Aspen has four different mountains; Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.
Snowmass–
Terrain:
The biggest of the Aspen mountains, Snowmass usually brings the crowds with its bowls and view of the Maroon Bells from the top of the Cirque. While the other mountains in Aspen cater to more specific types of skiers and boarders, Snowmass encompasses everything one would want in a mountain. From great bowls to being family friendly, there is not much Snowmass does not have.
For the park rider, Snowmass has a nice progression with three different parks. Lowdown Park is great for kids and those wanting to get into some park riding. Makaha Park has a great medium jump line and run rail features. Snowmass Park has more of the larger features including a 22-foot superpipe, large jump line and advanced rails.
Snowmass does not have a lot of beginner terrain, but there are areas specifically for kids. There is also a paraglide section of the resort if that is your bag of tea. Snowmass is mainly filled with great blues, which makes up almost half of the resort. These blues can be very long runs with the longest run being 5.3 miles! These blues usually have fun rollers to zoom over which makes for great playful group laps with friends.
For the more advanced skiers and boarders, Snowmass has some amazing bowls and glades. Looker’s left of the High Alpine lift you’ll find Hanging Valley, which is filled with awesome double blacks. This includes rad tree runs and fun cliffs to huck. On powder day you do not want to miss out on the hanging valley area. Although you do have to do some traversing to get over there. It is also a hard area to do quick laps on because you have to take multiple lifts to get back to the top. The Cirque is another great bowl area to check out for more open steep runs. Then Garrett Gulch, between Sheer Bliss and Big Burn lifts, is a more playful black because you can pop in and out of the gluch as you please. These areas are great, but since Snowmass is so large, it can be hard getting from place to place. With so much to choose from, it’s hard to know where to go first. Thus, it’s best to spend a few days here so you can explore the whole mountain.
Base Elevation – 8,600 ft
Peak Elevation – 12,510 ft (top of The Cirque)
Number of Lifts – 20
Number of Trails – 98
Total Terrain – 3,342 acres
Easiest Terrain (Greens) – 5%
More Difficult Terrain (Blues) – 48%
Most Difficult Terrain (Blacks) – 17%
Expert Terrain (Double Blacks) – 30%
Resort Hours – 8:30am-4pm Daily
Aspen Mountain–
Terrain:
Aspen Mountain is a quaint, but fun mountain that lies above Aspen village. This resort is fun to zoom around on because it is entirely made up of blues and blacks. There is no beginner terrain and no terrain park, which may be why the locals like it; less crowds and more advanced terrain. I remember looking at the terrain in the summer and thinking “wow, I want to ski that”. There is a lot of steep terrain, because Aspen Mountain lies in a valley. The terrain almost funnels you into this valley down to the base. Because of this you can sometimes miss the lift you wanted to go to and have to do a bit of backtracking. I did feel like I was on a lift a majority of the day, just trying to get places, which on a cold day was not ideal.
After skiing here, though, I do understand why they call it Aspen Mountain. The double black runs off of the F.I.S lift on a powder day are what skiers and boarders dream of; steep and deep open Aspen trees. I could have skied these runs all day, but I had to explore the whole mountain. Where the F.I.S. lift lies on the mountain makes it very difficult to lap this area unfortunately. This was my favorite place to ski and you had to basically go back to the base and all the way back to the top just to do the same run again.
Aspen Mountain as a whole is catered towards the more advanced skiers and boarders who love trees. You could spend the entire day doing nothing but tree runs and have an amazing ski day. Although for those who like bigger mountains and get sick of doing the same run over again, maybe Aspen Mountain is not the place for you. One thing I found interesting about Aspen Mountain is that the moguls were quite tall. This made it hard to find a good rhythm to ski between, so I stuck mainly in the trees all day.
Base Elevation – 7,945 ft
Peak Elevation – 11,212 ft
Number of Lifts – 8
Number of Trails – 76
Total Terrain – 675 acres
Easiest Terrain (Greens) – None
More Difficult Terrain (Blues) – 48%
Most Difficult Terrain (Blacks) – 26%
Expert Terrain (Double Blacks) – 26%
Resort Hours – 9am-3:30pm Daily
Aspen Highlands–
Terrain:
Aspen Highlands is another mountain in Aspen that is just for advanced skiers. With only blues and blacks, Aspen Highlands brings in a crowd of more daring skiers. Over half (65%) of the terrain is expert only aka double blacks. Although, there are still enough blues to give your legs a rest from all the moguls and trees, don’t worry. For the advanced skiers and boarders, Aspen Highlands is the perfect playground. The sheer number of tree runs makes it impossible to get bored here (especially on a powder day).
Unfortunately while I was visiting, the Highlands Bowl was not open due to very high avalanche danger. This can be a common occurrence at most resorts with advanced terrain like this, but usually goes away in a day or two. The hike to terrain areas in Highlands has some amazing steep open double blacks. I only got to ski the outskirts of the bowl and wow does it look rad. If you don’t mind doing a little hiking, the bowl is definitely worth a run. If you’re not up for a hike, the runs off of Deep Temerity lift are just as amazing. There are great aspen glades which make for more open tree runs. While in the trees, if you stop and happen to look around there are some hidden gems. I found a ‘K9 Shrine’ in the middle of a glade where on the trees there were pictures of dogs with their toys. There were a few other such areas, you just had to look around. This made each tree run even more of an adventure.
Overall, Aspen Highlands is a great place for the more advanced skiers and boarders. It is not the most family friendly resort because it has zero green runs. There is also no terrain park. This means Highlands is a great place for the locals to go. The small village at the base of Highlands makes it seem like its own small resort. Even though the resort may look small with five lifts, it has the feel of a bigger resort without the crowds.
Base Elevation – 8,040 ft
Peak Elevation – 12,392 ft
Number of Lifts – 5
Number of Trails – 144
Total Terrain – 1,040 acres
Easiest Terrain (Greens) – None
More Difficult Terrain (Blues) – 23%
Most Difficult Terrain (Blacks) – 12%
Expert Terrain (Double Blacks) – 65%
Resort Hours – 9am-3:30pm Daily
Buttermilk–
Terrain:
Buttermilk, is where the famous Aspen X games occur every year in January. If you want to ski I recommend avoiding the X games when visiting Aspen. The X games bring in a huge crowd, mainly from local colleges, who want to see the pro athletes do their thing. When the X games are not happening Buttermilk is an entirely different resort. You’ll mainly find families here instead.
With hugely open runs and playful terrain, Buttermilk is the perfect place for Aspen to hold a majority of their ski school programs. Thus, also being the best place in Aspen to bring the family. The lifties make each lift fun with disco balls, fun stuffed animals and cool hats. They are very friendly and make sure everyone feels welcome when skiing here. The progression from green to blue to black is well laid out for those who are learning how to ski or want to improve their skiing. The tree runs are also open, with good visibility and are not steep. Again, the perfect learning terrain for someone wanting to improve their tree skiing.
For the more advanced skier, this may not be the place for you. The Blacks are just steep blues. A few blacks have moguls, but most do not. If you want to improve your tree skiing skills or work on some tricks, then yes Buttermilk is your resort.
One thing that surprised me about Buttermilk was their terrain parks. There are a few parks throughout the mountain. From XS/S to L terrain park, there is a good progression of features from park to park. This gives a nice introduction to terrain parks for kids with the use of boxes, small rollers and a few side hits in the XS/S park. The medium park was filled with tons of M/L rail features for those who like to get creative with their park riding. No wonder the X games are held here every year; the park crew does an amazing job. Buttermilk would be the perfect place for a park day, but I never saw any advanced park riders here. Although it does seem weird to have an incredible park with tons of ski school kids everywhere.
Base Elevation – 7,870 ft
Peak Elevation – 9,900 ft
Number of Lifts – 8
Number of Trails – 44
Total Terrain – 470 acres
Easiest Terrain (Greens) – 35%
More Difficult Terrain (Blues) – 39%
Most Difficult Terrain (Blacks) – 21%
Expert Terrain (Double Blacks) – 5%
Resort Hour – 9am-3:30pm Daily
Atmosphere and Locals:
Aspen is known to be one of the more touristy resorts in Colorado. This may attract some and deflect others. For me spending a weekend in Aspen seems like I went on a vacation even though I just had to drive up I-70. Since it can be a touristy area, Aspen gets travelers from all over the world. You can meet people from different states and countries just walking around the village.
Aspen village has a great night life, if after a day of skiing you feel like hitting the town. There are great bars, restaurants and clubs for all walks of life in the main village. With the easy to use bus system, you can explore the village without having to worry about leaving your car somewhere and finding it later. The nightlife in Aspen makes it a great place for a weekend getaway with your ski pals or college buddies. There are some great restaurants to choose from, so spoil yourself. If you’re in Aspen you’re on vacation so you might as well enjoy everything Aspen has to offer.
Accessibility and Parking:
Free parking at the base of the resorts is almost unheard of in Aspen. What Aspen lacks in free parking, they more than make up for it with their free bus services. There are still three free parking lots around Aspen. Buttermilk lot at the base of Buttermilk (very limited parking), Town Park Station and Bush Creek Lot. You can get to any mountain in Aspen from any lot, through the amazing free bus system. Although it makes taking trips back to the car more difficult, it does make traveling to the different Aspen resorts more convenient.
Aspen is off of I-70 about four hours from Denver. You drive past Glenwood Spring to highway 82. This highway is not maintained as well as I-70 so as always make sure you are driving an AWD/4WD car and be careful on the roads!
Pricing: $$$
All resorts have great cafeterias and restaurants, giving the skiers and boarders multiple options to choose from while on the mountain. Due to increased tourism in Aspen, food and beverage prices are a bit higher than at most resorts.
Lift Ticket Prices –
Adult: $174
Child(6-17)/Senior(65+): $116
Associated Season Passes – Ikon Pass
Lessons –
Private Full Day $895
Private Half Day $705
Buttermilk Deluxe $450
Guided Experience Full Day $895
Guided Experience Half Day $705
Adult Group Ski/Board $190
Adult Ski/Board Clinic $190
Adult First Time $265 (1 Day), $670 (3 Days)
Women’s Edge Ski/Board Clinic $760
Child Group 2.5-3, 3-5, 5-6 $245
Child Group 6-12 $145
Teen Group 13-17 $145
Rentals – @ Four Mountain Sports:
Adult Ski, Boots & Poles $80 (Premium), $67 (Standard)
Adult Board & Boots $80 (Premium), $67 (Standard)
Child Ski & Board (Full Package) $39 (Standard), $54 (Premium Ski)
Adult Ski $71 (Premium), $61 (Standard)
Adult Board $71 (Premium), $61 (Standard)
Adult Ski/Board Boots $37
Child Ski $45 (Premium), $30 (Standard)
Child Board $30
Child Ski/Board Boots $22
For more information on all mountains visit https://www.aspensnowmass.com/
Colorado Ski Resort Travel Blog 