Rowland and Broughton Senior Interior Designer Carol Cisco’s work goes way beyond coordinating sofas with drapes. Her national nonprofit, Designing for Veterans, creates—pro bono—accessible interiors that also facilitate healing for severely disabled vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, Cisco wants to expand that reach even further by designing and constructing the Aspen Veteran Recovery Ranch to help those with PTSD. In other words, she’s literally building hope.

Local public relations maven Jeanette Darnauer scored double silver this year, celebrating 25 years in business and winning one of her field’s top honors: the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil award. Her firm, the Darnauer Group, has represented clients from the nonprofit American Renewable Energy Day to the private Roaring Fork Club. Recently, she signed on with the town of Basalt to aid public outreach amidst some challenging issues—if she can positively affect dialogue, it’d be worthy of a gold medal.

How does one get named Colorado’s Groomer of the Year? Snowmass’s Bill Drake modestly says he’s unsure, but his boss and the folks at Colorado Ski Country USA, which doles out the award, recognized his dedication to his craft. Aside from a 13-year leave to run the Ullrhof, he’s been buffing out runs since 1988, often to a background of books on tape or, now, podcasts. “My favorite thing,” says Drake, who works the 3:30 to 11:30 p.m. swing shift, “is being alone on the mountain, seeing wildlife and sunsets.”

Ski town residents have high expectations for developing the next generation of skiers and riders, and Mark Godomsky beat out 50 other applicants from around the country in assuming his new role as executive director of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. With 25 years of experience working in snow sports on his résumé, and fresh off leading the on-snow programs at Maine’s Gould Academy, Godomsky steps in as the local club celebrates its 80th anniversary.

In The Emerald Mile, his account of the 1983 attempt to pilot a dory through the Grand Canyon during a massive flood, Kevin Fedarko crafted a suspenseful tale of adventure and grit. More recently, he and photographer Peter McBride thru-hiked 650 miles of the canyon, motivated by the desire to see what could be lost as development threatens its wilderness milieu. Hear what Fedarko, and McBride, have to say about their journey at an Aspen Winter Words appearance (Feb. 7).

Jane Lynch may be known for roles like Sue Sylvester in Glee and a butch dog handler in Best in Show, but when she comes to Belly Up Aspen (Jan. 20), it’s her musical talent and comedy chops that will take center stage. The cabaret-style show, “See Jane Sing,” is a riotous take on some of Lynch’s favorite Broadway show tunes and other songbook standards, all filtered through an off-kilter lens.