Aspen Mountain

«Oh get me right, all it takes is starry nights
«I want my eyes to see these lights
«hold hold hold on hold hold on»
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In A Sentence™
It’s just a goddamn mountain where affluent Caucasians — who must have never heard of how Sonny Bono died — careen down at absurd speeds which are hazardous to one’s health.
Quick Review™
+ The stars light up the nights.
+/​-​As a first-​time newbie popping my Aspen cherry, I did not see what is the big deal or why it is so hyped.
— Overpriced. Overrated. Breck, Collins, and Steamboat all feature friendlier locals; not that it is a competition or anything. But, you don’t have to take my word for it.
KEY:
+ Positive observation
+/​-​Neutral note
— Negative observation
Employee of Excellence™
N/​A. One of the guys who works for the city who was volunteering for a sporting event I was working could go here, but I don’t recall his name. Good guy though.
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Tons of tourists here — naturally — especially since Kennedys, Jack Nicholson, David Geffen, et. al, started visiting Aspen and made the rent too damn high. They’re coming. They’re coming! Where is Sheriff Hunter S. Thompson to lay down the law when you need him?
Not good for kids*. (*Kids can’t ski for shit.)
Pro Tip: Don’t drink and ski. Happy New Year!
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Rating: Three-​stars, «A-​OK.»

Great mountain to ski on. All intermediate terrain and higher, and beginners would have a hard time here. Good options for dining and drinking on the mountain. Lines here would be hard to find and one doesn’t have to wait long when you do. The gondola from the bottom takes you straight to the top quite quickly (15 min or so).
Base opens in the middle of town so plenty of options for après after you’re done with the slopes. It is well connected with the rest of town and the rest of the ski areas with free bus services that run regularly in the season.
Do check out Ajax Tavern in the slope side The LIttle Nell, you won’t be disappointed.

In eight years of living in Colorado, I never went up to Aspen in the summer. Did I miss out! The view from the top is amazing. We took the gondola and then the chair lift to reach the summit. It was amazingly cold for an August day. And the view! A lot of people bike down this hill and I can see why. It should be on any mountain biker’s list of places to go.

Most of the reviews for Aspen Mountain are for ski season, but Aspen Mountain in the summer is amazing!
Getting up the mountain via hiking: You can hike to the top of the mountain from the extension of the Ute trail. I hiked to the top of the mountain. It took about 2.5 hours for us to hike up from the base of the mountain. I sit at a desk 70 – 90 hours per week and barely made it to the top. I really have no desire to do it again, but if I did, I would take an hour long picnic break at the reservoir. It is unbelievably fulfilling to know that you made it to the top via the hike, though!
You will finish your hike at the Silver Queen Gondola terminal. From the end of the Ute proper, you will have climbed another 2,000 feet in elevation for a grand total of over 3,000 feet in elevation gain. While you can choose to hike back down, it’s free to take the gondola down the mountain.
Via the Gondola: I’ve not taken the gondola to the top, but I think it’s $ 25 to the top in the summer. Ironically, I hiked the mountain on a day my employer paid for me to ride the gondola. The lines can apparently get fairly long.
At the top of the mountain, there are lots of fun activities. There are lots of free hula-​hoops, frisbee golf, a big chess board, jumbo checkers, a playground, plenty of gorgeous look-​out points, trails to hike, and many picnic benches and tables. It is a fun place for kids and adults.
There are also two restaurants to eat at. I was provided with a free lunch at the Sundeck, which is the quick-​service option. There is plenty of seating, and the prices are actually cheaper than town. There was also a sit-​down option, but it was desolate.
Aspen Mountain is a great place to hang out as a group in the summer, and you don’t want to miss making it to the top of the mountain. Make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen, as you will burn very quickly up here!

Aspen is the best place to visit at any season. There is so much to do outdoors. It is extremely dog friendly. There are several shops to rent road bikes that are good quality. So many places to bike to and it’s bike friendly on the roads! It’s best to go to the grocery store as most if the restaurants, a lough terrific, are a bit expensive! Your heart stays in Aspen forever and you long to go back! There are some really great yoga studios too!!!

If only I could live here… but a t shirt in one of the gift shops honestly sums it up: my life is your vacation. Beautiful scenery and slopes to explore. It was a holiday weekend and it wasn’t packed, up towards the top and sides of the main gondola there were never more than four people congregated to get on a lift, amazing, you can’t get that experience in the other Breckenridge/​Vail resorts. Oh and if you need to buy yourself a private jet, they have a sales office at the bottom of the gondola, complete with decision making champagne.

I can’t speak for the skiing experience here since we visited during the summer, but I can say the gondola ride was 100% worth it. Absolutely stunning views. Only complaint is it was so hot and stuffy in the gondola we were all feeling a bit faint by the time we came down. Other than that, a great way to take in gorgeous Aspen.

This ended up being one of my favorite mountains. The gondola takes a while to go up so be prepared. There are no beginner runs here so make sure you are ready for a little challenge. Once you go up the easiest thing to do is to explore the runs up top. There are so many and they all lead back with a lift. Lots of double black runs too for the expert skiers. Have fun!

The mountain is decent. But I’m giving 3 stars based on the fact that it is a smaller resort and definitely not worth the $ 129 lift ticket price compared to going to snowmass.
There are no beginner runs which make it cool cause it’s mostly intermediate to advanced skiers/​boarders.
There are also a lot of nice long blue runs but when I was there this past weekend there wasn’t a lot of snow so I didn’t really feel like trying anything off the groomed runs or moguls.

Best mountain in the best ski resort in the world. Enjoy every bit of the mountain without major crowds even during busy weekend.

Aspen’s advanced mountain! This is not for beginners so do not even bother if you aren’t experienced… Go to Buttermilk. There are few easy runs on this mountain and it is mostly skiers. I board and I have definitely had my share of pissed off old grouchy skiers but I am a respectful rider and will never stop coming here.
IT IS EXPENSIVE… LIKE EVERY OTHER GREAT MOUNTAIN IN THE USA. Seriously if you want to complain about the lift ticket then go ski some crappy mountain. The prices are the same at other high end ski resorts like Park City, Deer Valley, etc. You can get a college student discount and seniors can buy a season pass for only $ 400.
This is not the place for annoying disrespectful skiiers or boarders… I love this mountain because for the most part it is filled with respectful advanced skiiers. You will stick out like a sore thumb if you are not a good skiier and it is actually dangerous to yourself and other skiiers so just go to another mountain.
Food can be found at the Sundeck at the top (try the Stir Fry) or Bonnie’s which is mid mountain (try the Stroodle) or at the base of the mountain.

Do you know all those photos of Aspen town with the big steep ski slope in the background?
This is THAT mountain.
Locals refer to it as Ajax Mountain.
Aspen Mountain isn’t nearly as big as Snowmass but it is the only mountain in the valley to be within walking distance of town. All four mountains in the valley are operated by the same company known as Aspen Snowmass. Those four mountains are Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk Mountain.
Aspen Mountain has a reputation for being a more challenging mountain than the other local mountains. You would think because it’s located right next to town that it would have wimpy runs. But it doesn’t. In fact it has zero beginner runs. So if you’re learning to ski/​board then this isn’t your mountain. Go to Snowmass to learn. What Aspen Mountain lacks in size, it makes up for in height. It has 3,200 feet in vertical height and stretches way way in the back, so you can’t see the whole mountain from simply standing at the bottom. There’s only a couple slopes that feed down to the town.
I like Aspen Mountain. It’s basically a quality mountain. Believe it or not the majority of the rich & famous aren’t very good skiers so you won’t find many bozos on this mountain. That’s a good thing. You’ll only find serious skiers/​boarders here. I also like it because other than maybe Park City and Breckenridge, there aren’t too many other mountains where you can ski right down to an authentic western town. I say authentic because lots of ski areas have artificial towns that were later created by a ski resort. One hundred years ago Aspen actually used to be a real mining town.
Personally I don’t think I could ski Aspen Mountain for five days in a row, just because I don’t like to ski the same trail twice. But in Aspen valley that’s not an issue because there are three other mountains always waiting to be explored.
Lastly, if you’re commuting to this mountain, you’ll either have to jump aboard public transportation or park your car in Aspen’s town parking garage. Aspen’s town parking garage is not located at the foot of the mountain but rather it is located roughly four blocks away in the center of town.

This is a great ski mountain with lots of very challenging terrain. There are lots of opportunities to ski through the trees, which is phenomenal on powder days. The short coming of this mountain is it has little to offer for the beginner to intermediate skier, they have a very limited number of easy runs.

This is where the 1% come to ski. Mountain was fun, but town and folks were way too douchy. It’s like you just moved Beverly Hills to the mountains. For a more laid back and relaxed skiing experience, go to Aspen Highlands instead.

Pretty amazing place. I like all 4 ski areas at Aspen, but was very pleasantly surprised by how much I like AJAX (Aspen Mountain). Parking at the base can be a pain but the mountain itself is pretty awesome. I heard rumors that the mountain got icy as it funnels into the base, but I didn’t find that to the case. I could kind of tell where people were talking about and if there was flat light, I could see it being a bit annoying there, but overall, I loved it. The gondola from bottom to top was awesome. The views off the back of the top were amazing. Good mix of cruisers, bump runs, trees, etc. We had a group of pretty decent skiers but still different levels and everyone had lots of fun and we were able to easily meet up at the lifts.

This is world class. Friendly service from everyone who works here.
My friend and I came here for a snowshoeing tour. 2 hours later we cleared the mountain terrain and had the best views of town and the other side of the Aspen valley.
I can’t say enough about Aspen mountain.

We were in Aspen in the non-​skiing season, so I didn’t really experience the skiing there. However, we rode the gondola to the top just to check out some of the summer activities. Were able to take a nice little hike along the top of the mountain and see some of the great views from the top. We grabbed a little lunch from the Summit Lodge and picnicked on the outdoor patio. It was great. I also checked out the frisbee golf course for a few holes, but didn’t complete it. Overall, the warm weather experience at the Aspen Summit was great. I’ll try to go back sometime and check out the skiing.

Amazing views from the top, Winter, Spring, Summer of Fall.
Some of the world’s best skiing, picnicking, hiking, and photo ops all in one spot.

What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Aspen… pack a picnic, take a gondola to the top of Aspen Mountain, hike and listen to free classical music… don’t forget the camera either as you will want to take pictures of the stunning scenery as well.

So if you visit in the summer, you might wonder if it’s worth spending $ 28 to ride the gondola … I would argue that it is for the view at the top. Sure you could hike up, but who doesn’t like (nearly) instant gratification? A bonus — your dogs ride for free!