rjnakata Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 (edited) I have trip planned for early March and I have one day to carve in Aspen - Saturday March 14. This is my first time in Aspen! Where should I go for the best carving? Aspen, Snowmass, Buttermilk, Highlands? Thanks! I also have Friday the 13th and Sunday the 15th for Denver local mountains on the Ikon pass: Copper, Arapahoe, Eldora, Winter Park, Steamboat, Winter Park. Again I don't know a thing about the carving at these resorts...all new to me. thanks for your insight! Edited December 14, 2019 by rjnakata Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 There is good carving to be had at all 4 Aspen areas. Buttermilk has some great carving with very few people. Most of it isn't very steep but very nice. Snowmass has a lot of terrain and many different slopes to choose from. Highlands has some great carving slopes but you have to go through some less-than-ideal terrain to get to the bottom. Aspen Mountain has some carving favorites: Ruthies and Copper Bowl. My personal favorite is Buttermilk for the great grooming and lack of crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 As John alluded, it depends highly on your desired terrain. Buttermilk is the least steep of them, which keeps the OMGXTREME! guys away. This means short lift lines on the Tiehack side, which is pretty awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted December 17, 2019 Report Share Posted December 17, 2019 Driving to CO or flying? I-70 westbound out of Denver on Saturday a.m. or eastbound on any Sunday p.m. could be a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjnakata Posted December 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2019 12 hours ago, JohnE said: There is good carving to be had at all 4 Aspen areas. Buttermilk has some great carving with very few people. Most of it isn't very steep but very nice. Snowmass has a lot of terrain and many different slopes to choose from. Highlands has some great carving slopes but you have to go through some less-than-ideal terrain to get to the bottom. Aspen Mountain has some carving favorites: Ruthies and Copper Bowl. My personal favorite is Buttermilk for the great grooming and lack of crowds. Wow, Buttermilk sounds great. We're not steeps carving hard chargers (daughter and I) and like to avoid the uber skiers. For example I prefer June Mountain, CA (smaller, less crowded, close parking, nice people, great snow) over Mammoth (mammoth). I wish I had more days in Aspen. 7 hours ago, Pat Donnelly said: Driving to CO or flying? I-70 westbound out of Denver on Saturday a.m. or eastbound on any Sunday p.m. could be a concern. This is good to know. We're riding Sunday and flying out of DEN at 8:00pm. Should I go to Winter Park to avoid the traffic? I was hoping to do Arapaho (?) Sunday and fly out that night. Total newbie here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE Posted December 17, 2019 Report Share Posted December 17, 2019 I think that you'll love Buttermilk. Most of the other people there are beginner skiers. Very easy to spot and avoid. The West Buttermilk lift is very mellow and very fun. Some steeper stuff is off of Tiehack lift. You can easily switch between the two. I have never carved Steamboat. It is about a 3 hour drive from Denver. Arapahoe, Copper and Winter Park are 1.5 - 2 hours from Denver. Of the 3, Winter Park is my preference. Eldora is closer but I expect carving is limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surf Quebec Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Since you'll be there on a Saturday, i recommend buttermilk for less crowd. If on a weekday I would rdcommend Snowmass which has so many big wide runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 On 12/17/2019 at 1:00 AM, rjnakata said: This is good to know. We're riding Sunday and flying out of DEN at 8:00pm. Should I go to Winter Park to avoid the traffic? I was hoping to do Arapaho (?) Sunday and fly out that night. Total newbie here. I-70 can get really busy. WP will be just as long if not longer as Berthoud pass can be real slow and even closed if there is avalanche mitigation. Your plan of riding Aspen and leaving is probably the best one but plan on leaving around or before 2pm because it can take more than 3 hours to get down in heavy traffic. If you leave at 4 you will miss your flight. Also, keep in mind that mid March is spring break time. Be prepared for busy, crazy slopes. Aspen will be better than WP/Copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjnakata Posted January 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Thanks guys for the great insight. The traffic is a factor I didn't really know about. Do you think this makes sense?: Thurs: arrive late DEN, stay in Lakewood Fri: Lakewood -> Copper -> Basalt Sat: Basalt -> Buttermilk -> Georgetown Sun: Georgetown -> Winter Park -> DEN 8:00 flight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 Rj, I’m in Arvada. Stay at my place. We have room. Pm me or 720 six4six 12three5 lance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjnakata Posted January 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 13 hours ago, slopestar said: Rj, I’m in Arvada. Stay at my place. We have room. Pm me Whoa Lance, you are one of the most generous guys I know I’ll PM you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) On Sunday if you go to Loveland one of the crew can likely set you up with a discount pass. Loveland and Winter Park are the closest to Denver. About 1 1/2 hour in light traffic. Could be 3+ hours in heavy traffic. At Winter Park you likely won't see any other hardbooters. At Loveland, there will likely be a crew of 6+. Loveland is about 10 minutes from Georgetown. Edited January 31, 2020 by JohnE new info 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.