Sun-Herald
20 Reasons to visit Aspen – Ski
Byline: Craig Tansley
Publication Date: 11/22/2015
Date Received: 11/21/2015 08:34 AM
1EAT/DRINK CLOUD NINE
There's no more infamous on-mountain restaurant. Book a 2pm sitting any day of the
week during winter at this Tyrolean-styled log cabin at the top of the Aspen Highlands
and watch the champagne fly. After lunch, the music's turned up and Aspen's most
beautiful people dance on tables and spray bottles of champagne (from $130 a bottle).
There's no better party in town.
See aspensnowmass.com/events-and-activities/dining/on-mountain-dining/cloud-ninealpine-bistro
2HIKE HIGHLANDS BOWL
It's the most famous in-bounds back country ski challenge on Earth. Ride the chairlift to
the top of Aspen Highlands and hike for 45 minutes along a ridgeline to the top of
Highlands Bowl. A stiff breeze may well try to blow you right off the mountain, but the
rewards up top are worth the effort. There's powder skiing to be had all across the bowl,
with some pitches reaching 45 degrees, though don't be put off: intermediate skiers and
boarders can find easier ways to get down.
See aspensnowmass.com/aspen-highlands
3SKI FIRST TRACKS
Beat the rest (not that it's ever crowded in Aspen outside main holidays) to the freshly
groomed slopes by booking a First Tracks ski tour on Aspen Mountain. Assemble at 8am
(lifts open at 9am) and join a group riding the corduroy slopes right to the bottom of the
Silver Queen Gondola. You'll have time for a heavenly ride all the way down with no one
else on the mountain. Then stop for pancakes up high on the mountain at local favourite,
Bonnie's.
See aspensnowmass.com/events-and-activities/winter-activities/first-tracks
4DRINK WOODY CREEK TAVERN
OK, so it's on every tourist itinerary these days, but why not? Try Colorado's best
margaritas at the bar writer Hunter S. Thompson made famous. Fifteen minutes outside
Aspen, it's still a simple country bar where you can order cheap Mexican food. Locals tell
stories about Johnny Depp passing out drunk in Thompson's pick-up truck outside the
bar while researching the movie of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.
See woodycreektavern.com
5SKI UNDER A FULL MOON
Wait until the moon's full then join the devoted hiking their way up Aspen Mountain or up
the Tiehack ski area on Buttermilk Mountain, with just the groomers for company. You'll
be surprised how bright it is as you make your way down the only-just-groomed pistes all
the way to town, or to the bottom of Buttermilk.
6DRINK AJAX TAVERN
At the base of the Silver Queen Gondola, there's no better place to spot for stars,
although the Ajax Tavern is much more than just a celeb hang-out. On a sunny day
gather here for drinks at tables looking up at Aspen Mountain. You can sit and enjoy a
three-course lunch, or grab the Ajax's renowned truffle fries and a cold beer and take
part in one of Aspen's most celebrated and cherished daily habits.
See thelittlenell.com/dining/ajax-tavern
7SEE ASPEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Check out artefacts from the quirky history of Aspen. It'll cost you only $6 to look back on
the history of this fascinating Colorado mountain town. Current exhibition Bests, Firsts
and Worsts - Aspen in Objects - includes 90 artefacts, from a chunk of the biggest silver
nugget mined in the US to Steve Jobs' mouse from the 1983 International Design
Conference in Aspen.
See aspenhistory.org
8LEARN BUTTERMILK MOUNTAIN
While Aspen earns maximum credibility for its expert ski terrain across four ski
mountains on the one lift ticket, what often goes unreported is that Aspen has one of the
best ski mountains in the US for beginners. Buttermilk is Aspen's park and halfpipe
mecca, but it's also ideal for beginners with two designated learn-to-ski areas, Assay Hill
and Fanny Hill. Because intermediates and experts all race to ski Aspen's more
challenging mountains, Buttermilk provides ideal easy sloping, wide open, empty terrain
for beginners.
See aspensnowmass.com/buttermilk
9DRIVE BASALT
While it's easy to walk around Aspen's compact, historical CBD and catch free buses to
its ski mountains, it's worth leaving town for a day to see how the locals live down valley
in Basalt. Take a drive to this pretty 114-year-old community of 2500 and lunch at the
Riverside Grill overlooking fishermen casting for trout on the Frying Pan River, which
flows past the bar and through town. It's also a wholefoods mecca.
See basalt.net
10SEE ASPEN ART MUSEUM
How many ski towns have a four-storey, 3000-square-metre art museum featuring the
works of some of the planet's most innovative artists in a building designed by one of the
world's leading architects? Suck up some art culture at the art museum in Aspen's main
street with its eight exhibition and six gallery spaces beneath a rooftop sculpture garden
overlooking Aspen Mountain.
See aspenartmuseum.org
11DRINK SKY HOTEL'S 39 DEGREES
Think of the coolest apres ski scene you could imagine: are there attractive people
ordering elaborate cocktails as patrons around them dance to DJs and others recline in
hot tubs and heated pools? Well, that's Aspen's best apres ski locale - the Sky Hotel's 39
Degrees bar. A minute walk from the Silver Queen Gondola at the bottom of Aspen
Mountain, this bar is the very definition of modern swank.
See theskyhotel.com
12SKI SNOWMASS
It's the second biggest ski area in the US (more than 1300 hectares) and has the most
vertical descent of any ski area in the US, but it's just one of four ski mountains available
on the one lift pass at Aspen-Snowmass (and is larger than the other three put together).
A 15-minute free bus ride away from the town centre, it has 17 chairlifts to some of the
world's best ski runs - where you can ski anything from steep, tight-gladed terrain to wide
cruiser runs for the whole family.
See aspensnowmass.com/snowmass
13RELAX ASPEN CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Head back to nature just a few blocks off Aspen's main drag. Walk the 750-metre long
loop nature trail through woodland, meadows and past ponds where birds, fox, deer and
beaver gather. It's free to enter this 10-hectare nature reserve and environmental
learning centre; you can bring your lunch down for a picnic on pristine Hallam Lake.
See aspennature.org
14HIKE ASPEN'S ENDLESS TRAILS
Give your ski legs a breather by taking one of the many hiking trails that meander
through Aspen. There's a walking trail off practically every block that will lead you along
the picturesque Roaring Fork River, or out beside the fancy mansions of the West End,
or you could head to hidden valleys on the outskirts of town. There's a trail to suit every
hiker or biker.
See aspentrailfinder.com
15EAT THE RED ONION
For all its fine eating establishments (there are more 50 restaurants in one small town,
some of which are listed in the country's top 100), Aspen could just as easily be defined
by its oldest eating establishment, the Red Onion. Since it opened in 1892, the Red
Onion has been the locals' favourite. The best buffalo chilli in town can be found here for $7 - while a pint of beer costs $3.50 during daily happy hour (there's two every day).
Proof you don't have to spend big to experience the real Aspen.
See redonionaspen.com
16EAT ELEMENT 47
But, because it's Aspen, may we bring to your attention a restaurant with a bottle of wine
you can buy for $70,000. The Little Nell's Element 47 is no ordinary restaurant. It's rated
in America's 100 best wine restaurants, has been awarded world's best wine list and has
received a five-star restaurant award from Forbes. It's also produced more master
sommeliers than any other regional restaurant in America. For those who like a good
wine list, try deciding from 10,000 bottles. See thelittlenell.com/dining/
element-47
17DRINK THE J-BAR
Hunter S. Thompson used the J-Bar as his home away from home and Hollywood
legends such as John Wayne loved to drink here, too. There's more history in the J-Bar
than a city of museums. Built in the 1880s, the J-Bar was where silver-mine prospectors
came to celebrate finding their biggest nuggets. During prohibition years the J-Bar
served Aspen Crud, a sly milkshake concoction made with bourbon that's still a favourite
today.
See hoteljerome.aubergeresorts.com
18EAT THE PINE CREEK COOKHOUSE
Go snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing or take a horse-drawn sleigh past the 1880s
silver mining ghost town of Ashcroft to Aspen's best secret dining location. At the base of
the Elk mountain ridge, 20 minutes outside Aspen, you'll be served gourmet meals in a
historic log cabin nestled underneath a soaring mountain ridge.
See pinecreekcookhouse.com
19DO 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HUT CROSS-COUNTRY SKI TOUR
Plan a cross-country ski tour staying in old log cabins spread throughout Aspen's
extensive back country. The 10th Mountain Division hut tour (named in honour of a
division of the US Army who trained here during World War II) offers more than 500
kilometres of possible ski touring routes, interspersed with 34 back country huts to stay
overnight. A good level of fitness is necessary - most routes require at least 10
kilometres of touring a day.
See huts.org
20DO DOG SLED AT SNOWMASS
Take an hour-long journey along cut trails through the aspens across the Snowmass
back country pulled along by 10 Alaskan huskies. These tours are best at twilight to
catch the Alpenglow before heading back to Krabloonik's gourmet log cabin restaurant
for a three-course dinner.
See krabloonik.com
Craig Tansley was a guest of Aspen Snowmass Skiing Company and Travelplan Ski.