In this guide
Christmas week in Aspen is not a quiet version of the rest of the season. The town's four mountains, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass, are all running, the Victorian streets underneath them are lit for the holiday, and every part of the week that can fill does. Families who ski it well tend to have planned around that fact rather than around the idea of an empty slope, the same week we cover in our own Christmas week in Aspen reel.
Why does Christmas week fill first in Aspen?
Christmas week is the busiest stretch of the Aspen season, with no discounts and early booking required, and that single fact shapes everything else about planning it. It fills first because everyone wants the same seven days. Travellers who have made the trip describe the week as fully booked with no discounts, and the instructors a family actually wants are the first thing to go. We name Christmas as one of the three hardest weeks to book in every region we work in, for the same reason: the good weeks go first, and this is the best known one on the calendar.
Which Aspen mountain should a family ski that week?
Aspen's four mountains split sharply by ability, which matters more on a crowded week than it does the rest of the season. The honest answer depends on who is in the group, which is exactly what gets harder to sort out once the lifts are busy. Aspen is really four mountains wearing one name: Buttermilk is the gentlest of the four and suits anyone still finding their feet, Aspen Mountain has almost no easy terrain and rewards a confident skier, and Highlands and Snowmass sit between the two. A family with mixed levels over Christmas week does better splitting the day by mountain than trying to make one slope work for everyone, which is also how we usually plan a lesson week when abilities inside one family do not match. That is also the part of the week worth settling first, before the instructors who can run it disappear.
What happens once the lifts close?
The town takes over. Aspen's Victorian main street was built before skiing arrived and still carries the evening once the last run is done, the way the hour after skiing works across the resorts we plan trips to. Over Christmas week specifically, that evening is as much a part of the plan as the mountain day, since it is when a tired, mixed-level group actually spends time together.
What we actually arrange for the week
We start from the group, not the mountain: who skis what, how many days, and what the evenings need to look like once everyone is off the snow. From there we book the instructor first, because that is the part of Christmas week that disappears fastest, then build the mountain days and the evenings around it. Tell us your dates and who is coming. Plan your trip with us.
Common questions
Is Aspen a good place to go for Christmas?
Yes, and that is exactly why it fills first. The Victorian town is lit for the season and all four mountains are open, which is also what makes the week between Christmas and New Year the busiest stretch of the season.
Is December a good time to visit Aspen?
Most of December is a quieter, cheaper version of the same mountain. The one week that behaves differently is Christmas through New Year, which is why we treat it as its own booking window rather than part of a normal December.
Which Aspen mountain suits a family skiing over Christmas week?
Buttermilk, for anyone still building confidence: it has the gentlest terrain of the four. Stronger skiers in the same group can ski Aspen Mountain or Highlands and meet back in town, which is how we usually plan a week where levels do not match.
Why are there no discounts in Aspen during Christmas week?
Because the resort does not need to offer any. Forum threads from travellers who have done the week describe it as fully booked, with lessons and rentals arranged well in advance, which is the same reason we lock in instructors months ahead for this particular week.
- Aspen
- Christmas week
- Colorado
