alison wong
Angel Diva
Country pumpkin was venturing out west again. This time, I was off to Sunlight and Aspen for 1 week during my school spring break in mid March.
Before the TR, just want to share with you few thoughts & observations from the trip (for those of you interested about the logistics/transportation)
Tansportation:
1) Many mentioned how convenient the transportation in Aspen/Snowmass is, it is true only if you stay in Snowmass /Aspen area.
If staying in Basalt (12 miles from Aspen), Carbondale (~30 miles), or even Glenwood Springs (~40 miles), I’d say it might be more convenient to get a rental.
In my case, I flew into Denver and took Colorado Mountain Express (CME). Picked up a rental car in Aspen Airport (*last day of my stay), because I did not want to deal with the driving on I-70W at night.
There are two type of buses run between Aspen & Glenwood Springs:
1) BRT - stops along highway 82 “ParkNRide” stops. BRT buses run more frequent. Only downside is, you’d need to walk a bit more to get into the town.
2) “L” buses - L = local. Buses run into towns but they are less frequent.
I stayed in Basalt (AirBnB). There are 2 hotels (to my knowledge) in Basalt:
1) Aspenalt - locates across the street from the Local Bus stop (“L” line, L for local).
About 5-10 mins. walk from ParkNRide stop in Basalt. If you carry gears (skis + boot bag), add another 2 -3 min.
2) Basalt Mountain Inn - It locates a bit further away from the local bus stop, add additional 5 mins. of walking from Aspenalt hotel.
About 15 min. walk from ParkNRide stop in Basalt.
Basalt Mountain Inn is nicer and newer than Aspenalt. Only downside, it locates a bit far from the Local bus stop and BRT ParkNRide stop. It is not a big deal if you don’t carry anything, but it can feel tiring if you need to haul skis + boot bag, esp the end of the day.
3) Element Hotel - it is actually not in Basalt town. It is further away from Balsalt town, near El Jebel. But the hotel is right outside of the BRT ParkNRide stop, so it is convenient. There are shops, Whole Food, restaurants within walking distance.
Travel Logistics:
1) Aspen 4 - There is a service to store your skis overnight ($10) and transport your skis to any of the Aspen 4 mountains ($10) next day. I used it once, quite convenient.
2) If you stay outside of Aspen/Snowmass, and decide to get rental, parking in Buttermilk is free. Other 3 mountains cost $$ (I am pretty sure) for parking.
3) For free parking, you can park the car at Bush Creek Intercept Lot. Then take free buses to any of the 4 mountains. Bush Creek Intercept Lot is where all buses stop, like a “Grand Central”.
4) If you want to visit Sunlight Mtn. (which I strongly suggest), it’d be better to have a rental car, so your travel time can be more flexible. Since Sunlight Mtn shuttle runs once a day during weekday: morning hotel pick up and afternoon drop off. Twice daily on weekends.
Also, you can purchase their ski + swim package (~$75 for ski lift ticket + hot spring in Iron Mtn. + RT bus tickets.)
If no rental car, consider to stay at their ski in -ski out hotel (price is v. reasonable). Or, stay at a hotel where the Sunlight Mtn shuttle bus stops. Suggest you let the hotel staff know you are taking the Sunlight Mtn. shuttle, so they will call the bus driver to confirm for pick up. If you are taking bus, it’d be more tricky to visit the hot spring swimming pool at Iron Mountain, because it is about 10 miles out of the town.
There are many consignment stores in Glenwood springs. I did not visit those stores, only saw them when I was on the bus to Sunlight. I assume some of those consignment stores sell ski related stuff.
*I had a red eye flight returning home. Shuttle bus (CME, Bustang, Greyhound) last departure out of Aspen, Glenwood Spring is 3:30 pm. I decided to get a one-way rental, from Aspen to DIA. That way, I could ski until the last chair at 4 pm and then driving back to DIA.
One-way rental was quite inexpensive, $60 one day, even though I reserved a compact, I got AWD SUV at Aspen airport.
Before the TR, just want to share with you few thoughts & observations from the trip (for those of you interested about the logistics/transportation)
Tansportation:
1) Many mentioned how convenient the transportation in Aspen/Snowmass is, it is true only if you stay in Snowmass /Aspen area.
If staying in Basalt (12 miles from Aspen), Carbondale (~30 miles), or even Glenwood Springs (~40 miles), I’d say it might be more convenient to get a rental.
In my case, I flew into Denver and took Colorado Mountain Express (CME). Picked up a rental car in Aspen Airport (*last day of my stay), because I did not want to deal with the driving on I-70W at night.
There are two type of buses run between Aspen & Glenwood Springs:
1) BRT - stops along highway 82 “ParkNRide” stops. BRT buses run more frequent. Only downside is, you’d need to walk a bit more to get into the town.
2) “L” buses - L = local. Buses run into towns but they are less frequent.
I stayed in Basalt (AirBnB). There are 2 hotels (to my knowledge) in Basalt:
1) Aspenalt - locates across the street from the Local Bus stop (“L” line, L for local).
About 5-10 mins. walk from ParkNRide stop in Basalt. If you carry gears (skis + boot bag), add another 2 -3 min.
2) Basalt Mountain Inn - It locates a bit further away from the local bus stop, add additional 5 mins. of walking from Aspenalt hotel.
About 15 min. walk from ParkNRide stop in Basalt.
Basalt Mountain Inn is nicer and newer than Aspenalt. Only downside, it locates a bit far from the Local bus stop and BRT ParkNRide stop. It is not a big deal if you don’t carry anything, but it can feel tiring if you need to haul skis + boot bag, esp the end of the day.
3) Element Hotel - it is actually not in Basalt town. It is further away from Balsalt town, near El Jebel. But the hotel is right outside of the BRT ParkNRide stop, so it is convenient. There are shops, Whole Food, restaurants within walking distance.
Travel Logistics:
1) Aspen 4 - There is a service to store your skis overnight ($10) and transport your skis to any of the Aspen 4 mountains ($10) next day. I used it once, quite convenient.
2) If you stay outside of Aspen/Snowmass, and decide to get rental, parking in Buttermilk is free. Other 3 mountains cost $$ (I am pretty sure) for parking.
3) For free parking, you can park the car at Bush Creek Intercept Lot. Then take free buses to any of the 4 mountains. Bush Creek Intercept Lot is where all buses stop, like a “Grand Central”.
4) If you want to visit Sunlight Mtn. (which I strongly suggest), it’d be better to have a rental car, so your travel time can be more flexible. Since Sunlight Mtn shuttle runs once a day during weekday: morning hotel pick up and afternoon drop off. Twice daily on weekends.
Also, you can purchase their ski + swim package (~$75 for ski lift ticket + hot spring in Iron Mtn. + RT bus tickets.)
If no rental car, consider to stay at their ski in -ski out hotel (price is v. reasonable). Or, stay at a hotel where the Sunlight Mtn shuttle bus stops. Suggest you let the hotel staff know you are taking the Sunlight Mtn. shuttle, so they will call the bus driver to confirm for pick up. If you are taking bus, it’d be more tricky to visit the hot spring swimming pool at Iron Mountain, because it is about 10 miles out of the town.
There are many consignment stores in Glenwood springs. I did not visit those stores, only saw them when I was on the bus to Sunlight. I assume some of those consignment stores sell ski related stuff.
*I had a red eye flight returning home. Shuttle bus (CME, Bustang, Greyhound) last departure out of Aspen, Glenwood Spring is 3:30 pm. I decided to get a one-way rental, from Aspen to DIA. That way, I could ski until the last chair at 4 pm and then driving back to DIA.
One-way rental was quite inexpensive, $60 one day, even though I reserved a compact, I got AWD SUV at Aspen airport.