square-foot tiny homes for about $100,000 each and put them in the Aspen-Basalt Campground for both summer and winter seasonal employees. The project was such a success that it now offers 69 tiny homes for hires, and for the first time this year has introduced units designed to accommodate year-round employees. Units range from $550 to $750 a month, and summer leases are available from May 15 through October 31. The units currently have a waitlist for Aspen Skiing Company employees.

Employers in Sun Valley, including the Limelight Ketchum hotel, have also purchased tiny homes in the Meadows RV Park, 3.5 miles away, to rent to employees. Many of these programs run on an application system and most take enrollment for summer employees in March.

Land a Job Before You Head Out

Many large employers, notably ski resorts such as Aspen Snowmass, , and , Colorado, or , Vermont, offer housing or make an effort to help you find housing after you’ve been hired. Sun Valley Resort, for example, has two dorm-style buildings with free laundry and fitness centers available for seasonal employees on a waitlist basis. Two-to-four-person accommodations range from $140 to $210 per person every two weeks. There’s also an option to pay day-to-day, starting at $10 a day.

Beyond ski resorts, places like offer town employees short-term seasonal rentals, for jobs at businesses like the recreation center or golf course, as well as rental-deposit-assistance programs.

Betsy Crum, housing director for the town of Snowmass Village, notes that winter housing is typically full, while there’s sometimes more housing available for summer workers.

Montana’s Big Sky Housing Trust has housing for up to 100 seasonal residents in four- and five-bedroom dorm-style configurations. These units are leased to local independent employers. Lone Mountain Land Company, another major employer in Big Sky, offers dorm-style housing for up to 400 seasonal residents employed by their entities.

Check Out These Helpful Housing Websites and Social Media Sites

Due to the huge demand for housing, many landlords avoid popular rental-listing sites Craigslist and Zillow. One resident seeking a new tenant for housing she has in Carbondale, Colorado, 30 miles from Aspen, didn’t publicly post a listing because she knew she’d be overwhelmed with calls. Instead, she put the word out quietly to friends and looked at posts from people in need of housing on a local Facebook group, .

In fact, local Facebook community groups or neighborhood-focused sites like often have rental listings you won’t find on larger, public sites like Craigslist. is a free site where you can find a roommate or a room available to rent within a house.

When posting that you’re seeking housing, be clear about your employment situation, desired rental dates, and budget. Younger people should present themselves as a mature, responsible option, preferably coming in with a job already secured. (For example: “Hello, I’m coming here to work for the Solar Institute and need a place to stay from mid-June through July that’s less than $600 a month.”)

You might find success on , a housing marketplace for vacation towns that pays property owners to convert their homes to short- and long-term rentals for the local workforce. Mountain destinations include Woodstock, Vermont; Truckee and South Lake Tahoe, California; Wood River Valley, Idaho; East Placer County, California; and Eagle County, Colorado.

Finally, is a membership-based platform (starting at $10.75 a month) where you can find house-sitting or pet-sitting gigs.

Consider 5 More Resources

1. Look at a Town’s Website

Many communities offer housing programs or partner with local nonprofits or housing authorities, like the , to administer programs. “It’s always worth a call to any city’s housing development and housing authority to see if they have resources,” says Daniel Sidder, executive director of Housing Whitefish.

2. Embrace Camping or Vanlife

In Colorado, and have options for free car camping for a season. You can shower at local rec centers.

3.ÌęCruise the Town

Some good old-fashioned neighborhood drive-bys to spot “For Rent” signs posted outside of apartments, on community boards at grocery stores, or in coffee shops can lead to deals, too.

4. Talk to Locals

Lindsay Nohl, 46, enjoyed free communal housing in Tucson, Arizona, while working as the director of NOLS Southwest. But when the campus closed during Covid, she moved to Teton Valley, Idaho. Recently, she made her eighth move in four years, as landlords continue to increase prices or start to rent their properties on Airbnb.

Her go-to strategy for finding cheap housing on the fly? Word of mouth. Another lesson: be flexible. Even though Nohl hasn’t had a roommate in two decades, she’s now paying $1,000 a month to share a two-bedroom, 800-square-foot house so she can remain in Teton Valley for the summer.

5.ÌęScan Newspaper Classifieds

You might come across opportunities to pet-sit or nanny. Or working as a property manager can also lead to free or affordable housing.

Weigh Your Options

The last thing you should consider, Flatlander, is which mountain towns are too pricey or too popular. For example, Steamboat, Aspen, and Telluride, Colorado, as well as Jackson, Wyoming, and Big Sky, Montana, have reputations as luxury vacation escapes, which means housing is in high demand and the cost of living will be greater there than in lesser-known but more economical mountain towns like Le Grande, Oregon, and Reno, Nevada. Or even Laramie, Wyoming, which has a lot going for it.

Many seasonal jobs pay minimum wage, which varies from state to state. In Utah and Wyoming, for example, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, while Montana pays $10.30 an hour, Colorado $14.42 an hour, and California $16 an hour.

You should also consider free services offered by the mountain town you’re considering. Aspen is expensive, but it offers free public transportation, which is another way to help save on costs.

Spending a summer working in a mountain town can be one of the best experiences of a young person’s life. I hope my advice lands you good, affordable housing. I’ll be pulling for you.

Travel-advice columnist Jen Murphy has scored affordable rent by offering free travel tips to her landlord, as well as volunteering to take out the building’s trash cans on garbage day and maintain the gardens. 

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My Great Awakening

The powder snow of Japan is so light, so iconic, it has a name: Japow. Born of cold Siberian air streaming over relatively warm ocean water toward Hokkaido, Japow has inspired face-shot aficionados to fly halfway around the world for it. I have been to Niseko and, like the airborne snow crystals sent into a frenzy with every turn, was blown away. Last January, a friend skiing there told me about an offering that reserves the first hour of that incredible snow for VIP customers. I couldn’t believe my ears, so I looked it up.

The travel website Japan Snowtrip Tips says: “Trust us, it never felt so good to have a line of shocked powder junkies collectively stare-a-hole right through us as we came cruising back to the lift covered in blower pow from empty early morning Hanazono slopes, only to slide right past them, hop on the chairlift and do it all over again (three times) before anyone else could access the goods.”

The subject was Niseko Hanazono Resort’s first-tracks powder-skiing program, an add-on to its guided backcountry and sidecountry tours. The cost? About $750 lets your group of four chew up fresh powder for an hour before the lifts open, followed by another six hours of guided skiing. I pictured myself as the seething sucker waiting in the lift line.

Two things in skiing are sacrosanct: cherishing powder and honoring the commitment of the ski-bum (snowboarders included) lifestyle. The first because powder is rare and sublime. The second because all true devotees are ski bums or ski bums at heart. This program was an affront to both.

I knew my hometown area, Aspen Mountain, had a program that had started informally nearly 40 years ago when ski instructors let clients tag along before the lifts opened to practice their skills for certification tests. About 20 years ago, I participated in another version at Aspen, free for anyone who wanted to ride the lifts early. During the 2020-2021 season, the program became an exclusive pre-lift-opening powder and fresh-corduroy experience. I thought the program was an “only in Aspen” thing. The Niseko news made me furious—and curious.

On a powder day in early 2023, I arrived at the Aspen Mountain gondola early enough to be among the first dozen in the lift line. As our gondi bucket rose above Copper Bowl, I looked intently down to see it almost completely skied out already. The joyful anticipation ebbed into gloom. Aspen Mountain’s pay-extra-for-powder group, which can be up to 180 people, had already had 45 minutes to ski Copper.

I grew up when those in the know who had a great desire to ski powder rose early and raced to the lifts to be first in line. Powder days have always been a heady reward for hearty devotion. With this new approach, though, something significant is being taken from the regular skier and rider.

Why does this matter? As with any love affair, the explanation is complex. It matters because the sport, already expensive and out of reach for many, is becoming increasingly so, and now, with most of these programs, wealthier people have first dibs on one of its greatest joys. Many skiers are unaware of the proliferation of these first-access add-ons, but some in the know aren’t happy about the concept, and a few have even made pleas to a U.S. senator to halt a similarly conceived program called fast tracks, whereby skiers can cut lines during normal lift hours.

The preferential powder forays are expanding. Recently, Aspen Skiing Company announced it will now offer pre-opening guided powder tours through its AspenX luxury brand for groups of up to ten on the locally hallowed ground of Highland Bowl, at Aspen Highlands. The AspenX website notes the tour as $2,500 per person (four-person minimum) with a gourmet breakfast included. The experience is currently offered only on Wednesdays and Fridays and is not available on peak-season dates.

Jeff Hanle, Aspen Skiing Company V.P. of Communications and a passionate skier, told me in an email that the skiing business is fun but challenging. “Running ski areas is an expensive and capital-intensive undertaking, so we look for opportunities where you can test new programs and diversify our business to offset headwinds,” he said. When I asked how he would feel about these programs as a 25-year-old powder hound, he said, “Building these potential ancillary offerings for customers does almost nothing to change the experience of the customers who don’t sign up for them.”

Others feel differently. Mikey Wechsler, a legendary Aspen local who skis 160 to 170 days per year (he says he has only missed four skiing days over the last 20 seasons), told me, “I’m pissed! Isn’t skiing elitist enough already? Bottom line is, some things should be earned. You want first tracks? Get up early and be first in line!”

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A Colorado mountain town is reeling after a local amusement park became the target of an apparent armed attack.

On Saturday, October 28, authorities in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, of a man at the Glenwood Caverns șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Park, a local theme park located on a mountaintop above town. According to cops, the man was armed with semi-automatic rifles and handguns, plus multiple loaded magazines—he was carrying improvised explosive devices. The man was also clad in body armor that appeared to resemble law-enforcement garb and a ballistic helmet.

“He was dressed in black colored tactical clothing, bearing patches and emblems that gave the appearance of being associated with law enforcement,” the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday.

Sherrifs identified the body as Diego Barajas Medina, 20, a resident of the town of Carbondale, which is located 15 miles south. The Garfield County Coroner reported Medina was found with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Park officials discovered Medina’s body in a women’s bathroom before the park opened for the day.

The Aspen Times that Medina’s body was found next to writing on the wall, which read, “I am not a killer, I just wanted to get into the caves.” Along with rides, Glenwood Caverns also hosts features cave tours. The park is home to the state’s largest show cave—a cavern that is open to public visits.

Authorities have not said whether or not they believe Medina intended to harm park visitors with his weapons. But the grisly discovery comes just days after a 40-year-old man killed 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. And, just last week, police in Idaho thwarted a man’s plan to shoot multiple rock climbers at a climbing festival.

The Glenwood Caverns șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Park is the only amusement park in the U.S. that is only reached by gondola. Due to the remote nature of the adventure park, Grand County Sheriff Vallario said that it would have been extremely difficult to respond to an emergency if Medina had created a worse-case scenario.

“He could have done a tremendous amount of damage. You have to take a gondola ride up there. And you’re on the top of a mountain, there’s a lot of people, it’s hilly, its terrain,” Vallario said. “If he had gone through with the worst case scenario, it could have been devastating.”

Sheriff Vallario stated during a press conference that the guns Medina carried were unlicensed ghost guns—they were assembled from a kit and not purchased from a licensed outfitter. Among his arsenal was an AR-style rifle.

“While this investigation is still ongoing and very active it is important to realize that given the amount of weaponry, ammunition, and explosive devices found, the suspect could have implemented an attack of devastating proportions upon our community and first responders,” a news release from the Sheriff’s Office stated.

Park officials believe Medina snuck into the park after hours; they think he arrived via a service road.

Authorities said the Federal Bureau of Investigation will examine Medina’s social media and phone records to determine a motive behind his actions. Glenwood Caverns șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű park will remain closed as the sheriff’s investigation continues.

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Sad news out of Aspen this weekend, as the Crown family patriarch James Crown was killed in a crash at in nearby Woody Creek on Sunday, June 25. The part-time Aspen resident hit an impact barrier at the member-owned track that races go-karts and race cars. Which type of vehicle he was operating at the time hasn’t been shared. He was 70 years old.

Crown, who was on the board that operates the ,  a think tank that aims to solve complex societal issues, was in town for the Institute’s annual . “The Aspen Institute is deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and former Board Chair Jim Crown,” the Institute shared on its website. “We love and admire Jim and the Crown Family. Jim was a friend to so many and a consequential member of our Board of Trustees.”

Crown, who was currently serving as a managing partner at Aspen Skiing Company, was involved with the ski area since his family purchased half of it in 1985, then the other half in 1993. Despite his many other responsibilities, including chairman and chief executive officer of securities firm Henry Crown and Co., lead director of General Dynamics Corp., and director of JPMorgan Chase, Crown remained rooted in the ski industry. after a big renovation and was involved in the hiring of several executives after former Ski Co. CEO Mike Kaplan stepped down at the end of the season.

șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű of the ski industry, Crown, who spent most of his time in Chicago, was dedicated to cleaning up his home city. Just earlier this month, Crown announced an initiative with the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a nonprofit on which he was a member,  to raise money to reduce crime in the city.

Crown is survived by his wife of 38 years, Paula, four children, two grandchildren, and his parents.

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Summer is on. And this is the summer to beat all summers, as millions of American travelers attested over Memorial Day weekend, taking to the roads and skies to kick off the season in record numbers. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű staffers have plenty of their own exciting getaways planned, including hiking from mountain town to mountain town in Colorado, pedaling and cork-popping in Provence, road-tripping to visit wolves and see iconic high-desert scenery in the American Southwest, and more. You, too, can go big.

Reveling in Rocky Mountain Highs and Pies

I take full advantage of my birthday each year by forcing my friends—a group not quite as adventurous as me—to come along for activities they’d usually roll their eyes at. This year we’re hiking in Colorado from Aspen to Crested Butte, an 11-mile day trip over 12,500-foot , with some 3,000 feet of elevation gain. (My friends must truly love me.) We’ve tapped one friend, who I couldn’t convince to trek with us, to drop the rest of us off and pick us up, though that service is also offered locally by Dolly’s Mountain Shuttle and Alpine Express. While I’m most looking forward to gorgeous lakes, vibrant wildflowers, and expansive views of the Elk Range, my pals are excited to spend a night in the towns on each end. We’ll be fueling up on caffeine and pastries at Local Coffee House in Aspen on the front end and celebrating our accomplishment with pizza and beer at Secret Stash, my favorite spot in Crested Butte. The decor feels like an Indian restaurant and a Red Robin collided, with a distinctly ski-town vibe, and the weird and wonderful pizzas are to die for. —Mikaela Ruland, associate content director at National Park Trips

Recreating on the Jersey Shore

I’ll always be a defender of the Jersey Shore, particularly Stone Harbor, located on Seven Mile Island. This East Coast beach town is home to tons of wildlife, soft sand, and the best seafood. It’s the perfect spot for large families to gather. I’m looking forward to my seaside runs and bike rides along the path that extends the entirety of the island. It’s also fun to kayak the marsh along the bay side or head just over Gull Island Thorofare Bridge to check out the Wetlands Institute. When you’re looking for a respite from the bustle, stroll down Second Avenue to the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. I’ve never considered myself much of a birder, yet I always love walking the sanctuary’s trails. A mile north is Springer’s, which makes the best homemade ice cream in the world. On summer nights, the line for a cone can wrap around the block. Other can’t-miss establishments include Quahog’s Seafood Shack and Bar for dinner, and Coffee Talk for your morning caffeine fix (it’s the famed establishment where Taylor Swift once performed acoustic shows). —Ellen O’Brien, digital editor

Wheeling About Provence

At some point in planning this summer’s adventure, I recalled a favorite saying from Oscar Wilde: “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” How true. Every morning I open to peruse the latest highlights from the European cycling scene, and most evenings I consult The New York Times’ cooking section for an interesting recipe. Blend those reading habits, add a dash of Francophilia, and—voilà—I find myself heading to Provence. For cool temperatures, zero crowds, and the glorious light of autumn in the Luberon Valley, my wife and I will spend a week exploring back roads and high peaks by bike in the department of Vaucluse. Each morning we’ll stock up at a local patisserie before rolling out of the tiny medieval town of Venasque, whose untouched Gallo-Roman architecture and clifftop views earned it the designation of one of the 126 most beautiful villages in France. We’ll pedal until hunger or a vineyard beckon, with an ascent of Mont Ventoux (an iconic Tour de France climb) as the week’s big goal. Come evening we’ll meander alongwinding country roads in search of a quiet bistro, perhaps in another village, like Carpentras or Roussillon, for a Provençal feast of bouillabaisse or black truffle omelet, paired with a bottle of the rosĂ© for which this region is famous. For dessert we’ll hope for a slice of clafoutis, a traditional flan-like tart loaded with plump apricots or black cherries sourced from a nearby orchard. All of which merits another maxim, this one from the legendary 19th-century gourmand Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es,” he said, which translates to “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” Would it come as any surprise that Brillat-Savarin was French, born just a few hours up the RhĂŽne River from Venasque? —Jonathan Dorn, senior vice president of strategy and studios

Rafting Down the Rogue

Every summer my family and I go on vacation where I grew up, on the southern coast of Oregon. Gold Beach, a town of some 2,000 people, is nestled between timber-covered mountains and the mighty Pacific, with the mouth of the Rogue River serving as its northern edge. As an outdoorsman, I’ve always loved going back, but I appreciate it more and more each time I return. There are three amazing ways to experience the Rogue. One is rafting the 32.4-mile Wild Rogue section of Class III–IV rapids, a trip that can be tackled in three or four days; it requires a hard-to-get permit or a guide setup, but you’ll never forget floating through this remote section of canyon. The second way to see it is with , a jet-boat operator whose charming staff grew up in the area and are super knowledgeable about the flora and fauna you’re likely to see, including river otters, black bears, bald eagles, and ospreys. If you have the time, take the company’s Wilderness Whitewater Tour, which stops at Cougar Lane Lodge, famous for its BBQ. The third option, if the bite is on, is to go Chinook salmon fishing in the mouth of the river, preferably with local legend and guide Helen Burns. If you’re staying in town and want to be close to the beach and amenities, book the Beach Pea Suite at the new —it has a glorious soaking tub. Good eats are plentiful in the area, and some of my favorite places are the Barnacle Bistro, Tu Tu Tun Lodge, and the award-winning Redfish Restaurant in Port Orford. For beer, you can’t go wrong with anything from Arch Rock Brewing Company, but the Pistol River Pale is outstanding. You also shouldn’t miss the short hike down Cape Sebastian: It starts from an overlook about 800 feet above the ocean, giving you views for miles in any direction; from there you’ll descend just shy of two miles through Sitka spruce, salmonberry bushes, and ferns to the beach, where waves break powerfully against sandstone cliffs, even during the summer. Check out the tide pools before the climb back out. And finally, if you have kids, don’t miss Prehistoric Gardens in Port Orford, where 23 life-size dinosaur replicas are hidden in the old-growth forest. The quiet and solitude of this moss-covered grove is spectacular. —Will Taylor, group gear director

Roaming Around Historic Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, is where I come from and where I return every year. For one thing, they have flowers—bursting tulip magnolias in rows, and lilacs—in spring when scraps of snow still cover my hillside in Colorado, and now the hydrangeas, snapdragons, magnolias, and peonies should be out, with the locust blooms just finishing. In my friend Molly’s family, the locust blooms are a sign that soft crabs are running. The best time to go is summer, because there are so many things to do. We kids grew up swimming, sailing, windsurfing, and water-skiing. We went crabbing in dinghies with trotlines or by roaming around docks and pilings with crab nets in hand. The historic town (Annapolis was the nation’s capital from 1783 to 1784) is built around two brick-paved circles; the State House, where the Maryland legislature meets, and St. Anne’s Church are set in, respectively, State Circle and Church Circle, to symbolize separation of church and state. Near both is the harbor, where the oyster boats used to dock, and the Market House, housing many concessions, where my siblings and I worked. (I scooped ice cream, gaining a mean right arm.) You can buy crab cakes, oysters, soups, cheese, and fruit there, and walk across the street to a statue of Alex Haley, the author of Roots, reading a book to children; it commemorates the shameful fact that his forebear Kunte Kinte was sold here at the City Dock. You might also visit St. John’s College (established in 1696) and the adjacent Naval Academy. Don’t miss the clam chowder at Middleton’s CafĂ© (which dates back to 1750) or the fun scene at McGarvey’s, a tavern where my grown sons now go get beers. On a beautiful day, hike (it is intermittently closed, but you can still walk around the area), looking out at the Chesapeake and the four-mile Bay Bridge, or take the loop trail in Quiet Waters Park on the South River. —Alison Osius, senior editor

Off-Roading in Iceland

My husband and I are beyond stoked: we’re headed to Ireland and Iceland for a two-week adventure. He hasn’t been to Ireland, but I lived there as a kid, so I’ve got that country dialed. It’ll be a whirlwind coastal tour, with a climb up Croagh Patrick, near my old cottage on the west coast. Iceland, however, remains untapped for us both. We love a thermal-springs soak after hard hikes and trail runs, and prefer to dodge crowds and drive less, so this smallish outdoor mecca was a no-brainer addition. We’ll play it fast and loose, but here’s how I think our trip will go down: After we fly into ReykjavĂ­k, the capital, we’ll pick up our rented Dacia Duster 4X4 camper van with a rooftop tent ($900 for five days, it’s tricked out with sleeping and cooking essentials and a hot spot for GPS; for more information, visit ). We’ll hit the BĂłnus grocery store—it’s the cheapest option on the pricey island, according to a seasoned buddy—to stock up on supplies, and then we’ll head northeast on the Ring Road, a.k.a. Route 1, to the fjords, vales, and 4,000-foot summits of the Tröllaskagi Peninsula. Along the way, we’ll take offshoot F-roads (F for ŽÚÂáĂ€±ô±ô, which means “mountain” in Icelandic), summer-only gravel tracks restricted to four-wheel-drive vehicles. By crisscrossing over central peaks, we’ll access remote terrain rich with waterfalls, lava fields, alpine valleys, and camping spots that most of Iceland’s seven million annual tourists don’t explore. We’ll circle back south to scrub away our dirt and sweat at the geothermal Blue Lagoon ($64 for day tickets) before departing. All told, it’ll be an unscripted, abbreviated blast, and I consider this a reconnaissance mission for next time. —Patty Hodapp, interim digital director

Road-Tripping Through the Native Southwest

This summer I’m focusing on road trips, and luckily I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a good place to launch from. I’ve been so dismayed by recent delays and cancellations from plane travel that I don’t feel like spending any more time than I have to in airports. Which is fine, because I’ve had a Southwest bucket list that I’m excited to finally make a dent in. Near the top of my list is a guided tour of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in western New Mexico, near El Morro National Monument. The sanctuary takes in both wild and domesticated wolves and protects them for the rest of their lives. Rumor has it that author George R.R. Martin, also a Santa Fe resident, has supported the sanctuary, and some of the wolves are named after his Game of Thrones characters. From there I plan to head west to visit some important Native sites. I want to go to Canyon de Chelly, in northeastern Arizona, and take a Navajo-led horseback tour. Canyon de Chelly, often called a mini Grand Canyon, is part of the Navajo Nation. Evidence of human occupation there dates back 4,000 years. It’s also the tragic spot where Kit Carson forced out the Navajo in 1863. Then I’m going to head to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, on the Utah border. Also a part of the Navajo Nation, this stunning landscape and its spectacular sandstone buttes show up on my Instagram feed every so often, and I want to learn about the history on a Navajo-guided tour and experience the awe and grandeur. —Mary Turner, deputy editor and travel director

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In Aspen, Colorado, and other alpine communities, the future depends on making sure the weirdos and oddballs are still welcome. That’s what gets concerned locals the most animated: any suggestion that their neighborhoods are becoming exclusive playgrounds for the rich, forcing out the gonzo characters that help make them so special. What’s needed, according to planning experts and many longtime residents, are smarter growth strategies that include affordable housing, increased transportation options, and forward-thinking management of public lands. For this episode, we take a walk around Aspen and ask what it’ll take to get such things done.

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While Aspen itself isn’t very big, per capita there’s about one restaurant for every 10 residents. That means answering the inevitable question of “where to eat” can be overwhelming. Our shortcut guide will save you time (better to focus your energy on the slopes anyway) and deliver a bevy of good eats no matter what you’re craving. P.S. Reservations are pretty much a must in this town.

DINNER

In recent years, it’s gotten more and more difficult to find a reasonably priced meal in Aspen proper. Amid the glut of uber-fancy restaurants, what are the standouts and what about the everyman and everywoman?

During the pandemic, chef-owner C. Barclay Dodge transitioned Bosq’s Spanish-inspired à la carte format into a four-, five-, and seven-course chef’s tasting menu. The carefully curated multi-course experience is the best way to shine a light on Dodge’s immense talent and true dedication to the very best (and often local) ingredients. If you can nab a table here, you won’t leave disappointed.

Don’t miss: Chef Dodge has a way with duck and several cuts often make their way onto the menu. If you have to choose just one for your tasting, make it the duck liver mousse with buckwheat crisps.

For those nights when you’re looking for a place to disappear, Ellina is queen. The grotto-esque space creates the perfect cozy hideout, especially because the menu is as sun-drenched as the Italian countryside. Seek owner and sommelier Jill Carnevale’s expertise and you won’t leave hungry or thirsty. Plus, locals know that Ellina offers one of the best (and last) good bar menus.

Don’t miss: You can make a meal out of the braised artichoke with lemon-thyme aioli, one of the housemade pastas, and a glass of GĂ©rard Boulay Sancerre-Chavignol from the Loire Valley.

If you’re willing to leave Aspen’s core, make your way to Mawa’s Kitchen where James Beard-nominated chef Mawa McQueen envelopes you with her warmth and hospitality. McQueen works her magic breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it’s at dinner that her African heritage shines with dishes like yucca gnocchi, merguez sausage, fonio fried rice, and West African gumbo dot the menu. There’s a lot of French influence in McQueen’s cooking and sitting at her table is both a global and delicious journey.

Don’t miss: Also visit Mawa’s for breakfast. If you’re in a hurry, choose a slice of banana bread with maple butter, or the Parisienne omelet with Boursin and farm greens if you’re not.

There’s something about Italian food that invites the party—and that’s Campo through and through. The food (rich pastas, tender risottos, long-roasted meats) and extensive wine list never disappoint, and neither does the cacophony of energy swirling through the place.

Don’t miss: Never skip past the tricolore salad. This deliciously bitter combo of dressed arugula, radicchio, and Belgian endive is finished with shaved Grana Padano.

While most tourists flock to (the very good) Matsuhisa, those in the know make their way to Keniche. The sushi staple has been going strong since 1991, and recently opened an outpost in Snowmass and an izakaya in Carbondale. It feels extra special to dine in the glossy original (cue the mood lighting) and even better if you can secure a seat at the sushi bar.

Don’t miss: You’d be remiss not to order the signature yellowtail sashimi with basil yuzu soy and just a blush of truffle oil.

With locations in Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge, Aurum gets the ski town vibe—and understands what hungry skiers want after (or during) a day on the slopes. When the restaurant opened in Snowmass last winter, it debuted with an all-day menu that’s an elevated catchall: French onion burger, Korean fried chicken, honey-glazed shrimp, vegan tomato soup, and more. Plus, the bar shakes and stirs a mean cocktail.

Don’t miss: You’ll be fighting to the last crumb when you order warm chocolate-chip cookies with milk jam, cookie dough (yes!), and whipped cream.

If you’ve got kids in tow, ”ț°ùłÜČÔ±đ±ô±ô±đČőłŠłóŸ±â€™s should be at the very top of your list. The family-friendly spot is right downtown and has a menu of DIY items that’ll please even the pickiest eater. The make-your-own pizza, pasta, or mac and cheese options are kid magnets, meanwhile, the adults can order glasses of wine and share a hefty wedge of lasagna.

Don’t miss: The roasted veggie panini is often overlooked at dinner but it shouldn’t be.

LUNCH

The mid-day meal can be a condo sandwich, but wouldn’t you rather go out and explore?

Meat & Cheese’s come-as-you-are vibe is all about being a gathering place. The dishes are thoughtful and farm-inspired spins on dishes like biscuits with shaved ham, rotisserie chicken with roasted potatoes, and most definitely the best salads in town. You can dine for lunch or dinner, but the camaraderie of the place during the day will draw you in.

Don’t miss: Pop into the farm shop for a selection of specialty items such as cheese, honey, and artisan bread. Take an armful back to the condo for gourmet snacks at the ready.

This beloved lunch spot is so well known it doesn’t need a website or an active Facebook page. It started with wraps—and huge ones at that—but over the years has expanded its menu to include salads, tacos, breakfast burritos, soups, and smoothies. Unless you are borderline starving, two of you can share one $10 wrap.

Don’t miss: The To Thai For wrap with grilled chicken (or tofu), peanut sauce, rice, black beans, and confetti slaw in a chile tortilla. The beans might sound weird in the mix but leave ‘em in there.

This vegetarian and organic food and juice bar feels oh so L.A., oh so NYC, oh so
Aspen. While in truth Spring Cafe recently opened a New York location, the restaurant began in Aspen and was a hit from the get-go. Fresh salads make up a hunk of mid-day lunch menu but there’s also a healthy spin on many of your favorite lunch items: avocado tempeh reuben, sweet potato-white bean burger, nachos with cashew cheese, even spinach-mushroom enchiladas.

Don’t miss: The chickpea tuna pita sandwich, which comes jammed with all kinds of veggies.

Bear Den’s all-day menu means you can lap up a spirulina smoothie bowl, tuck into eggs Benedict with house challah, or bite into a Wagyu burger anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The space is as cute as can be so only dine when you’ve got time to sink into the experience.

Don’t miss: Add smoked feta to the Green Pearl salad—French lentils, arugula, roasted beets, red onion, fresh herbs, and walnuts—and your day is made.

It’s been fancied up a bit since Hunter S. Thompson used to hang out at the bar (let’s just say ceviche wasn’t on the original menu), but the Tavern is still an Aspen valley treasure. Go for the burgers, the margaritas, and the onion rings.

Don’t miss: The polaroids, the bumper stickers, the “Thompson for Sheriff” poster are a piece of old Aspen—take a gander.

ON MOUNTAIN

Between the four mountains, there are a number of dining options. These are the best.

 (Located on Aspen Mountain, at mid-mountain.)

The word is out on this local’s secret, and although we hate to further increase the deluge that already descends upon ”țŽÇČÔČÔŸ±±đ’s every morning, the pancakes are that good. To be clear, these are oatmeal pancakes the size of dinner plates and they go down perfectly with a mimosa ordered from the tiny bar.

Don’t miss: If you get there so much as one minute past 10:45 a.m., you’re out of luck. Moral of the story: Don’t be late.

 (Located at the base of Aspen Mountain.)

There’s a lot of lore behind truffle fries’ origins but surely, surely, Ajax Tavern was on the front end of the indulgent fry trend. The truth is, the fries pretty much put Ajax Tavern on the map—that and the fact that the restaurant sits at the base of Aspen Mountain and becomes a daily collection point for the see-and-be-seen crowd.

Don’t miss: Obviously the truffle fries, along with the mussels.

 (Located at the base of Buttermilk.)

Although not technically an on-mountain restaurant, Home Team sits just steps from Buttermilk’s base (you can see it from the Summit Express lift line) and it’s worth your while. The menu is deep with pulled pork, brisket, smoked turkey, ribs, and all the barbecue fixings. Even the salads get special treatment here.

Don’t miss: The tots, with harissa mayo and rosemary, are a revelation.

 (Located on Snowmass at the top of the Village Express lift.)

Plain and simple: If we didn’t know how to ski, we would learn just to dine at ł§ČčłŸâ€™s. The restaurant sits like a snow globe at the top of ł§ČčłŸâ€™s Knob with unobstructed views of the Elk Mountains. Enjoy the panorama with slippers on your feet and a Negroni spritz in-hand. The hearty Italian menu (pastas, arancini, eggplant parmesan) will set you right for the rest of the day. The only bummer is putting your ski boots back on post-lunch.

Don’t miss: Share a number of items, like the warm ricotta with honey and the beef tartare, from the top of the menu.

BREAKFAST

Fuel up quickly or take your time—whatever your morning speed, there’s something for you.

Even if you’re in a rush to get to the gondola, there’s always time for Jour de FĂȘte’s takeout window. This family-run staple is the beating heart of Aspen and it’s heavily populated by locals trading good mornings and snow reports. The breakfast burritos and sandwiches are easily wrapped to go but if you’ve got a few minutes, stay a while and order the huevos rancheros or an omelet.

Don’t miss: Go back for lunch and ogle the hot and cold sandwich board. The pan bagnat is a favorite.

When you want something clean and healthy, JUS delivers with the likes of protein balls (try the Snickerdoodle), fresh-pressed juices, and green smoothies. There are also smoothie bowls, sammies, and breakfast quesadillas. The price tag might make you gulp but your energy level will be tip-top.

Don’t miss: The Road Runner (almonds, alkaline water, espresso, honey, and pink Himalayan sea salt) revs you up better than the strongest cup of joe. Buy a Ginger Greens juice (kale, cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, parsley, lemon, and ginger) for later.

Most folks think of Element 47 for dinner (which is magnificent) but we go for breakfast. The polished hospitality makes you feel like royalty, even if you’re just ordering coffee and toast. The menu is small but mighty and well-balanced between sweet and savory.

Don’t miss: We’ve firm believers that the lemon soufflĂ© pancakes are the fluffiest, dreamiest breakfast on the planet.

Whether you’re headed skiing, shopping, or ice skating in Snowmass, the Crepe Shack delivers the right amount of savory and sweet with its lengthy crepe menu. Eat there or take your treat to go in a walkabout cone.

Don’t miss: The High Alpine with prosciutto, potatoes, Gruyere, Swiss, and caramelized onions hits the brunch note just right.

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The death of Bob Braudis, Pitkin County’s six-term elected sheriff from 1985 until 2010, was no shock. He was only 77, but color had drained from his cheeks; he talked more slowly, breathing heavily between words; and he had begun walking with a cane. Bob was a friend, but not a tight friend. We exchanged emails over local columns I wrote, and usually talked at gatherings where we both happened to be. There was no apparent reason for feeling heartbroken, but when I heard the news I sighed deeply and rubbed my eyes to hold back tears. Bob’s memorial service drew hundreds to the Benedict Music Tent on the famous Aspen Institute campus. Nobody has that many close friends. Only those who create widespread connections attract such congregations.

Bob, a long-haired, six-foot-six gentle giant, was the epitome of an Aspen character. Joe DiSalvo, his close friend and successor as sheriff, told me a story that captured Bob’s free, exuberant spirit, from years ago when ESPN was “interviewing Aspen” to see if it was a worthy locale for the X-Games.

“Bob and I went to meet some ESPN suits at Highlands. One of the execs shook Bob’s gigantic hand. The exec asked, ‘Geez, where’d you get those hands?’ Bob replied, ‘They came with my dick.’” Aspen has hosted the ESPN Winter X-Games for two decades running.

The sadness I felt was for certainly, but it was also over the loss of the wacky individualism he took from this world and, more acutely, the town. Bob was the latest on a long list of original Aspen characters now gone, from the truly famous, like John Denver and the gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, to local oddballs like the serial letter-to-the-editor author Pete Luhn, who wrote almost daily, seemingly only to provoke fights with other readers, and lesser-known old-timers today immortalized by eponymous local landmarks. Puppy Smith Street is the namesake of Harold Smith, a career City of Aspen streets-department employee who once remarked to a couple of kids that the puppies they were selling for a dollar each were so ugly they’d have to pay him to take one, at which point they handed over a pup and a buck. No Problem Bridge is named for Joe Candreia, who was known for a front-yard junk collection next to his garden, where he claimed he could grow anything, “no problem.” The ski run called Felip’s Leap on Highland Bowl honors a local waiter, Henry Felip, who drove a 1948 Willy’s Jeep Truck, electing to wear goggles instead of sunglasses, and took all dares to ski any mountain chute or kayak any section of a river, which ultimately resulted in his death on a stretch of whitewater rapids on the Crystal River called Meat Grinder during spring runoff.

Both DiSalvo and his former brother-in-law, Michael Buglione, who were in the midst of a heated sheriff’s election, were at the memorial. While the two rivals appeared to be similar in their commitment to upholding Aspen’s historically progressive and humane approach to illegal drug use—which basically posits that adults can decide for themselves, we have to protect kids, and addicts shouldn’t be put in jail—the election was essentially about convincing voters who was most like Braudis. Also at Bob’s service was Mick Ireland, Aspen’s quixotic one-time-or-another mayor, reporter, county commissioner, attorney, distance runner, city councilperson, cyclist, and columnist. DiSalvo had somehow gotten crosswise with Ireland during the campaign, and the loss of his support was probably what would cost him the close election.

Slumped on my front porch that afternoon waiting out a thunderstorm, I wondered how the Aspen Times journalist Mary Eshbaugh Hayes would have viewed Braudis’s passing. Renowned for her keen observations, Hayes covered Aspen society for 45 years, until her death at 86 in 2015. She wrote about everything without aiming to please anyone. She was an Aspen iconoclast who could distinguish between phonies and free spirits. Hayes could have told me what I really wanted to know: Is anyone coming to replace the characters Aspen is losing?

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