With the world watching, Aspen rallied around its favorite pastime, flooding to the West side of Aspen Mountain to prepare the mountain for America’s Downhill and later lining the course from the top of Ruthie’s Run through Aztec and the Airplane Turn all the way to the grandstands at the bottom of 1A. Town was abuzz all week with the fastest skiers in the world lapping our home ski hills, riding the lifts with kids from the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club and signing autographs by the hundreds as they cruised around town. For three days, skiing took the center stage and fans of all ages, from across the globe, focused their gaze on the White Circus putting on its grand show on American soil.

Any time the World Cup comes to town, Aspen shows up to support the sport of ski racing in full force. Over 300 volunteers committed time and energy to ensuring a successful event: driving shuttles, seating fans, slipping the course, setting safety nets and everything in between. Love of skiing is never more evident than when the community comes together. Aztech Mountain’s support of ski racing has always been focused directly on the athletes. Our long-term partnership with World Cup Dreams Foundation has been the vehicle via which we have supported Wiley Maple, Nina O’Brien, Kyle Negomir and many others. With the World Cup coming to our hometown, we knew we needed to do something truly special, so we partnered with Performance Ski and took a star-studded cast to our favorite on-mountain restaurant, Bonnie’s! 

“Aztech has always been inspired by the Aspen of my youth. No two things evoke fonder memories than watching America’s Downhill atop a pile of hay bails at the bottom of Aztec and eating strudel at Bonnie’s. The chance to bring these two worlds together in support of World Cup Dreams embodies exactly why we created this brand.” – Heifara Rutgers, Aztech Mountain Co-Founder

Franz Klammer, Ted Ligety, Tamara McKinney, Steven Nyman, AJ Kitt, Resi Stiegler, Marco Sullivan, Tommy Biesmeyer, Bryon Friedman, Franz Weber. Among them: 3 Olympic Golds, 15 World Championship Medals and 74 World Cup Victories. Believe it or not, bringing this cast of all-stars together was the second most difficult task undertaken by Aztech Mountain and World Cup Dreams Foundation over the weekend. Securing Bonnie’s, Aspen’s favorite alpine-style on-mountain restaurant, located at 10,410 ft. for a dinner event was the real coup! On a perfect Aspen evening, with snow falling, 50 attendees joined these skiing legends around a massive table to share ski stories over raclette cheese, potatoes, veggies and wine in a traditional alpine meal. The cause: support, protect and inspire snow-sport athletes dreaming or competing on the world’s biggest stage. The result: over $200,000 dollars raised for the World Cup Dreams Foundation and 2,500 vertical feet of fresh powder skied under the stars. 

“World Cup Dreams Foundation is a game changer for young athletes who may not have the resources to pursue their skiing dreams. By removing the financial barriers, we're creating a pathway for the next generation of skiers to reach their full potential and compete on the world stage.”  -Ted Ligety, 2x Olympic Gold Medalist and 5x World Champion