Before the X Games and Shaun White, Aspen was John Denver and Hunter S. Thompson's Domain

For a new generation, Aspen, Colorado is synonymous with the winter X Games. Held this year through Jan. 26, they feature more than 200 of the world's top snow sports athletes competing in extreme feats on snowboards, skis and snowmobiles. The made-by-and-for-ESPN event brings 125,000 travelers to Aspen each January to witness the craziness. And the X Games have helped make a household name out of people like Shaun White.

But for an older generation, a different--but still fabulously coiffed person--was synonymous with Aspen: John Denver.