Aspen Snowmass (Colorado)
Famous as much for its glamour and partying as for its advanced and expansive terrain, Aspen Snowmass is a unique place to ski. . .
The Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is within 10 minutes of the town of Aspen, which in addition to offering extensive shops, bars, clubs, luxury hotels, and five-star restaurants, also contains the Silver Queen Gondola accessing Aspen Mountain / Ajax, one of four mountains associated with Aspen. The free RFTA shuttle service operating every 15 minutes from the Rubey Park Transit Center takes you to the other three mountains (Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass) all of which are 15-30 minutes via the shuttle and even less if you drive on your own. This town sure is something.
Aspen Mountain / Ajax
Aspen Mountain / Ajax 675 acres, 76 trails, 3267ft vertical rise
The “town mountain” is known for its steeps, glades, and bumps. You will get familiar with this mountain faster than it first might seem. It is comprised of three ridge lines (Gentlemen’s Ridge, Ridge of Bell, and Ruthie’s). There are two lifts running from town, the main “Silver Queen Gondola” which takes you all the way to the top and provides access to the entire mountain, and the smaller “Shadow Mountain” / “Lift 1A” which takes you up about halfway.
A popular line off of Silver Queen is to ski under the gondola into variations of Sunrise/Sunset, Face of Bell, and Shoulder of Bell to looker’s right. You could also ski looker’s left into Hyrup’s or Walsh’s and then connect that into Glade #1 or #2 further down below. Note that there is quite a flat traverse (called Lud’s Lane) at the bottom of that upper looker left part of the mountain so only go into Hyrup’s and Walsh’s if it’s looking particularly enticing. On a similar note, the Gent’s Ridge Lift is an older and slower lift, so it’s more efficient to access that terrain from the Silver Queen Gondola. The Sundeck located at the top of the Silver Queen is a great place to get lunch or a drink and enjoy the beautiful views and sunlight on a bluebird day.
Ajax Express and FIS are reliable mid-mountain lifts and Bonnie’s is another special place to grab a bite or a drink in this part of the mountain.
For those seeking more extreme terrain, Traynor Ridge offers some very steep glade runs. Skiing down from Ruthie’s take Summer Road towards Aztec where you will see a gate skier’s right into a traverse. T1 and T3 were challenging and fun requiring tight jump turns. This area will empty into the Shadow Mountain / 1A Lift.
For those looking for a guided backcountry experience, I heard many glowing reviews of Aspen Powder Tours which for $625 per person (or $5800 for 10 people) takes you on a snowcat backcountry day trip behind the top of Silver Queen Gondola. Most people skied about 10-15 excellent runs over the day tailored to their abilities as well as a great lunch included with the ticket.
Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands 1040 acres, 144 trails, 3635ft vertical rise
There are two very divergent attractions at the second of Aspen’s four mountains, Aspen Highlands: The Highland Bowl Hike and Cloud9.
The Highland Bowl Hike is a beautiful 40-60 minute bootpack along a ridge line to a breathtaking 360-degree view with the reward of nearly 20 steep lines into the bowl or surrounding glades. This is must do on a bluebird day. Take the Exhibition Lift to the Loge Peak Lift where you will find a Ski Patrol cabin with a great deck overlooking the Highlands Bowl and surrounding mountains. Ski Patrol can answer any questions you have about the hike as well as rent out ski straps for $10 to carry your skis on your back. The cabin also contains great heated bathrooms around the back with toilets and glass paned windows looking out at the beautiful trees outside. There really couldn’t be a fancier place to prepare for a 40 minute hike to advanced terrain. Once you are ready to begin, a short groomer leads to the start of the hike. Sometimes there is a snowcat running that will take you the first 10-15 minutes. It’s worth just doing it yourself and taking in the beautiful scenery. The hike can be divided into three steep ascents. At one point you need to move past a large rock formation and there is a rope to hold on to if you need. The summit is a happy place filled with skiers enjoying the summit, listening to music, and taking photos. Nepali prayer flags line the hut at the top. The descent down takes about 20-30 minutes if you make the most of it. I choose to ski down G-2 and G-3 the two times I hiked and I had an incredible time, but really you can drop in where ever you are feeling it. This is a great article about the hike if you are interested in more information.
Cloud9 is the polar opposite of the rejuvenating soul soothing Highlands Bowl. A luxurious dining and après’ ski establishment, I’m not sure if you will find anything else like it in the United States. Midweek in the early afternoon hours, Cloud9 has the atmosphere of just another fancy wine and champagne bar. At a certain point especially on the weekends, however, the venue transforms into a NYC nightclub at 10,900ft with a reservations-only extravagant two-hour lunch seating with the highest quality food (steaks and seafood towers) starting at 2:00pm. A DJ spins music warning guests that champagne must not be sprayed until 3:00pm. Inside the restaurant, twenty-something year olds armed with credit cards take much of their clothes off and place them into plastic bags. And then the champagne showers commence. The smell of champagne is so strong it’s difficult to breathe, with alcohol literally dripping from the wooden ceiling. If you were not in the middle of a ski mountain, you would think it was 4am in NYC’s Meatpacking District. Electronic Dance Music floods the airways at the highest volume. Everyone is standing on tables dancing inside and outside. After far too much champagne has been consumed, and many more bottles unfortunately wasted to the showers, enormous bills are paid. No one seems the slightest phased. And now, against all odds, every intoxicated customer skies nearly 3,000ft down the mountain. You would not think such a place could exist. For better or worse, it does. The Highlands Bowl and Cloud9 juxtaposed are a microcosm of Aspen.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk 470 acres, 44 trails, 2030ft vertical rise
The smallest of Aspen’s four mountains, Buttermilk is billed as the “perfect playground for kids and kids at heart to learn the basics, master the terrain park, skin uphill, or watch the world’s best freestylers in the X Games.”
I did not ski this mountain but my understanding is it is great for groomers and low angle terrain. I heard that the black runs looker’s left can be fun.
Snowmass
Snowmass 3342 acres, 98 trails, 4406ft vertical rise
Snowmass is larger than Aspen’s other three mountains combined and offers a ton of adventure through short hikes in the upper sections of the mountain. Given the sheer size of this mountain, there is a strategy to spending more time skiing and less time on lifts. One cool itinerary for experienced skiers would involve the following path of runs/lifts from looker’s right to looker’s left across the mountain:
Big Burn
Sneaky’s and Powerline Glades are always fun for technical moguls and glades.
Cirque
This brief Poma lift accessible from the top of Big Burn Lift or Sheer Bliss Lift gets you up to the highest elevation (12,501ft) with beautiful and peaceful views. From here you can ski the Cirque Headwall or the East Wall down to the bottom of High Alpine Lift, or continue looker’s left towards the top of High Alpine Lift and save yourself what would otherwise be a 5-10 minute hike to the terrain further left such as Roberto’s, etc.
High Alpine
There are many great options from the top of this lift. Shoot down The Edge to Baby Ruth to Hanging Valley Glades for some challenging mogul and glade terrain. Part of Baby Ruth is considered extreme terrain due to some cliffs / exposure that needs to be avoided. Know your line.
An even better option is to hike 5-10 minutes up to Roberto’s or The Headwall and come down through Willy’s to finish up at the bottom of Elk Camp Lift.
Elk Camp
This was one of my favorite parts of the mountain. Ski Bull Run in and out of the glades and beneath the lift line to loop Elk Camp or hike out about 5-10 minutes looker’s left to Long Shot and take the long trip down to the bottom of Two Creeks Lift.
The Aspen Scene
Belly Up Aspen is a spectacular venue to see live music located in the heart of Aspen. There is not a bad seat in this intimate space with a capacity under 450 dispersed across standing room, tables, and a bar. Talented and often well-known musicians and entertainers stream through this place on a weekly basis. Check it out!
The Jerome Hotel is a beautiful building that transports you into a different time period. J Bar carries that nice ambiance along with a solid burger. The Living Room is a cocktail bar through the lobby of the hotel that is worth checking out for its atmosphere and decor.
Matsuhisa is another top level sushi restaurant by Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa the founder of Nobu restaurants and hotels throughout the country. The food does live up to the hype.
Mi Chola is a good Mexican restaurant in town to enjoy after a long day on the slopes.