Aspen Travel Piece For San Francisco Magazine March 2008

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Last dash to Aspen This jaw-droppingly beautiful mountain playground offers good times for the snow crazy and the just plain lazy. By Camper English Photographs by tyler stableford

Any year the weather gods shortchange Tahoe ski resorts, consider heading to Aspen, where the peak season runs from February through March and the place is a total scene, snow or not. Lift tickets in Aspen are good at any of four ski areas—Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk—all located within a 12-mile radius and accessible by free shuttles. Chances are, one of them will still have snow when you arrive. March is also a big month for special events in town and on the mountains, including the Aspen Music Festival (Mar. 6 and Mar. 10), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Mar. 28–29), and a few Bud Light–sponsored exhibitions and concert series sprinkled in between.

The double plane trip you have to take to Aspen is worth it: How can you not be wowed by such a spectacular setting?

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Snowmass has the most skiable acreage, and there’s terrain for

boarders and skiers of various levels. Ninety-five percent of the lodging in Snowmass is ski-in/ski-out, so if that’s your only action item, this is the place to stay. It’s also the ideal place to bring kids, with the new Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center (below) offering childcare, lessons, rentals, and family après-ski parties. Beginners will enjoy the long, wide trails of Buttermilk, while snowboarding tricksters visit for the five terrain parks and superpipe. Aspen Highlands (next page, right) offers extreme slopes for pros, as well as views from the mountain of the famous Maroon Bells. Must-ski Aspen Mountain is slightly gentler than the Highlands, but it’s no slouch and is extremely popular, in part because the base of its lift is just a few feet from downtown streets, posh hotels, and shopping. For information about any of these mountains, call 970-925-1220 or visit aspensnowmass.com

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Sure, you can go the home-rental route, but Aspen has plenty of hotels if you want to put yourself in someone else’s hands. Zoom off the slopes at Aspen Mountain too fast, and you could almost land in the outdoor pool (above) of the Sky Hotel— which wouldn’t be so awful, since it’s heated. This Kimptonmanaged property has all the qualities of an urban boutique hotel, with iPod alarm clocks and personal oxygen tanks in every room. The St. Regis Resort is more the leather club-chair type and has an onsite spa and the Aspen Back Institute inside, where you can repair any damage done on the slopes. A few blocks from the mountain is Hotel Jerome, built in 1889. Oldtime opulence is the theme here, with ballrooms, fine dining, and the hopping J-Bar—where you can still order a Prohibitionera specialty drink, the Aspen Crud. Sky Hotel: 709 E. Durant Ave., 800-882-2582, theskyhotel.com; St. Regis Resort: 315 E. Dean St., 970920-3300, stregisaspen.com; Hotel Jerome: 330 E. Main St., 970-920-1000, hoteljerome.com

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Aspen’s after-hours party gets swinging around 3 p.m. at the casual-hip 39 Degrees Lounge in the Sky Hotel, which serves up one of the town’s more innovative cocktail programs, and indooroutdoor hangout the Tavern, at the base of the Aspen lift. For culture instead of cocktails, art galleries are open on the first Thursday of the month until 7 p.m., and on third Thursdays, the Aspen Art Museum presents Art After Hours from 5 to 7 p.m. Every Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies hosts the Naturalist Nights lecture series. 39 Degrees Lounge at the Sky Hotel: 709 E. Durant Ave., 800-882-2582, thesky hotel.com; The Tavern: 685 E. Durant Ave., 970-920-6334; Aspen Art Museum: 590 N. Mill St., 970-925-8050, aspenart museum.org; Aspen Center for Environmental Studies:

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100 Puppy Smith St., 970-925-5756, aspennature.org

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500 W. Main St., 970-925-4002, o2aspen.com; Aspen Club &

aspen.com; D19: 305 S. Mill St., 970-925-6019, d19aspen.com;

Spa: 1450 Ute Ave., 970-925-8900, aspenclub.com

Krabloonik: 4250 Divide Rd., Snowmass Village, 970-923-

If your idea of wintertime extreme sports is shopping for intensive-care lip balm, Aspen also offers your sort of fun. Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and other boutiques are scattered about its small and walkable downtown (above), as are smaller shops for books, kitchen supplies, and high-end sportswear. Worn out from all that credit-card lifting, you’ll need a visit to O2 Aspen (above) for some yoga or Pilates, or to the Aspen Club & Spa, with spa services, a salon, and après-ski massages (plus indoor tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a full gym for the ambitious) in a grand fitness center surrounded by the snowy forest. O2 Aspen:

Casual fine-dining restaurants litter the streets of the city and include Matsuhisa (as in Nobu Matsuhisa, of the eponymous NYC eatery), which serves Latin-influenced Japanese food; and the Italian D19, whose signature dish is sliced prosciutto over warm rosemary doughnuts in the shape of a snow-covered mountain. Adventurous diners should try Krabloonik on Snowmass mountain, specializing in wild game and offering dogsled rides with dinner; or the Pine Creek Cookhouse, which features “mountain gourmet” items like elk tenderloin and trout, and is accessed via sled or cross-country skis. Matsuhisa: 303 Main St., 970-544-6628, matsuhisa

3953, krabloonik.com; Pine Creek Cookhouse: Park at King Cabin Nordic Center at the end of Castle Creek Rd., 970-925-1044, pinecreekcookhouse.com