Skiing

SKIING AT ASPEN/SNOWMASS
One lift ticket allows you access to all four of Aspen’s exceptional mountains: Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass. If you would like to purchase lift tickets in advance, please visit www.aspensnowmass.com.

SKI RENTALS 
The Basalt Mountain Inn offers ski and snowboard rentals in advance so that your vacation is as hassle-free as possible in partnership with Basalt Bike & Ski. Book online before your arrival at www.basaltbikeandski.com, let them know you are guests at the Basalt Mountain Inn, and enjoy 20% savings on all rentals and ski repair.

SKI SCHOOL 
Aspen Skiing Company’s excellent ski and snowboard instructors offer lessons to everyone from first-timers to expert bump skiers to professional racers. Group and private lessons, as well as half, full, and multi-day clinics are available for adults and kids on each mountain. For advance reservations, call (970) 925-1220, www.aspensnowmass.com.

FIRST TRACKS
Before the mountain opens to the public, join a ski pro from Aspen’s ski and snowboard school and experience the thrill of skiing or snowboarding on untracked, powder-filled slopes. Early-morning “fresh tracks” program are offered daily at Aspen Mountain and on Wednesday and Fridays at Snowmass Mountain. For more information, contact the Aspen Skiing Company at (970) 925-1220.

SNOWSHOEING 
Discover Aspen’s scenic backcountry on a guided snowshoe tour, led by naturalists from the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. On the tour, you’ll weave in and out of spruce-fir forests and along a babbling creek while your guide teaches you about the animals that inhabit the Rocky Mountains in winter. Guided tours include lift tickets, snacks, warm drinks, snowshoe rentals, guides and basic instruction. For more information, call (970) 925-5756. If you’d rather explore Aspen Mountain on your own, strap on a pair of snowshoes, grab a trail map and set off into the woods, up the mountain or along a mountaintop ridge. Or enjoy the more than 80 kilometers of groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trails that make up the Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Trail System, which links the towns of Aspen and Snowmass via the Owl Creek Trail.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING 
Aspen and Snowmass with over 80 kilometers of groomed trails have one of the largest free groomed Nordic trail systems in North America. The one-of-a-kind Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Trail System, which links two Aspen and Snowmass Village via the Owl Creek Trail, meanders across quiet meadows and through secluded wooden areas while crossing three distinct valleys. Instruction, guides and rentals are located at the Aspen Cross Country Center, the Snowmass Club and the Ashcroft Ski Touring Area. For more information, call (970) 925-2145 or (970) 923-3148.