Aspen Highlands provides big thrills

Famous bowl draws tourists

By John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 3, 2008

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ASPEN HIGHLANDS, COLORADO — It might be smart to listen to the parking attendant at Aspen Highlands.

“The snow is great,” she said. “If this is your first time, be careful. This can be a dangerous mountain.”

Words to ski by.

If you’ve never been to Aspen Highlands, you’ve never seen big mountain skiing in Colorado.

Sure the back bowls of Vail are extreme and the Velvet Hammer run at the top of the continental divide at Loveland Basin is as good of a steep-and-deep run you will find in the Colorado Rockies. But the first sight of the blowing snow on the wind-chiseled peak of Highland Bowl, the vibrant blue-sky as the backdrop, and you know you are in for a memorable experience.

“The extreme and steeper terrain, that’s the allure of the mountain,” said Highlands ski patrol supervisor Kevin Hagerty. “I think we are shaping up to be one of the premiere big mountain ski areas in the state.”

But Highlands is more than just a single element mountain with extreme terrain for only the most experienced of riders and skiers. The mountain has a lot to offer with its 1,010 acres of skiable terrain and Hagerty said its not the local’s mountain it once was.

“I think we are getting a lot of people of the Snowmass family ski area type that want to come see what Highlands is all about,” Hagerty said. “They are coming up here to see our extreme terrain, like Highland Bowl, but some of them are signing up for classes to go up there and get a tour for that once-in-a-lifetime type of run.”

Besides the allure of Highland bowl, those visiting skiers find that the mountain has a lot more accessible terrain for beginners and intermediate skiers and riders as well. The Cloud 9 lift delivers skiers and riders of any ability level to more accessible runs. But it’s still the gravity of the bowl that brings them in.

“We do like to call it the local’s mountain,” Hagerty said. “But we think it’s getting to be more of the fantasy for people to see. They go, ‘Oh my god, look at that bowl,’ and they want to come see what it’s all about.”

Just remember, the words of advice given by the parking queen if you feel up to challenging the bowl: Be careful. This can be a dangerous mountain.

Contact John Gardner: 384-9114
jgardner@postindependent.com


Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO