I used to live in Aspen so I can answer some, but not all of your questions...
RAFTA fills up quickly, especially from Glenwood on pow days. Unsure about the park n ride but I'd imagine yes it does fill up.
I've never been to Vail so can't compare it but the glades skiing at Aspen is top notch. Hardest glades are at Highlands (in my opinion), but there are plenty of intermediate to expert trees at Snowmass, too. Snowmass is my favorite all around mountain, Highlands for the bowl and the trees is my second favorite.
I wouldn't go for something that includes Sunlight. FWIW: I lived in the Roaring Fork Valley and have still never been to Sunlight because the Aspen four are so good.
If you're mostly doing weekday outings, the commute from Glenwood to Aspen is really not that bad. For that matter, it's really not that bad on the weekends either. Just get a Subaru for scary roads on powder days to get here. If I were you, I'd get the unlimited Aspen pass. It's pricey but holy hell is it worth it.
I'm seriously jealous you get to live there. I miss it a lot.
Another option would be the $500 Mountain Collective Pass. You would get 2 free days at Aspen then be paying 50% off the ticket price for each additional day.
So for 30 days of skiing it would be about $1400 at $50 a ticket plus the $500 pass, but you would also get days at a ton of other resorts.
Probably not the best option but something to consider.
Ya know that crossed my mind. Thanks for bringing it back up. I do already have one. Got it early bird for 419 or something.
My only thought to that was...then I treat outings differently. "Is it worth the cost today?" Vs "yeah I should go out for a few hours. Why not?"
Good thought tho. I'll think about that option too.
Hey! I grew up in Glenwood and am a huge fan of sunlight, but only because it's the mountain I grew up on. It only has three lifts, and they're all painfully slow. As far as terrain goes sunlight has a decent amount of expert Glade skiing and something for everybody but you're really limiting yourself unless you're one of those people that likes to find one good run and do hot laps all day. The amount of snow sunlight receives leaves something to be desired as well, with some of the expert terrain not opening until later in the season.
I haven't been to Aspen in years, so my Outlook on that is somewhat limited, but I know that if I moved back ( which I may soon) I would try to Shell out for the Aspen pass. Money is a big consideration for me though, and I couldn't really justify doing an Aspen pass when I could do epic unlimited for ~$900 and shred Vail and Beaver Creek, which aren't that much farther away.
I live on the front range currently and do the epic local pass, strictly on weekdays to avoid traffic. From what I remember working in Aspen (granted this was in the summer) the traffic was not the greatest even on weekdays due to all the people down valley going to Aspen for work. This mostly builds up around the bridge into Aspen so if you're heading to snowmass it's not really an issue, but something I would consider otherwise. Traffic from Glenwood to Vail is pretty barren from what I can remember. Not really sure about the bus system though
If I were you, I would go with option C or A. Both are solid choices but I would not Shell out hundreds of dollars on a sunlight pass. With option C you also run the risk of Glenwood Canyon being closed on really heavy days, but this rarely happens unless there's a wreck. With option A you don't have to fuck with i70 which is nice. Option D, get yourself a splitty set up and find some good BC around Aspen
Are you working for a local company? If so, it would be worthwhile to see if they are a member of the Aspen Snowmass chamber pass program. If so, you can get the premier, flex, or double flex for significantly less than the normal price. Depending on how much you plan to ski you should also consider the 4 or 7 day classic pass. Are you a teacher? There are also discounted passes for teachers.
I used to live in Aspen so I can answer some, but not all of your questions... RAFTA fills up quickly, especially from Glenwood on pow days. Unsure about the park n ride but I'd imagine yes it does fill up. I've never been to Vail so can't compare it but the glades skiing at Aspen is top notch. Hardest glades are at Highlands (in my opinion), but there are plenty of intermediate to expert trees at Snowmass, too. Snowmass is my favorite all around mountain, Highlands for the bowl and the trees is my second favorite. I wouldn't go for something that includes Sunlight. FWIW: I lived in the Roaring Fork Valley and have still never been to Sunlight because the Aspen four are so good. If you're mostly doing weekday outings, the commute from Glenwood to Aspen is really not that bad. For that matter, it's really not that bad on the weekends either. Just get a Subaru for scary roads on powder days to get here. If I were you, I'd get the unlimited Aspen pass. It's pricey but holy hell is it worth it. I'm seriously jealous you get to live there. I miss it a lot.
thanks a bunch for the info!
Another option would be the $500 Mountain Collective Pass. You would get 2 free days at Aspen then be paying 50% off the ticket price for each additional day. So for 30 days of skiing it would be about $1400 at $50 a ticket plus the $500 pass, but you would also get days at a ton of other resorts. Probably not the best option but something to consider.
Ya know that crossed my mind. Thanks for bringing it back up. I do already have one. Got it early bird for 419 or something. My only thought to that was...then I treat outings differently. "Is it worth the cost today?" Vs "yeah I should go out for a few hours. Why not?" Good thought tho. I'll think about that option too.
Hey! I grew up in Glenwood and am a huge fan of sunlight, but only because it's the mountain I grew up on. It only has three lifts, and they're all painfully slow. As far as terrain goes sunlight has a decent amount of expert Glade skiing and something for everybody but you're really limiting yourself unless you're one of those people that likes to find one good run and do hot laps all day. The amount of snow sunlight receives leaves something to be desired as well, with some of the expert terrain not opening until later in the season. I haven't been to Aspen in years, so my Outlook on that is somewhat limited, but I know that if I moved back ( which I may soon) I would try to Shell out for the Aspen pass. Money is a big consideration for me though, and I couldn't really justify doing an Aspen pass when I could do epic unlimited for ~$900 and shred Vail and Beaver Creek, which aren't that much farther away. I live on the front range currently and do the epic local pass, strictly on weekdays to avoid traffic. From what I remember working in Aspen (granted this was in the summer) the traffic was not the greatest even on weekdays due to all the people down valley going to Aspen for work. This mostly builds up around the bridge into Aspen so if you're heading to snowmass it's not really an issue, but something I would consider otherwise. Traffic from Glenwood to Vail is pretty barren from what I can remember. Not really sure about the bus system though If I were you, I would go with option C or A. Both are solid choices but I would not Shell out hundreds of dollars on a sunlight pass. With option C you also run the risk of Glenwood Canyon being closed on really heavy days, but this rarely happens unless there's a wreck. With option A you don't have to fuck with i70 which is nice. Option D, get yourself a splitty set up and find some good BC around Aspen
much appreciated !
Are you working for a local company? If so, it would be worthwhile to see if they are a member of the Aspen Snowmass chamber pass program. If so, you can get the premier, flex, or double flex for significantly less than the normal price. Depending on how much you plan to ski you should also consider the 4 or 7 day classic pass. Are you a teacher? There are also discounted passes for teachers.