Why You Should Visit Aspen Snowmass in Early Season

Aspen Mountain is often successful at opening top-to-bottom runs in late November—gifting your legs around 3,000 feet in vertical descent by opening day. “We’re lucky to have good temperatures here,” says Senior Vice President of Mountain Operations and longtime Aspen local Katie Ertl, who says the mountain is especially good at holding snow, even at the start of the season.

Last season, Aspen Mountain ushered in over 150 more acres of skiing and riding on the eastern aspect of the town’s mountain. Known as Hero’s, this terrain is accessible via a brand-new high-speed quad and consists of 19 chutes, four cut rails, three gladed runs, and unmatched views of Independence Pass. This was the first major expansion to Aspen Mountain since the installation of the Silver Queen Gondola in the 1980s and early-season visitors can enjoy exploring this new terrain as ropes drop throughout December and January.

Ski Patrol and operations works hard to get the Highland Bowl—coveted hike-to sidecountry skiing and riding—open on Aspen Highlands by opening day (generally the second Saturday of December), if Mother Nature allows.

“We believe that steep terrain is integral to the skiing experience on our mountains,” says Ertl. “So, with the help of our patrol and the community to prepare the terrain for opening, we bootpack the Bowl weeks before opening.”

Buttermilk is a friendly mountain at a lower elevation that can open its playful and approachable terrain with a low snowpack, making it the perfect place for beginners and casual cruisers to go catch the lift and arc some turns.

“Thanks to operations careful summer maintenance of trimming grass and removing rocks, Buttermilk’s groomers are generally great shape starting day one,” says Ertl. Buttermilk is also home to Tiehack, one of the community’s favorite uphill routes and an easily accessible place to launch your skinning season.

Plus, this will be the first full season of the brand-new Buttermilk base area, which has been redesigned with a Guest Services building that has everything skiers and riders could need under one roof—tickets, gear rentals, lessons, day-use lockers, and more.

Snowmass opens with something for every kind of skier and rider, making it a family-friendly option. The Elk Camp gondola whisks beginners and kids up to mid-mountain, where our learning area is a great place to get the season started for kids and the whole family. And, because Snowmass often gets more snow than any of the other three mountains, it’s famous groomers on the Big Burn chair are typically riding well after a couple of good storms in late November.

This year we’ve upgraded our snowmaking system, allowing us to get more terrain open early and to ensure we have at least one small terrain park available on opening day. “We’re very good at connecting the villages—from the top of Elk Camp to Base Village and up to the Snowmass Mall,” says Ertl. So, spreading out and getting around is easy.