X Games

Aspen Police X Out Booze

By Michael Conniff, 1-26-06

Could it be that the Aspen Police, emboldened by the public showing of support for the December drug busts, are venturing further and further still into the realm of downtown law enforcement?

Dude, that doesn’t mean there aren’t mangy cohorts aplenty in Aspen who think God made substances so they couldn’t be controlled. But no matter. When it comes to alcohol at the outdoor X Games concert Saturday night, Aspen Police have finally said no to unfettered boozability.

Don’t forget the X Games glorify all things extreme, on the slopes or not. The X Games at Buttermilk have been known to feature underage chugging contests—of Mountain Dew. Doing the Dew apparently includes making pretend that caffeine is a gateway beverage for alcoholic binges. Not this time around. While Damian Marley is wailing from the stage Saturday night, concert-goers, abstemious or not, will have to pass through a police checkpoint to get inside a fenced area. Alcohol will be allowed only in the VIP section of the event, a form of class substance segregation familiar to the thundering hordes who matriculate at Jazz Aspen Snowmass events in June and September.

"All the problems we do seem to have are alcohol-related," Assistant Police Chief Glenn Schaffer told the Aspen Times.

Aspen Police told the Times that those charged with cleaning up after the X Games concert last winter had a “terrible, terrible experience� due to the alcoholic droppings of some 10,000 fans. There will even be a curfew in effect after 11 P.M. for those under the age of 18.

Did somebody say “police state�? Don’t worry, Aspen. The police made nary a mention in the paper of pot, cocaine, crystal meth, opium, heroin, et alia. The mangy few will consider that a high point.

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