Aspen 3/21-3/25

[Kleetus]

With first 3 days at Aspen in the books figured I'd put together a running TR. Got here Wednesday night flying in from a business meeting at SFO. As a pilot, crazy approach into the airport. Also, never seen so many corporate jets on a ramp in my life. Anyways...on to skiing. First time here.

3/21 - Snowmass - Skied pretty well, although all east and south facing exposures were baked. Lots of hardpack elsewhere. Visibility was also challenging at times. Did find some great snow later in the day in the Hanging Valley Glades and Garett's gulch areas. To get to the good stuff through required a fair amount of hiking and multiple lift rides though. Everything down low was soft by end of the day. Few pics from the hanging valley area.

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[Edd]

If you’re checking out nightlife I recommend The Belly Up. Awesome live music venue.


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[JDMRoma]

With first 3 days at Aspen in the books figured I'd put together a running TR. Got here Wednesday night flying in from a business meeting at SFO. As a pilot, crazy approach into the airport. Also, never seen so many corporate jets on a ramp in my life. Anyways...on to skiing. First time here.

3/21 - Snowmass - Skied pretty well, although all east and south facing exposures were baked. Lots of hardpack elsewhere. Visibility was also challenging at times. Did find some great snow later in the day in the Hanging Valley Glades and Garett's gulch areas. To get to the good stuff through required a fair amount of hiking and multiple lift rides though. Everything down low was soft by end of the day. Few pics from the hanging valley area.View attachment 24845View attachment 24846

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Awesome ! Keep the TRs coming ! Well have to catch up at K one of these days !!

 

[Kleetus]

3/22 - Snowmass. Started the day socked in fog. Then snow started and continued through early afternoon. They reported 4" but sure seemed like 8". Had some sweet turns in hanging valley and off High Alpine in the trees. Was also an inversion at one point which led to some interesting sun to fog to overcast skiing.

Also did the hike to Burnt Ridge glades but they were not fun. Sun crisped them up pretty good.

Overall was a great day.

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[Kleetus]

3/23 - Highlands. Boy is this place legit. So much expert terrain with lift service and options for lines in the woods. As was the case with Snowmass anything with Southern/Eastern exposure was crunchy, but everything else was nice packed powder. Woods were skied in but skied great.

Unfortunately visibility was terrible except for first 20 minutes of the day, so didn't attempt the hike to the Highland Bowl as most of the day were lucky if you could see a few feet. Even so was a great day, especially the laps in the Olympic Bowl and Deep Temerity.

No crowds to speak of, actually was deserted really. Except for the rowdy bunch dancing on tables and spraying each other with $160 of Champagne at Cloud 9...

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[Kleetus]

3/24 - Highlands. After Saturday had to come back for more. Reported 2" new overnight. Arrived to sun shining through thin cloud layers. After doing a couple warmup runs in Olympic Bowl, saw the top of Highland Peak consistently and knew it was time to go for it.

Ran into Ski Patrol HQ and donated my $10 for the hiking strap and got in line for the Snow Cat. After a 7 min wait was riding up to the drop off point, and then the hike began. Sun was out with passing clouds with fair group of people making the hike. Took me about 40 minutes to finish with a couple breaks to catch my breath. As I reached the summit...of course the fog moved in. Luckily the visibility was still good enough to see and ski down without vertigo.

Took the area between Full Curl and G8 down. It was loaded with powder that seemed way deeper than 2". Was a blast. After making it down, started dumping snow in fog. Made for some awesome turns the rest of the day...but also precluded me from a second lap in the bowl. Finished the day getting refills run after run in the trees off Deep Temerity as well as in the Olympic Bowl. I would say they got about 6" and started dumping again this evening.

Was completely deserted. I was by myself many a run today outside of the hike to Highlands Bowl. So strange so few people with such great snow. I feel like if this was Breck...would have been mobbed.

Best day of the trip by far. Crossed an item off my bucket list, and looking forward to last day tomorrow with sunny skies snd highs in the 40's

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[Kleetus]

Awesome ! Keep the TRs coming ! Well have to catch up at K one of these days !!

Absolutely! Going to try and get out there in April if I can

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[St. Jerry]

Skiing in dense fog in highland bowl was the only time in my life I got vertigo.

 

[Kleetus]

3/25 - Highlands. Total bluebird day. Spent most of the day finding stash after stash of snow from the last few days snow showers in the woods off Temerity. Tons of snow to be found everywhere. Anything with northern exposure skied best, but even the more south facing exposures softened with the afternoon sun. Very light crowds.

Hiked the bowl around 11:30. It was epic. No wind. Fresh snow. Amazing views. Definitely a highlight of my skiing career. Took Ozone down to some awesome powder turns. So much snow not a rock to be found.

Finished the day with a few more laps on Temerity before skiing the trees off Deception to the base for my final run.

Top 10 all time day of skiing.

Headed back east today, and had a great time. I liked Highlands much better than Snowmass, but both had great terrain. Highlands just had more easily lift accessible expert skiing, plus the Highland Bowl is incredible if it's a sunny day. I will definitely be coming back here. Sure it's expensive, but the skiing is legit.

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[deadheadskier]

Highlands is fantastic. Definitely my favorite of the four Aspen areas. The bowl is something else. I had a similar run down Ozone about 15 years ago. Top ten run of my life.

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[jimk]

View attachment 24916
Money shot with Pyramid Peak and the Maroon Bells! Very nice report. Highlands is one of the neatest ski areas in the US.

 

[abc]

Fantastic TR.

Aspen is addictive.

 

[JDMRoma]

Awesome report and pics !!

 

[thetrailboss]

Awesome stuff and particularly helpful considering that we have to go to Denver in 10 days and are seriously considering a stopover in Aspen on the way. Our passes get us 50% off lift tickets. I have not been to Aspen Snowmass in five years...and it was the summer of 2014. I'm thinking one day at Snowmass and one day at Buttermilk because my 7 year old daughter is a solid blue skier.

 

[Edd]

A direct flight from Boston to Aspen would be nice. I’m in Steamboat now only because of these new direct flights that started last year. Total game changer. Small easy airport 30 minutes from downtown. This is as convenient as SLC, although the terrain options are different.


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