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Aspen History

Aspen Colorado was originally occupied by the Ute Indians. Miners arrived over Independence Pass in 1879 and set up camp. They name their new camp Ute City. The picture in this post is from a couple years after they arrived. The first baby, Dale Jacobs was born in Aspen in 1881. It’s hard to fathom that the Aspen Colorado we know of today is only 145 years old. 

Aspen grew to a population of 12,000 people during the 1880s. With the stroke of a pen in 1893 President Grover Cleveland signed the Sherman act which changed the United States dollar from being backed by silver to being backed by gold. When the ink dried Aspen began its long decline down to a couple hundred people by the 1920s. Because there was nobody around to tear down the historic houses and buildings and with preservation issues beginning in the 60s there are still hundreds of historic buildings and homes around Aspen. Most, if not, all have been restored and look like the day they were built.

The period between the mining boom, and skiing was known as the quiet years. In the mid 1930s people began skiing and the Aspen ski club was formed. There was a boat tow, which is a sled that was pulled by a haul rope short distance on Aspen Mountain to haul skiers up. Plans to build a ski area right out of town were put on hold by World War II. The 10th mountain division which fought the war on skis, was set up at Camp Hale, close to modern day Vail. This is where the soldiers were stationed and trained. On weekends, they would ski over to Aspen check into the hotel Jerome for $1 and ski the local mountains for training. They would hang out at The J bar which is still a favorite place for food and drinks. After the war, many of these soldiers ended up starting many of the ski areas around the United States including Aspen.

The first chairlift on Aspen Mountain, was installed in 1946 and was inaugurated in January 11, 1947. At the time it was the world’s longest chairlift. In 1958 two other mountains opened for skiing within 3 miles of Aspen Both Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk ski area are still local favorites. In 1968 Snowmass at Aspen opened. In 1978 the village of Snowmass, incorporated, and is now known as Snowmass Ski Area.

Beginning in the 1960s Aspen saw another boom, the lodging and condominium boom. The first condominium complex in Colorado was the Aspen Alps, which is slide on the Little Nell ski run on Aspen Mountain. The Alps was built in 1963 after its developer lobbied the state of Colorado to allow condominiums which before that they were illegal. Thus set off the boom which continues today with new hotels replacing some of the older properties from the 1960s and 70s.

There are hundreds of lodging options in Aspen and Snowmass Village. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll work one on one with you to find the perfect vacation rental properties for you and your group. As of now you can search over 250 Vacation rentals on our website. Aspen Snowmass Rentals can help you navigate everything Aspen Snowmass.

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Aspen Highlands Bowl

The Aspen Highlands bowl offers backcountry skiing in bounds. Sitting at 12,392 feet beautiful views all around. There is no chairlift to the top so you have to hike. They do run a snowcat during certain times that will get you part of the way up. There’s around 20 different runs down the bowl. At the end you come out to a catwalk that will take you to the Deep Temerity chairlift. With a around 2000 vertical feet of skiing this bowl is for expert double black skiers only. The bowl is its own microclimate and tends to get the most snow of any of the runs at our four different ski areas. You can ski the Highlands bowl on a powder day and then take a free bus from the base area to the Buttermilk ski area for some untracked afternoon powder on the Tiehack side. Make sure you’re in really good shape If you’re going to hike up the bowl which can take experts upwards of 45 minutes to reach the top. 

Snowmass Ski Area

The Snowmass ski area 9 miles from Aspen Colorado is bigger than our other the three other ski areas put together.  Snowmass is 3342 acres and 4408 vertical feet is the longest vertical in the state of Colorado. 

We have Aspen Mountain rising up from the historic town of Aspen Colorado, with 828 acres. The next mountain range is Aspen Highland ski area which has 1024 acres and is located exactly 3 miles from Aspen Mountain and Buttermilk ski area 3.3 miles from Aspen Mountain ski area coming in at 454 acres. Buttermilk is also the home of the X games. So if you add it up, Aspen Mountain, Aspen, Highlands, and buttermilk have a total of 2306 acres compared to Snowmass which has 3342 acres. 

It would take at least three days of skiing to ski all the runs there. Snowmass mountain has green runs, blue runs, black runs, double black runs, and extreme runs. There’s something for the whole family from beginner to Pro. Snowmass has four different commercial areas with the original East Village Mall, which opened in 1968 to the new base village which is still being developed and opened in 2007. Snowmass has 20 lips including two gondolas. 

Snowmass village is great for families. There’s 35 restaurants and bars lots of shopping and there’s free transportation back-and-forth to Aspen Colorado. Back when Snowmass started in the late 60s it was called Snowmass at Aspen. It was incorporated in 1978 as its own village. 

We book many families, and lots of repeat clients, because Snowmass has something for everyone in the family. Aspen Mountain is more for advanced, intermediate, and experts. It’s only 15 minutes away if you would like to go into Aspen with 77, restaurants and bars. 

There are so many events in Snowmass especially in the summer being at a little higher altitude than Aspen. It’s cooler in the summer there’s events every weekend over the upcoming holidays. There’s fireworks and torchlight ski descent. In Snowmass you can get much more for the money and vacation rentals compared to Aspen. 

Take a look at our properties available in Snowmass Village, and will be happy to work one on one with you to find the perfect place. See Snowmass Options

Aspen Mountain Hero’s

Now is the time to plan your ski trip to Aspen Colorado. This winter we’ve added 153 acres and new high speed quad chairlift on Aspen Mountain this is the first major expansion since the gondola was built in 1985. This new terrain is high up on the mountain north facing with mostly black, double black runs and some blue runs. The new area and chairlift is called Hero’s. Named after all the ski hero’s in Aspen that shaped the almost ghost town into a world class city and ski mountains. This will totally change the traffic flows on Aspen Mountain and spread everyone out on Aspen Mountain. With close to 90 restaurants and bars in Aspen in 35 and Snowmass there’s no place like Aspen Snowmass. With 43 lifts and 5652 acres spread between our ski areas within 20 minutes there’s plenty of ski terrain to keep you busy. The nightlife here is better than any ski resort in the world and we are voted number one. We have world-class music venues, all kinds of different bars and restaurants in every price category. Search our website and let us know if you’re interested in a particular property or in range of properties, and we’ll be happy to email or call you with pricing and availability.

Aspen Ski Areas

Winter is here and it’s time to book your skiing vacation rentals. Aspen Mountain will be opening up 153 new acres for this season scheduled for November 23, 2023. Usually when it snows like this, we just go ahead and open early.  

Aspen ski areas consist of four distinct ski areas within 10 miles. We have Aspen Mountain, Aspen, Highlands, buttermilk, and Snowmass Village. Snowmass Village which is the largest of our 4 ski areas at 3500 acres. Snowmass has three base areas with lots of shopping and restaurants. Snowmass Mountain has something for everyone. It would take four days of skiing to ski every run from green runs to double black, and even extreme runs. 

Aspen a historic town from the 1880s where there are over 100 restaurants, shops, bars and nightclubs. We have a gondola that takes you to the top in 14 minutes where you can ski 3300 vertical feet back to the town of Aspen. 

Aspen Highlands has the Highlands bowl which is 2200 vertical of some extreme skiing. The is a quant base area with shops, restaurants and skier services.

Buttermilk is more for beginners and intermediates with some black runs on the Tiehack. Every late January Buttermilk hosts the winter X-games which you can watch live on television. 

September Aspen rentals

Historically September has been the best month of the year. With summer winding down, there’s still plenty of activities. Towards the end of the month the leaves change and create beautiful scenery. Starting with the Labor Day music festival in Snowmass and the professional volleyball in downtown Aspen, September is a nice time to visit. Prices drop after Labor Day. There are less crowds and plenty of parking and no need for restaurant reservations. The gondolas in both Aspen and Snowmass run every weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the beginning of October. Scenic drives through the mountains with fall foliage in peak. There’s nothing like September in Aspen Snowmass. At Aspen Snowmass Rentals we work one on one with our clients to find them the perfect location in their budget. Reach out and will be happy to find you a great vacation rental in either Aspen or Snowmass village.

Aspen Events

Aspen and Snowmass Village Colorado has hundreds of events every year. Starting with New Year’s Eve and throughout the entire winter there are many events. We start with Winterskol in mid January followed by gay ski week and capped off by the X games. There’s free music and other events throughout the whole winter.

In the summer there’s something every weekend in Snowmass there’s our Labor Day music festival, hot air balloon festival. There is a wine festival. The leaves are beautiful in the fall and the prices are lower for vacation rentals. And Aspen, we start our summer season off with The Aspen Food and Wine and have a summer and full of events. You can always check out our events calendar we don’t list everything would be quite the list.

Snowmass Village Condos

There are so many condo options in Snowmass Village Colorado. In the winter many of the properties are ski in ski out. In the summer there are many condominiums that have access to hiking and biking trails right outside the door. There are events in Snowmass Village Colorado year round and a Snowmass Condo is an affordable option compared to single family Snowmass homes. Here at Aspen Snowmass Rentals we are local experts that know the Snowmass Condos inside and out. We know the Snowmass Mountain trails both wither and summer since we have spent many decades navigating them. 

See Snowmass Options

Aspen April Rentals

April is a great time to ski and vacation in Aspen Colorado. We are typically open until the third week of April in Aspen and many times we open until the end April. We have the deepest snow pack of the season and vacation rentals are a fraction of what they cost earlier in the winter. Reach out and will help you find discounts on vacation rentals in Aspen.

Aspen Snowmass Spring Skiing

Warmer longer sunnier days with plenty of powder in between makes spring skiing in Aspen Snowmass unforgettable. We have our free concert series in both Aspen and Snowmass with plenty of entertainment and events. March and April offer the deepest snow base of the season. You can ski the slopes and then apres ski with DJs with food and drink specials. Our lifts just started being open till 4 PM for the rest of the season so you can get a full day of skiing.  If you want to explore your options for lodging reach out and one of our specialist will find you the perfect location in either Aspen or Snowmass Village, Colorado.