Last dash Any year the weather gods shortchange Tahoe ski resorts,

weekender

The double plane

consider heading to Aspen, where the peak season runs from trip you have to take
to Aspen is worth it:
February through March and the place is a total scene, snow

to Aspen
How can you not be
or not. Lift tickets in Aspen are good at any of four ski wowed by such a
areas—Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and spectacular setting?
Buttermilk—all located within a 12-mile radius and accessible
This jaw-droppingly beautiful
by free shuttles. Chances are, one of them will still have snow
mountain playground offers
when you arrive. March is also a big month for special events
good times for the snow crazy
in town and on the mountains, including the Aspen Music
and the just plain lazy.
san francisco March 2008

Festival (Mar. 6 and Mar. 10), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Mar. 28–29),
By Camper English and a few Bud Light–sponsored exhibitions and concert
Photographs by tyler stableford series sprinkled in between.
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1
Snowmass has the most skiable acreage, and there’s terrain for
boarders and skiers of various levels. Ninety-five percent of the
lodging in Snowmass is ski-in/ski-out, so if that’s your only action
item, this is the place to stay. It’s also the ideal place to bring
kids, with the new Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center (below)
offering childcare, lessons, rentals, and family après-ski parties.
Beginners will enjoy the long, wide trails of Buttermilk, while
snowboarding tricksters visit for the five terrain parks and super-
pipe. Aspen Highlands (next page, right) offers extreme slopes
for pros, as well as views from the mountain of the famous
Maroon Bells. Must-ski Aspen Mountain is slightly gentler than
the Highlands, but it’s no slouch and is extremely popular, in
part because the base of its lift is just a few feet from down-
town streets, posh hotels, and shopping. For information about
any of these mountains, call 970-925-1220 or visit aspensnowmass.com

2
Sure, you can go the home-rental route, but Aspen has plenty
of hotels if you want to put yourself in someone else’s hands.
Zoom off the slopes at Aspen Mountain too fast, and you could
almost land in the outdoor pool (above) of the Sky Hotel—
which wouldn’t be so awful, since it’s heated. This Kimpton-
managed property has all the qualities of an urban boutique
hotel, with iPod alarm clocks and personal oxygen tanks in
every room. The St. Regis Resort is more the leather club-chair
type and has an onsite spa and the Aspen Back Institute inside,
san francisco March 2008

where you can repair any damage done on the slopes. A few
blocks from the mountain is Hotel Jerome, built in 1889. Old-
time opulence is the theme here, with ballrooms, fine dining,
and the hopping J-Bar—where you can still order a Prohibition-
era specialty drink, the Aspen Crud. Sky Hotel: 709 E. Durant
Ave., 800-882-2582, theskyhotel.com; St. Regis Resort: 315 E. Dean St., 970-

920-3300, stregisaspen.com; Hotel Jerome: 330 E. Main St., 970-920-1000,

hoteljerome.com
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4
Aspen’s after-hours party gets swinging around
3 p.m. at the casual-hip 39 Degrees Lounge in
the Sky Hotel, which serves up one of the town’s
more innovative cocktail programs, and indoor-
outdoor hangout the Tavern, at the base of the
Aspen lift. For culture instead of cocktails, art
galleries are open on the first Thursday of the
month until 7 p.m., and on third Thursdays, the
Aspen Art Museum presents Art After Hours from
5 to 7 p.m. Every Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies hosts the
Naturalist Nights lecture series. 39 Degrees Lounge
at the Sky Hotel: 709 E. Durant Ave., 800-882-2582, thesky

hotel.com; The Tavern: 685 E. Durant Ave., 970-920-6334;

Aspen Art Museum: 590 N. Mill St., 970-925-8050, aspenart

museum.org; Aspen Center for Environmental Studies:

100 Puppy Smith St., 970-925-5756, aspennature.org

3 5
If your idea of wintertime extreme sports is Casual fine-dining restaurants litter the streets
shopping for intensive-care lip balm, Aspen of the city and include Matsuhisa (as in Nobu
also offers your sort of fun. Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Matsuhisa, of the eponymous NYC eatery),
Prada, Louis Vuitton, and other boutiques are which serves Latin-influenced Japanese food;
scattered about its small and walkable down- and the Italian D19, whose signature dish is
town (above), as are smaller shops for books, sliced prosciutto over warm rosemary dough-
kitchen supplies, and high-end sportswear. nuts in the shape of a snow-covered mountain.
Worn out from all that credit-card lifting, you’ll Adventurous diners should try Krabloonik on
need a visit to O2 Aspen (above) for some yoga Snowmass mountain, specializing in wild game
or Pilates, or to the Aspen Club & Spa, with spa and offering dogsled rides with dinner; or the
services, a salon, and après-ski massages (plus Pine Creek Cookhouse, which features “moun-
san francisco March 2008

indoor tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a tain gourmet” items like elk tenderloin and
full gym for the ambitious) in a grand fitness trout, and is accessed via sled or cross-country
center surrounded by the snowy forest. O2 Aspen: skis. Matsuhisa: 303 Main St., 970-544-6628, matsuhisa
500 W. Main St., 970-925-4002, o2aspen.com; Aspen Club & aspen.com; D19: 305 S. Mill St., 970-925-6019, d19aspen.com;

Spa: 1450 Ute Ave., 970-925-8900, aspenclub.com Krabloonik: 4250 Divide Rd., Snowmass Village, 970-923-

3953, krabloonik.com; Pine Creek Cookhouse: Park at

King Cabin Nordic Center at the end of Castle Creek Rd.,

970-925-1044, pinecreekcookhouse.com
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