Journal — aspen
Aspen in January: The Week Nobody Books
The second and third weeks of January are the best skiing and the lowest rates of the winter. Here is how to use them.
The festive fortnight takes the attention and most of the money. What it does not take is the best snow. By the middle of January the base has built, the crowds have gone home, and the same estates that traded at twenty thousand dollars a night over New Year are a third of that.
Four mountains sit under one lift ticket, and they suit different days: Snowmass for long cruising and families, Highlands for the bowl if you are fit, Buttermilk for beginners and the X Games course, Ajax for the afternoon straight back into town.
Where you stay decides how the day ends. The West End means walking to dinner. Red Mountain means the view back at Ajax and a car everywhere. Snowmass means true ski-in ski-out at a quarter to half less. There is no wrong answer, only a wrong assumption.
Book the chef and the driver at the same time as the house. In January that is a formality; over the festive block it is the part people leave too late.
Cold is the price. Mid-January mornings run well below freezing and the altitude is real — plan the first day short, drink more water than feels reasonable, and keep the last afternoon free.