In Town Events
Summer means outdoor markets, music festivals, culinary & arts experiences, and an Aspen original, the Aspen Ideas Festival. If it's happening, it's happening here!
WELCOME TO SUMMER Gain an elevated perspective at Aspen/Snowmass this summer. Your adventure is waiting to happen. Use the links to the left to discover all the exciting activities, dining and cultural experiences that Aspen/Snowmass has to offer in the summer.
Whether you’re keen on bolstering your freeride skills at Bike Snowmass, tackling an epic mountain singletrack, or cruising along the charming streets of Aspen, our little corner of Colorado is ideal for cycling.
You decide. Learn about our sustainability work and philosophy. Then email us with your thoughts.
The Environment Foundation, a collaboration with the Aspen Community Foundation and the Aspen Skiing Company Family Fund, is a nonprofit employee organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the regional environment. One example: we provided a leading grant to the Trust for Public Land to help protect the stunning "High Elk Corridor," pictured at left, which runs from Aspen to Crested Butte and is in danger of being developed. Why does the foundation exist? It's simple. When we're are not working, we're outside - climbing a mountain, hiking a remote wilderness, kayaking a wild stretch of river, boarding an open bowl, or biking a winding single-track. We realize that our natural environment is being impacted. Through the Environment Foundation we are working to protect habitat, ecosystems, and the biodiversity that we depend upon. Established in 1998, the Environment Foundation is structured like no other organization in the country and is a model for how corporate America can give back to the natural resource base from which it derives its profit. The Foundation is governed by a fifteen-member Board of Directors comprised of Aspen Skiing Company employees.
Carmen Barber Grant Barrette Rob Blanchard, Chair Jim Butchart Susan Dampier Justin "Buck" Erickson Kipp Ertl Jade Fiskaa Victor Gerdin Joe Giampaolo Dave Gray Blake Green Samantha Hoffmann, Secretary/Treasurer Matt Jones, Vice Chair Stephen Luck
The foundation is funded through a volunteer payroll deduction plan. Each dollar contributed is matched by the Aspen Community Foundation, Aspen Skiing Company's Family Fund, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Swire Coca-Cola. With employees donating as little as one dollar a week and with a tripling of donations through matching funds, we have donated more than $2,200,000 in sixteen years to hundreds of projects.
In general, the foundation funds projects that provide environmental educational opportunities, seek to reduce the impacts of climate change, foster responsible stewardship of natural resources, protect mountain ecosystems, or preserve and create unique opportunities for outdoor recreation. Projects must be innovative, have measurable results, and there must be a community or regional need. We are most interested in making grants to organization that identify and work on the root causes of problems, with a commitment to long-term change. We look for programs with a provocative direct-action agenda for change and a strategic plan for achieving the organization's goals, buttressed by strong community support.
For a listing of projects we've funded to date, please see the Environment Foundation's Grants List.
If you would like a copy of our Grant-making Guidelines and Selection Criteria, or would like to get involved in the Environment Foundation please e-mail your request to: Matthew Hamilton, Executive Director, Environment Foundation mhamilton@aspensnowmass.com.