ADKmike
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
Wednesday was another warmer day, sun out. We headed over to Aspen Highlands via the free bus from Snowmass. The free bus system they have in town is pretty seamless, worked great. Again thinking it might be crowded, we got up pretty early and caught a bus around 8, lifts spun at 9. Got dropped off at the main lodge, again, no one there.
Aspen Highlands was much more narrow and about a 1/3 of the acreage of Snowmass...which was almost a relief in a way since I knew we could cover the whole place in one day. Sometimes it's nice to be able to have enough time to go back and re-hit the stuff you liked most.
Weather was a little cooler over at Highlands, and it seemed to have preserved the snow pretty good, as the quality was pretty light and the groomers had nice grip. It had been windy the night before, so maybe some wind deposited snow got worked in.
We spent the morning skiing some pretty nice cord on empty trails. Because of Highlands more narrow layout, there were some pretty steep trails all the way down through the lower section of the mountain. The place gave off more of that looking all the way down into the valley kinda feel...
Found some dynamite...
After spending most of the morning at a slower groomer pace with my wife, she was getting kinda tired and it was time to head to the main objective, Highland Bowl. Luckily, there was a really sweet Ski Patrol house near the base of the bowl access, and they had a deck that looked out over the bowl, and an area for her to sit inside. They don't care if ppl hang out in there, which was cool.
I set her up with our pack full of snacks and gave her the camera, then headed out and up. Also made a $10 donation to ski patrol, which gets you a AHSP (aspen highlands ski patrol) sling to carry your skis on your back.
They have a cat that brings you to the main gate, which cuts off some walking. Pretty cool just for the cat ride aspect of it.
Me, waiting for the cat in the wrong spot
Bootpack along ridge, took about 40 mins to summit
Summit
Backside
Skied the center gut, which was actually pretty damn steep at 45 degrees, where wind blown chalky snow had collected. Not to bad for a low snow week...
Looking back up, as usual, pics don't show steepness well
Dumps you out to the Deep Temerity lift, which serves all black terrain.
Skied here later in the day, and damn, it was one long ass mogul run. Nice and steep too
Pics from ski patrol deck on our real camera...I'm up there somewhere, should have brought the bigger lens:
Finished out the day with an overpriced beer at the popular Cloud 9 for apres. Was actually pretty packed inside with chicks of all ages dancing on tables getting yelled at to get down by some lifty looking dude who seemed sick of being the bouncer there
$8 can of beer....F**K it.
If I'm ever back in Aspen, I'll be hitting up Highlands again for sure. My favorite of the two places I skied in Aspen. Place is considered the "locals" mtn, which you could tell was the case by lack of amenities at the base (although still nice, did a 2nd apres at Highlands Alehouse, good pizza). Not that I skied the other two of 4 mtns in Aspen area, but I'm pretty sure Highlands is the steepest and has the best terrain for experts. Very cool place.
Snow started rolling in late in the afternoon, as you can see in the Cloud 9 pics. This is the point in the week where the weather changed from spring to winter.
Aspen Highlands was much more narrow and about a 1/3 of the acreage of Snowmass...which was almost a relief in a way since I knew we could cover the whole place in one day. Sometimes it's nice to be able to have enough time to go back and re-hit the stuff you liked most.
Weather was a little cooler over at Highlands, and it seemed to have preserved the snow pretty good, as the quality was pretty light and the groomers had nice grip. It had been windy the night before, so maybe some wind deposited snow got worked in.
We spent the morning skiing some pretty nice cord on empty trails. Because of Highlands more narrow layout, there were some pretty steep trails all the way down through the lower section of the mountain. The place gave off more of that looking all the way down into the valley kinda feel...
Found some dynamite...
After spending most of the morning at a slower groomer pace with my wife, she was getting kinda tired and it was time to head to the main objective, Highland Bowl. Luckily, there was a really sweet Ski Patrol house near the base of the bowl access, and they had a deck that looked out over the bowl, and an area for her to sit inside. They don't care if ppl hang out in there, which was cool.
I set her up with our pack full of snacks and gave her the camera, then headed out and up. Also made a $10 donation to ski patrol, which gets you a AHSP (aspen highlands ski patrol) sling to carry your skis on your back.
They have a cat that brings you to the main gate, which cuts off some walking. Pretty cool just for the cat ride aspect of it.
Me, waiting for the cat in the wrong spot
Bootpack along ridge, took about 40 mins to summit
Summit
Backside
Skied the center gut, which was actually pretty damn steep at 45 degrees, where wind blown chalky snow had collected. Not to bad for a low snow week...
Looking back up, as usual, pics don't show steepness well
Dumps you out to the Deep Temerity lift, which serves all black terrain.
Skied here later in the day, and damn, it was one long ass mogul run. Nice and steep too
Pics from ski patrol deck on our real camera...I'm up there somewhere, should have brought the bigger lens:
Finished out the day with an overpriced beer at the popular Cloud 9 for apres. Was actually pretty packed inside with chicks of all ages dancing on tables getting yelled at to get down by some lifty looking dude who seemed sick of being the bouncer there
$8 can of beer....F**K it.
If I'm ever back in Aspen, I'll be hitting up Highlands again for sure. My favorite of the two places I skied in Aspen. Place is considered the "locals" mtn, which you could tell was the case by lack of amenities at the base (although still nice, did a 2nd apres at Highlands Alehouse, good pizza). Not that I skied the other two of 4 mtns in Aspen area, but I'm pretty sure Highlands is the steepest and has the best terrain for experts. Very cool place.
Snow started rolling in late in the afternoon, as you can see in the Cloud 9 pics. This is the point in the week where the weather changed from spring to winter.
