Dr. Duane Vandenbusche was designated as Colorado’s State Historian this past Colorado Day, Aug. 1, 2020, a title that he will hold until Colorado Day this year. Vandenbusche is also the state’s longest serving professor; he started teaching at Western State University in Gunnison in 1962, and he has authored a handful of books that have become the go-to classroom texts for Western Slope history. This week, he will join Aspen Historical Society for a virtual event covering Aspen and the state’s colorful ski history.
“We’re going to start off with the skiing in Colorado that went way back to the 1880s,” he said of the virtual event’s programming. “Of course, Aspen, of all the towns in the state, probably has one of the richest ski histories, so we’re going to spend a good bit of time on Aspen.”
Vandenbusche spoke with arts and culture reporter Kirsten Dobroth about what it’s like to be Colorado’s state historian, lessons from the pandemic and—of course—ski history ahead of the event. The Aspen Historical Society virtual discussion with Dr. Vandenbusche on Tues. March 16 at 7 p.m. is open to the public, and is part of the organization’s ongoing “Time Travel Tuesdays” programming.
