Aspen’s Bustling Arts and Culture Scene Thrives Amid the Pandemic

Aspen’s ski lifts are open for business. With COVID precautions in place, the sport is considered relatively low risk by experts. With four mountains operated by the Aspen Skiing Co, there’s plenty of room for social distancing, both on the slopes, and off, in spacious homes.

In wealthy enclaves like Aspen, urban dwellers residing full-time in their vacation homes, or taking long-term rentals, has become the norm during the pandemic. Record-breaking real estate sales for 2020 tallied more than $3.1 billion in total volume in Pitkin County (where Aspen is located), according to MLS listings. “COVID has made an already hot real estate market like Aspen’s, and its surrounding towns, scorching hot,” says Susan Plummer, with Coldwell Banker Mason Morse.

“The pandemic has resulted in a very different season this year,” says Richard Edwards, owner of the world-class Baldwin Gallery, the exclusive Caribou Club, and venerated historic downtown buildings.“There are fewer of the well-travelled Australians, Brazilians, and Europeans, who typically make up about 20 percent of our yearly visitors. But there are sophisticated, cultured people here.”