Buttermilk Ski Area

By Amanda May
Staff Writer
Rockies.com

Buttermilk Ski Resort, in the Colorado Rockies is great for families, but famous for hosting the ESPN Winter X-Games through 2012.

In the middle of a trick during the Winter X-Games at Buttermilk. (Colorado Tourism Office)

The ski area was also voted #1 in a Transworld Snowboarding Magazine’s reader’s poll for the best Super Pipe and terrain park.

Despite the recent fanfare about the X-Games, the resort has built its reputation for the past 60 years on its wide open, gently rolling trails that are a dream come true for beginners and families.

These perfectly groomed slopes, gentle powder piles and open glades are the perfect training for Buttermilk’s sister resorts Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Snowmass.

All the beginner terrain is complemented nicely with a nationally recognized ski and snowboard school that offers lessons for students of all ages.

Buttermilk’s mother company, the Aspen Skiing Company has invested over 135 million dollars in improvements in the four resorts over the last six years, providing one of the most seamless and luxurious skiing and riding experiences in the industry.

Buttermilk occupies 470 acres overall, with 44 trails 35% rated easy, 39% more difficult, 26% most difficult and 0% expert. Although they’ve got a goose egg for expert, professional riders still love Buttermilk for its 22-foot Super Pipe, X-Games slopestyle course, and Crazy Train Terrain Park. With over 100 features, the terrain park is the longest in the country!

The X-Games get bigger and bigger every year, with more events and more spectators flocking to Colorado. The competitions range from slopestyle, halfpipe, slalom, motocross, skier X, to boarder X and more. Thousands head to Buttermilk every winter to witness the professionals doing their thing and win medals along the way.

For those who aren’t quite ready for the mega features, head for the beginner Panda Pipe or the ski & board school’s Park, S3 Park.

Head to West Buttermilk for its famous long, wide groomers and to Tieback for steeper, rolling runs. The longest run is 3 miles long. Bumps and The Cliffhouse are the two on-mountain restaurants.

Buttermilk is located just three miles outside of the town of Aspen in the Roaring Fork Valley. Buy one lift ticket and have access to all 5,300 acres at Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk!