Anna Stonehouse / Aspen Times
The calendar shows it is the unofficial start to summer this weekend but the upper slopes of Aspen Mountain will look more like a powder day in the dead of winter.
Aspen Mountain had received 16 inches of new snow in the past seven days as of Friday. The 66-inch base is bigger now than it was on the last day of ski season, when it had 60 inches, according to Mountain Manager J.T. Welden.
With all that snow, Aspen Skiing Co. decided to reopen 130 acres at the top of the mountain for skiing over the holiday weekend. Aspen Mountain will be open for skiing and riding from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday through Monday. The opening time was initially going to be 10 a.m. but the conditions are too good to wait, Skico officials decided.
Skiing will be on the terrain served by the Ajax Express chairlift. That includes blue runs and black runs such as Summit and Blondie’s. All skiers and riders will be required to download on the Silver Queen Gondola. There won’t be any top-to-bottom runs. The gondola will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The same rules as in winter apply to uphill traffic. Any uphillers must be at the Sundeck by 9 a.m. and they must download on the gondola.
The Sundeck Restaurant will be open for food and beverages from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Summer operations are also starting on Aspen Mountain so sightseeing tickets will be available for $27 per day or $32 for the entire weekend.
For skiing and riding, anyone who had a premier pass last season can ski free. Any child 3 and younger gets a free ticket. Children 6 and younger who were passholders last season also ski free.
Other passholders from the 2018-19 season will pay $27 for a lift ticket for skiing.
The ticket price is $54 for people who weren’t passholders last season.
Go to http://www.aspensnowmass.com for more information.