EMSC
Well-known member
Yep, Buttermilk.
To be fair, I was at Buttermilk for a different reason than my own skiing. But it was a new-to-me place so I can check that off my list of places left to go in Colorado (hmm... still have echo, sol vista, telluride, durango, howelson hill, powderhorn, and monarch. Yikes, quite a few. But many of them will be great to hit when our new addition starts skiing in a few years).
My impressions: Obviously not a challenging area in the slightest. But so uncrowded that they don't even have parking lot attendants in the morning. Just some signs telling you where to park vs unload, etc... A perfect place for families with little kids and just enough pitch on the Tiehack side to keep the interest level up. Some small tree areas and great groomers on that side, that while officially black, are more like steep blues. Those trails have a lot of rolling interesting terrain in them too, so I opened it up and let the skis fly on a couple of runs. Heck there was hardly ever anyone on them - to the point that you could ski groomer corduroy or at least patches of it until closing time.
So granted, the members of this forum aren't going to flock there; but if you are in the Aspen area with little kids I can't imagine NOT spending a day or two there. The scale is much more manageable (2K Verts and 3 small 'pods' of terrain) and the crowds so much less than say going to Snowmass. Prefect for kids & families as is it's billing (and now I see why).
I suppose I should mention the temps were probably upper 20's and the snow surface was a fantastic carve-able grippy snow.
Anyway a couple of scenic pics. I didn't take very many of the actual infrastructure or lodges (though two of the pods have HSQ's, but the fun groomers are serviced by slow doubles).
To be fair, I was at Buttermilk for a different reason than my own skiing. But it was a new-to-me place so I can check that off my list of places left to go in Colorado (hmm... still have echo, sol vista, telluride, durango, howelson hill, powderhorn, and monarch. Yikes, quite a few. But many of them will be great to hit when our new addition starts skiing in a few years).
My impressions: Obviously not a challenging area in the slightest. But so uncrowded that they don't even have parking lot attendants in the morning. Just some signs telling you where to park vs unload, etc... A perfect place for families with little kids and just enough pitch on the Tiehack side to keep the interest level up. Some small tree areas and great groomers on that side, that while officially black, are more like steep blues. Those trails have a lot of rolling interesting terrain in them too, so I opened it up and let the skis fly on a couple of runs. Heck there was hardly ever anyone on them - to the point that you could ski groomer corduroy or at least patches of it until closing time.
So granted, the members of this forum aren't going to flock there; but if you are in the Aspen area with little kids I can't imagine NOT spending a day or two there. The scale is much more manageable (2K Verts and 3 small 'pods' of terrain) and the crowds so much less than say going to Snowmass. Prefect for kids & families as is it's billing (and now I see why).
I suppose I should mention the temps were probably upper 20's and the snow surface was a fantastic carve-able grippy snow.
Anyway a couple of scenic pics. I didn't take very many of the actual infrastructure or lodges (though two of the pods have HSQ's, but the fun groomers are serviced by slow doubles).
