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People wait outside of the departures entrance at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Meat and Cheese server Ashley Devon, left, gives free white bean soup to Angi Wang on Thursday, March 19, 2020. The lunch also included a piece of bread.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Challenge Aspen program director Deb Sullivan, right, holds a sign and says hello to Stefan Knight during a Wednesday drive-by at Knight’s home on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Even though Knight met them in the driveway, they made sure to abide by social distancing expectations.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Movieland in Basalt, Colorado on March 17, 2020. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Monday ordered all bars and restaurants in the state to stop serving food and drink in their businesses effective at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The order also includes movie theaters and casinos.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A sign hangs in the window of the Wheeler Opera House announcing closure through March 31 due to coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Aslyn Henrriquez, 16, shops for toilet paper at the Aspen City Market on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. One customer expressed that the store had been low on toilet paper since Saturday, according to what she noticed.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Beth Hubek, left, and Rob Hubek enjoy the sunshine at Snowmass Village Mall during their visit from Dallas on Saturday, March 14, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Two women look at the Aspen Thrift Shop’s notice of closure due to the coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Healthcare providers perform a real-time test for Coronavirus on patients with appointments outside of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department’s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The testing location is for patients with appointments scheduled through the Pitkin County Coronavirus Hotline.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A healthcare provider puts a fit-tested mask over her face before her next patient at the coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department’s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Pitkin County Open Space and Trails ranger Pryce Hadley puts a new social distancing sign at the trailhead of Smuggler Mountain Road on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. The sign urges people to follow the social distancing guidelines to help keep access to public spaces available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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RFTA employee Patricia Rosales Trigo, left, and lead mechanic Will Fabela disinfect a bus at the Aspen Maintenance Facility on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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The first two rows of a RFTA bus is closed off to give the bus drivers distance from passengers due to the coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Skiers load onto the Silver Queen Gondola on Thursday, March 12, 2020. A sign was posted giving people an opportunity to express that they would like to ride alone due to the coronavirus health concerns.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Healthcare providers look in the direction of their first patient at the alternative respiratory evaluation tent set up in the Aspen Valley Hospital parking lot on Friday, March 20, 2020. The tent is not used to test COVID-19, but for things like strep throat or flu. The team was checking temperature and vitals and making recommendations if further testing was needed. To get tested at the tent, a patient had to be referred by a physician. The tent does not allow walk-up appointments.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A Carl’s Pharmacy employee reaches out the door to accept payment from a customer on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Social distancing was put into effect during an Aspen City Council meeting to discuss the coronavirus pandemic at City Hall on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The council passed a resolution declaring an emergency due to COVID-19.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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People dance as a DJ performs at the Snow Lodge Aprés party on Thursday, March 5, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Jim Marolda holds his daughter, Mila, 6, above his head while laying on a sled at the bottom of Buttermilk on Friday, March 20, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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After skinning up Aspen Mountain, Sian Jones, left, Anne Goldberg, center, and Susan Saghatoleslami have a glass of champagne while abiding the social distancing requirements on Saturday, March 21, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Cheryl Goldenberg, left, carries Evie as her and Leah Potts, right, take a stroll through downtown Aspen on Saturday, March 21, 2020. The two women are neighbors and friends.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Two children walk up the big air jump at Buttermilk to sled down on Friday, March 20, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A line of cars leave Aspen heading down valley on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Kelli Higdon coaxes her dog Miso to walk back to the car after the two uphill skied on Snowmass on Friday, March 27, 2020. Higdon is a nurse and said she tries to get out to uphill on her days off to keep her sanity.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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After a heavy snowfall the day before, people travel up Aspen Mountain on Thursday, April 2, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Polly and David Dunn enjoy lunch at Meat and Cheese during one of their stays in Aspen on Saturday, March 14, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A family visiting from different cities enjoy Apres after skiing at the Ranger Station in Snowmass Village Mall on Saturday, March 13, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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High Q store manager Leah Thomas puts on a bandana and gloves for health safety before opening at noon in Snowmass Village Mall on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Dipika Peckham, left, Tara Peckham, 20, and Doug Peckham stand on the other side of their screen door with their dog Tycho while self-isolating due to potential coronavirus exposure on Thursday, March 19, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Aspen Elementary School principal Chris Basten holds a sign up to a parent’s window outside of the school on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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People move through the stations of free food at Buttermilk during a giveaway by Aspen Skiing Company on Friday, March 20, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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José Zavala hangs signs on the doors of rooms after the disinfecting crew have swept the area in Aspen High School on Thursday, March 19, 2020. They have been disinfecting the school all week and were working on the administrative offices in the high school.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Volunteers prepare for the next car at the Aspen Family Connections food drive at the middle school on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. The volunteers asked how many people in a family and provided enough bags of nonperishables for each member, as well as ham, cheese and bread.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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People gather for a group photo after the International Women’s Day downhill parade at Aspen Mountain on Sunday, March 8, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Aspen Ambulance District EMT Eric Tierney stands in the ambulance bay on Friday, April 3, 2020. Tierney is considered an essential worker in Colorado.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Dr. Kelly Locke sits in the “contaminated” side of the respiratory tent outside of the Aspen Valley Hospital on Thursday, April 2, 2020. This side of the tent is used to test patients and the healthcare providers must be dressed in full PPE. “The big thing we’ve been happy about is that we haven’t been overwhelmed with a surge, which we believe is partly because people in the valley are staying inside,” said Dr. Locke.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Aspen Ambulance District paramidic Lisa Hicks wears a powered air purifying respirator and a Tyvek suit next to an ambulance in the ambulance bay on Friday, April 3, 2020. The PAPR is now used for transferring patients from Aspen Valley Hospital to a higher level of care, like Denver or Glenwood Springs. Hicks is one of about eight full-time staff members at the ambulance district that has a critical care certificate. “I feel like I am one of the few people that can help people here,” Hicks said. “But I have to stay healthy to do so.” She said that when she first put the PAPR on, her children cried because they were scared of the virus and her intense suit. She explained to them that it would keep her safe and healthy.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Aspen Ambulance District paramedic Lisa Hicks, left, and EMT Eric Tierney try on their powered air purifying respirator and Tyvek suit in the ambulance bay on Thursday, April 2, 2020. These particular PPE are used for transferring sick patients from Aspen Valley Hospital to a higher level of care facility, like Glenwood Springs or Denver.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Caution tape blocks off the park next to Wagner Park in Aspen on Saturday, April 4, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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A woman runs across an empty Aspen street on Saturday, April 4, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Richard Zuckerwar takes a photos of the closure sign outside of Belly Up Aspen on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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Five people begin to file inside Aspen’s City Market after waiting in line at the door on Thursday, March 26, 2020. City Market is limiting the number of people allowed in the store at one time, as well as allowing senior citizens preferential treatment to enter the store first.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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George Gordon, left, Whitney Gordon, center left, and other people from Gwyn’s High Alpine hand out the restaurant’s food supplies to Snowmass community members in the parking lot of the Housing Office on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Gwyn’s has officially closed its doors on Snowmass Mountain.
(Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
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The past month has upended daily life in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, as the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and Colorado. The way we work, play, socialize, spend family time. What we wear, how we walk on the street, how we shop, where we eat and drink. It’s all changed since this time in March.
It’s hard to believe it’s only been a month since the first positive test for the novel coronavirus in Aspen. Photographer Kelsey Brunner has been on the ground every day since then, documenting seismic and surreal changes, as crowded après-ski scenes gave way to an empty downtown, as the lifts stopped spinning and the mountains filled with social-distancing uphillers, as social life moved online, as health officials and doctors treated the sick and — disrupted as it may be — as life went on in our perseverant mountain community.
In this photo essay, Brunner offers a historic snapshot of the month that COVID-19 changed Aspen.
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