Aspen
A Silver Mining Town Of The 1880s Revived From Near Abandonment As A Ski Resort From 1946, Now Four Connected Mountains Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk And Snowmass On One Pass, With A Victorian Core Listed As A National Register Historic District. · Aspen, Colorado
Aspen was a silver town that boomed in the 1880s, crashed when silver was demonetised in 1893 and had a few hundred people left by the 1930s - which is why its Victorian core survived intact, because nobody could afford to knock it down. Walter Paepcke arrived after the war with an idea about mind, body and spirit, and the ski resort, the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival all came out of it within a decade. Four mountains now share one pass: Aspen Mountain rising straight out of town, Aspen Highlands with its famous hike-to bowl, Buttermilk where the X Games are held, and Snowmass. The town itself is extremely expensive and the public buses are free, which tells you most of what you need to know about how to visit it: stay down-valley, ride the bus in, and spend the money you saved on a lift ticket rather than a bed. Independence Pass, the direct way in from the east, is shut all winter.
Aspen, Roaring Fork Valley, Aspen, Colorado, 81611, United States
A year-round resort town, not a site with opening hours. The ski season runs roughly late November to mid-April depending on the mountain, with Aspen Mountain and Snowmass usually the longest. Summer brings the Aspen Music Festival from late June to August, the Ideas Festival, hiking and the Maroon Bells. Late spring and late autumn are the shoulder seasons, when much of the town closes. Independence Pass, the direct eastern route in, is CLOSED ALL WINTER, which lengthens the drive considerably.