Aspen Snowmass Gearing Up For Winter Season

Aspen Snowmass is gearing up for another winter season, with Opening Day scheduled for Thursday, November 24. With a robust events lineup including the return of World Cup racing on Aspen Mountain, and major developments like an all-new Buttermilk base area, Aspen Snowmass anticipates the coming winter season with big things on the horizon. 

The following details what’s new and noteworthy at Aspen Snowmass for the coming winter 2022/23 season.     

Buttermilk Base Area Transformation 

New this season, Buttermilk will unveil a transformed base area complete with a new 9,000+ square-foot fully electric skier services building, a renovated and rebranded Buttermilk Mountain Lodge restaurant (formerly known as Bumps), and an expanded bar and outdoor patio, newly named The Backyard. This major $23 million renovation will create a more seamless experience for guests as they make their way onto the mountain, with an intuitive skier services building with ski school, rentals and ticketing all in one location. 

Buttermilk is the perfect playground for both kids and kids-at-heart to learn the sport, master the terrain park, try uphilling, or watch the world’s best athletes during X-Games. Many guests who are skiing at Buttermilk are new to Aspen or the sport of skiing, and the Buttermilk base area is being redesigned to make the process of getting on the slopes simple, approachable and inclusive for all guests.  

World Cup Ski Racing Returns to Aspen 

Aspen Snowmass welcomes the return of international ski racing this season with the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, scheduled for March 3-5, 2023. The top men in the in the world will compete on the America’s Downhill course on Aspen Mountain, an iconic World Cup venue with decades of racing history, with two downhills and a super G scheduled March 3-5. 

Aspen hosted the first World Championships held outside of Europe in 1950 and the mountain has hosted innumerable ski racing legends since that time. Aspen has hosted more than 100 World Cup races for both men and women over the years and was home to the World Cup Finals in 2017. 

Pandora’s Terrain Expansion 

Work began this summer on Aspen Mountain’s upcoming terrain expansion, which will increase skiable acreage by more than 20% on the resort's flagship mountain. The area, called Pandora’s, is set to open for the 2023-24 winter season and will be Aspen Mountain’s first significant addition since the opening of the Silver Queen Gondola in December of 1985. 

Pandora’s will be accessed via a high-speed quad and will include 1,220 vertical feet of groomed trails and glades ranging from intermediate to advanced terrain. Not only does the addition diversify Aspen Mountain’s terrain mix and offer a great pitch for skiing, but it also acts as a hedge against future climate-challenged ski seasons: with its north-facing, high elevation terrain, Pandora’s is ideal for holding snow in seasons when natural snowfall is less plentiful.   

Winter 2022-23 ArtUP Partnership 

Aspen Snowmass announces the works of renowned artist Rashid Johnson to be featured on the 2022-23 winter lift tickets and passes.  This marks the 18^th consecutive year of Aspen Snowmass’s Art in Unexpected Places (ArtUP) program, which brings acclaimed artists to Aspen to design a limited-edition lift ticket and an opportunity to connect with Aspen’s local and global communities.  Six of Johnson’s recent works will be displayed on this season’s lift tickets and will also be featured on a limited collection of skis available at ASPENX in downtown Aspen.    

New in On-Mountain Dining 

Aspen Snowmass is the proud recipient of four 2022 Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence at on-mountain fine dining restaurants: Lynn Britt Cabin, Sam’s and Alpin Room at , and Cloud Nine at Highlands. This prestigious award for a restaurant’s extensive, high-quality and well-chosen wine list is made all the more impressive by the fact that each of these four restaurants are located on-mountain in exclusively ski-in, ski-out locations. 

Like many of this season’s new developments, the on-mountain dining highlights are punctuated by the Buttermilk base area renovation. The all-new Buttermilk Mountain Lodge will be home to a renovated dining space and new outdoor patio bar, The Backyard. The dining area will feature updates to favorites like the pasta station, while The Backyard will offer skiers and riders the perfect après spot nestled at Buttermilk’s base.  

Over at Snowmass, High Alpine will launch a new Bavarian Saturdays series, featuring European classics like warm pretzels and beer served in steins. This series will be a key feature in the larger Aspen Snowmass après schedule, which includes live bands and DJs across all four mountains, as well as the Bud Light Music on the Mountain series. 

Aspen Snowmass welcomes the return of Full Moon Uphill Dinners to Buttermilk this season, held at Cliffhouse on evenings of the in-season full moons (January 6, February 5 and March 7, 2023). Participants can uphill or hike up Buttermilk and enjoy sunset drinks by the fire pit, food from Cliffhouse favorites like Mongolian Grill, and a ski down under the light of the full moon.  

Sustainability  

Advocating for Policy Change 

Aspen Skiing Company’s core sustainability strategy continues to focus on advocating for environmental policy to drive meaningful, large-scale change. The company has been outspoken in its support of climate legislation, teaming up with industry partners like Protect Our Winters and Alterra to leverage government action. Through another partnership with Audi of America, the company recently published an op-ed encouraging businesses to support Congress’ climate bill—which saw a major victory with the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history. 

Electrifying Operations 

While lobbying for climate action remains at the forefront, Aspen Skiing Company also continues to do the ground work to model solutions for all-electric buildings and transportation. The Limelight Mammoth Hotel, which broke ground this June, is on track to be the first-ever all electric hotel in the country when it opens in 2024. At the center of the Buttermilk base area redevelopment is an all-electric 9,300 sq. ft. skier services building. The Hub at Willits, which opened in 2021, is the first modern multi-family all-electric building in Colorado, getting its energy from solar panels and cold climate heat pumps to create a fully carbon-free employee living facility. Even the company’s vehicle fleet is on its way to becoming entirely electric, with the new Ford Lightnings on order and Audi EVs already in use.  

This electrification is in tandem with decarbonization of the grid, run by progressive utility provider Holy Cross Energy, who will have 100% clean power by 2030. 

Transportation 

Ground transportation services return to Aspen Snowmass this winter with the new Roaring Fork Express, which provides daily scheduled shuttles and on-demand charters to and from Denver International Airport and Eagle County Airport. For more information, click here.  

Air travel traffic and schedules through Aspen Pitkin County Airport (ASE) will continue with some expansions. Delta Airlines will continue to offer one flight daily from Los Angeles and has added a second flight daily from Atlanta. American Airlines will feature robust schedules from their national hubs into Aspen, with expanded service from Austin, Texas. This route features 78 flights planned for this winter compared to the 58 total from last year. 

United Airlines has increased its early December flight capacity by 80% over the last year, with 45 additional flights from November 30 through December 14. United does not intend to resume last season’s nonstop flight from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California (SNA), but the airline has slightly increased capacity from other hubs to offer nearly identical overall capacity into Aspen. 

Pickup Boxes and Aspen Snowmass App   

Aspen Snowmass continues enhanced digital offerings to give guests a more streamlined and sustainable experience in the resort. Lift tickets and season passes can be purchased online or through the Aspen Snowmass app, and can then be picked up at one of the many self-serve Pickup Boxes located across the resort.  

The recently-updated Aspen Snowmass App gives users access to all of the information and functionality of the ticket office via their mobile device. The Aspen Snowmass App serves as the in-resort information hub featuring interactive maps, snow reports, parking lot status and lift line wait times, while also offering favorite stats and tracking features like skier days and Bowl laps. Guests can also access rewards and passholder benefits within the app, as well as purchase lessons, gear rentals and even express lift ticket reload. 

Winter Operating Dates