Wintersköl Was Invented for an Empty Aspen. Its 75th Lands on the Busiest Weekend of Early Winter.

In 1949, Jack DePagter was tending bar at the Hotel Jerome when he noticed that business fell off for about three weeks after Christmas, while the ski lifts were closed. His answer was a winter carnival modeled on the ones at European ski resorts. He later owned the Holland House, and he started the carnival in 1951. It got its name several years after that, when Mr. Sardy raised a glass to him at the Jerome bar and said "Sköl."

Seventy-five years later, the festival he started to fill an empty stretch of the calendar lands in the most crowded window of early winter. The 75th Wintersköl runs Dec. 10 to 13, 2026. Its Saturday is opening day at Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk, and Aspen Snowmass has priced lift tickets at $80 across all four mountains for that day and the next. A festival built to bring people to town now shares a weekend with the ski company's 80th-anniversary push. That changes how a local should plan it.

Why Saturday, Dec. 12 is the crowded day

Aspen Snowmass is marking its 80th season with throwback pricing. The anniversary page lists $80 lift tickets on Dec. 12 and 13 and $3.75 tickets on Dec. 14, which was the price in the resort's first season in 1946. The Dec. 14 tickets have sold out. The $80 weekend tickets are limited, nonrefundable and nontransferable. Four Mountain Sports is also renting premium ski and snowboard packages for $80 from Saturday, Dec. 12 through Monday, Dec. 14. The Aspen Times reported both offers when Aspen Skiing Co. announced them in September.

The ACRA schedule fits most of the festival's downtown events into Saturday, starting midday. Here is how the day unfolds in Aspen proper:

• All day: Opening day at Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.
• 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: The Gant Aspen's Winter Market, with artisans from the Roaring Fork and Crystal valleys. Free.
• Noon to 1 p.m.: The Canine Fashion Show in Wagner Park. Registration is from noon to 12:30.
• Noon to 5 p.m.: A bonspiel curling event at Aspen Ice Garden.
• 1:30 to 2 p.m.: The JAS Street Horns, a Jazz Aspen Snowmass ensemble of middle and high school musicians, in Wagner Park.
• 2 to 6 p.m.: The Wintersköl Beer Festival in Wagner Park. It is open to all ages, and guests 21 and older with valid ID can taste.
• 3 to 5 p.m.: Soupsköl in Wagner Park. Free to attend and taste.
• 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.: The bonfire in Wagner Park.
• 7 p.m.: The torchlight parade and fireworks on Aspen Mountain, best seen from Wagner Park and downtown.
• 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.: Ismo's Perseverance Tour at the Wheeler Opera House, then Opiuo at Belly Up Aspen.

Most of the day's free events are in Wagner Park, inside a five-hour window. On Saturday, the park is the center of the festival, and the rest of the weekend is spread around it.

Friday has the anniversary's one-time event

The piece of this Wintersköl that won't come back is on Friday night. At 7 p.m. on Dec. 11, Wagner Park hosts a drone show called Stories in the Sky. Wintersköl was chosen as a community celebration in History Colorado's Stories in the Sky program, a series of nearly 150 drone shows from the America 250 – Colorado 150 Commission. The series ends in December 2026, which makes Aspen's show one of its last.

The hours before the drone show are a calmer start to the weekend. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Hotel Jerome courtyard rink opens for the season. The schedule says it will then be open daily from 2 to 4 p.m. through the winter, ice conditions permitting. From 5 to 7 p.m., Cam Williams & Friends play funk, rock and soul in Wagner Park. Williams co-founded Jes Grew and Tishamingo, and his band is Rob Dasaro, Steven Vidamour and Toby Britt. Earlier that day, from 9 a.m. to noon, local school teams build snow sculptures on the Mill Street Mall at Anderson Ranch Arts Center's KIDSCULPT.

Thursday night gets less attention. At 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, the Wheeler Opera House screens Aspen Extreme, the 1993 ski film shot in town. Admission is free with an RSVP, and retro ski clothes are encouraged. Earlier that afternoon, the ACRA Icebreaker Bash at the Paul JAS Center crowns this year's Wintersköl Royalty and names the Business and Nonprofit of the Year. It is open to ACRA members only.

What the 75th keeps from 1951, and what it brought back

The first Wintersköl had a queen contest. About 26 local girls were entered, and they were judged on personality, looks and how well they skied. Today the community nominates the royalty, and they are chosen for their involvement in the community and for carrying the spirit of the festival. The Aspen Daily News reported that Charla Belinski and Bruce Etkin were crowned in 2025. The 2026 slogan is "Black Diamonds are Forever."

Some anniversary traditions run on local competition:

1. Soupsköl. Restaurants from around the Roaring Fork Valley compete for the soup pot trophy, and the public votes. According to the Soupsköl page, last year's top three were Bangkok Happy Bowl's Massaman Beef, West End Social's She Crab Soup and Rock Island Oyster Bar & Grill's New England Clam Chowder.
2. The Canine Fashion Show. It returns to Wagner Park after a hiatus that began after 2019, now hosted and produced by the Rubey Rescue Run, which supports animal welfare and veterinary scholarships in the valley. The judges' categories are Owner/Dog Look Alike, Most Festive, Most Glam, Old School Aspen, Best in Show Mutt and Best Trick.
3. The torchlight parade. Young athletes from the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club and other regional clubs ski down Aspen Mountain carrying torches, and the fireworks start right after. Only kids enrolled in AVSC or another local valley ski club can ride in the parade.

The Gant's market has added meaning this year. The 2026-27 season is The Gant Aspen's last winter before it closes temporarily on March 29, 2027, for a property-wide renovation.

Sunday morning is for uphillers

On Sunday, everything moves uphill, then back to the core of town. From 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., the Uphill Breakfast Club serves a free breakfast, while supplies last, at the Cliffhouse at the top of Buttermilk. Any uphiller can come, and ValleyOrtho and ACRA are the presenters. Buttermilk will have opened to lift skiers the day before. Skinning up is a way to get to the summit on the second day of a $80-ticket weekend without the lift lines.

In the afternoon, the Limelight Aspen hosts free Pup Portraits from 4 to 6 p.m. The weekend ends at The Little Nell's annual tree lighting, held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Wine Bar and Courtyard. The tree is lit at 5:30. The Aspen Animal Shelter will be there, along with Santa and Mrs. Claus and performances by DanceAspen.

Planning around the Saturday crowd

For a local, the weekend splits three ways. Friday evening has the drone show, the rink opening and a hometown band, with no ski-opening crowd yet. Saturday has the old traditions, all in Wagner Park on the same afternoon the two other mountains open. Sunday starts at the top of Buttermilk and finishes at the base of Aspen Mountain. Aspen Public Radio's season preview included the 75th in its list of things to expect this winter. The $80 tickets are limited inventory that may sell out, and once bought they can't be refunded or transferred, so guests coming for the weekend should settle their dates before buying.

If you're hosting family for Wintersköl's 75th, or thinking about how a December weekend like this one fits into your own seasons in Aspen, Karina Kwasnicka Marx is happy to talk it through, in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Let's connect and schedule a private consultation.