By John Stouffer

April 28, 2000

Strange things have been happening in this world around us. The Eagles reunited. El Ni�o. Global warming. And Aspen Mountain allowed snowboarding.

That�s right. For four days only over the 1995 Memorial Day weekend, Aspen Mountain allowed snowboarding.

According to Diana Delasala, communications assistant, there were over 100 inches of base snow, more than they had mid season, and the mountain management decided to reopen for the holiday weekend. Over 250 skiable acres on the top half of the mountain were open, with two lifts accessing the area. �Lift ticket prices were fifteen dollars, which is our summer gondola price,� said Delasala. �So we think of it as free skiing for the weekend.�

The decision to allow snowboarding revolved around the fact that only the top half of the mountain was open. �Normally there are two natural gullies that everyone has to ride through at the bottom of the mountain,� said Delasala. �It�s very dangerous to have snowboarders and skiers mixing on those two runs. But since those are closed, we figured we could allow snowboarding.�

Will anything be different next year, after snowboarders experience the weekend teaser at Aspen Mountain? According to Delasala, there are no plans to allow snowboarders on the mountain next year.

Sure, strange things are happening�but hell hasn�t frozen over yet.