Ikonic Snowmass

Snowmass Welcomes The Ikon Pass

So, Denverites… Where to use those Ikon Pass days among 38 destinations around the world? With one of the best early seasons in decades, a brand-new base village buzzing with energy and 3,332 acres of terrain for every member of your family or group, Snowmass is the obvious choice. It’s only three and a half hours in a car from Denver to Snowmass, and that mileage is just long enough to weed out the crowds. With more skiable acreage than Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk combined and an average of two skiers per skiable acre, weekends on Snowmass often resemble weekdays on front-range resorts. The lack of lines means exponentially more skiing and riding.

Though Snowmass enjoys a family-friendly reputation, the mountain’s 4,406 vertical feet (the most in the continental United States) holds plenty of expert terrain, from cliffs to steep chutes. Snowmass’ Hanging Valley Headwall and the Cirque have hosted big mountain competitions and challenge hard-charging skiers and snowboarders with steep chutes, tight tree shots, and aesthetic cliff bands. Couples can unwind with ski-in/ski-out accommodations and through unique experiences like fondue at Gwyn’s High Alpine and snowcat dinners to mid-mountain, Lynn Britt Cabin. If you do bring the kids along, Snowmass serves up effortless family fun with perfectly pitched groomers, tree trails galore, and terrain parks for every level of skier and rider. Looking for family time after dark? Ullr Nights offers classic winter activities, such as sledding, guided snowshoe tours with ACES, snowbiking, snow tubing, and riding the Breathtaker Alpine Coaster. Enjoy an à la carte culinary celebration with live music, and top it off with s’mores and hot chocolate by the campfire. Please sign up in advance for tubing, snowbiking,
and the Breathtaker Alpine Coaster. Moreover, Snowmass offers 105 continuous days of children’s programming in the winter, including lessons at The Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center. Check out The Collective for informational on daily kid-friendly activities.

The fun doesn’t stop once you click out of your skis or snowboard! This winter marks the completion of Snowmass Base Village and the first winter for the new, exciting offerings from The Collective. The Rink offers free ice-skating and Game of Stones curling series on Friday afternoons. The Collective brings a new buzz to Base Village from mix6 restaurant and MoxiBar to the innovative Game Lounge featuring tunnel ping pong, interactive music walls and a Ziegler Reservoir ball pit. This new space truly does have something for everyone. Weekly events include daily VIK – very important kid- programming, free live music, and sits adjacent to the Limelight Hotel Snowmass. With a five-story climbing wall, live music, and a lively, casual, community-oriented restaurant and bar spilling out onto a patio overlooking the village, Limelight Hotel Snowmass has assumed its position as Snowmass’ gathering spot. 

If you live in Colorado and haven’t experienced the beauty, variety, energy, and approachability that is Snowmass, it’s time. Whether it’s for the snow, the terrain, the solitude, the inspired surroundings or the buzzing new Base Village or the warm, welcoming Snowmass Village Mall, the reasons to scan your Ikon Pass at Snowmass stretch longer than Longshot, the area’s three and a half mile long run. 

A former editor at Powder, Tess Strokes moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2010 and contributes to publications like The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Outside, National Geographic, Freeskier, and Backcountry.