Aspen Mountain

JenLara
JenLara
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
4
Reviews
10
Photos

Amazing Scenery, Fun Trails and One-of-a-Kind Town Experience

  • January 3, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Lenuca from Parrish, Florida
Amazing Scenery, Fun Trails and One-of-a-Kind Town Experience

20 minutes away from Snowmass is Aspen Mountain - a must experience for that part of Colorado. The tickets your purchase at any of four Aspen/Snowmass resorts give you access to all four of them. If you know you are going to stay in the area for a few days, buy multi-day tickets. The lines to the ticket booths can be long and with resorts being open only for a limited number of hours each day (8 a.m. to the last lifts at around 3:30 p.m. and no night skiing) you don't want to waste your time.

What makes Aspen different is the town experience. It's not a fake, Disney like arrangement of houses around the mountain (Snowmass, Beaver Creek and Vail), Aspen is an actual real living town. Aspen is full of expensive high end shops - Prada, Gucci - and restaurants but also has many charming private houses. A nice area to walk around trying to spot celebrities. All locals are super proud of their town and don't ski anywhere else, so don't ask for skiing advice - even Snowmass is too far for them ; )) Talking about fancy, even Aspen police is driving Volvo SUVs.

Aspen Mountain has amazing scenic views almost at any corner. Bring your camera to take pictures. However, it is not a place for beginners (in that case go to Buttermilk or to Snowmass). Aspen Mountain is compact enough to be able to explore in one full day of skiing. Don't plan to stay more than 2 days there - you will be bored. Here's a detailed review of the Aspen Mountain experience.
Positive:
+ awesome view
+ quick lifts
+ fun challenging trails
+ super condition of snow - great groom
+ loved by locals
+ wonderful dining opportunities on the mountain. We ate at Bonnie's and enjoyed home made taste of food. Every dish was beyond expectations. Food there is not cheap - about $10-20 per person depending on what you take, but worth it.
+ great underground parking in town (around $2 per hour), from there a shuttle bus takes you to the mountain every 10 minutes
Negative:
- no easy trails, most of the trails are rather narrow
- sometimes feels crowded, due to the small size of the mountain
- everything in town is super overpriced - hotels, restaurants, shops
- small, you will quickly explore all the trails for you level of skiing

From journal Colorado Skiing 08: Tips from Frequent CO Skiers

Aspen Mountain

  • March 15, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by KellySenn from New York, New York

Aspen Mountain (also referred to as "Ajax") is the flagship mountain, rising directly out of the town of Aspen. With the most elaborate dining and lodging on mountain and off, this is the most luxurious of the four mountains. Celebrities and the well-off abound, and fashion is equally important as ski form.

Aspen mountain, however, is not for the beginner skier. There are no green trails (the easiest rating), and much of the mountain is on narrower trails, often covered with moguls.

This can be a good thing, however, if you are a good skier. There is an abundance of challenging terrain, especially if your cup of tea is trees or moguls.

The major drawback of Ajax, however, is that is shaped like a funnel, with most of the trails ending up in one general area. This leads to slightly longer lines than the other mountains, and the end of the day can be treacherous.

Trails:
easiest – 0%
more difficult – 48%
most difficult – 26%
expert – 26%

From journal Skiing Aspen

Skiing

  • November 3, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Marvelus1 from Broad Ripple, Indiana
It was like a winter wonderland, with pine trees everywhere and a huge pillow of snow to fall into. We had a picnic on the mountain during one of the runs and got high as kites on the crisp mountain air that engulfed us.

From journal Aspen Adventure

Editor Pick

Ajax Mountain (aka Aspen Mountain)

  • December 20, 2001
  • Rated 4 of 5 by JenLara from New York City, New York
Ajax Mountain (aka Aspen Mountain)

Ajax Mountain was right next to our hotel, the Aspen Club Lodge so we naturally started out there on our first day. And stayed the rest of the day. It's a challenging mountain with steep grades, but a lot of fun. One striking thing was the relatively low number of snowboarders -- I ski, so I'm not sure why, but apparently the terrain on Ajax is less board-friendly than on other nearby mountains. I didn't mind!

As I mentioned, the lodges are amazing - really high quality in every way, from huge, 360-degree fireplaces to wonderful gourmet food, and beautiful architecture. The nicest lodge is probably the Sundeck at the summit, which of course does have a deck that by midday you can relax on, warmed by the sun even in the winter.

Another really nice feature of Ajax is the gondola - about a 15-20 minute ride up to the summit, nice and toasty warm. And once you're up, you can stay up toward the top half or third of the mountain and ski there all day, taking the Ajax Express high-speed quad to the top and skiing down any one of dozens of trails.

From journal Aspen, Colorado: Fantastic Skiing and Much More

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