Aspen Snowmass Colorado
You’d have to be “Dumb and Dumber” not to have heard of the incredible skiing to be had in Aspen Colorado. Aspen Snowmass offers a brilliant all-round ski resort experience with world-class facilities. Aspen receives a lot of publicity for the rich and famous that visit, but the real drawcard is the huge amount of terrain available across the four Aspen ski resorts, the light dry Colorado powder, and the consistently great weather.
With the exception of Snowmass, each Aspen ski resort is rather average, but it’s the combination of the 4 ski areas of the Aspen Skiing Company plus the many drawcards of the town of Aspen that make the place special.
Pros and Cons of an Aspen Ski Vacation
Pros
- Aspen Snowmass offers a huge amount of terrain across the 4 Aspen ski resorts that are covered on the same lift ticket. The ski areas are also accessible on the Ikon Pass.
- Aspen Snowmass offers high quality services and facilities, and the Aspen ski school is highly renowned.
- The town of Aspen is delightful and we’ve rated it as one of the best ski towns in Colorado. Aspen town is host to a large range of restaurants, bars and shops, and some interesting people watching.
- The nightlife and après ski festivities are a highlight. There are lots of happening bars and the social aspects of an Aspen ski holiday are hard to beat.
- There are plenty of activities beyond just the skiing and snowboarding at the Aspen ski resorts.
Cons
- Aspen is probably not the place to ski or snowboard on a shoestring, but you pay for the quality that you get including huge terrain, great resort infrastructure, and world class service.
- Whilst the resorts are close to each other, they are not interconnected via the slopes, but there is a free shuttle that runs between Aspen and the ski resorts.
Aspen Ski Resorts
Aspen Snowmass is made up of four separate ski resorts that are within a 9 mile radius of each other:
Aspen Mountain (aka Ajax) looms above the town of Aspen;
Snowmass is a 20 minute drive from downtown Aspen; and
Buttermilk and
Aspen Highlands are only a few clicks away from town. Each of the 4 Aspen ski resorts and their base areas have rather distinct personalities and strengths. See the overview table or you can check out the pros and cons of each on the resort overview pages.
| Overview of Aspen Ski Resorts |
|
Pros |
Not So Good For |
| Aspen Mountain |
Easy access to/from Aspen town
Apres ski scene |
Beginners |
| Aspen Highlands |
Expert terrain
Alpine bowl |
Beginners
Nightlife, glitz |
| Buttermilk |
Beginner terrain
Terrain parks & superpipe |
Advanced & expert riders |
| Snowmass |
Large diverse terrain
Terrain parks
Family oriented
Ski-in ski-out lodging |
Nightlife |
The Aspen Snowmass ski resorts provide a ginormous ski area of 5,527 acres, with 362 marked trails that are 319 miles in length, 41 lifts, and multiple terrain parks. The trails have a good spread of variety for beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert riders. Aspen boasts plenty of wide groomed trails, powder bowls, moguls, tree runs, and gated backcountry skiing.
It is easy for hard-core skiers and snowboarders to overlook Aspen because of its glamorous reputation, but rest assured there are plenty of steeps and white knuckle runs to challenge experienced riders.
Similarly, powder hounds sometimes steer clear of Aspen Snowmass because of the misconception that it’s really crowded. Sure Aspen is certainly not a secret ski destination where powder hounds can relish in the powder all by themselves. However in amongst all that terrain there are some secret powder stashes to be found, especially if you hook up with a guide in the know.
Aspen Snow
As is typical of
Colorado ski resorts, the quality of the powder is usually very good, and with 300 inches of snowfall per season on average, powder days are reasonably common.
Where is Aspen Snowmass Colorado?
The town of Aspen is 220 miles southwest of Denver International Airport. Frequent ground transportation operates between Denver airport and Aspen. A rental car is another option, although once in Aspen a car isn’t really necessary as there is a free bus and shuttle system that travels around town and between the ski resorts.
Aspen-Pitkin County Airport is another gateway airport, about 3 miles (5km) from Aspen and 6 miles from Snowmass. Flights originate from various cities including Denver, Los Angeles, SLC and Chicago. The downside of flying into Aspen is the small risk of the airport closing in foul weather. You can look at
flight options here.
Aspen Hotels & Lodging
Aspen is a historic ski town with a wide variety of accommodation to suit most budgets and tastes. If you want to spend a fortune on lodging in this town you certainly can, but the reality is there are some options for those on a budget. The town of Aspen has hotels, condos, motels, lodges, bed and breakfasts, and plenty of vacation rentals. See the
Aspen lodging page for more information.
Snowmass is home to a thriving village at the base of the mountain that has been well planned such that approximately 95 percent of the lodging is conveniently ski in ski out.
Snowmass lodging is mainly hotels and condominiums. The other option is to stay in the village at the base of Aspen Highlands but there's not much else to do there other than ski or snowboard.
Aspen & Snowmass Accommodations Listings
Aspen Activities
Aspen Snowmass has a plethora of off-slope activities on offer including ice skating, paragliding, hot air ballooning, the alpine coaster, day spas or a soak in hot springs. Other on-snow activities include snow shoeing and cross country skiing. Aspen is also heaven for any shop-a-holic with designer clothing shops, gift shops, galleries, and plenty of ski and snowboard shops. You don’t need to partake in organised activities to make the most of Aspen. People-watching on the streets or in restaurants is amazing darhling and an activity in itself.
Aspen Colorado Elevation
The elevation of Aspen town is 8,000 feet (2,438m) and the Snowmass Village is at 9,100ft, whilst the top lift-access elevations of the Aspen ski resorts range from 9,900 to 12,510ft (Snowmass), so seaside dwellers may need to take it a little easy for a couple of days. See the
altitude sickness Colorado page for more information.