Are you still looking for a way to ring in the new year in Aspen? As we quickly approach 2012, Aspen’s packed schedule of parties and options for New Years festivities promises something for everyone.

From drink specials at the Aspen Brewery to commemorate the 12th day of Aspen and screening of the Academy Award-hyped film, The Iron Lady, to a DJ spinning beats in Wagner Park and a breathtaking fireworks show booming from Ajax, tonight is THE night to be out on the town in Aspen.

Here are a handful of ideas for you and your crew to enjoy tonight:

Have fun, be safe, celebrate 2011 and toast 2012!

The Aspen Historical Society is expanding opportunities to learn about area history while skiing local mountains.

For three seasons, the society has offered ski history tours on Aspen Mountain, but this year, the tours are being offered at Snowmass and Aspen Highlands as well.

Aspen Highlands tours are every Monday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., starting at the guest services hut near the Merry-Go-Round restaurant; Snowmass tours are on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., meeting at the top of Sam’s Knob; Aspen Mountain tours are every Friday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. meeting at the guest services hut at the top of the mountain.

Check out the Aspen Historical Society's ski tours on Ajax, Highlands and Snowmass.

Mike Monroney, history coach at the society, has been leading the Aspen Mountain tours since their inception. More so than any of the other mountains, “the mining history is right underneath your feet while you are skiing,” Monroney said of Ajax. The tour focuses on the early development of skiing in Aspen, as well as some of the visible evidence throughout the mountain of the mining days. For example, the tour makes a stop at the Tourtelotte Park run, where there was once a small mining town.

The Aspen Highlands tours goes through that mountain’s history as the one-time “black sheep” of ski hills, which remained independent of the Aspen Skiing Co. until the 1990s. Whip Jones, the mountain’s founder, made a unique mark on the sport, hiring Stein Ericksen to run the ski school in the late 1950s and embracing freestyle skiing early on. Highlands tours are lead by Jane Click.

Snowmass tours take participants up the Big Burn lift to overlook the whole valley. The area’s ranching history, Native American past and the recent ice age discoveries are the focus of the Snowmass tours, led by Alexander Hunter. The tours will work their way down the Sneaky’s side of the Big Burn.

Each tour lasts about an hour, Monroney said, although the length can be tailored to whatever the group wants.

“Viewing Aspen through the lens of Frette and Fendi,” writes Rottman, “celebrities and second homes is to see only part of the image. Carpeted with white-trunked aspen, the three-and-a-half-square-mile town lies in a box canyon between three mountains—Red, Smuggler, and Aspen—and is framed in the near distance by peaks that rise like spirits more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Once among the country’s most productive silver mining camps, the area has become one of the glitziest ski resorts. But there are still ways to enjoy the town—and the ESPN Winter X Games at the end of the month—without the $800 hotel room and $22 burger.”

Check out the pages straight from Los Angeles Magazine below, grab a copy of the issue on newsstands or CLICK HERE to purchase a digital version of LA Mag.

“The ski industry has a built-in incentive to mitigate global warming. But the chief reason they promote sustainability is that skiers and snowboarders like you generally care about the environment, and are more likely to buy a lift ticket at an eco-minded resort. Here’s my list of relatively guilt-free options, though none are nearly as low-impact as free-heeling in the woods.

Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado
Aspen/Snowmass has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 25 percent from 2000 levels within the next eight years. To achieve this, it has built a solar array that produces enough electricity to power 20 homes, and developed a small hydroelectric plant on Snowmass Mountain. It also established green building guidelines for its new buildings, and created an environmental foundation that has donated more than a million dollars to local environmental causes.

CLICK HERE to read more.

The Aspen Film Academy Screenings are underway and Oscar-worthy films will be screened through the beginning of the year (December 21–January 1).

For more than two decades, this unique film series has given voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the opportunity to screen likely Oscar contenders while visiting Aspen over the holidays. Also open to the general public, this ten-day feast of the newest buzz-worthy movies will take place at Harris Concert Hall, with two screenings most evenings. Tickets to the general public are available through Aspen Show Tickets at the Wheeler Opera House and www.aspenshowtix.com.

Here is the Academy Screenings program:

This year’s program highlights eagerly anticipated films from notable directors, award-winning performances, and festival favorites.

The Academy Screenings’ program includes: Steven Spielberg’s sweeping new epic, WAR HORSE; Tomas Alfredson’s gripping TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, an adaptation of the John Le Carré classic starring Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong; Simon Curtis’s insightful MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, starring Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, and Derek Jacobi; Oren Moverman’s searing crime drama RAMPART, with Woody Harrelson, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wright, Ben Foster, and Ice Cube.

Other films that are garnering Academy Award buzz and to be screened at this year’s festival are: Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, with Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, James Gandolfini, Viola Davis, and Max von Sydow; Lars von Trier’s achingly beautiful MELANCHOLIA, starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, and Charlotte Rampling; Michel Hazanavicius’s visually enthralling THE ARTIST, with Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, and Malcolm McDowell; Rodrigo Garcia’s elegant ALBERT NOBBS, starring Glenn Close, Janet McTeer, and Mia Wasikowska;

Alexander Payne’s perceptive THE DESCENDANTS, starring George Clooney; Steve McQueen’s daringly provocative SHAME, with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan; Jason Reitman’s latest, YOUNG ADULT, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, and Patton Oswalt; and Phyllida Lloyd’s biopic THE IRON LADY, starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent.

Also screening are Philippe Falardeau’s beautifully crafted tale of a teacher who makes a difference, MONSIEUR LAZHAR; Dee Rees’s intelligent coming-of-age story PARIAH; Drake Doremus’s bittersweet romantic drama LIKE CRAZY, starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones; Ralph Fiennes’s Shakespearian adaptation, CORIOLANUS, with Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jessica Chastain; UNDEFEATED, the engaging documentary about an underdog football team from Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin; Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki’s LE HAVRE, a whimsical festival favorite; and Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s award-winning THE KID WITH A BIKE, with Cécile de France.

So, follow Torin and Dav into the pipe!

Here’s how to win: “Like” Aspen Chamber on Facebook.  “Upload a photo” of you at the 12 Bars of Aspen that night and “tag” the bar of the evening in your photo.  We’re checking times and venues, so make sure your photo is clear and that you’re there between 5 and 7pm!

Here are the hotspots to be on each night of 12 Days of Aspen:

December 20th: CP Burger

December 21st: Finbarr’s

December 22nd: Su Casa

December 23rd: J Bar

December 24th: Zane’s Tavern

December 25th: The Red Onion

December 26th: Cantina

December 27th: Cantina

December 28th: Little Annie’s

December 29th: La Palapa

December 30th: Victoria’s Espresso & Wine Bar

December 31st: The Aspen Brewing Company

Theatre Aspen hosts a free mini-performance of “Annie” this afternoon at 4 P.M. at the Limelight Lodge. This mini-performance offers families, thespians and theater lovers the opportunity to apres with “Annie.”

Then, from Monday through Friday, “Annie” will be on-stage to celebrate the holiday season at the Wheeler Opera House. Don’t miss the triumphant return of Theatre Aspen’s all-star cast, along with newcomers, like Aileen Quinn, star of the original “Annie” film!

Annie is the spunky, Depression-era orphan who believes “the sun’ll come out tomorrow,” and who melts the heart of millionaire Oliver Warbucks, along with everyone else that she meets. The sharply funny book has tons of laughs and warmth and the score contains some of the most memorable and hummable tunes in Broadway history! Appropriate for all ages.

The Aspen Writers’ Foundation (AWF), already elevated at 7,809 feet in the Colorado Rockies, goes stratospheric this ski season as its 15th annual Winter Words literary performance series draws the stars of the writing world to Aspen from February through April, 2012.

This sparkling season features a Pulitzer Prize-rich lineup of novelists, short story writers, journalists, nonfiction masters, and a poet who inhabit the magical intersection of critical acclaim and popular success, where award podiums and bestseller lists meet. The AWF, a program of the Aspen Institute, announces authors Kathryn Stockett, Geraldine Brooks, Tony Horwitz, Michael Chabon (interviewed by Andrew Sean Greer), Tracy Kidder, Ann Patchett, Daniyal Mueenuddin, and Jonathan Wells for its Winter Words program, which will be held at downtown Aspen venues. Individual tickets, season passes, and Author Salon packages, starting at $20, are available from Aspen Show Tickets at www.aspenshowtix.com and 970.920.5770 beginning December 1.

“We always shoot for the stars when it comes to Winter Words, and this year we exceeded our goal,” said AWF executive director Lisa Consiglio. “We consider all lovers of literature to be rock stars, and this line-up proves that Aspen is the place to be for anyone who is passionate about the written word.”

The season schedule is as follows:

- Feb 7, Ann Patchett, Wheeler Opera House Orange Prize winner; bestselling author of Bel Canto; renowned for her brilliance on the page and podium

- Feb 21, Michael Chabon in conversation with Andrew Sean Greer, Wheeler Opera House One of the most celebrated writers of his generation; the genius behind The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

- Feb 27, Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz, Wheeler Opera House Pulitzer Prize-winning masters of form: fiction, journalism and nonfiction; bestselling authors of People of the Book (Brooks) and Midnight Rising (Horwitz)

- Mar 1, Tracy Kidder, Wheeler Opera House Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner; nonfiction powerhouse; bestselling author of Strength in What Remains

- Mar 8, Daniyal Mueenuddin, The Little Nell Debut author of In Other Rooms, Other Wonders; Story Prize winner; finalist for the Pulitzer and the National Book Award

- Mar 19, Jonathan Wells, The Gant Author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Train Dance; finalist for the Pushcart Prize; expert on the poetry of rock n’ roll

- Apr 3, Kathryn Stockett, Wheeler Opera House Author of the international sensation, The Help; the literary inspiration for the #1 box office hit film; book club phenomenon

Winter Words events take place at 5:30pm (doors at 5pm). Tickets are $20/event or $110/ season subscription with deeper discounts available for AWF members, Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, students, and educators.

Immediately following the public talk by each author, a private party for the guest of honor will be held at a downtown art gallery. Author Salons are a rare opportunity to break bread and share conversation with a renowned author, all while participating in a private viewing of the gallery’s art collection. Author Salon Packages include an event ticket with reserved seating at Winter Words 2012 and a pass to the private after-party. These special gatherings are sponsored by Aspen Peak magazine.

Tickets, passes and packages may be purchased starting December 1 from Aspen Show Tickets at 970.920.5700 and through www.aspenshowtix.com. More information is available from the Aspen Writers’ Foundation at 970.925.3122 and www.aspenwriters.org.

The Aspen Writers’ Foundation (AWF) was founded in Aspen in 1976 as a cutting edge poetry conference and literary magazine. Today the Aspen Writers’ Foundation is one of the nation’s leading literary centers and a stage for the world’s most prominent authors, reaching over 1,150,000 literary enthusiasts globally. AWF programs employ literature as a tool for provoking thought, broadening perspectives, fostering connections, inspiring creativity, and giving voice. Since 2009, the AWF has partnered with the Aspen Institute, underscoring the highest humanistic ideals of Aspen Institute founder Walter Paepcke: to better understand human challenges by cultivating one’s inner life through the exchange of words, stories, and ideas.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has an international network of partners.