Aspen Snowmass trip from 12/21 to 12/28

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Aspen Snowmass

Date

Dec 21, 2024

Snow Conditions

1. Packed Powder
2. Cord
3. Crust

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah everyone! The 25th is our break day from skiing so I figured I'd start my first trip report of the 24/25 season. We try and stick with Colorado in the early season due to higher elevations which gives a better chance of getting good conditions. This season has been a miss so far for holiday powder skiing in Colorado. Our first day out was Saturday the 21st and it was prime spring skiing conditions. The sun was out and the weather hit 40 degrees. Did about 8 groomer laps between Big Burn and Elk Camp then called it a day.




My highlight photo of the day was a zoomed in shot of the Maroon Bells from the top of Elk Camp, this part of the country is so beautiful...

 

[Tonyr]

Day 2 at Snowmass was Sunday the 22nd. We started out skiing some groomers in the Big Burn area then made our way over to the High Alpine lift to do some laps there. It was another sunny 40 degree weather day with the area in need of a refill. We were able to duck into the Hanging Valley Glades from Cookies which was fun but the snow was very heavy back in there. One run through those Glades was enough...

 

[Tonyr]

Monday the 23rd I was able to make it over to Ajax in the afternoon. My wife and son took a break day so I got a chance to lap the new Hero lift area real well this visit. My thought on the new expansion was the same as last season. While the vert is on the smaller side, this is a true lap-able expert terrain zone with zero lines putting Ajax, in my book, at the next level for expert skiing. Still not at the level of the Temerity lift over at Highlands but it's close.

It was a packed powder / crusty snow day but I was able to do 5 or 6 laps back here until my legs had enough. I skied across the mountain to 1A and Ruthies and hit Silver Queen as my last run of the day.

I'll add that Ajax is extremely liberal with it's trail openings as you'll see in the photos below. There were rocks and branches out all over the place. This reminded me of how Sugarbush does their trail openings, I loved it!

 

[Tonyr]

On the 24th my son and I skied Aspen Highlands. It snowed 2 inches overnight, which believe it or not, made a huge difference in softening up the bumps. We did around 8 to 10 runs mostly off of the Temerity lift and the Olympic bowl which has shorter vert than Temerity but is legit expert terrain as well. I actually felt the terrain was a little steeper in the Olympic bowl.

For a second we thought about doing the hike part way up the Highlands bowl but decided against it. You can actually hit the lower part of the bowl by traversing all the way over to the skiers right but that gate was closed on the 24th.

I'll add that the tree skiing off of the Temerity lift is some of the best expert terrain you'll get in Colorado. The vert back here can get painfully long as well! Highlands, like Ajax is also very liberal with early season trail openings...

 

[Tonyr]

It finally snowed a decent amount today. We got 4 to 6 inches of snow over the last 24 hours so we hung around Snowmass. Got out around 1 pm and took a few laps in the Sneaky and Powerline glades area of Big Burn then went over to the High Alpine lift and proceeded to get stuck on the lift for 15 minutes which sucked because it was cold and windy.

Our hands and feet were frozen by the time we got to the top so we decided to warm up with a 5 to 10 minute hiked up to the High Alpine Headwall. It was super cold and windy at the top but once we got into the Frog Pond glades everything was fine. The snow back in there was boot deep in certain areas. There are so many lines back in the Hanging Valley/Frog Pond glades that you'd never take the same line twice. It really is spectacular terrain. In any event, It's supposed to snow more the next two day so I'm looking forward to more of the same!

 

[jimk]

@Tonyr you are the Ansel Adams of AZ

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks Jim! Happy New Year. This was my best zoomed in attempt at the Highlands Bowl from the top of Ajax this season. The light was better when I took the Maroon Bells photo so that one came out better I think...

 

[Tonyr]

Had another great day at Snowmass today. It snowed a couple of inches last night then it snowed a few more inches while we were out this afternoon. Did the Sneaky and Powerline glades again, we love that line, then moved over to the Alpine Springs lift to do some runs in the sidecountry glades I scoped out yesterday from the lift. The snow in there was untouched and unbelievable making it the run of the day!

From there we did the sidecountry trees off of Grinder which is my favorite run at Snowmass. Tomorrow is our last day here. It supposed to snow quite a bit over night so we are looking forward to another good day...

 

[jaytrem]

Great trip report as always! Thanks for posting.

 

[Tonyr]

Today was our last day of the Snowmass trip. It snowed around 4 inches overnight making the morning skiing outstanding. We got out around 8.30 am and hit the usual Sneaky glades to the Powerline glades. This combination may be the best intermediate glade line in the entire state of Colorado. From there we did sidecountry trees off the Alpine Springs lift which still had alot of untouched powder...




After we were done in Alpine Springs my wife and son went in for the day and I got a chance to hit 3 of my favorite laps off of the High Alpine lift. I started with the Grinder woods first, then hiked the Headwall and did a line through the Frog Pond glades which had knee deep powder, it was incredible.

I ended the trip with a run down Cookies into the Hanging Valley Glades which were not quite as deep as Frog Pond but incredible as well for December 28th.






I hope you enjoyed the report, once you get a feel for the layout at Snowmass I've found that it truly has some of the best and most diverse terrain in Colorado. Paired with Ajax and Highlands, Aspen Snowmass is a tough resort to beat all things considered.