Aspen, Colorado

Aspen: a winter playground for the rich and famous. For the past couple of months it seemed like every influencer on my Instagram feed was there, posting photos of themselves frolicking in the snow. So of course I’m curious, what’s so great about Aspen? I recently went for a ski vacation, which also doubled as an escape from depressing, Covid-ridden Los Angeles. While I was very excited to experience it, I have to admit I was underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong Aspen’s a nice ski town, but unless you want the option to shell out an unnecessary amount of greenbacks, I’d say it’s on par with most other ski destinations I’ve visited.

Getting There

My recommendation: fly into Aspen airport. Major commercial airlines such as American and United fly there, and tickets are not that expensive. Plus, it’s worth the convenience. The airport is located just minutes away from Aspen’s four mountains. (Yes, Aspen is not just one mountain, it’s four – I know, confusing I’ll explain later). From the airport you can either rent a car, catch a cab/uber, hop on a resort shuttle, or take public transit to your final destination. I have to say I was quite pleasantly surprised by Aspen’s public transit system. Everywhere we went there seemed to be a bus passing by, so it’ll get you where you need to go.

Now some of you might be thinking something along the lines of: “Hey what about flying into Denver and driving up? Flights are so cheap, I can get a round-trip ticket for $100 bucks and save a bunch of money!” Yeah that’s what we did. My advice? Don’t do what we did. It’s a four-hour drive up to Aspen along windy mountain roads and while it might be beautiful in good weather, get caught in a blizzard and you’ll be sorry. Plus, you need to rent a car to get there and that adds up, especially if you rent one with 4-wheel drive to be prepared for said potential blizzard. So yes it MIGHT be cheaper, but it’s not worth the extra hassle, time, and inconvenience. Plus, if your goal is to save money, Aspen is not the place for you.

Covid Testing

Pitkin county is currently requiring all visitors to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival, or to skip the quarantine requirement, you must receive a negative Covid test administered within 72 hours of arrival. Violate this mandate and you risk a $5,000 fine.

We took our tests and received our negative results before arriving, but if you’re unable to do so there are options for taking a test once you arrive. Denver airport offers same-day testing, and one supermarket we passed on the way was offering tests for $25 – you can’t beat that!

I’d recommend just taking a test before you arrive so you don’t have to worry about it. What if you test positive when you’re there? That would suck.

As for enforcement, no one actually checked up on us once we were there, but don’t be an asshole, get tested.

Where to Ski

Aspen has four different ski areas. In order, from easiest terrain to most challenging they are: Buttermilk, Snowmass, Aspen Mountain (“Ajax”), and Aspen Highlands. You’ll want to pick the mountain that best suits your skill level, but if you can only choose one I’d recommend Snowmass. It’s a mostly intermediate mountain, but also has green and black runs so there’s something for everyone. We decided to ski both Snowmass and Ajax during our time there and Snowmass was my favorite.

It’s hard for me to fairly evaluate the skiing because conditions were horrible when we visited. It had not snowed for a while, so it was very icy which was not fun. A gentleman we spoke to on the lift said he comes every year and these were the second worst conditions he’d ever experienced. Lucky us. And then a week after we left, Aspen received a huge snow dump. Sigh. But that’s the name of the game, you just never know what conditions you’re going to get. Both mountains had nice wide, long runs with beautiful views, so I think if conditions had been better I would really have loved skiing them.

Where to Stay

Laurelwood Condominiums

As for whether to stay in Snowmass or downtown Aspen, it just depends on what vibe you’re going for, and what mountain you intend to ski the most. We wanted to focus primarily on skiing Snowmass, and the lodging there is also cheaper. We stayed at the Laurelwood condos in Snowmass because they had ski in-ski out access. And when they say ski in-ski out they mean it. You just walk out the back door, up a small hill, and bam you’re right on the slopes. It doesn’t get more convenient than that. If your main focus is skiing, I highly recommend staying there or at one of the many other condos lining the mountain. Laurelwood itself was a bit older accommodation-wise, but if you don’t need fancy it’s a great little place to stay. It had a full kitchen, fireplace, and balcony and we were very cozy throughout our stay. The front office staff was also very kind and helpful.

Overall, Snowmass has a small ski town feel with a cute little village and several shops and restaurants. It stands on its own and has a very different vibe than downtown Aspen, which is only about 20 minutes away via car or public transit.

Downtown Aspen has more of a ritzy vibe and felt like a ski town version of Rodeo Drive. It’s lined with shops like Prada and Valentino and high-end art galleries, all with a more elevated price point that makes your wallet cower in fear. Granted there are some more reasonably priced shops as well. As for the layout, it felt much less intimate than Snowmass. The brick buildings, while architecturally beautiful, are laid out on a grid and spread out throughout the town. There’s no real feeling of a town center, which disappointed me, since I was expecting more of a village feel. Nonetheless, if your vibe is more shopping and fine dining, then downtown Aspen is the place for you.

Regardless of where you choose to stay, I highly recommend walking around both to get the full experience.

Après Ski

The upscale après ski scene is where Aspen really shines. It has plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars where you can eat, drink, and spend away to your heart’s content. Although, we were surprised to find that by 6 p.m. most of the stores in downtown Aspen were already closed. The slopes close at 3:30 so if you want to ski and shop you’ll be a bit rushed, which I found irritating. Because of this I’d say the shopping is more of a daytime activity geared toward non-skiers.

The town as a whole felt pretty quiet but I’d speculate that Covid was largely to blame. Fortunately, the restaurants were still open at 25% capacity so we were able to sample a couple of them: The more casual Edge in Snowmass Village and the more upscale Ellina in downtown Aspen. The Edge, a German-inspired restaurant, had a lovely, intimate ambiance and good food. We ate the fondue and the weiner schnitzel which were both delicious. Ellina, an Italian-Mexican fusion restaurant, was more of a mixed bag. The underground fine dining atmosphere was elegant and certainly a people-watching extraordinaire. The woman at the table next to us was wearing a diamond ring the size of a quarter. I am not exaggerating – I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The food itself was hit and miss. We ordered several pasta dishes and the lamb. The pasta was bland and disappointing, but the lamb was one of the best lamb dishes I’ve eaten in my life. So if you go there, just don’t order the pasta.

Closing Thoughts

I focused on skiing, but there are plenty of other winter activities available that I did not address including snowmobiling, cross country skiing, etc. Overall, I liked Aspen, but didn’t love it. Snowmass Village was lovely, and while I enjoyed walking around and exploring downtown Aspen, it did not have much character. The main draw of Aspen is its high-end shopping and fine dining options. But you can still find great shopping and fine dining options elsewhere, in a much more enjoyable atmosphere. For example: Vail.

We stopped by Vail Village on our drive back to Denver and I fell in love. It has a wonderful atmosphere; it is picturesque and quaint and makes you feel like you’re in traditional European village. Despite the holidays being over, it still felt like a winter wonderland with lights adorning most of the buildings and trees (although this was the case in Aspen as well). The village streets were filled with a combination of high-end and more reasonably priced stores and restaurants. Vail Village was essentially everything I expected Aspen to be.