Aspen (Colorado)
Aspen | |
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View of Galena Street in the city center |
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Location in Colorado | |
Basic data | |
Foundation : | 1879 |
State : | United States |
State : | Colorado |
County : | Pitkin County |
Coordinates : | 39 ° 12 ′ N , 106 ° 49 ′ W |
Time zone : | Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 ) |
Residents : | 6,658 (as of 2010) |
Population density : | 731.6 inhabitants per km 2 |
Area : | 9.1 km 2 (approx. 4 mi 2 ) |
Height : | 2405 m |
Postcodes : | 81611, 81612 |
Area code : | +1 970 |
FIPS : | 08-03620 |
GNIS ID : | 0204686 |
Website : | www.aspenpitkin.com |
Mayor : | Steve Skadron |
Aspen in 1962 |
Aspen is a small town in the US -amerikanischen State Colorado , the administrative seat of Pitkin County and is located some 200 km south west of Denver on the Roaring Fork River . The city was in the 19th century center of a silver - mining area . Aspen is home to one of the most famous ski areas in North America. It consists of four non-lift parts: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass.
According to the Forbes Institute, Aspen is the richest city in the United States and one of the richest in the world. The average price of a home in Aspen is over $ 1.5 million.
Aspen is home to three internationally important institutions: the Aspen Music Festival and School , the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Center for Physics . The Aspen Music Festival has been held every summer since 1949.
geography
Aspen is located about 65 km southeast of Glenwood Springs in a river valley between the Elk Mountains and the Sawatch Range , two sub-mountains of the Rocky Mountains . The Roaring Fork River , a tributary of the Colorado, flows through the city . Within the Roaring Fork Valley , Aspen is surrounded by mountains on three sides: Red Mountain to the north, Smuggler Mountain to the east and Aspen Mountain to the south .
climate
Average Monthly Temperatures for Aspen
Source: missing
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history
Silver deposits were discovered here for the first time in 1879 after a contract with the Ute tribe made the western part of Colorado accessible. Because of the difficult access, mining developed only slowly, only when the railway line was extended to Aspen in 1887, the population grew to 12,000 inhabitants. At the height of the silver boom in 1892 silver ore worth nine million was US dollar encouraged Aspen was thus the most productive area for silver mining in the USA. In the same year, today's City Hall was built, in 1893 Aspen already had banks, a hospital, a police station, two theaters, an opera and electric lighting. However, the panic of 1893 resulted in many silver mines closing and thousands losing their jobs. By 1930, the population of Aspen had decreased to 705. However, the city still had commercial and residential buildings, which is why investors were interested in building a ski area. The Aspen Skiing Company was founded in 1946 and hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1950 .
Historical buildings
Sports
Every year at the end of November, two alpine ski world cup competitions (mostly giant slalom and slalom ) for women take place in Aspen .
Infrastructure
Aspen / Pitkin County Airport is located near Aspen , from where there are connections to Denver International Airport .
Town twinning
Aspen has six twin cities :
- Chamonix , France
- Davos , Switzerland
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany, since 1966
- Queenstown , New Zealand
- San Carlos de Bariloche , Argentina
- Shimukappu , Japan
Known residents
- Cher , Charlie Sheen , Kevin Costner, and Bill Joy have homes in Aspen.
- John Denver lived in Aspen for much of his life.
- Lance Reventlow spent a lot of time at his Aspen home.
- Mina Loy , British writer and widow of Dada artist Arthur Cravan , spent the last years of her life here.
- The Austrian ski pioneer Friedl Pfeifer ran a ski school in Aspen and played a key role in promoting winter sports in the region.
- Hunter S. Thompson (founder of gonzo journalism ) lived in Aspen (Woody Creek) and even ran for the office of sheriff in 1970.
- Lance Armstrong lives and trains a lot in Aspen.
- Aron Ralston , mountaineer and writer has lived in Aspen since 2002. He has been known since he was imprisoned for five days in Blue John Canyon (Utah) due to a boulder and amputated his own arm.
- Claudine Longet
- Robert Wagner has lived in Aspen since 2007 with his wife Jill St. John .
sons and daughters of the town
- Harold Ross (1892–1951), journalist and founder of The New Yorker newspaper
- Andy Mill (* 1953), ski racer
- Alexi Grewal (* 1960), racing cyclist
- Alex Wubbels (* 1976), skier
- Jeremy Abbott (born 1985), figure skater
- Wiley Maple (* 1990), ski racer
- Alex Ferreira (* 1994), freestyle skier
Trivia
- A Martian crater is named after Aspen .
- The American comedy film Dumb and Dumber was partially shot in Aspen.
literature
- Kathryn Livingston: In The Spirit Of Aspen. Assouline Publishing, New York 2002, ISBN 978-2-8432-3399-9 .
- Lisa Sun-Hee Park, David N. Pellow: The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America's Eden. NYU Press, New York 2013, ISBN 978-1-4798-3476-1 .
- Rod Martinez: Best Aspen Hikes (Colorado Mountain Club. Pack Guide). Colorado Mountain Club Press, Golden (Colorado) 2014, ISBN 978-1-9370-5208-9 .
- Douglas N. Beck: Early Aspen: 1879-1930 (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing , Mount Pleasant 2015, ISBN 978-1-4671-3318-0 .
Web links
- Aspen Chamber Resort Association with tourist information
- Aspen / Pitkin County Airport (Engl.)
- Aspen Times - weekly newspaper
- Aspen Daily News - daily newspaper
- Aspen Music Festival (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aspen ski area overview Colorado USA. Retrieved on March 5, 2018 (German).
- ↑ http://www.aspenphys.org