.S E A S O N S .C H A N G E
The Winter Ahead
(Snow on the bells while leaves cling to the aspen tress, foreshadowing winter to come in Aspen.)
In Aspen, you can tell winter is coming before the forecast predicts snow. The first dusting cakes Ajax around this time of year, coloring the mountain in whites of winter and yellows of fall. The contrasting colors are striking. Summer clothes start disappearing from the retail racks. Skis begin showing up on top of cars headed to local shops to get mounted. The people who spend their winters here start migrating back to Aspen, and those who live here year-round start buzzing with anticipation and hope. In New York, the shift happens differently. The air gets colder, coats come out, and in Tribeca, skiers already thinking about their first trips west walk into 42 Hudson.
We pay attention to these small signals at Aztech. They are reminders that a season isn’t really a date on a calendar. Seasons change how we dress, where we go, who we see, what we make time for and what we dream about.
(The commute to the mountain is timeless. Here a skier shoulders skis past Paepcke Park with Ajax looming in the background. Photo: Aspen Historical Society, Chamberlain Collection)
There is a rhythm to it, too. Every winter is different. The snowpack changes, storms materialize or don’t. Some seasons are deep and bottomless; others make you work for every soft turn. But there is a cadence we recognize, a familiar sequence that pulls us forward. The anticipation of storms. The rush of opening day. The race to rope drops and the celebration of untouched tracks. Early mornings in the middle of winter to line up at the gondi. Then comes the slow release of spring, when the days get longer and the pace begins to change: late afternoons chasing sunny aspects, corn harvests and slush bumps, goggle tans and long lunches on Bonnie’s deck.
That idea, Season’s Change, is at the heart of Aztech Mountain this year. Over the coming months, we’ll follow the people, places and history that make winter what it is. We’ll travel from the city to the mountains in search of stories that inspire, following the rhythm of the season and the people who move with it.
For us, that shift also starts with what we make. This winter marks a return to the original idea behind Aztech Mountain: luxurious technical outerwear made to the highest quality. You’ll see designs and silhouettes from us that are minimal and tasteful, timeless and discreet. We’ve tightened the collection around classic designs that perform in Aspen and belong in New York.
“We wanted to get back to the things that have always made us special,” says Aztech Mountain Co-Founder Heifara Rutgers. “Great materials, thoughtful design and clothes that work wherever the day takes you. It’s about making things that feel right in Aspen, but don’t need to stay there.”
(The colors you'll see from us will brighten an austere winter landscape.)
The color palette we chose sets the foundation for this season. You’ll see Sander Navy, Bear Brown and Bordeaux set the foundation, with flashes of Phantom Blue, Bougainvillea and Anti-Freeze. Original prints developed in our studio look back to Aspen’s golden age, when lava lamps bookended a powder day and when après-ski sessions morphed into all-night debauchery on the dance floor at Andre’s, a storied bygone bar in Aspen’s downtown core.
The season also gave us an opportunity to rethink some of the materials we use. We’ve pushed further into natural fibers, bringing them into the ski collection with the Pfeifer Corduroy Collection, a waterproof corduroy ski trouser, vest and jacket. The Tony Moleskin Ski Shirt is made for layering and moving between the mountain and town, while the Sport Tech capsule pairs merino wool with nylon panels where the body needs them most.
(Our new Tony Moleskin Ski Shirt will move seamlessly from the mountains to the city.)
A few pieces have us particularly excited to introduce this season. The Matador 3-in-1 Jacket separates into a waterproof shell and insulated inner layer, built for days when the weather refuses to make up its mind. The Hayden Down Jacket brings a longer, more tailored silhouette to our women’s collection, with weather protection that makes it useful well beyond the ski hill.
But our clothes are just the beginning.
This season, we’ll spend time with the New York skiers who build lives between two disparate locales, the harried sidewalks of the city and the spinning chairlifts of the mountains. We’ll join the locals climbing Ajax in the pre-dawn light to get a lap in before clocking in at work. We’ll look back at the generation that came home from World War II and helped build the ski industry we know today. We’ll travel to Lech, dig through Aspen’s archives, wait for storms and honor the chalky bumps and bluebird days, and revisit the places and rituals that keep bringing people back.
Our rhythm will change as the season moves along. October is the turn, when summer gives way and winter begins to take shape. November is the waiting game, the anticipation and preparation before the season arrives. December is the annual migration, when people come together and return to the familiar places of winter. January has pull and gravity, when skiing takes over and commitment deepens with the snowpack. February is about the elements we weather, endure and chase. And by March, the rhythm loosens, the days get longer, the pace changes and winter’s grip begins to let go.
To us, Season’s Change isn’t about weather. It’s about the way we change with the seasons, and the familiar rhythm that carries us through.
The beat has already begun. Winter is coming, and we’re ready for it.
(Local photographer Jeremy Swanson snapped this pic of Aspen straddling seasons a few years back for @AspenSnowmass. Photo: @JSwansonPhoto)
