Writer Hunter S Thompson, the king of gonzo journalism, was not a skier, so why did he choose to live in Aspen?Hunter S Thompson went skiing only once, even though he spent almost four decades living up the road from some of the most highly rated ski terrain on the planet. Tim Mooney, his old friend, grins as he recounts the day. "Most of his friends skied, so they decided to take him to the top of Aspen mountain and push him off. He made three 40mph crashes and never went back. He wouldn't have wanted it any other way ? none of this 'go to Buttermilk [a beginners' resort nearby] and learn' nonsense."This was, after all, the man who once said: "At the top of the mountain, we are all snow leopards."It's almost six years since the king of gonzo journalism took his own life at Owl Farm, his ranch at Woody Creek, seven miles from Aspen, Colorado. I'm here to get some stories about Thompson and see how much of the countercultural spirit he so embodied lives on among the fur-clad A-listers. Mooney used to work behind the J-Bar at the Hotel Jerome in the early 1970s. Aspen's oldest hotel, it was one of Thompson's haunts, and its Victorian-style marble floors and tin roof remain."Every day Hunter would go to the post office and be at the J-Bar at noon," says Mooney. "He divided his mail into three piles ? bills, fan mail and periodicals. Then he'd order his food and drinks for the whole day and line it up next to the piles. So for the first pile he'd have eggs, bacon, coffee, toast and a Bloody Mary, then a cheeseburger, fries and bottle of beer, and then pasta and a bottle of red wine."Mooney acted as a gatekeeper between Thompson and his fans. "All kinds of people, like Jack Nicholson, and Jimmy Buffett the singer, would come in and want to meet Hunter, and I'd go ask if he wanted to meet them."The hotel pool often figured in their partying, and one night Bill Murray nearly drowned after Thompson threw him in, having first duct-taped him to a sun-lounger, of course. In 1970 when Thompson ran for town sheriff, the J-Bar was his campaign HQ. He almost won with a manifesto that included legalising drugs (though he promised not to take mescaline on duty), promoting environmental issues and renaming Aspen "Fat City" to prevent "Greedheads, land-rapers and other human jackals from capitalising on the name Aspen". He wanted to replace the pavements with dirt, and one wonders what he would have made of the modern-day heated sidewalks.The Grand Ballroom at the Hotel Jerome was the setting for the first of Thompson's two funerals. The second saw his ashes blasted from a cannon, paid for by Johnny Depp, into the canyon behind his ranch. His wife Anita still lives there and is to start hosting lectures in the "war room", where Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. She doesn't welcome uninvited guests, although, unlike Thompson, she is unlikely to warn them off with a shotgun.Bob Braudis has been Aspen's sheriff since 1986, and he was a foot soldier on Thompson's 1970 campaign. In his office, he has the iconic Tom Benton "Thompson for sheriff" poster. I ask him what attracted Thompson to Aspen. "In the late 1960s, Aspen was where intellectuals came to drop out. Hunter liked that there was a high number of highly educated people here ? people who could have been bankers and lawyers, but dropped out and came here to be ski bums, as I did."When I'd asked Mooney the same question, he'd said: "He knew the Aspen Institute was here, and the physicist George Stranahan, the Hotel Jerome and the Wheeler Opera House, all the things left over from the silver mining era that gave a certain dignity to this Colorado town. In Leadville or Breckenridge you could see the heritage but once you got to Aspen you could smell the funkiness. He smelled the greatness of this valley and saw that it was a garden spot with beautiful weather and a rock'n'roll mentality."How different Aspen is today ? it's one of the world's glitziest, most expensive ski resorts. Last winter the average house price in Aspen was $4.3m (�2.6m) and the place oozes so much wealth that it's hard to find the idea of a lingering countercultural spirit plausible, let alone visible. But if you look hard enough it's there: just follow the locals.You can find it at the Grateful Deli, where you can order a "magic mushroom burger". And at the Poppies Bistro Cafe, where Thompson and Anita often dined, and at the Explore bookshop and (excellent) veggie restaurant, where she's still a regular. It's also at the Isis Theatre, the Wheeler Opera House, Aspen Art Museum and the Aspen Writers' Foundation.And it's at the many well-tended shrines hidden in the woods around the ski slopes. Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Jerry Garcia, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix are all honoured at Aspen mountain. Thompson's shrine at Snowmass was created on 20 February 2006, exactly a year after his death. It features a US flag, Tibetan prayer flags, Rolling Stone magazine covers adorned with his face, a basket of his writings, and a bottle of Chivas Regal, his favourite whisky.I also found that spirit at Highlands mountain. It was the only mountain in the area not originally under the umbrella of the Aspen Ski Company, and so became the cheaper place for locals to ski. It hasn't been independent since 1993 but it still has a different vibe ? music pumps out from lift stations. The terrain suits intermediates and experts, and the Highland Bowl is a firm favourite. Getting there involves a 40-minute hike along a ridge before you drop into a steep bowl.Finally, the best place to soak up some counterculture and pay homage to Thompson is his former drinking den, the Woody Creek Tavern. A short drive from Aspen down the windy roads where he used to race motorbikes, it's next to a trailer park and couldn't be further removed from the glamour of Aspen. The walls are like a scrapbook, with thousands of photos and press clippings about local residents, in particular Thompson. Our drinks order was ignored and we were served the strongest margaritas we'd ever tasted. The locals were happy to relate their Thompson stories, and the rounds came thick and fast. The night ended, appropriately, in a blur.? Ski Independence (0131-243 8097, ski-i.com) offers seven nights' B&B at the Limelight Lodge, including flights to Denver and transfers, from �1,075, based on an early December departure, with 10% discount on bookings before 1 December. Fly with BA (0844 493 0787, ba.com) from Heathrow to Denver International Airport. Colorado Mountain Express (+1 970 926 9800, ridecme.com) has a shuttle service between Denver International Airport and Aspen/SnowmassSam Haddad is the editor of Cooler (coolermag.com), a board sports and style magazine for women? This article was amended on 26 October 2010. The original said that one night John Belushi nearly drowned after Thompson threw him in the Jerome Hotel pool. This has been corrected.SkiingColoradoHunter S ThompsonUnited StatesNorth and Central AmericaWinter sportsJack Nicholsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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