We drove from Eagle to Aspen Saturday morning. The weather warmed up from the unseasonably cold prior week, and it rained in Glenwood Canyon and maybe up as far as Carbondale. It was snowing in town in Aspen but not sticking on the roads. We parked at the free Buttermilk lot and took the bus into town, got on the hill around 10:30.
It snowed most of the day, reported later 4 inches total. From the top we skied down to the FIS chair, which was in such thick fog it was not visible from the Ajax Express base not too far above it.
Fortunately Ruthie's had decent visibility, and here's the view into town from its lower section.
We decided to get into Bonnie's at 11:25, already fairly busy. We enjoyed the famed white bean chili and strudel with homemade whipped cream.
Back out we took another pas at Ruthie's, looking for shrines. Liz found one skier's left memorializing a couple of Aspen locals. I was fortunate to find our main objective skier's right, Jerry Garcia. It is to no surprise one of the most extensive.
Closeup of ski on the tree at left above, at full resolution so more detail can be zoomed.
Liz under Stoner Ave. sign:
Three locals came by for a safety stop while we were there.
The next priority was to check out the new Hero's lift and terrain expansion. Liz cut in on Rideout and skied the moguls down the liftline, Jim's, true to her eastern background.
All the runs above Rideout are rated double black for steep pitches. I explored skier's right first and skied Powerline 2. These cut trails are bumpy, but I'm sure were softer than usual on a snowy day. Powerline 2 was about twice as wide as the lower moguls in Face Shot Gully at A-Basin.
My next run skier's left of the Hero's lift was Ollie's Vot.
Above Rideout is steep indeed, but that pitch is not sustained as long as on the Deep Temerity runs at Highlands. Below Rideout I skied the El Avalanchero Glades. The pitch eases off there, but with moguls in the trees it's still a workout. I dislike that combination, but again it was fortunate to have the new snow softening the surface.
My third Hero's run was Walsh's, which used to be the ski area boundary.
I noticed this guy to my right looking over a dropoff.
When he said it wasn't rocky, I went that way. As is often true, the steeper line has fewer moguls. There was a short glade lower down.
Hero's closes at 2:30, and I was fairly worked over when I rode my last chair out of there at 2:20. I took 4 cruisers off Ajax Express and joined Liz for the run to the bottom on Gent's Ridge/Glade 2/Copper Bowl and Little Nell. That descent late in the day can rival the worst of the Alps with heavy traffic on a narrow path over manmade snow. Saturday had none of those issues. The new snow blended in with a spring surface lower down for a very nice finale. I skied 16,700 vertical.
It snowed most of the day, reported later 4 inches total. From the top we skied down to the FIS chair, which was in such thick fog it was not visible from the Ajax Express base not too far above it.
Fortunately Ruthie's had decent visibility, and here's the view into town from its lower section.
We decided to get into Bonnie's at 11:25, already fairly busy. We enjoyed the famed white bean chili and strudel with homemade whipped cream.
Back out we took another pas at Ruthie's, looking for shrines. Liz found one skier's left memorializing a couple of Aspen locals. I was fortunate to find our main objective skier's right, Jerry Garcia. It is to no surprise one of the most extensive.
Closeup of ski on the tree at left above, at full resolution so more detail can be zoomed.
Liz under Stoner Ave. sign:
Three locals came by for a safety stop while we were there.
The next priority was to check out the new Hero's lift and terrain expansion. Liz cut in on Rideout and skied the moguls down the liftline, Jim's, true to her eastern background.
All the runs above Rideout are rated double black for steep pitches. I explored skier's right first and skied Powerline 2. These cut trails are bumpy, but I'm sure were softer than usual on a snowy day. Powerline 2 was about twice as wide as the lower moguls in Face Shot Gully at A-Basin.
My next run skier's left of the Hero's lift was Ollie's Vot.
Above Rideout is steep indeed, but that pitch is not sustained as long as on the Deep Temerity runs at Highlands. Below Rideout I skied the El Avalanchero Glades. The pitch eases off there, but with moguls in the trees it's still a workout. I dislike that combination, but again it was fortunate to have the new snow softening the surface.
My third Hero's run was Walsh's, which used to be the ski area boundary.
I noticed this guy to my right looking over a dropoff.
When he said it wasn't rocky, I went that way. As is often true, the steeper line has fewer moguls. There was a short glade lower down.
Hero's closes at 2:30, and I was fairly worked over when I rode my last chair out of there at 2:20. I took 4 cruisers off Ajax Express and joined Liz for the run to the bottom on Gent's Ridge/Glade 2/Copper Bowl and Little Nell. That descent late in the day can rival the worst of the Alps with heavy traffic on a narrow path over manmade snow. Saturday had none of those issues. The new snow blended in with a spring surface lower down for a very nice finale. I skied 16,700 vertical.