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Parallel universe

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Why you can trust SCMP
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I am in a love triangle with Elle Macpherson, even though she doesn't know I exist. My ski instructor, Guernsey, has double booked and my fourth consecutive day of skiing with him is the supermodel's first day of instruction. It's not hard to figure out who will get the flick.

We're in Aspen, Colorado, Elle and I. Long considered the St Moritz of North America, Aspen has made it's name from the rich and famous. Not that Aspen needs to rely on its high-profile visitors: the ski terrain alone is enough to attract flocks of snow lovers. That, and an average seasonal snowfall of 7.5 metres of dry Colorado powder combined with its trademark blue-sky days.

Four mountains in the Elk Range of the American Rockies make up the ski resort of Aspen Snowmass. Combined, they offer more than 2,000 hectares of 'skiable' terrain, and that's not counting the back country. Aspen village, a former silver-ore mining town that became a ski resort in 1947, sits in the Roaring Fork Valley at the base of Aspen Mountain - with its mogul runs, steeps, deeps and glade runs for those who know what they're doing. Explore the glades and find the wooded shrine to folk singer John Denver, who called Aspen home.

The nearby Buttermilk ski area is home to the ESPN Winter X Games and is a snowboarder's and

free-skier's dream, with two enormous terrain parks and one 'superpipe'. The third zone, Snowmass, lives up to its name with, yes, masses of snow. The longest of the 90 trails is 8.5km and is a good 20 minutes from town, so you need to take a car, hitch a ride or catch a shuttle bus.

Then there is the Aspen Highlands, which have an impressive array of beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert terrain. Take the lung-burning 45-minute hike with skis strapped to your back to drop into the Highlands Bowl, with its 48-degree slope of ungroomed powder and major boasting rights.

I am staying in Aspen village, with a permanent population of 5,900; daily population 20,000-plus. My digs are on the Alpine floor of the swanky St Regis Resort, with butler service, personal concierge and valets who warm one's boots overnight. I'm tempted to flash my room key in Elle's face should I see her on the street. It would be pointless, however, because la Macpherson is staying at the town's only true 'ski-in, ski-out' hotel, the Relais & Chateaux Little Nell, where Tiger Woods has been known to dine. She wins again.

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