With four mountains and two towns to choose from, Colorado’s Aspen Snowmass resort is quite possibly the greatest show on ice. Here’s the lowdown on what to see, do, eat and drink. Words and images by Mark Daffey.
One lift ticket, four mountains – the choice is yours. Warm up on Buttermilk, progress to Snowmass, step up to Aspen Mountain (also called Ajax), then finish on the Bowl at Aspen Highlands. You can do them all in a day if you want. And getting from one to the next is easy. None are more than 20 minutes apart, with free buses connecting them all. Does it get any better than that?
Devoted snow hounds get up early each morning before others have had the chance to carve ribbons in the snow. But Aspen has a program called First Tracks which allows access to groomed corduroy or fresh powder before the masses converge. First Tracks on Aspen Mountain is available at 8am each day for those who book private lessons or guided experiences, or for guests staying in an Aspen Skiing Company lodging property. First Tracks on Snowmass is less exclusive, but only takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
After First Tracks, slide into a dining booth at the ski-in, ski-out Bonnie’s restaurant. Located midway up Aspen Mountain, the pine-slat walls and furnishings may look dated, but Bonnie’s fluffy pancakes (smothered in berry compote and maple syrup) and apple strudel never go out of fashion. On wintry days, you can bunker down inside or, for an extra 50 bucks, reserve a cosy dome ‘igloo’ on the outdoor terrace.
More than 100 shrines to celebrities, baseball stadiums and tragic events are scattered across the four mountains of Aspen Snowmass. Some are on popular runs; others on the furthest reaches of the ski areas. Often, they’re hidden among the trees – you might need a guide to show you exactly where. Memorials to the likes of John Denver, Fenway Park or September 11 may include photographs, beaded necklaces or even bottles of whisky.
What meal says ‘winter’ more than a pot of steaming fondue? The potato & caramelised onion fondue ‘tartiflette’ on the menu at the Alpin Room, inside the recently reimagined High Alpine restaurant at Snowmass, is as rich and cheesy as they come. Don’t miss the chance to order one for the table.
Disco trumps dessert at this repurposed restaurant at Aspen Highlands. The moment the lunch dishes are cleared away, the Veuve Clicquot corks will start popping. Cloud Nine has been described as the most hedonistic bar on any ski slope in the world, with revellers in full ski gear up on the tables dancing to the beat of George Michael and Donna Summer. Part of the appeal is its heady location – 3300 metres up the mountain, inside a former ski patrol hut.
You’ve been tearing down the slopes all day and by the end of it, you’re exhausted. Your limbs are tired, your muscles sore. What do you do? Sit at a bar? That’s one option. Better is a soak in a heated pool – one that’s outside, right by the slopes you’ve been schussing down. A dip in the terrace pool at the newly renovated Viewline Resort Snowmass – now part of the Marriott hotel group – is just what the snow doctor ordered.
The historic Hotel Jerome is the watering hole in town, and everyone who’s anyone has dropped in for a drink at the J-Bar at some point. People from the ’70s remember horses walking through the lobby and Hunter S. Thompson snorting cocaine off the bar’s mahogany bench. People in the ’80s and ’90s got married here. “It’s in our blood,” says local historian, Nina Gabianelli.
Aspen Highlands is where the locals like to ski, far from the posers and imposters. It’s the most challenging of Aspen’s mountains, with plenty of double-black diamond runs streaming down a treeless slope known as the Highlands Bowl. It’s steep here – too steep for grooming. In fact, the bowl is ranked as the steepest inbounds skiing in America, and making it from top to bottom unscathed will stamp your credentials as a serious skier or snowboarder. But getting there is an effort, requiring you to catch three lifts then a snowcat before hiking for 45 minutes along the summit ridgeline to the starting point.
Considering the astronomical prices of real estate in Aspen, it’s surprising to learn that one of the founders of the Aspen Skiing Company had the foresight to preserve a slice of nature around the picturesque Hallam Lake. Elizabeth Paepcke’s 25-acre former property in Aspen’s West End is now a wildlife sanctuary for waterbirds, beavers and the occasional black bear (one was hibernating during my recent visit), and is also home to the Aspen Centre for Environmental Studies.
Not only does Sam’s restaurant boast the best views from the ski fields, it also cooks up the tastiest pizza on the mountains. After a multi-million-dollar reconstruction last year, Sam’s transformed from being a traditional barbecue smokehouse into a high-class eatery offering nourishing Italian fare. Included are grandma-style pizzas that are prepared and baked the way Nonna makes them.
There’s no doubt that in Aspen, being seen in all the right places is equally as important as what you can do on the slopes. As the sun dips towards the horizon, the patio of the Ajax Tavern is where the après-ski action is, right next to Aspen Mountain’s Silver Queen Gondola. Wear your best reflective Moncler coat, slop on some fake tan and order a glass of This Season’s Blonde from the Aspen Brewing Company and you’ll fit right in.
Snowmass village is split in two. The upper Snowmass Village Mall was established first and it’s where you’ll find the best shopping, while the lower Base Village has more to entertain families, including an outdoor ice rink that doesn’t cost anything to use. Skates can be borrowed (for free) from a van at one end of the rink and there are balancing aids to help those unsteady on the ice.
Here’s a novel idea: let the store assistants at Tecovas serve tequila or vodka mixes to you from a mezzanine bar while you try on a pair of cowboy boots that were handmade in Mexico. Considering more than 200 separate steps are required to make each pair of boots, at around the USD$250 mark they’re quite reasonably priced… for Aspen, that is. Even if that sort of price tag is still too hard to swallow, a slug of Texan hooch will surely ease the pain.
In late January each year, 100 of the world’s best winter athletes roll into town for the X Games Aspen. Oddly, it’s Buttermilk – the mountain considered most suitable for beginners – that’s the venue for this extreme sports event, where Aussie snowboarder Scotty James has won the halfpipe four times. The terrain park is open to all comers during winter.
