Aspen usa
Review of snowboarding and skiing in Aspen USA.
Aspen Ski Holiday Facts
Established in 1945 the American ski resort Aspen lies at 3417 metres altitude in the Colorado region of the American Rockies. With the highest lifts and ski slopes above 2500m Aspen ski area is snow sure. Over 490 snow cannons ensure artificial Aspen snow making covers ?km of ski trails, which equates to around 29 of the ski slopes. The nearest airport transfer to Aspen (USA) is Denver at a distance of 354km or approximately ? minutes driving time. Aspen ski season runs from November to April.
SNO-man says
Few can agree on the world's greatest ski resort, but most would have Aspen in their top five, like St Moritz, just because of its reputation. Apart from being a remarkable resort, dripping with wealth, Aspen has great skiing over four mountains, a world-class lift system and more alternative things to do (underground loco pulled silver mine tours for example ) than anywhere else. Aspen Highlands offers one of the biggest verticals in North America (Snowmass has the biggest in the US), and both it and Aspen Mountain have plenty of expert terrain. Beginners have their own mountain - Buttermilk. Snowmass Village is a semi-autonomous resort, 12 miles from Aspen valley. It has immediate access to the most black and double black diamond skiing in area and offers 95% slopeside lodging.
alpine downhill runs to ski in Aspen USA
Beginner Trails
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Intermediate Trails
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Advanced Trails
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Expert Trails
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Aspen Resort & Holiday Info
| Beginners learning to ski |  |
| Intermediate Skiers | |
| Expert Skiers | |
| Snowboarders | |
| Apres Ski | |
| Family friendly | |
| Snowsure | |
| Ambience | |
| Value for money | |
| Ski Pass Prices (adult 6 day) | $402 - $516 |
Traditional Ski Village / Purpose Built Ski Resort |
| Ski Resort Opens | Nov 2011 |
| Ski Resort Closes | Apr 2012 |
| (snow conditions often influence resort opening & closing) |
Ski Area Aspen Mountain
| Downhill Ski Runs | 103km |
| total length of Aspen trails |
| Longest lift serve Run | 4.8km |
| longest piste or trail reachable by ski lift |
| Ski Slope Orientation | N, S, E, W |
| direction Aspen ski areas face |
| Top Altitude | 3417m |
| top station of highest ski lift |
| Bottom Altitude | 2422m |
| bottom of lowest ski run |
| Resort Altitude | 2422m |
| centre of Aspen ski resort |
| Vertical Drop | 996m |
| total descent from top lift to bottom piste |
| Skiable Vertical | ^v 996m |
| can include extra hike up which may be possible above top lift - stat used by some resorts to con us about true "vertical drop" which is lift-served |
Skiing in Aspen
Skiing Aspen you'll enjoy 76 pistes and trails and that means approximately 103km of ski runs. Aspen lifts number 8 with the capacity to uplift 10755 skiers up the mountain per hour. The longest ski run in the American ski resort of Aspen is over 4.8km long.
Aspen Ski Area
Aspen ski area has ?% beginner ski runs or nursery slopes, ?% intermediate, ?% advanced ski slopes and ?% for expert skiers - the most difficult Aspen piste is the ?km Elevator Shaft run, with a steepness/slope angle of 42%. You can't ski Aspen after dark.
Aspen for skiing gets 3 stars out of 5 overall
Aspen Apres Ski
The apres ski Aspen scene and off-slope or "non-skier" activities include:
30 apres ski bars 100 restaurants 0 bowling 5 night club 3 cinema 1 billiards / pool 0 games room 1 concert 5 indoor swimming 4 outdoor heated pools 80 saunas 80 hot tubs 0 solariums 0 masseurs 1 indoor ice skating 2 outdoor ice skating 5 indoor sports centre 0 indoor tennis 0 squash racquetball 1 sleigh rides 1 ballooning 0 horse riding 0 prepare winter walks 0 climbing 1 golf 0 fishing 2 museum 0 library Plus these additional apres ski facilities Art Galleries (45), Back Country Skiing, Curling, Nature Tours, Silver Mine Tours by Underground Train, Snowcat Tours, Speed Skiing, Theatre (3) , Wildlife Interpretive Center, (Facilities such as Indoor Swimming Pools in many Hotels ).
SNO-man says
The range of on and off-slope alternatives available at Aspen is probably unsurpassed. There is space here only to create a list, or suggest the highlights, many unique to Aspen.
Taking the latter option, and beginning with culture, art loving visitors have a diverse choice of 40 or so galleries to visit, as well the Aspen Art Museum. Aspen has a Music Festival and school, and its own classically trained ballet company. Live jazz and contemporary music are performed at numerous venues.
The annual Filmfest is supplemented by two year-round cinemas/movie houses and film shows at other venues. On the mountain try paragliding, snow shoeing, dog sledding, biathlon or an underground train tour of a silver mine. Then there's...
Aspen for apres ski gets 5 stars out of 5 overall
More Aspen Snow Ski Area and Resort Information
Aspen resort - ski Aspen by any other name
The American ski resort of Aspen ski resort is also known as Aspen Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, Snowmass, Tiehack and has the following common misspellings:
Aspen ski area has ski slopes which face N, S, E, W
The direction which the various Aspen ski slopes face can make or break your skiing or snowboarding holiday. If you want to guarantee good snow and ski conditions, you should choose a resort with ski slopes which face the right way for the time of year you're travelling.
- In the coldest winter months of January and February you need a ski resort with some sunny south facing ski slopes, so your days on the snow doesn't feel like a polar expedition. Conversely, in the warmest spring skiing months of March and especially April, a ski resort with some cool and shady north facing slopes will ensure you're not skiing on slush, but benefitting from best late season snow. The best ski resorts have ski areas and slopes which face in all directions so that you're guaranteed greating skiing whatever the weather. Aspen ski resort has ski slopes facing N, S, E, W.
Aspen for snow gets 4 stars out of 5 overall