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

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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 August 2026

Four mountains, and the one you choose says everything

Ajax rises straight out of town and has no beginner terrain at all — it is short, steep and walkable 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 and the ski-in residences. We put a family on the right two and skip the other two entirely.

When to come, and what it costs you

January holds the driest snow and the fewest people after the New Year week. 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 of the year in the whole of North America — residences go a year ahead.

FAQ

Planning a Private Aspen Journey

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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