Aspen, Colorado is known around the world for it’s high-end ski resorts, fine dining and luxurious accommodations. Much of the high-end restaurants and lodging can be found in downtown Aspen, but the Aspen skiing area actually expands to Snowmass Village which is about a 20 minute drive away.
Here’s everything you need to know when planning a winter vacation to Aspen!
The Mountains
Aspen Snowmass has four distinct ski resorts, each offering unique terrain and experiences for skiers and snowboarders of all skill levels:
- Aspen Mountain (also called Ajax): This is probably the most difficult of all four mountains. It has a runs ranging from blues to double black diamonds, but does not offer any green (beginner) runs. At the top, you can see amazing views of the town of Aspen as well as the Maroon Bells. This mountain also has downtown Aspen directly at its base, so it’s very easy to access, especially if you are staying in town.
- Aspen Highlands: This mountain also does not offer any green runs, but it is slightly easier than Aspen Mountain. This resort tends to groom more runs and has many runs that aren’t quite as steep. This resort also offers the Highlands Bowl, which is accessible by a 45 minute hike and provides skiers / snowboards tons of open territory to explore.
- Buttermilk: This mountain is the smallest of the four, and very beginner friendly. It’s located very close to Highlands and is much less tall and steep. It also tends to be a popular place for snowboarders.
- Snowmass: This mountain is the largest of the four and offers a wide variety of runs for experience levels. It’s a very family-friendly mountain and is great for kids to take lessons. For the more experience skiers and snowboarders, there are also much tougher runs! It has a lot of fun open tree runs that are amazing on powder days. This is my personal favorite mountain in the area.
Après Ski and Nightlife
After a long day hitting the slopes, there’s plenty of places to relax and/or have fun. Enjoy some spa time at one of the many top-rated resorts in town, or head to one of the many bars or restaurants for an après ski drink or meal.
For an unforgettable après experience, visit Cloud Nine on Aspen Highlands. It’s a world-famous restaurant / bar that is located mid-mountain and is known for it’s 2:00 pm parties where people spray champagne around the crowd. It’s a one of a kind experience!
If you want to keep the party going later, Aspen’s nightlife scene is quite lively, with plenty of options for dancing, live music and other late-night fun times. Some must-do’s include checking out a show at BellyUp and visiting the nightclub Escobar.
Where to Stay
The main options for where to stay are in the town of Aspen or in Snowmass Village. Aspen tends to be much more expensive, especially the hotel options. But with the expense comes luxury. Some of the hotels in Aspen are world-renowned, such as the St. Regis and Hotel Jerome. Snowmass Villages offers more affordable (but still very nice) lodging options. Many of these are also ski-in/ski-out, so it’s very easy to access Snowmass Mountain, and drop the kiddos off at ski school.
Where to Buy Lift Tickets
There are a couple options for lift tickets / ski passes that allow you to access all four Aspen Snowmass resorts:
- You can buy lift tickets directly from Aspen Snowmass. If you are planning a vacation in advance, you can buy multi-day ski passes online at a discounted price compared to buying tickets at the window once at the mountain.
- You can buy an Ikon Full or Ikon Base Plus pass. The Ikon Pass is a collective that offers access to more than 50 destinations across the US. This is a great option if you plan on visiting more than just Aspen Snowmass in a season, as it will save you a lot of money. The Ikon Pass is a different price every year, but it tends to be around $900 – 1,000 for a season. Given that the window rate for a day at any of the resorts can go up to $250, the pass will save you money if you plan on skiing more than 5 days in a season.
How to Get There
There are two main options for getting to Aspen:
- You can either fly into Denver International Airport, rent a car, and drive to Aspen. This is about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive without traffic, but congestion and weather tends to cause a lot of traffic on the highway, especially on the weekends. So this can easily be a very long drive. I would also recommend renting a 4WD or AWD vehicle as the road can be very icy or snow-filled.
- You can also fly into the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport. This is a very small airport right outside of the town of Aspen. It tends to be more expensive to fly into, but some of the major airlines still offer flights into it, including United. Once there, you can easily get transportation into either Aspen or Snowmass, so there’s really no need to rent a car. The county also offers a very easy to use, free bus system that travels from Snowmass to Aspen and stops at several places in between.