Community Service: Bob Wade’s Ute Mountaineer stands the test of time

Aspen’s village center is known for its high-end shopping, with Euro-chic designers like Dior, Gucci and Prada in storefronts across the pedestrian mall. But another type of retailer sits on the corner of South Galena and East Hyman, one where the word steep doesn’t conjure images of price tags. Ute Mountaineer, the family-owned purveyor of high-end mountain gear, operator of the Aspen and Snowmass Cross Country Centers and organizer of countless town- and mountain-based events, is an Elk-Mountain staple. I spoke with Bob Wade, Ute’s owner since day one in 1977, about the shop and Aspen—then, now and into the future. —Brittney Manning

There was a guy named Fritz Stammberger who was one of the first guys to do one of the more extreme lines on a 14er. That was on the north face of North Maroon Peak in the late ’60s or early ’70s. Then Chris Landry took up the extreme skiing in the area and did the first ski descent of the east face of Pyramid, which still remains a really difficult descent. It had only been done a couple of times as of a decade or so ago, and now it seems like it is on everyone’s hit list.

When skiing was just getting going here, a lot of people hiked up the mountains. In the ’60s, a series of huts were built, and people started getting after it that way. So the backcountry skiing here has kind of a long heritage.

In recent years, our mayor has created an initiative to make us the capital of uphilling in the country. So we’re definitely seeing a lot of activity in the backcountry. And it has always been strong for us. There are a lot of people coming into our shop to get the really light ski packs, apparel and tech bindings. They’re all hiking up everything from the mountains that are a bit friendlier for uphilling to more technical ascents and descents. Since we’ve had the hut system, it’s been a way for people to transition from the strong sidecountry skiing to more challenging terrain. There’s the full spectrum of terrain for those hut users.

With the popularity of the town and real-estate prices today, it’s definitely harder for people to start a business here. So we’re seeing a lot more well-established chains come in and fewer mom-and-pop businesses. To me, that doesn’t address the locals as well as it could. Aspen is a very vibrant economy. It’s very balanced between winter and summer, but it is definitely that more-high-end shopper who’s being served.

I didn’t expect this, but my daughter [Maile] has been continuously working with me for about seven years, and she’s decided to take over my business. So we’re going to go forward for another generation at least. I’m pretty excited about that, and I think people in Aspen are, too. Not to pick on anybody, but the high-end stores just aren’t what the locals are shopping for. So I think they’re psyched to have a business that puts on events and does things for the community. We’re fortunate to be in a building—the Elks Lodge—that is very much community oriented. So it’s really cool to have them as a landlord, because they understand our business model. That’s really been an important part of our success.

We’re not without our problems. We get more traffic on the roads than we’ve ever had, just like so many resort towns. It gets a little crazy in summer and winter, but Aspen has always been very, very proactive about addressing that kind of stuff. There’s a ton of employee housing that has been built, which is great. I think that people visiting a place like Aspen want to see and hang out with the real people who live there. While we have our challenges, Aspen has done a good job looking into the future.

The ski business has gotten really, really big. And while public corporations are worried about shareholders and quarterly earnings, our owners have been really generous to the town. Opening up Highland Bowl, which you have to hike into, offers a really great sidecountry experience. In fact, all four of our mountains have really cool sidecountry. Aspen is a bit unique in that they’re willing to have uphilling. They don’t fight it. They embrace it. It’s nice to have a major part of the resort understand the desire for that backcountry experience. I’d like to see that balance continue.