“Enjoy air, earth and water” is the way one Aspen local described how vacationers should play in this part of Colorado. Aspen and neighboring Snowmass are linked because the Aspen Skiing Company owns both the ski mountains (and two more in between), but these two towns couldn’t be more different. Staying in either opens the skiing on four mountains during the winter, and the hiking, mountain biking, ballooning and rafting in the surrounding peaks in the summer. A  summer weekend in Aspen and Snowmass will give you a taste.

Aspen

Aspen, once a silver-ore rich mining town, turned the white snow on Aspen Mountain (called Ajax by locals) into gold. While many of the streets are still lined with Victorian-era homes, the rest are filled with luxury hotels, shops and restaurants that attract the rich and famous. Cleverly, the town is also luring in a young, active crowd during the annual ESPN Winter X Games. Summertime in Aspen is for hiking, gold-medal fishing, mountain biking and much more.

Snowmass

Snowmass, in contrast, was built to attract skiers, and the lodges, restaurants and shops line a mountainside strung with ski lifts. If you are staying in one of the slopeside properties in the village, it’s an easy two or three minute walk to the side of the slopes, where you can put on your skis or snowboard and cruise down to a chairlift. Snowmass was designed to be family-friendly, and it is from the condo lodging and kids menus in restaurants to its Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center. Summertime in Snowmass, filled with festivals and activities, is just as much fun.

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  Photo by Jeremy Swanson
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  Photo by Aspen Skiing Company
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  Photo by Jeremy Swanson