Colorado Which Aspen areas for a 3 day trip?

[John O]

I've done some reading on a bunch of threads so far but haven't come to a decision so I figured I'd put this out there to see if anyone had good suggestions.

My wife and I will be visiting Aspen for 3 days this coming winter and have never skied there before. My wife will likely only ski 1 day and will *probably* want to ski Buttermilk. She's a solid green/easy blue skier, so I think from what I've read that she'd probably have the most fun at Buttermilk (correct me on that if you think I'm wrong). That means I'll have 2 days on my own to hit Ajax, Highlands or Snowmass. Where would you suggest that I spend the other 2 days? I'd like to ski that one day with my wife at Buttermilk because it's fun to ski together even if it's not my preferred terrain, so my plan isn't to go my own way all 3 days.

I'm an advanced skier that greatly prefers ungroomed terrain. I'm very happy in trees, moguls, etc. I like steeps but stay away from major exposure/cliffs/drops. It'll be late February if that factors into it. Also if it factors into it, I live at sea level and I'm in so-so shape to be honest, so I'd probably have to work my ass off between now and then to make hiking Highlands bowl a viable option. So if you recommend Highlands, don't do it *just* because of the bowl. We'll be staying in the town of Aspen, if that makes any difference too.

Thanks for any suggestions, appreciate it!

 

[Kyle]

I think your wife could find plenty at Snowmass to make her happy as well. Elk Camp nails the solid green/easy blue segment. I have never skied Buttermilk though.

You should like any of the other three. Snowmass is so much bigger than the others such that even their lower percentage of steep, ungroomed terrain translates into a lot of options. There are a lot of Highlands fans on this forum. If I were staying in town would want to ski Aspen/Ajax at least one day. I think I would try to do Snowmass with her and the other two on your own.

 

[Beartown]

Buttermilk is fine, even great for beginners, but Snowmass is definitely more fun for all levels. You should ski together at Snowmass and try Ajax and Highlands on your own. Or even head back to Snowmass for the fun advanced/expert stuff, which it also has in spades. Ajax is not great for beginner skiers as it has no green runs and while the top half has some great blue runs, the ski back down to the bottom can be treacherous (if you don't gondola down). Ajax is also surprisingly small, from an acreage standpoint.

 

[Dave Marshak]

Don’t miss Highlands if you can do the bowl.
Take your wife to Snowmass and let her shop while you ski. Highlands or Ajax for the last day.

dm

 

[SBrown]

I think Highlands also removed any green run designations last year. While there are runs that would qualify up top, the runs to the bottom are are more difficult.

Snowmass and Buttermilk will be perfect!

 

[bbinder]

Agree with @SBrown. But if you haven’t nailed down a place to stay, Snowmass village has a lot of beds that are (in my opinion) affordable, and the you can just walk to the lift. I would be happy skiing Snowmass for all 3 days for any level skier. The bus system is excellent and free if you want/need to get to Aspen proper.

 

[jmeb]

Snowmass for day with your wife. Tons and tons of awesome long groomer terrain. Worth the dead easy shuttle ride out there. Don't stay out there if you wife isn't skiing the other two days, the reason you go to Aspen if you're not skiing is to be in Aspen. Not snowmass.

Ajax the first day by yourself. The last day, consider how you're feeling, conditions, etc and make the call. If conditions are good and you're feeling good, go to Highlands and consider doing the hike. If nothing else, lap Deep Temerity all day and be happy.

 

[Crank]

Agree wife will like Buttermilk as there is really no way for her to get in over her head.

Of the remaining 3 hills I prefer Highlands and Snowmass over Ajax. If your wife wants to ski another day then spend part of the day with her on easy stuff at Snowmass and seek some challenging terrain on your own.

 

[SBrown]

For some reason my brain read that your wife was skiing 2 days... I may amend my answer when I have a minute.

 

[Dave Marshak]

Snowmass for day with your wife. Tons and tons of awesome long groomer terrain. Worth the dead easy shuttle ride out there. Don't stay out there if you wife isn't skiing the other two days, the reason you go to Aspen if you're not skiing is to be in Aspen. Not snowmass.

Highlands the first day by yourself. The last day, consider how you're feeling, conditions, etc and make the call. If conditions are good and you're feeling good, go to Highlands and consider doing the hike. If nothing else, lap Deep Temerity all day and be happy.

FIFY
Everything else you wrote is spot on.

dm

 

[jmeb]

FIFY
Everything else you wrote is spot on.

dm

I intentionally put Highland last to give OP time to adjust to altitude. If they want to ski 3 different hills, it makes sense to ski it when you have the best shot of doing the hike.

 

[Dave Marshak]

You don’t adjust to altitude in 3 days, you just get used to feeling sluggish.

dm

 

[SBrown]

Be flexible. Pow day strategies are different than no-new-snow strategies. All places are so close, you don't have to skip one, either. Ski Highlands in the morning and Ajax in the afternoon, or vice versa. All the mountains have some steep terrain, especially Ajax and Highlands, but they get more bros; Snowmass has goods, too, but not quite as much sustained pitch; it tends to stay a little quieter in those areas, too, since it's seen as more of an intermediate area. I used to be Highlands Highlands Highlands, and I still love it, but I have found a lot at Snowmass in the past couple years. That said, it's easier to find the gnar at the other areas, no poking around as much, it's just there. But the Cirque and Hanging Valley at Snowmass will surely give you a day or two's worth of challenging skiing, I promise.

Highlands Bowl on a sunny day is a beautiful hike -- if you are worried about fitness, do it then, and just go slow. If you do it on a pow day, you'll have all the local mutants sprinting past you -- which is fine, but there are sections where it's single file and I hate holding people up. I only do the Bowl on pow days if it's not too crowded, and I wait until the first wave (at least) has passed. There is plenty of snow up there, you will still get some. The other thing is, due to control work, it won't open til 10:30 or 11. Some people ski at a completely different mountain for the first couple hours of fresh, then take the bus to Highlands for the hike. On a sunny day with no new snow, it's a lot more chill, and the views are unforgettable.

Is this a weekend or weekdays?

 

[BLspruce2]

Just a heads up.....
2020 X GAMES ASPEN
JANUARY 23 - 26, 2020

X Games returns to Buttermilk in Aspen, Colorado for the world's best action sports, music and festival experience

You want to avoid these dates....unless you are young in which you might have a great time. Its a big party.

 

[John O]

Thanks everyone for all the great info, this has helped a lot already!

Sounds like I may try to see how she feels about Snowmass instead of Buttermilk. That'd clearly be the best option for me, but we'll see what she thinks. I also like the idea of potentially moving from one area to another at lunch time or something. And maybe I'll give Highlands Bowl a shot. We'll see how I feel once I'm out there, there's definitely no need to decide now.

Is this a weekend or weekdays?

It'll be over a weekend, Sat/Sun/Mon. Do you think that should factor into which areas I ski on which days? Are any of the ski areas noticeably worse than others on weekends, that I might possibly want to save for Monday?

Be flexible. Pow day strategies are different than no-new-snow strategies.

Yeah, very very good point. I won't be making any firm decisions now, just kinda thinking ahead and trying to get a little more information. I know it's months away still, but we just bought airfare yesterday so I'm excited for the trip right now.

 

[Crank]

We skied Buttermilk during the X Games. The mountain was empty once you got away from the base area where their stuff was all set up. It was fun being there while some of the comps were going on, catching glimpses of the action while riding the chairlift.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

My day at Highlands was a below average day condition wise, but certainly not terrible. The Deep Temerity runs were hard moguls. Based on the steepness of the terrain, we kept our advanced butts off any of the runs.

At first we felt humbled that there was an entire lift we couldn't touch... But after riding the Loge Peak lift throughout day, we only saw one person on any of the runs the whole time, and he was definitely taking it cautious. Maybe it's possible that there was easier terrain not visible from Loge Peak. If not, take conditions into account if you're planning on "lapping Deep Temerity", because from what I saw it was solid expert terrain in hard pack mogul conditions.

 

[Black Dog]

We skied a day at Buttermilk last year, it was a bluebird day with fresh snow and had blast even though we are advanced skiers Glad we went.. It is corduroy heaven. We parked at the Tihack side. Literally parked at the lift.

 

[SBrown]

My day at Highlands was a below average day condition wise, but certainly not terrible. The Deep Temerity runs were hard moguls. Based on the steepness of the terrain, we kept our advanced butts off any of the runs.

At first we felt humbled that there was an entire lift we couldn't touch... But after riding the Loge Peak lift throughout day, we only saw one person on any of the runs the whole time, and he was definitely taking it cautious. Maybe it's possible that there was easier terrain not visible from Loge Peak. If not, take conditions into account if you're planning on "lapping Deep Temerity", because from what I saw it was solid expert terrain in hard pack mogul conditions.

Yeah, it faces the wrong way for spring snow preservation! That's one reason I said to be flexible -- if you are there after a lot of sun and not much new snow, maybe go to Snowmass that day, which has impeccable groomer skiing. Or wait until things soften up in the afternoon to hit that part of Highlands.

 

[Mike King]

The steeple chase area of highlands does have sun exposure, but there are strategies for dealing with that including skiing the right hand side in the shade or, better, the trees. There is so much terrain at highlands you don’t have to hike the bowl to get to it. There’s also a ton of terrain at aspen mountain and Snowmass. You should have a great trip!