When is the best time to ski Aspen?

January for the driest snow and the quietest slopes once the New Year crowd leaves, February for the most reliable conditions, and March for long days and better value with more variable snow. Christmas and New Year are the hardest two weeks to book in North America and need close to a year of lead time.

Which of the four Aspen mountains should we ski?

Ajax if you are strong and want to walk to dinner, Highlands for the hike-to bowl, Buttermilk if anyone is learning, Snowmass for size and ski-in lodging. One lift pass covers all four and a shuttle connects them, so the real question is which two are worth your days.

Is Aspen good for families?

Yes, and specifically because of Buttermilk and Snowmass — gentle terrain and ski-in residences — rather than Ajax, which has no beginner runs at all. Getting that choice right is most of whether a family week works.

Do we need a car in Aspen?

No, and it is usually a liability in winter. The town is walkable, the inter-mountain shuttle is good, and we arrange private transfers from Aspen or Eagle county airports and to the mountains. Parking in town is scarce and snow-clearing is not your problem unless you make it one.

Is Aspen worth visiting in summer?

It is a different trip and an underrated one: hiking and the Maroon Bells, the music festival through July and August, and a town at a third of the winter price. If you have skied here and liked the place rather than only the snow, come back in July.

Colorado & the Rockies

Aspen

Four mountains on one pass, a residence you ski back to, and a town that was a silver camp before it was a resort.

When to Go: December – March
Estimated From: ~US$1,500 per person, per night

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Aspen is four separate mountains and one lift ticket: Ajax above the town, Highlands for the bowl, Buttermilk for learning, and Snowmass for sheer size. Which one you start on depends on who is travelling.

Access · Not Itinerary

What an Advisor Can Open Here

Each of these is staged on your terms — the access, the timing, the people.

First tracks before the lifts turn

An early ride up with a mountain guide, on a groomer nobody has touched, while the town is still having breakfast.

A private instructor who is also the plan

Not a lesson — a person who decides which of the four mountains suits the snow that morning and gets your party through the day without a queue.

A residence you can ski back to

The difference between a hotel and a house with a ski room is the fourth day, when nobody has to carry anything anywhere.

A Note From Forest Travel Forty years, one hundred and twenty countries,
and a single way of working.

Curated by Juan David Travel Agent, Forest Travel Updated September 2026

Which two of the four mountains are actually yours?

Two, and the choice is made by who is travelling, not by the map. One lift pass covers all four and a shuttle connects them, so the only real question is which two deserve your days. Ajax rises straight out of town and has no beginner terrain at all — short, steep, and walkable home from dinner. Highlands is where strong skiers go for the hike-to bowl. Buttermilk is the gentlest and the reason families base here. Snowmass has the vertical, from a base at 8,104 feet (2,470 m) to 12,510 feet (3,810 m), and the ski-in residences. We put a family on the right two and skip the other two entirely.

When to come, and what each month costs you?

The 2026–27 season runs 26 November 2026 to 18 April 2027. January holds the driest snow and the fewest people once the New Year week clears. February is the most reliable. March buys longer days, softer afternoons and better value, at the price of variable conditions. The two weeks around Christmas and New Year are the hardest booking in North America — residences go a year ahead, and we start that conversation in the previous winter, not the previous autumn.

The thing nobody has told you yet: the airport closes in 2027

Aspen/Pitkin County Airport shuts from 11pm on Sunday 4 April 2027 until 7pm on Friday 19 November 2027, for a full runway reconstruction and the start of a new terminal. No commercial flights, no general aviation, no private jets, no access to the terminal — for seven and a half months. Two consequences follow. The last two weeks of the ski season, 4 to 18 April 2027, are reached by road from a regional airport rather than by flying into town. And the whole of summer 2027 is a driving destination. We are already planning 2027 trips against Eagle County and the longer transfer, and anyone who books Aspen for those dates without knowing this will find out at the worst moment.

Does the pass in your pocket still work here?

It depends which one. The full Ikon Pass is unchanged: seven days across all four mountains. The Ikon Base Pass changes for 2026–27 — five days at Snowmass only, with blackouts on 26 to 30 December, 16 and 17 January 2027 and 13 and 14 February 2027. No lift reservations are required at any of the four mountains for either pass. If your party is holding Base passes and expecting Ajax, that is worth knowing before the flights are booked.

Is Aspen worth a summer trip?

Yes, and it is a different trip at a fraction of the winter price. The Aspen Music Festival runs 30 June to 22 August 2027. The Maroon Bells are the other reason, and they are rationed: trailhead parking runs 15 May to 31 October, the shuttle from Aspen Highlands 22 May to 18 October, and the scenic area is closed to inbound private vehicles between 8am and 5pm, so the Bells are an early-morning or late-afternoon proposition and reservations are mandatory. Note that summer 2027 falls entirely inside the airport closure.

Who is Aspen wrong for?

A beginner put on Ajax, and anyone who arrives and skis hard on day one. The town sits at 7,908 feet (2,411 m) and the lifts go above 12,000 — we plan a gentler first day and hydration rather than pretending altitude is a personality flaw. A car is also usually a liability here: the town is walkable, the inter-mountain shuttle works, and we arrange transfers instead. See our Aspen ski guide, compare with Switzerland, or see the country in the United States.