Aspen Highlands Ski Resort Review

Aspen Highlands Ski Resort Review

Aspen Highlands Ski Resort Website: https://www.aspensnowmass.com/our-mountains/aspen-highlands

Aspen Highlands Ski Resort Trail Map

Aspen Highlands Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)

Summary: Aspen Highlands is one of four separate ski areas that comprises Aspen Resort in Aspen, Colorado. A local favorite, Aspen Highlands offers steep terrain and long runs. Aspen Highlands Ski Resort is perhaps most known for its massive bowl at the top, the Highland Bowl. If you are an intermediate or advanced skier or snowboarder, you will find everything to make you happy at Aspen Highlands Ski Resort.

Parking: There are multiple areas to park in the town of Aspen and at Aspen Resort itself. However, the two most common ways to get to Aspen Highlands are: paid parking at the base of the resort ($15/$25 per day) or free parking at Buttermilk and taking the free shuttle over to the base of Aspen Highlands. Note, that if you take the Buttermilk shuttle, it runs every 15 minutes to 11:30AM. After 11:30AM, it runs every 30 minutes until 2:30 where it resumes the 15 minute block schedule. We had some trouble finding the free parking lot on our first  visit, but it’s basically right next to the base Buttermilk area (right off highway 82).

Season Pass: As of the 2018-2019 Season, Aspen Highlands Ski Resort is part of the Ikon Pass on a limited basis. Find out more information here.

Strengths:

• Almost all terrain is black or double black (obviously this is a negative if you are not an experienced rider or skiier)
• Highlands Bowl – some of the steepest in bounds runs in the state of Colorado, but you earn every single turn of them with a long hike up to the top. The Highlands Bowl is a .75 mile hike with 782 feet of elevation gain. At certain times of year there is a free snowcat that can shave a hundred feet and .35 miles off the hike.
• Aspen Highlands has some LOOONG runs. If you take the Lode Peak lift from the summit to the base area, your legs will be screaming if you are not in midseason form. Looking to have a huge vert day? Aspen Highlands is your place.
• Reasonably priced lift ticket for the amount of terrain you have access to. If you buy multiple days in a row (at least 4) you get a variety of benefits (lunch voucher, rental discounts etc.)

Weaknesses:  

• No beginner terrain – Aspen Highlands literally does not have a green circle trail and only has a handful of blue squares.
• Long ass hike up to Highlands Bowl – is the terrain up there awesome? You bet. Will you want to hike it more than once? Probably not.
• No free parking at base of resort
• While Aspen Highlands has some awesome side bowls and steep runs, due to the layout of the mountain it’s very easy to get stuck on one of the many catwalks around the mountain. However, since you are skiing/riding these steep runs, you are probably well equipped to handle a catwalk, but it is still worth mentioning.
• Avalanche Prone – Since Aspen Highlands is so steep,  there is a lot of terrain that is avalanche prone, so if there is a pocket of deep snow or unstable early/late season conditions, expect trail closures across the mountain until the avalanche risk has been mitigated.

Mick’s Tip: This is a great tip for almost every mountain in Aspen (and most mountains in general) but study the trail map before your first visit. Understand what lifts take you where and plan out which runs you really want to hit. Aspen Highlands has so much terrain that is not “straightforward” to access, so being familiar with the mountain will really unlock its secrets.

If you plan on hiking the Highlands Bowl and are a flatlander or maybe just out of shape, bring some water and a way to support your skis/board.Patrol HQ at the top of Loge Peak sells carrying devices for $10 or there are many backpacks/devices on the market which you can buy before your trip. Not only will your arms thank you, but having a hands free hike allows you to forget about the worry of dropping a snowboard or pole down the steep (and in some spots inaccessible) terrain.

Best Views: Aspen Highlands has a variety of great views, but for me, the best views are at the top of the Highlands Bowl looking west towards the Maroon Bells. The infamous bells can be viewed all year from a much lower elevation, but it’s fairly rare to get this perspective of them, especially in the winter months. If you want these views, you will have to pay though as the hike up to the top is not easy.

Pictures From Aspen Highlands