Things to Do in Aspen in Winter: A Private Chef's Local Guide

Aspen is our busiest week of the year every December, and the question guests ask most often, right after the menu, is what to do with the hours they are not on the mountain. This is the answer we give at the table, from a team that spends real winters in the Roaring Fork Valley. Summer gets its own short list at the end.

When to come, and what the calendar looks like

The four mountains usually open between Thanksgiving and mid-December and close in April. Christmas through New Year is the busiest week we cook anywhere, with Presidents' Day weekend close behind. Early December and late January into February are the deep-snow weeks locals like best. January is event season: Wintersköl, the town's winter carnival, runs a long weekend in the middle of the month with a parade and fireworks, Aspen Gay Ski Week follows, and the Winter X Games take over Buttermilk at the end of the month. The holiday weeks bring the tree lighting downtown and torchlight descents on Aspen Mountain.

Four mountains, and which one is yours

Aspen Mountain, Ajax to locals, rises straight out of downtown off the Silver Queen Gondola and has no beginner terrain at all: steep, long, and the reason experts come. Aspen Highlands is where strong skiers hike Highland Bowl, a boot-pack ridge to some of the best inbounds powder in the state. Buttermilk is the learning mountain, gentle and sunny, and the X Games venue. Snowmass, twenty minutes down valley, is the biggest of the four and the family mountain, with long groomers, ski-in homes, and terrain for every level. One pass covers all four, and the free shuttle links them.

Town sits at 7,900 feet and the summits near 12,000. Take the first day slowly, drink more water than feels necessary, and save Highland Bowl for day two or three.

Beyond the lifts

Nordic. The Aspen Snowmass Nordic system grooms about sixty miles of free trail through the valley, from the golf course in town to the Snowmass Club. Ashcroft, up Castle Creek Road, runs its own groomed trails through a ghost town at 9,500 feet and is the prettiest ski day in the valley.

Maroon Bells in snow. Maroon Creek Road closes to cars in winter, which turns the most photographed mountains in Colorado into a snowmobile or snowshoe destination. T-Lazy-7 Ranch runs the guided snowmobile tours up the valley, and the sleigh-ride dinners leave from the same barn.

Tubing and skating. Snowmass runs lift-served tubing at Elk Camp into the evening, and the Aspen Ice Garden has public skating all winter. The Aspen Recreation Center has the indoor rink and the pool for the storm day.

Downtown on a snowy night. Aspen's downtown is a walking town: the galleries and the Aspen Art Museum, the Wheeler Opera House, the shops on Cooper and Hyman, and the walk back with Ajax lit up above the rooftops. The free bus runs late and nobody drives after dinner.

A winter day that works

Gondola up by nine, ski until the legs say stop, and ride back down for a late lunch downtown. Spend the afternoon on the Nordic trails or at the Ice Garden with the kids. Be back at the house when the light goes pink on the Elk Range, because that is when dinner should already be underway.

Then let dinner come to you

Here is the local truth: Aspen's restaurants are among the best in the mountains, and during the holiday weeks the reservations go a month out and the tables are tight for a group. The best dinner in town on a winter night is the one at your own house. A private chef in Aspen builds the menu around your group, cooks in your kitchen while everyone is still in ski socks, serves at your pace, and leaves the kitchen spotless. For the bigger house, Aspen catering covers reunion dinners and holiday parties at the same all-inclusive standard. Christmas week has its own guide: Christmas in Aspen, and the best dates for it go by November 15.

The summer short list

The Maroon Bells shuttle at sunrise, the Food and Wine Classic in June, the Aspen Music Festival all summer, the hike from the top of the Silver Queen Gondola, and the drive over Independence Pass while it is open.