Aspen's Mountains Are Work Sites Until Nov. 26. The Uphill Rules Already Apply.

As of Nov. 1, Aspen Snowmass requires an uphill strap on all four mountains. Not one lift is running yet. Aspen Mountain and Snowmass open Nov. 26, three weeks from today. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk follow on Dec. 12. Until then, the only way up any of these mountains is under your own power. You share them with snow guns, winch cats and snowmobiles that are getting the slopes ready for opening day.

That's why the strap matters most in November, when there's no lift ticket to scan. The uphill hours, the route list and the closure rules are all set around when and where the crews need the slopes.

The $74 Strap and What It Covers

Aspen Snowmass's Uphill Pass page puts the price at $74. Unless you hold a Premier Pass, that's what you pay whether you skin once or every morning through April 18, 2027, which is when the strap requirement ends. Ten dollars of each pass goes to Mountain Rescue Aspen.

The pass comes with a few pieces:

• The strap itself. Wear the Aspen Snowmass strap on your body or your pack, with a current season sticker and a valid pass showing in the sleeve. Straps are available at ticket offices.
• A waiver. All season passholders need a signed waiver on file.
• Premier Pass holders get the Uphill Pass free. The resort's FAQ says they have to opt in to receive it.
• Every kind of uphill travel. Skinning, walking and snowshoeing all need the pass, and so do Full Moon Dinners and Social Breakfasts.

The program isn't new. The Aspen Times reported in August 2021 that Aspen Skiing Co. would start charging for uphill access in the 2021–22 season, at $69. In that first season, according to the Aspen Times, the program sold more than 2,500 passes and raised over $25,000 for Mountain Rescue Aspen. For 2026–27, the price is $5 higher than it was at launch.

The Clock Is Built Around the Grooming Shift

The resort-wide window is 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Aspen Snowmass gives the reason for the late cutoff directly. After 10:30 p.m., its operators need clear slopes to work.

Two mountains also have morning cutoffs:

Dogs have their own window. They aren't allowed on any mountain between 7:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., which the resort defines as ski area operating hours. The pass page also warns that dog access outside those hours could end if incidents continue. If you skin with a dog, you're limited to dawn and evening. On Aspen Mountain, the mountain's own policy page goes further and prohibits dogs throughout the operating season.

Snowmaking Can Close a Route Without Warning

The fine print on the pass page matters most this month. Aspen Snowmass says routes, or all uphill access across the resort, can close temporarily "due to early season snowmaking and mountain preparation." Those closures go out through the Aspen Snowmass App. Each mountain's policy page also says machinery and snowmobiles may run at any time. Uphillers have to stay away from snowmaking lines, blind spots, winch-cat cables and equipment, and obey posted closures.

This fall there's more snowmaking equipment to work around. In its Oct. 29 winter announcement, Aspen Snowmass listed two miles of new pipeline, snowmaking that now reaches toward the top of Buttermilk, new fan guns and air/water guns, a new booster pump station at Buttermilk and a fully upgraded Ruthie's pump station on Aspen Mountain. More pipe on the hill means more places where a gun can be firing across the route you planned to take.

Before you leave the house, check the uphill status page. It lists each mountain's routes as open or closed, and Highlands' lower and upper routes are listed separately.

Four Mountains, Four Ways Up

Aspen Snowmass allows uphilling only on its designated routes. Each mountain offers a different kind of climb.

Aspen Mountain

The posted ascent starts on Little Nell, then follows Bingo Slot and Spar Gulch, turns into Deer Park and finishes on Silver Bell. The way down is also fixed: Copper, Copper Bowl and Little Nell. This is the first winter the lower mountain has a new lift. The Nell Bell high-speed detachable quad replaces the Bell Mountain lift, which dated to 1957, and the Little Nell lift, which dated to 1986. It runs from Gondola Plaza to the top of Bell Mountain, with 135 chairs and a 2,656-foot vertical rise, and it's scheduled to open early in the 2026/27 season. Your skin track starts on the run that gave the old lift its name, so check the app for that route before you go.

Aspen Highlands

The lower route climbs Jerome Bowl, passes beneath Exhibition and goes through the trees toward Lower Stein. From there it follows Park Avenue and Memory Lane up to Merry-Go-Round. If you reach Merry-Go-Round before 8:30 a.m., you can continue to Loge Peak.

Buttermilk

Buttermilk has three routes: Tiehack, Main Buttermilk and West. The Tiehack route goes up Eagle Hill, Ptarmigan, Buckskin and Savio to the top of Tiehack Express. Buttermilk's top is also where this year's snowmaking extension goes, so watch that route's status especially closely.

Snowmass

Snowmass has the most choices: Two Creeks, Elk Camp, High Alpine, Sam's Knob and Campground. Terrain parks are closed to uphill travel at all times. Snowmass is also where the season's biggest build is wrapping up. Ullrhof is set to reopen this winter after a $42 million rebuild, as a 26,000-square-foot mid-mountain building seating more than 600. It'll be the resort's first fully electric on-mountain restaurant.

After the Skin, the Town Is Half Closed

A 6 a.m. climb ends in a town where many kitchens are dark for the season. The eatAspen Fall 2026 off-season guide lists five places open the whole off-season: Aspen Public House, Campo de Fiori, CP Burger, Crepe Therapy Cafe and Matsuhisa. Matsuhisa is running Monday-night football specials. The Aspen Chamber's Oct. 22 fall dining guide also lists Poppycock's, White House Tavern, Bangkok Happy Bowl and Aspen Brewing Company as open this fall.

Other places come back one at a time between now and opening day. Here's eatAspen's schedule:

The week of Nov. 20 brings back Jing, Velvet Buck and Ajax Tavern, the last of those right at the base of Aspen Mountain. The Aspen Chamber lists French Alpine Bistro reopening Nov. 25, and Betula's closure ends with opening day on Nov. 26. Meat & Cheese stays closed until after Dec. 9, almost two weeks past opening day. If you're skinning this week, your post-climb choices are the year-round group, plus Spring Cafe again after Nov. 11.

The Uphill Calendar After Opening Day

Opening day doesn't end uphill season. The strap stays in effect until April 18, 2027, and the uphill calendar gets busier after the lifts start. The Full Moon Dinners at Cliffhouse on Buttermilk are scheduled for Jan. 22, Feb. 20 and March 22, 2027. You'll need your uphill pass and strap, and dogs aren't allowed on dinner nights. The races work differently. The resort's FAQ says sponsored race events, including Summit for Life and Power of Four, don't require an Uphill Pass. Summit for Life, a night uphill race on Aspen Mountain, runs Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026. Racers start at 5:30 p.m., and the post-race gathering is at the Sundeck. On Feb. 20, 2027, the Audi Power of Four Ski Mountaineering race covers 24 miles and more than 10,000 vertical feet across all four mountains.

Aspen Snowmass sets the uphill rules and can change them, so check the Uphill Pass page and the app for current terms.

Many of us at Palazola Group measure a mountain property by how close it is to the skin track, as well as the lift line. If you'd like a home where your 6 a.m. Tiehack lap or Highlands climb starts near your front door, we'll walk you through which addresses put you there. Let's Connect.