Aspen, Colorado: Fantastic Skiing and Much More

I absolutely loved Aspen, which I'd initially thought might be too rich for my blood - that is, snobby or way overpriced. Instead we found that the town is charming and lively, the people are incredibly friendly and down to earth, and the skiing (especially at Snowmass mountain) was by far the best I have ever experienced.

Quick Tips:

The only thing I'd say is I wish I'd had more time there - plan to spend at least 4 nights if at all possible!

Best Way To Get Around:

If you've never done it, rent a car and definitely take the drive from either Denver to Aspen, or at least from Vail to Aspen. It's just spectacular: the bright, striated red rocks speckled with snow against the dazzling blue sky is a gorgeous sight.

And then you enter Glenwood Canyon which I can only describe as breathtaking in its immense size and height. Even the highway itself, Route 70, is an amazing feat of architecture, as are the tunnels you snake through along the way.

Once you arrive in Aspen Village, walking, taxis and shuttles are the easiest ways to get around. We had a car but never used it while there.

The Aspen Club Lodge was a fantastic place to stay, as the mountainside location, the amenities, the staff, and definitely the outdoor jacuzzi and pool were all great! The hotel has recently been taken over by new management and is going through some changes and modernization. This is apparent as soon as you step into the lobby: oversized snowy white chairs cluster around fur-covered tables, and a long, sleek game table dominates the center of the room. The lobby is a few stories high, and the mountain-facing wall is made completely of glass so the views of Aspen Mountain (the locals call it Ajax Mountain) tower overhead.

Right off the lobby is the outdoor deck with jacuzzi and heated pool, which all look up at the slopes as well. It''s quite an amazing feeling after a long day''s skiing to sit back in the hot tub with your complimetary glass of wine (free wine-tasting every night from 5-6pm), look up at the mountain, and just relaaaaax.

The rest of the hotel is great, and it''s clearly still in the stages between the older and the new management. The dining room and bar have a very cozy, lively, ski-lodge atmosphere rather than the hipper, funkier vibe of the lobby and rooms. We noticed that a lot of local Aspenites hang out at the hotel bar and restaurant, which was great for us as we got to meet the locals and find out where to go at night. It also says a lot for a hotel bar and restaurant when the locals like to hang out there apres-ski!

The rooms were a tiny bit on the small side, but really bright and modern and beautifully decorated. Ours had a small terrace with views of the snow-covered pine trees and glimpses of the slopes. But probably the nicest feature of the lodge is its staff, and how kind, helpful, and thoughtful they are. I barely had to even think of something I needed before it was placed in front of me. There''s a free shuttle that takes you anywhere you need to go (even Snowmass Mountain, a good 20 minutes away) and even picks you up in town at night. The "ski concierge" service is GREAT -- you literally ski onto the hotel property at the end of the day, pop your skis or board off, place them along with the rest of your equipment on a rack, and the staff takes it from there. Your equipment will be taken inside, and ready for you the next morning when you need it. If you need to rent equipment, the shop is right inside the hotel and has very reasonable prices.

I will definitely stay at the Aspen Club Lodge again (hopefully very soon) and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Aspen!

Takah Sushi was recommended to us by pretty much everyone: our Rough Guide, Aspen locals, and the hotel concierge. Sounded like a great bet - and it was! We sat at the bar and hung out with Dave, the first Caucasian sushi chef I have ever met in probably about 500 times eating sushi! He passed the test, though, as his spicy tuna roll was definitely up to par.

Takah is a friendly and relaxed place where you end up chatting in depth with the sushi chefs, wait staff, and fellow diners who are mostly local. They drop a plate of fresh edamame in front of you as soon as you sit down, which won me over in a flash. A few items were priced a bit on the high side ($6 for a California roll? seemed high to me) but generally the prices were average.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a sushi joint tucked in the middle of the very land-locked Colorado Rockies, but was very pleasantly surprised with fresh fish and great preparation. All in all, definitely recommended!

Snowmass mountain was my favorite of the three mountains we skied while in Colorado (the other two being Ajax and Breckenridge). It suited my intermediate/advanced level perfectly, and more importantly, it had snowed 5 inches the night before, so the conditions were, to put it mildly, incredible. Locals were saying that these were just about as perfect as conditions could get. Lucky us!

The first thing you realize when looking at a map of - or driving up to - Snowmass mountain is how HUGE it is! It's truly overwhelming. You don't really know where to start, but we asked some folks and found that there are two main preferred areas: one is called Big Burn, the other, Alpine Springs. We did Big Burn in the morning, and loved every minute of it.

Unfortunately, there's no gondola and it takes three separate lifts to get you to the summit. But once there, you could spend a full day just exploring Big Burn, which is filled with long, wide, well-groomed and beautiful slopes, and fun twisty trails that snake through the trees. If you're a mogul fan (which I am not!) you'll also have plenty to choose from here. My favorite run was called Sneaky's, which takes you past breathtaking scenery - massive peaks in the near distance and millions of snowy pine trees blanketing the hills.

The lodges at Snowmass didn't seem to be as high-end as the Sundeck Lodge on Ajax Mountain, rather more like your typical ski lodge: cozy and cute, with basic amenities and food. Fine with us. There are also lots of restaurants on the mountain including a pizza joint at the top of Big Burn.

We headed to Alpine Highlands in the afternoon, via a verrry long, snaking trail crossing the paths of dozens of slopes. I'm glad we made it, though, because we squeezed in a few last runs on some nice trails includung Naked Lady and Coffee Pot. The lifts close at 3:30, too bad, since we'd have loved to fit in an extra run or two!

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.

The approximately 3-hour drive from Breckenridge to Aspen (2 hours due west on I-70, then under an hour southeast on Route 82) is absolutely stunning. First, upon leaving Breckenridge and emerging onto I-70, you almost immediately come to the Vail Pass which is beautiful: 12,000-foot mountains covered with snow tower above, and dwarf you so you feel almost invisible in their shadow. This lasts about 20 minutes, and then the terrain flattens out a bit and dries out to some extent as well.

After a while you hit a patch where looking northward are bone-dry, gorgeous red-rock formations shooting upward against the bright blue sky, and looking southward are the snow-capped ski resorts of Copper Mountain and other areas. It's pretty wild - two completely different terrains so close together!

Finally, about 2 hours west of Breckenridge you enter Glenwood Canyon, the home strech before you arrive in Aspen. This is truly one of the most breathtaking stretches of land through which I've ever driven. The bi-level highway that snakes through the canyon and criss-crosses over the Colorado River is a feat of architecture and a testament to the skills of its builders. The jagged Rocky Mountains shoot upward and almost engulf you as you drive along, and looking upward you almost lose sight of the sky, that's how big these mountains are. Tunnels shoot through the massive rock formations every now and then, and it's just astonishing to think about how they built a roadway like this through such imposing terrain, while barely disturbing its natural beauty.

I highly recommend this drive, especially Glenwood Canyon, if you are in the area. It goes by in a flash since there's so much beautiful scenery to enjoy.