Whiteout: Lost in Aspen

by Ted Conover

Book Overview

Irreverent, poignant, and revealing, this meditation on the sweet temptation of wealth and the vainglorious quest for paradise as they exist in Aspen, Colorado, features a "cast of characters (that) includes such barn-size satirical targets as exclusive health clubs, over-the-hill drug dealers and movie stars and rock stars of wattages bright and dim" (The New Republic). From the Trade Paperback edition.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394574699
• ISBN13: 9780394574691
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 269 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

It's been 20 years since Conover worked in Aspen ...

... and 10 years have passed since my last visit. Maybe it's time for another road trip, to see what's become of that trendy town. In the meantime, reading about some of its past days will have to do. Investigative journalist and Colorado native Ted Conover went to Aspen in 1988 to specifically gather material for a book. He hoped to shed light on how and why the tiny silver mining settlement turned into the ultimate poster child for decadence and celebrity. He hoped to determine exactly what "The Aspen Idea" entailed. And so he tried to blend into the community, working first as a taxicab driver and then as a reporter for the Aspen Times newspaper. Both jobs gave him insights into the lives of the various kinds of individuals who can be found there: the native townspeople; the workers who keep local businesses afloat but can't afford to live there; the tourists and outdoor sports fanatics; the hangers-on who camp out in hiding; the servants who maintain empty houses; and the "absentee castlebuilders" who fly in to occupy their McMansions for only a few weeks each year. It's an interesting population mix that's unique to Aspen; at least, it was, during Conover's two-year stay. Reading his interviews now, 20 years later, is both a thoughtful and sad process. Conover was lucky enough to snag personal time with singer-songwriter John Denver, marble miner Steve Albouy, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, and town matron Elizabeth Paepcke. All are now gone: each one of the men, due to tragic circumstances that Conover might explain away as being certain and predestined casualties of the Aspen life. He also had a chance to hang out with a group of former marijuana dealers who made, then lost, much money in that mountain resort. Theirs is a cautionary tale complete in these pages. Key to the region is a proliferation of New Age workshops, lifestyle sessions, and environmental conferences. Conover sampled a few of them and successfully walked away in one piece, though he was partially jaded by his experiences. Apart from the celebrity spotting, the active night life, and the touchy-feely encounters, Aspen's main source of business is of course its location and appeal to outdoor enthusiasts. Himself a skier and a mountain biker, Conover documented the culture of those sports in which participants duly accept the risks in order to achieve the downhill rush. After all, when you are skiing, "Not only are you the driver, you are the car." Some of his most compelling passages surround the rescue efforts undertaken to search for skiers lost in an avalanche. Yes, the Aspen Life comes at a cost. Anyone who has spent time in Aspen will enjoy reading this book, even if they don't agree with Conover's assessment. Everyone should visit the place at least once, just for the experience.

An engaging and awesome read

Ted Conover is one of my favorite authors. I enjoy his ability for immersing himself into whatever subject he is writing and yet managing to maintain a certain impartiality in his observations. Whiteout is no exception to this trend. In it he captures an image of the soul of this very stratified city. He presents the experiences of people from various of it's walks of life and how they interact. What emerges is a work that not only analyzes life in Aspen, but also gives the reader an opportunity for self-examination of his own life and circumstances.

Fascinating Memoir of a Socially Stratified Colorado Town

Conover is expert at gate-crashing and we are so lucky that he's a great writer, too. Here, he's written about his stint as a cab driver in Aspen, but the engrossing part is his own ability to crash celebrity-only functions. It's an interesting study in the interaction of haves and have-nots, for the rich and pampered of this famed snow town NEED the hardworking waiters and drivers and maids and ski instructors and yet are often bizarrely detached from the realities of working a steady job. Conover finds ways of crossing into the world of the haves, without ever forgetting who he is. Conover doesn't show real envy for the rich and famous, but he enjoyed their parties. He's a downhill skiier and cyclist, so he certainly enjoyed the outdoorsy life there and treats a venture into a star studded party as just another nature hike worth detailing. Conover shows a kind of pity, in fact, in a brilliant little section about hanging out in a bar booth with Mick Fleetwood and friends. Who you'll meet in the vignettes and tales of Conover's observations of Aspen life: the plethora of fine-looking young ladies, the unreal mansions with their no-holds-barred parties, the spoiled nouveau riche corporate wives, movie stars and rock stars, the crotchety old guard of the small town, drunks and granola eaters, skiers and commuters from the working class lowland. It's not a gossip-fest, nor is it a boring social critique. But it's a real slice of life. And you get a little local history and politics, too. It's a fine book for anyone who is fascinated by how the other half lives. The author's own mobility, personable nature, and mutability are his true assets. He seemed to walk away from Aspen satisfied and with a desire to explore other realms. Which he does, again and again, in his brilliant books. Good gift for a ski bum, for a social climber, for anyone who admires the art of schmoozing and faking it. Could be a bit too depressing for someone who lost in an attempt to get rich and join the upper crust.

Another brillian work by the talented Connover.

Once again, Ted Connover came through with a completely unique glimpse of a society few people are able to witness. With an amazing gift for immersing himself in different cultures, Ted provides a glimpse into the mostly ultra-rich lifestyle of the Aspenites. I found this novel to be thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking.

An ethnography of "paradise"

Ted Conover, who's known for his looks at the grittier side of life, tried something different in this book: a look at privilege and pleasure as they are enshrined in Aspen, CO. I think that writing about the rich is probably harder than it sounds--for one thing, the average reader doesn't have a lot of sympathy, and for another, most social analysis is directed at the less fortunate. But Conover looks, mostly seriously, at a place that is fairly silly, and the result is Insight of a very high grade. The focus goes both tight and wide, the observations are sharp but not dismissive; we find ourselves in the company of starlets and busboys alike, and presented with quite a few moral dilemmas (is it RIGHT to live this way? how come everybody in the real world looks less attractive after Aspen?). Conover's candor alone makes Whiteout worth the price of admission. If your soul is lingering in Sing Sing after reading Newjack, this Rocky Mountain sojourn could be just the thing you need ...