Aspen Gay Ski Week

Aspen Gay Ski Week has run every January since 1977, and its organizers and the ski press call it the longest-running gay ski week in America. It is also a fundraiser: proceeds go to AspenOUT, a nonprofit serving LGBTQ+ people in the Roaring Fork Valley, and the week is its biggest source of money. That money goes back into the valley: in 2019 Aspen Public Radio reported that AspenOUT had given more than $50,000 in grants to other organizations and $16,000 in scholarships for local students the previous year.

Days are for skiing across the four Aspen Snowmass mountains, with group ski days and Aspen Mountain, which locals call Ajax, at the centre of things. The best-known daytime moment is the Downhill Costume Contest, a drag race down the mountain in costume. After skiing there is mountain-top après-ski and, according to Out x Out's event listing, a free daily après session at the Limelight Hotel in Aspen. Evenings bring drag brunches, comedy, the Passions & Prestige panels at Belly Up, nightly parties and the pool parties the week is famous for. Passes and single-event tickets are sold at gayskiweek.com, and the popular parties sell out.