The Aspen Skiing Company (ASC), located in Aspen, Colorado, was founded in 1946 by Chicago-based industrialist and philanthropist Walter Paepcke and his wife Elizabeth. Originally a mining town, Aspen began attracting recreational skiers after the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York began to draw AmericansÍ interest in the sport. In 1938, the Paepckes took a trip to Aspen and, after falling in love with the surroundings, envisioned transforming the town into a cultural center, whose purpose would be the ñrenewal of the inner spirit.î In 1945, Walter began acquiring land and met with the original founder of AspenÍs ski club and school, which he was looking to acquire. A deal was struck and in January 1946, the Aspen Skiing Company was incorporated. In its first year, ASC established a chair lift, a ski patrol, and held three races that garnered its difficult mountain terrain some notoriety. In 1950, Aspen hosted the United StatesÍ first world skiing competition, which attracted over 1,500 people and gave ASC worldwide visibility. After several subsequent changes in ownership, ASC became privately owned in 1993 by the Crown family of Chicago, Illinois. We are a values-driven company, owned and operated by people who share a common appreciation and respect for the pristine environment in which we live and fully embrace the Aspen Idea centered around the renewal of Mind, Body, and Spirit. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that our company is a rewarding place to work and our community a desirable place to live. We respect and nurture the delicate balance between ñresortî and ñcommunityî that makes us unique. The combination of our values-based company with unparalleled mountain sports, community, history, culture and environment gives us a unique market niche. We are successful because we live the values and principles expressed here.