User:AspenShrines/sandbox

This article covers the 33 "Shrines" that exist on the four ski mountains at Aspen Colorado, which are: 1. Aspen Mountain (referred to by locals as "Ajax"), 2. Aspen Highlands, 3. Buttermilk, and 4. Snowmass. These "shrines" are collections of items and artifacts that have been hidden back in the trees off of the ski runs, usually by locals, to honor a particular person or thing. There are shrines on all four of these mountains, but most of them are on Aspen Mountain (Ajax). The locations of the various shrines are not shown on the ski trail maps, and are a bit of a mystery. There are no known books that have been written about the shrines. The shrines are mentioned on the official web site of the Aspen Skiing Company but specific locations are not given. The shrines are covered in several newspaper articles and on several web sites, all of which is explained below.

Introduction to the Shrines

A good summary and introduction to the Aspen Shrines is from the Aspen Times Newspaper article "Find Your Shrine on Ajax" by Kimberly Nicoletti, February 18, 2006. The following quote is from this newspaper article: "For about two decades, locals have been ducking into favorite hideouts on Aspen Mountain and nailing pictures, license plates, beads, silk flowers, wind chimes and other memorabilia to tree trunks in honor of their particular heroes. The spruce trees and lodgepole pines hide sanctuaries dedicated to musicians, beloved locals, buckaroos, soiled doves and even toys and cartoon characters." See this page for the full article: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060218/RECREATION01/60222004

Also, see the article "Temples in the trees--Aspen shrines one of the weird local rituals in ski towns" By DAVE PHILIPPS THE GAZETTE, Colorado Springs Outdoors, April 1, 2005 at http://www.gazette.com/common/printer/view.php?db=colgazette&id=15383. The following quote is from this article: "Even dead stars mingle here. Off in the woods, away from prying eyes, are Jerry Garcia, Elvis, even Liberace. Hunter S. Thompson will probably join them soon. These celebrities, and an unknown roster of others, are honored with covert shrines on Aspen Mountain. The small, homemade temples, squirreled away in stands of trees off certain ski runs, are among the quirky traditions ski town locals use here and at other areas to make the tourist-dominated resorts their own. 'It’s something cool that doesn’t show up on the trail map. Not just any rich guy in a fur hat can find them. You have to know the place a little,' said Andrea Braun, an Aspen waitress who skis at the high-end mountain. The shrines, built and maintained primarily by locals, are a pack rat’s nest of keepsakes and pictures."

Official Aspen/Snowmass web site recognizes the Shrines

The official Aspen/Snowmass web site maintained by the Aspen Skiing Company makes three different references to the shrines (See http://www.aspensnowmass.com/). These three references are:

1. In the "Top 10 Things About Aspen Mountain" section of the web site, #5 is: "The Shrines – Ask a mountain ambassador for a tour or take off on your own and explore the glades of Aspen Mountain in search of the infamous shrines. Elvis, Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix, among others are immortalized in these hidden gems tucked in the trees between runs." See: http://www.aspensnowmass.com/companyinfo/mediacenter/mediakit/top_am.cfm

2. The "Fun Facts" section of the web site says: "Throughout Aspen Mountain's trees, you can find four hidden "shrines" made by locals in homage to John Denver, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and The Greatful Dead's, Jerry Garcia." See: http://www.aspensnowmass.com/companyinfo/mediacenter/mediakit/whoweare/fun_facts.cfm

3. In the "Inside Tips" section of the web site says: "Visit the shrines on Aspen Mountain! Can you find the John Denver shrine hidden in the trees? You won't find them on any trail map, but hidden in the trees are tributes to Elvis, Marilyn, Jerry and other deceased luminaries. Ask a patroller or local to point them out." See: http://www.aspensnowmass.com/companyinfo/tips.cfm?id=1248

But the ski company does not show the locations of any of the shrines on its trail maps.

A List of the 33 Shrines

At the present time there are 33 shrines on the four mountains, and below is a list of the 33 shrines, listed alphabetically by first name, and showing the name of the mountain upon which they are located:

1. The 9/11 Shrine (Ajax)

2. The Aspen Ski Hall of Fame Shrine (Ajax)

3. The Beatles Shrine (Ajax)

4. The Bingo Shrine (Ajax)

5. The Buckaroo Shrine (Ajax)

6. The Chix Coup Shrine (Aspen Highlands)

7. The Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Shrine (Ajax)

8. The Denver Broncos Shrine (Ajax)

9. The Dog Pound Shrine (Aspen Highlands)

10. The Elvis Presley Shrine (Ajax)

11. The Eric Smith Shrine (Snowmass)

12. The Fenway Park/Boston Red Sox Shrine (Ajax)

13. The Frank Sinatra Shrine (Snowmass)

14. The Golf Shrine (Snowmass)

15. The Golf Shrine (Ajax)

16. The Hunter Thompson Shrine (Snowmass)

17. The Jerry Garcia Shrine (Ajax)

18. The Jimi Hendrix Shrine (Ajax)

19. The Jimmy Buffett Shrine (Ajax)

20. The John Denver Shrine (Ajax)

21. The John Denver Shrine (Buttermilk)

22. The Liberace Shrine (Ajax)

23. The Marilyn Monroe Shrine (Ajax)

24. The Nicholas Blake Davidson Shrine (Snowmass)

25. The Pooper Trooper Park Shrine (Ajax)

26. The Raoul Wille Shrine (Ajax)

27. The Snoopy Shrine (Ajax)

28. The Steve Butts Shrine (Ajax)

29. The Stevie Ray Vaughan Shrine (Ajax)

30. The Tom Cole Shrine (Ajax)

31. The Valentine’s Shrine (Ajax)

32. The Widespread Panic Shrine (Ajax)

33. The Yankee Stadium/New York Yankees Shrine (Ajax)

(See the web site http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/ for more information on each shrine and photos of each shrine.)

As is evident from the above list, many of the shrines are to famous deceased people: Elvis Presley (musician), Marilyn Monroe (actress), John Denver (musician), Jerry Garcia (musician), Hunter S. Thompson (author), Frank Sinatra (musician), Stevie Ray Vaughan (musician), Jimi Hendrix (musician), the Beatles (musicians), Widespread Panic (musicians), Ben Hogan (golfer), and Bobby Jones (golfer). There is also a shrine that remembers the victims of 9/11 tragedies. There are shrines to New York's Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park in Boston. There is a shrine to the cartoon character "Snoopy". Another shrine remembers the early ski pioneers in the Aspen, Colorado area including Andre Roch, Friedl Pfeifer, and Stein Eriksen. One shrine is to a living person: Jimmy Buffet (musician). Only one shrine is to a woman: The Marilyn Monroe Shrine. See the web site "Sanctuaries in the Snow" http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/ for a listing of the shrines and photos of them.

Newspaper Articles About Shrines

In addition to the two newspaper articles mentioned above, other newspaper articles dealing with the shrines are:

"Good Doctor enshrined at Snowmass--'Should we set off some explosives?'", Aspen Times Newspaper, By Chad Abraham, February 21, 2006. See: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060221/RECREATION01/102210018/-1/RECREATION (This article is about the creation of The Hunter Thompson Shrine)

"Celeb shrines pepper resorts--Unofficial tributes are aplenty at Aspen, though most areas have them" by Brian Metzler, Special to the Rocky Mountain News, Tuesday, November 28, 2006. See: http://www5.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/Nov/28/celeb-shrines-pepper-resorts/ (This article is about the shrines in general.)

"Gonzo fans pay tribute to fallen author" by Troy Hooper, Wednesday, February 21, 2007. Aspen Daily News. See: http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/gonzo-fans-pay-tribu (This article is about the update of the Huner Thompson Shrine.)

"A Shrine is Born" (Snowmass Sun newspaper article February 14, 2007) This article is about the creation of The Golf Shrine at Snowmass. See: http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/index.php?id=1,17,0,0,1,0

"Aspen shrines pay homage to musicians--A local secret, memorials in the trees on Aspen Mountain remember rock n’ roll legends like Elvis and Jimi Hendrix" By Sarah Mausolf, Vail Daily, January 5, 2008. See: http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080105/AE/7697790. (This article is about the shrines in general.)

Web Sites Covering the Shrines

See the web site "Sanctuaries in the Snow" at http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com for a detailed description of each shrine and many photos of each shrine. There are over 550 photos of the shrines on this site.

See the web site "AspenPortrait.com" at http://www.aspenportrait.com/aspen_mountain/index.html for panoramic/360 degree photos of three of the shrines (The Jerry Garcia Shrine, The Elvis Presley Shrine, and the Ski Wall.)

See the web site at http://www.skisnowboard.com/aspen/index.html, which mentions four of the shrines (Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jerry Garcia, and the Valentine;s Shrine).