Austin Colbert is the sports and photo editor, having joined the Aspen Times in 2016. A Kansas native, he has lived in the Rocky Mountains for a decade, having previously spent a year working for the Steamboat Pilot and Today. Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wichita State University.
It was announced Wednesday that Buttermilk will host Event One of Season Two from Jan. 7-9, 2027, which will already be the third time the The Snow League has come to Aspen in its short history.
The celebration was originally going to be held at the top of Aspen Mountain, but an incoming winter storm forced organizers to keep everything at the base.
On top of bringing in the biggest names in snowboarding, Shaun White's rising league has put focus on some of the lesser known athletes while making sure to engage the children, who are indeed the future of snowboarding.
Jake Pates received his invite so late he didn’t even get to compete with his name on his athlete bib like the other riders at The Snow League.
The third-ever event for The Snow League, which Shaun White launched only last winter in Aspen, will return to Buttermilk for the second time when qualifying gets underway Friday.
Aspen's Alex Ferreira got it done. The 31-year-old halfpipe skier won the men's halfpipe skiing final at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Friday in Livigno, Italy.
The men’s qualifier had been scheduled for the morning session, but the contest was postponed due to a strong winter storm that hit northern Italy.
This is Ferreira's third — and presumably final — trip to the Olympics. He won silver in his 2018 debut in Pyeongchang, South Korea, before claiming bronze in Beijing 2022. He'll look to round out his trophy case with gold in Livigno.