The Four Mountains of Aspen-Snowmass

Here’s a little information for first time visitors about the ski areas in the Roaring Fork Valley known as Aspen Snowmass. Aspen Snowmass is actually four separate mountains, all ski-able under a single ski pass. Snowmass is about a 20 minute drive from Aspen’s center, and so stands a little apart from the rest. It has the largest area of skiable terrain of any of the mountains, and gets as many skier visits as the rest of the mountains combined, with terrain for every level of skier and snowboarder.
Buttermilk is another great family mountain with perfect learning terrain, lots of intermediate runs, and a few black runs. Lodging at the base is limited, but it is easily accessed from either Aspen or Aspen Highlands (both a mere 10 minutes by skier shuttle).
Aspen Highlands is known as the ‘local’s mountain’. The terrain at Highlands is geared towards intermediate and above skiers, and it is renowned for its large skiable area and lack of crowds. This is where you will find the Ritz Carlton, which is the only ski-in-ski-out lodging solution at Highlands.
Aspen Mountain, known to locals as ‘Ajax’ after one of the original silver claims in the area, is similarly best suited to intermediate and above skiers. As well as being the place to see and be seen, it hosts some of the best bump skiing in the US. The Little Nell and its residences monopolize ski-in ski-out lodging at the base of the Gondola, but the Hyatt, the St. Regis, and several other great lodging options can be found just a few steps away.