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News from Aspen Snowmass Summer 2021

S-19-AspenMountain-13Photo Credit: Aspen Snowmass

News from Aspen Snowmass Summer 2021

As summer approaches, Aspen Snowmass announces new and improved infrastructure and Snowmass Bike Park terrain, as well as expanded programming, operations and events.

 

This summer, Aspen Snowmass will introduce sightseeing on Buttermilk via the Summit Express lift on weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting Memorial Day Weekend, May 29, through June 20. Summer operations on Buttermilk will include hiking, disc golf and food and beverage options at the Cliffhouse restaurant.

 

Summer operations on Snowmass will kick off on June 21 and run daily through Sept. 6. Operations will continue on the weekends, Friday through Sunday, until Oct. 3. The Snowmass Bike Park will open with three new trails, as well as two new trails being built and debuted this summer. Snowmass will continue to offer hiking, Elk Camp gondola and Elk Camp chair sightseeing, the Lost Forest including Canopy Tours, Camp Aspen Snowmass and food and beverage options at Elk Camp restaurant.

 

Aspen Mountain will open July 2, later this year due to a construction project, and run daily through Sept. 6. In alignment with Snowmass, Aspen Mountain will also remain open weekends in September, Friday through Sunday, until Oct. 3. Offerings at Aspen Mountain will once again include gondola rides on the Silver Queen Gondola, sightseeing, hiking, disc golf, outdoor yoga, music, and food & beverage options in the Sundeck restaurant.

 

“We are excited to welcome our guests back to Aspen Snowmass this summer with a wide selection of activities and outdoor exploration,” says Peter Santini, director of business development, Aspen Snowmass. “We continue to try and give our guests and locals a plethora of activities for getting outside in nature. Whether that’s experiencing our Canopy Run Zipline Tour, enjoying mountain top yoga, or testing out one of the new bike trails on Snowmass, we try and offer outdoor enthusiasts many options to explore the vast possibilities at Aspen Snowmass.”

 

The following details what’s new at Aspen Snowmass for the coming summer.  

 

Capital Improvements

 

Aspen Mountain Construction Projects

This spring, summer and fall, Aspen Mountain will see a number of capital improvement projects including a new cable on the Silver Queen Gondola and a remodeled Aspen Mountain Club. The Silver Queen Gondola will open July 2, following the replacement of the cable. The Aspen Mountain Club is currently undergoing a complete renovation, the first major redesign since its opening in 2000. Luis Bustamante Interior Design of Spain is remodeling the Club, following their recent renovation of The Little Nell’s living room and lobby. Improvements include a new entrance, an expansion of the boot room, the addition of a game room, and new artwork and additional fixtures. The club will also see a new patio on the northwest side for additional outdoor seating and a more established path to the Summer Wedding Deck. The Club will reopen at the start of the 2021/2022 ski season.

 

 

Limelight Aspen Remodel

The Limelight Aspen will undergo a renovation beginning this spring to debut in advance of the 2021/2022 winter season.  The Limelight Aspen will be closed for the transformative refresh.  The top-to-bottom renovation will enhance all of the hotel’s public spaces, including the Limelight Lounge, conference room, lobby, and bar, as well as all 126 guestrooms and suites, and their bathrooms.  Additionally, the renovation will include changes such as a new retail space, Limelight Kids’ Club area and expanded dining seating. The new design, by Stonehill Taylor, a New York City-based luxury design firm, will inject the iconic, original Limelight property with a new level of vibrancy, as well as high-quality furnishings and finishes.  The renovated product will complement the newest Limelight locations: Limelight Ketchum in Ketchum, Idaho, and Limelight Snowmass, in Snowmass, Colo., which opened in 2016 and 2018.

 

Snowmass Bike Park

 

Snowmass Bike Park Expansion Continues

The Snowmass Bike Park continues to expand terrain and trail offerings for bikers of all levels. Last fall, the Snowmass Bike Park completed three new trails, EZ-PZ, Lemon, and Dust Bunny, and will introduce two new trails this spring, a new difficult single-track trail, and a difficult skills trail. Dust Bunny is an intermediate technical trail that is accessed via upper French Press, and weaves through mature evergreen groves and subalpine meadows, finishing at the top of the Elk Camp Gondola. On this new trail, riders will descend a combination of machine and hand-built turns, rolling elevation changes and carefully constructed stone pathways down the 500-foot descent.  EZ-PZ is a beginner skills trail in the Meadows area offering approachable entry-level riding and introductory features. Lemon is the next step up from EZ-PZ and offers slightly more difficult features in the Meadows area.

 

The Snowmass Bike Park will open two new trails this summer. Squeezy, located in the Meadows area of the bike park, is a more difficult skills trail, a third of a mile long, with new features for riders. Squeezy is the last trail to complete the Meadows skills area. Another new, two-mile, difficult single-track trail, accessible off of French Press that will take riders on an 800 foot descent ending at the intersection with Dusty Bunny. With these new trail additions, the Snowmass Bike Park will now offer 2,893 feet of vertical descent as well as 26.3 miles of downhill bike trails.

 

Meadows Lift to Run Weekends for Bike Haul

The Meadows Lift, located at the top of the Elk Camp Gondola, will open for the first time during summer operations for bike haul. This will allow riders to access a series of new trails on the west side of the bike park as well as the new skills park terrain under the lift. The new trails, EZ-PZ, and Lemon, opened last fall, and Squeezy, set to open this spring, will offer skills features ranging from beginner level to advanced.  The trails will be shorter to allow riders to build skills quicker before heading out to experience the longer trails the bike park has to offer.

 

Roaring Fork Cycling Club and Aspen Snowmass Bike School Partner for Bike Lessons

Aspen Snowmass Bike School and Roaring Fork Cycling are collaborating this summer season to help with program demand, resources and growth in youth cycling. The two entities will work together to host cycling camps for grades one through six, previously run by Roaring Fork Cycling. This new partnership will help to support the demand and programming of each organization and expand operations and courses for children looking to bike this summer.

 

Roaring Fork Valley Awarded IMBA Gold Level Ride Center

In continuing with the expansion of mountain biking, last year, the Roaring Fork Valley, home to the towns of Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Snowmass Village, including the Snowmass Bike Park, was designated a Gold-Level Ride Center by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). The Gold-Level IMBA Ride Center™ designation is the first in Colorado, and the fifth in the United States. For more information about the Snowmass Bike Park, visit www.aspensnowmass.com/plan-your-stay/biking/snowmass-bike-park.

 

Operations

 

Expanded Summer Operations to Buttermilk

This summer, Aspen Snowmass will introduce sightseeing on Buttermilk via the Summit Express lift on weekends starting Memorial Day Weekend, May 29, through June 20. Summer operations on Buttermilk will include hiking, disc golf and food and beverage options at the Cliffhouse restaurant. See below for detailed dates and operating hours.

 

Events

 

Passholder Week at Snowmass

Snowmass will once again kick-off summer daily operations with Passholder Week, Jun. 21-27, which offers all valid 2020-21 winter passholders, including Premier, Valley Weekday, Valley 7-Pack, Mountain Collective and Ikon, specialty offers. Passholder Week offers 50 percent off 1-Day Sightseeing, 1-Day Snowmass Bike Park Day Ticket, 1- Day Lost Forest Base or Treeline Ticket, Half-Day Downhill bike rental and Intro to Downhill or Downhill Skills Clinic. Passholders can redeem their nontransferable Passholder week benefits starting Wednesday, May 26 by visiting the website or the Aspen Snowmass App. For more information please visit: https://www.aspensnowmass.com/while-you-are-here/events/summer-of-passholder-perks 

 

Snowmass Bonus Bike Nights

In conjunction with the Farm to Table Dinners at Elk Camp restaurant, the Snowmass Bike Park will extend the park hours to stay open until dusk every Tuesday from June 29 to Aug. 10. Riders can purchase a late arrival ticket for just $39 that is valid 2 p.m. until dusk.

 

Snowmass Bike Park (SBP) Race Series Returns

Now in its fourth year, the Snowmass Bike Park’s Race Series will take place Tuesday evenings Jul. 6 through Aug. 10. Join local and visiting riders in a downhill sprint on a different trail in the Snowmass Bike Park each week. Course announcements for each race will take place the morning of the event via Aspen Snowmass social media and the website. Registration will open June 1 for the entire six race series, or racers can register race by race on the day-of the event, at the events tent at the bottom of the Elk Camp Gondola from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Racing will take place starting at 4 p.m. on the designated trail. New entrants will need to pick up a timing chip and number plate before the race. Entry is $10 per racer and does not include a bike park ticket. Racers can purchase a late arrival lift ticket for just $39, valid 2 p.m. until dusk. The Race Series will take place in conjunction with Farm to Table Tuesdays at Elk Camp and Bonus Bike Nights. For more information, visit www.aspensnowmass.com/while-you-are-here/events/sbp-race-series.

 

Audi Snowmass 50 Bike Race

Aspen Snowmass has reimagined the Audi Power of Four Mountain Bike Race and, for the third year in a row, will host the Audi Snowmass 50 Bike Race on Saturday, July 24, featuring 25 miles of some of the best singletrack mountain bike trails in Colorado. Bikers will begin in Snowmass Base Village, ride up Discovery and Sleighride to the South and North Rim Trails, ride down Seven Star, then transition to the Sky Mountain Park trail system via Viewline and Deadline. Riders will then connect via Lowline and Highline over to Tom Blake trail, before beginning the most challenging climb of the day up Powerline. The Expresso and Cross Mountain trails will bring racers across to a final descent on Village Bound to end back in the Snowmass Base Village. Divisions will be broken into 50-mile solo racer (two loops), 25-mile solo racer (one loop) and 50-mile team of two where each rider completes one, 25-mile lap. Registration is open online. For more information and to register visit www.aspensnowmass.com/while-you-are-here/events/audi-power-of-four-mountain-bike.

 

Audi Power of Four Trail Run

The Audi Power of Four Trail Run will return this year on Saturday, July 31 and feature a series of trail systems connecting the four Aspen Snowmass mountains. The course puts runners to the test, traveling across 50K and almost 10,000 vertical feet of climbing throughout the course. Runners testing their limits on the 50K course will begin at the base of Aspen Mountain and finish in the Snowmass Base Village. The event also offers a 25K race along the famed Government Trail covering Buttermilk and Snowmass mountains and a 10K option beginning at the Elk Camp Gondola in Snowmass and ending in the Snowmass Base Village. Registration is currently open. For more information and to register please visit https://www.aspensnowmass.com/while-you-are-here/events/audi-power-of-four-trail-run.

 

Snowmass Base Village

 

Snowmass Base Village Summer Events and Activities

Summer in Snowmass Base Village (SBV) kicks-off the last week of June in conjunction with the opening of the Elk Camp Gondola and the Lost Forest. The ice rink in the center of SBV will be transformed into an activities lawn with family fun games, pop-up kid’s fountains and shaved ice. Rotating lawn games will be available seven days a week.

 

The Collective Snowmass, features a new, robust summer lineup of weekly programming. Programming this summer includes Yoga on the Rink by King Yoga on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays; chess club on Mondays; live music on Tuesdays and Saturdays; a comedy series on Wednesdays; bingo night on Thursdays; the Artisan Market on Fridays (July 2-August 27), and Movies Under the Stars on Saturdays (July 24-August 28). The Collective also features yard games, splash pads, fountains, weekly harvest dinners at Mix6, and pop-up events. This summer visit the new Selfie Den, located adjacent to the Game Lounge. For more information please visit www.TheCollectiveSnowmass.com  

 

Limelight Snowmass Summer Food and Beverage Offerings
This summer brings a host of new and creative summer food and beverage offerings from Limelight Snowmass. The hotel will offer a Summer Spritz Menu with Chandon Garden Spritz & Belvedere bringing a number of property wide summer spritz experiences including in-room, the patio/lounge and picnic packaging. Additionally, Limelight Snowmass will offer a new picnic package curated by the property chef and Moet Hennessy.

Limelight Hotel Snowmass Features Aspen Center for Environmental Studies – Hidden Life Around Us Hike with Limelight Hotels and Audi

Guests of the Limelight Hotel Snowmass are invited to join the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) on a private tour with one of their naturalists in locations throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. The adventure provides education on the area’s native trees, birds and animals. Together with Audi of America, the Limelight Hotel offers its guests the opportunity to access the trailheads by getting behind the wheel of one of the property’s new Audi vehicles and enjoy the quattro® all-wheel drive technology. Pricing starts at $60 per hour with a 2-hour minimum. The program will also offer a hardcover book: ACES Hidden Life Around Us which details all 422 species found in the Roaring Fork Valley for $55. For more booking details visit www.aspennature.org/hire-guide.

 

Deals

 

Sightseeing Package

The Sightseeing Package comprises of access to both Snowmass and Aspen Mountain. The package will be available starting June 21 for $39 and includes up to three days of gondola and chairlift rides (valid three of seven days) on the Silver Queen Gondola at Aspen Mountain and on the Elk Camp Gondola and Chairlift at Snowmass. The package also includes 10 percent off Lost Forest Base ticket for one time use, $10 lunch credit to be used at the Sundeck restaurant, Ajax Tavern or Elk Camp restaurant, a free glass of wine or beer with the purchase of one pizza at the Limelight Snowmass, 20 percent off bike rentals from Four Mountain Sports for one time use (excluding downhill bikes and e-bikes), and 20 percent off bike clinics for one time use. For more information, visit www.aspensnowmass.com/plan-your-stay/tickets-and-passes/sightseeing-and-tickets.

 

Summer Operations Dates and Times

 

Buttermilk Summit Express

Weekends: May. 29 – 31, Jun. 4-6, 11-13, 18-20

Summit Express Hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (last ride down at 4:15 p.m.)

Snowmass Elk Camp Gondola and Chairlift

Daily: Jun. 21 – Sept. 6

Weekends: Sept. 10-12, 17-19, 23-16 and Oct. 1 – 3.

Gondola Hours: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (last ride down at -5 p.m.)

Chairlift Hours–10:30-4 p.m. (last ride down at 4 p.m.)

 

Aspen Mountain Silver Queen Gondola

Daily: July 2 – Sept. 6

Weekends: Sept. 10-12, 17-19, 23-16 and Oct. 1 – 3.

Gondola Hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (last ride down at 4:30 p.m.)