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Silverton To Play Aspen In New Hunter S. Thompson Flick

Wikimedia Commons photo. 

SILVERTON, Colo. — Fans of legendary writer Hunter S. Thompson (and rowdy alpine pow) will have something to celebrate this fall, as Silverton, Colorado, was recently selected as a cinematic stand-in for Aspen, circa 1970.

According to the Durango Herald, the town best known for skiing will serve as the backdrop for “Freak Power,” a movie about Thompson’s bizarre race for sheriff of Pitkin County in 1969/70.

The film will retell the events that Rolling Stone Magazine once described as “The Battle of Aspen,” which began as an insurgent mayoral campaign and then turned into Thompson’s protest/populist sheriff bid. 

They adopted a radical platform that included tenets such as legalizing all drug sales and changing the town name from Aspen to Fat City.

Thompson and collaborator Joe Edwards sought to upend the Pitkin County political establishment by appealing to “freaks,” “heads” and “dropouts” and in the process adopted a radical platform that included tenets such as legalizing all drug sales and changing the town's name from Aspen to Fat City. 

Filmmakers had originally hoped to shoot the film in Aspen, but an alternative location was sought because, as lead producers of the project noted, Aspen has changed a lot since the 1970s, where Silverton’s rustic mining heritage is still tangibly visible and is an accurate depiction of 1970s Aspen.

But most Silverton locals are excited to be welcoming the production, and expect to reap a sizable slow-season economic boom thanks to the shoot, says San Juan County Sheriff and Silverton film liaison Bruce Conrad.

“They’re coming to town next week to look at locations,” Conrad told the Herald. “The majority of the scenes and locations will be in and around town. It’s a pretty extensive location list.”

About The Author

stash member Sam Morse

TGR Editor-at-Large. author of The Ski Town Fairytale and creative behind The Bumion. Lover of steep-and-deep lines, long trails—and hot springs waiting in the distance.

This is a photo of Telluride…

    That’s what I was just going to say haha, not Silverton.

Both of you are mistaken. That is indeed a photo of Silverton. That large gray building with blue trim is the Grand Imperial hotel in Silverton.

    The original photo was of Telluride. It has since been changed. Before was a shot of Tellurides Ingram falls not sultan to silvertons south end.

      Apologies! I guess TGR journalistic standards don’t include proper citation of corrections.

TGR posted the story using a Telluride pic? So much for their website editor’s credibility !

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