Aspen Mountain

Located just at the base of its namesake city, Aspen Mountain is the oldest ski resort in the Aspen Snowmass complex. Formerly named Ajax and still referred to as such by locals and repeat visitors, the mountain offers a modest but distinctive footprint.

Ajax is the third-smallest mountain of the Aspen conglomerate, only topping beginner-centric Buttermilk in size. But thanks to its adjacency to the city of Aspen, the mountain enjoys charming, old-school town views absent from most other Colorado resorts. The area lacks the overly ritzy vibe one might expect from an Aspen-branded mountain, which may come as a pleasant surprise to some.

The mountain packs a punch for the footprint, especially for more experienced skiers. Terrain remains entirely below treeline, but the presence of a few distinct faces make for varied, interesting slopes.

Individuals will need to reach intermediate proficiency to ski or board Aspen Mountain—no green trails exist at the resort. Blue runs are groomed cruisers with spectacular views of the surrounding scenery and town. Highlights include the rolling hills on Ruthie’s Run and the entire upper-mountain Ajax pod.

Ajax’s single-black runs are widely spread out across the footprint, with at least a few options in every mountain area. Most are normal tree-defined trails that stay ungroomed and accrue moguls; while demanding, none are particularly long. The most interesting single-black-diamond terrain lives at the mid-elevation Bell Mountain, where guests will find distinctive glade runs with great views of town.

Ajax is perhaps best experienced by expert skiers, with extremely difficult double-black-diamond terrain spanning most resort areas. Steep, obstacle-riddled pitches are everywhere, and guests should be prepared to have very little opportunity for error. Some truly insane, blood-curdling lines exist off the International and Traynor ridges and arguably require the most technical expertise of any runs across all of Aspen Snowmass.

Aspen’s new Hero’s expansion brings some really interesting terrain within the resort boundaries ofAspen Mountain, including some awesome glades, moguls, and bowls. But importantly, unlike the rest of Aspen Mountain’s expert terrain areas, the Hero’s area is actually easy to lap. Ajax’s decidedly strange lift layout historically meant that lapping any of its expert terrain involved a trip down the full vertical descent of the resort—which could get incredibly annoying if you wanted to spend a lot of time on this type of terrain—but it’s now possible to exclusively lap expert terrain over and over again through the Hero’s lift.

Lapping the rest of Ajax’s upper-mountain areas is a breeze thanks to the fast, convenient Ajax and Ruthie’s lifts—the former is a high-speed quad, while the latter is an incredibly unique but lower-capacity detachable triple. But the lower mountain is a different story. The only high-speed route out from the base is the Silver Queen Gondola, and it goes directly to the summit. The alternate lower-mountain lift routes are very slow, and crucially, not long enough to reach several of the best lines without riding an additional lift next. As a result, many of Aspen Mountain’s best mid- and lower-mountain lines are out of the way to reach or undesirable to directly lap.

The other reason why guests may want to avoid the lower mountain entirely is the crowds. As the key lift for considerable portions of the resort, the Silver Queen Gondola, which only seats six, sees serious stress. Lines reach astronomical levels during peak times, and top-to-bottom laps may be matched with reciprocal wait times.

During peak times, the Shadow Mountain double—referred to as 1A by locals—is a good way to skip lines at the bottom. While this chair sits at a separate base area from the gondola, it’s possible to cut over to it very low on the mountain. This chair is very slow, but it isn’t overly long and provides direct access to the intermediate Ruthie’s pod—in fact, it’s often faster to take the 1A lift than the gondola to reach the top of Ruthie’s, even without lines. It’s worth noting that the 1A pod is on track to receive a major revamp in the coming years, and the double chair is likely to be replaced with a high-speed chondola.

While Ajax’s lift setup often means going out of the way to get where you want to, the act of physically getting around the mountain isn’t that bad. The resort’s narrow footprint and consistent vertical drop result in a lack of truly flat areas—even the runs marked as catwalks are sloped enough to maintain enough speed unless it’s just snowed considerably. Signage is well-placed with trail and lift information, making it relatively straightforward to navigate some tricky intersections.

On the Silver Queen side, visitors will find on-mountain lodges near key intersections. The summit Sundeck restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating with high-quality but expensive dining options, as does Bonnie’s, a joint near the bottom of the Ajax Express lift. The 1A/Ruthie’s side is considerably less developed than the rest of the mountain, with no facilities other than bathrooms. While the Ruthie’s building near the top of 1A looks like a lodge, food operations there have now been shuttered for more than two decades; plans are to rebuild the lodge and reinstate food services in the coming years.

Like other Colorado resorts, Ajax enjoys high-quality, consistent snow each winter. The mountain sees decent but not class-leading snowfall totals throughout the season; however, snow stays well-preserved for days, even without a new storm, thanks to the high elevation. To ensure a reliable opening date each season, the mountain employs early-season snowmaking on key trails.

Lodging

Ajax sits right at the heart of the city of Aspen, and a wide variety of upscale lodging options exist in town. Ultra-luxury hotels such as The Little Nell and Residences at the Little Nell offer ski-in/ski-out accommodations, as do a number of condominium complexes. Others are just a short walk from the lifts. For those a bit further from the mountain, the city runs a free shuttle service that stops right at the Silver Queen Gondola base.

Apres-ski

Aspen Mountain’s namesake is one of the greatest aprés-ski towns in North America. Just about everything exists in Aspen proper, including bars ranging from casual to lively, clubs with live music, and fancy restaurants.

Verdict

So Ajax isn’t perfect, and its lift setup results in some logistical compromises. But for those staying in Aspen, the mountain is certainly worth checking out for at least a day thanks to the demanding steeps and distinctive town views.