Aspen: Ski Resorts

Aspen Highlands This delightful, less-heralded area offers challenges to equal Aspen Mountain (chutes, glades, mini bowls, and Volkswagen-sized bumps), shorter lift lines, and truly awesome panoramas of the Maroon Bells Wilderness and Pyramid Peak. White River National Forest; 970-544-3045; www.aspensnowmass.com
skiing | outdoors

Aspen Mountain Still known to many locals as Ajax (after a long-gone silver mine), Aspen remains one of skidom's ultimate ability tests. All of the runs are black and blue (in more ways than one) and you won't find any beginner greens. 970-920-0791; www.aspensnowmass.com
skiing | outdoors

Aspen Mountain Powder Tours Explore the mountain’s 1,500-acres and 14,000 vertiginous vertical feet with an experienced guide, and discover the gnarliest bump skiing anywhere, deep glades, and classic cruisers. Book in advance. 425 Rio Grande Pl.; 888.649.5982; www.aspensnowmass.com
skiing | outdoors | tours

Buttermilk With 74% of its terrain designated green or blue, Buttermilk certainly is a great place to get your ski legs, but don’t dismiss it as a “learning mountain,” the area also contains wonderfully-cut advanced runs and well-developed snowboarding sections. 970-920-0791; www.aspensnowmass.com
skiing | outdoors

Snowmass More affordable, down-to-earth, and family oriented than its more famous sibling (95% of the lodging is ski-in/ski-out), Snowmass offers one of the world’s finest intermediate areas, plus a number of advanced chutes and gullies. Snowmass Village; 800-308-6935; www.aspensnowmass.com
skiing | outdoors