Long after its boom and bust as a silver mining town, post-war Aspen was recreated by army veterans and a Chicago industrialist as an intellectual retreat, a world-class ski resort, and a natural paradise. But then, it was taken over by drugs, crime, class warriors, lowlifes in subsidized housing, and high-lifes in $100 million mansions. “High Attitude” outlines the history of Aspen through the story of Hunter S. Thompson; the '70s shooting of Spider Sabich; a casual pass-through murder by Ted Bundy, who was later apprehended and brought back to Aspen only to escape through an unlocked jailhouse window to murder again; the 2000s frolicking of Charlie Sheen; and the drunken bawdiness of the Kennedys throughout. Aspen is a place where the DEA keeps impending drug raids secret from the pro-drug sheriff for fear that the dealers will be tipped off and where multimillion-dollar, slope side, subsidized housing goes to privileged insiders with seven-figure net worths and $300,000-a-year incomes. “High Attitude” is ugly, riveting, and instructive on what other resorts-and the rest of America-should avoid.
