Quotes from Denizens of the 70’s What did you find most special about living in Aspen in the 70’s?
John McBride
"The joyful, almost whimsical, local community. It was a delightful place to be."
John Wilcox
"The legacy mountain town skiing and the eclectic characters!"
Dede Brinkman
"The 70’s in Aspen were teeming with freak culture, unadulterated freedom and boundless opportunities."
Mary Dominique
"Free to be me!"
Elsa Mitchell
"There was an amazing and diverse community of people that became friends and then morphed into family, with the beautiful and challenging mountains as our natural home. The love for it all cannot be denied."
Tim Cottrel
"I loved the irreverent "messy vitality” that was so prevalent back then. We were one."
Annie Denver
"I first arrived to Aspen in the late 60’s on a Winter Day ..Huge Snow, Towering Mountains.. My Heart and Soul Came home." “Climb the Mountains and get their Good Tidings. Natures Peace will Flow into you, as Sunshine flows into Trees.” John Muir
Joe Edwards
"You could strike sparks anywhere..there was a fantastic
universal sense that whatever we were doing was right and we were winning...that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil...we had all the momentum and were riding on the crest of a high and beautiful wave." Hunter S. Thompson - "That feeling was what I found most special about living in Aspen in the 70's. Here also, the wave receded."
Dick Carter
"It was an escape from the old world thinking of the East coast to a place where youth ruled and there existed a prevalent aesthetic where anything seemed possible."
Art Daily
"The 70s in Aspen were about freedom and exploration and in that space I went a bit crazy at times but I was able to find out more of who I truly was."
Harry Teague
“Safety third.”
Tim Mooney
"I arrived in 1970…was the meca of skiing That’s what brought me here. The character of the people, the amazing environment, the joy of the outside, the freedom from societal bullshit, hippie role models and the perfect log cabin kept me here."
Tom Cardamone/Jody Cardamone
"I hitchhiked into Aspen in the summer of ’72. My early impression after working a while with a group of wilderness advocates, including Jody, was that locals accepted anyone able to contribute to the character of the place. Your CV, pedigree, and net worth didn’t define you."- Tom Cardamone
"Born and raised in Aspen, for me the 70’s were exciting times, with growing environmental awareness and changing politics. Local community action to protect our wild lands from development of all kinds was happening. I felt empowered to get involved - embracing it wholeheartedly." - Jody Caudill Cardamone
Edgar Boyles
"We came for all different reasons; escaping the city, escaping a war, escaping family,escaping lives of dullness. We headed to the mountains to create new ways of living. We skied hard, we played hard, we worked hard. It was a time of great equality here; there were no differences between the classes of we young as we gathered at the J Bar on Friday afternoons for 'Roll Call'. It was an enchanted time before greed and money and pretense took over. We didn't know what a special time it was. And yet, there is still magic here."
Kirk Baker
“Everyone was having a good time every place was fun and rent was $150/ month. Low cost good times.”