Skiing Aspen Highlands - expert - Until about ten years ago, it took nearly an hour to reach the top of Aspen Highlands ski area. Now, with the installation of three high speed quads and the opening of the Highland bowl (a twenty minute hike from the top chairlift that summits on Highlands Peak [12,392 feet]), the mountain has grown to be much more than a "local's favorite." One of my personal favorites in all of Colorado is Temerity and Steeplechase, a long face of steep trees and moguls that maintain 40 degrees for nearly one thousand vertical feet. The mountain consistently has the best atmosphere and snow conditions in the Roaring Fork Valley and is my personal favorite of all the Aspen Mountains. Joey Smallwood (January 06)

Skiing at Aspen Highlands: Aspen Highlands, or just "Highlands," is the locals' mountain. Don't let the placement of a Ritz-Carlton Club at its base fool you. An older midmountain lodge and distinctive lack of frou-frou separate Highlands from the ritzier Aspen Mountain, family- and snowboarder-friendly Snowmass and beginners' paradise Buttermilk. On powder days, you'll see few tourists on its lifts and even fewer hiking Highland Bowl. "The Bowl," which locals bootpack themselves before the mountain opens for the season in exchange for virgin-powder runs, is well worth the hike. You can't help but let out a scream (of fright? of ecstasy?) when you drop into Go-Go Gully's 48-degree slope. Cory (December 05)