{"id":979,"date":"2024-09-13T15:56:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T15:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/?p=979"},"modified":"2024-09-19T05:12:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T05:12:06","slug":"aspen-mountain-heros-expansion-a-game-changing-project-worthy-of-the-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/2024\/09\/13\/aspen-mountain-heros-expansion-a-game-changing-project-worthy-of-the-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Mountain Hero\u2019s Expansion: A Game-Changing Project Worthy of the Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Hero\u2019s lift serves Aspen Mountain\u2019s first terrain expansion in 23 years.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This past season, Aspen Mountain<\/a>, which is the town hill for the namesake Aspen Snowmass complex, got its first terrain expansion since the year 2000. This modestly-sized Colorado mountain, known locally as Ajax, brought a 153-acre upper-mountain expansion known as Hero\u2019s. This project adds a number of new intermediate and expert trails served by a brand-new high-speed quad. With the expanded terrain, Ajax\u2019s skiable footprint has increased to 828 acres.<\/p>\n

One of Aspen Mountain\u2019s biggest drawbacks has historically been how hard it\u2019s been to lap much of its terrain, especially when it comes to expert slopes. The Hero\u2019s expansion finally introduces some terrain that cuts right at the heart of these issues, and in the process, brings some substantial resort benefits.<\/p>\n

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A map of the Hero’s expansion at Aspen Mountain this season. Via: Aspen Snowmass<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Experience Changes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Hero\u2019s area was previously a very popular backcountry area, and after spending some time here, it\u2019s clear why the resort was so eager to add it to the ski boundary proper. The expansion brings some really interesting terrain within the resort boundaries of Aspen Mountain, including some awesome glades, moguls, and bowls.<\/p>\n

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The Hero\u2019s expansion brings some very cool glade, mogul, and bowl terrain, much of which is rated expert.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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But importantly, unlike the rest of Aspen Mountain\u2019s expert terrain areas, the Hero\u2019s area is actually easy to lap. Ajax\u2019s decidedly strange lift layout historically meant that lapping any of its expert terrain involved a trip down the full vertical descent of the resort\u2014which could get incredibly annoying if you wanted to spend a lot of time on this type of terrain\u2014but it\u2019s now possible to exclusively lap expert terrain over and over again through the Hero\u2019s lift. In addition, the expansion\u2019s expert-oriented nature has seemed to keep crowds down, and the area has seen minimal lines even during busy times; this is a far cry from popular Ajax lifts such as the Silver Queen Gondola and Ajax Express quad.<\/p>\n

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Unlike many of Aspen Mountain\u2019s lower-elevation areas, the Hero\u2019s pod is actually easy to lap.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Hero\u2019s expansion isn\u2019t perfect. While this area does have some intermediate terrain, it\u2019s limited in nature and mainly consists of traverses in and out of the expert zones. In addition, there are a few flat terrain sections required to get back to the chairlift, especially if you\u2019re coming from skier\u2019s right of the Powerline trail. But these are minor qualms compared to the benefits the area brings.<\/p>\n

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While the Hero\u2019s area does have some intermediate terrain, it\u2019s mostly relegated to traverses.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n

Aspen Mountain is still quite a bit smaller than prominent destination competitors, and without Snowmass and Highlands nearby, it probably wouldn\u2019t be worth it for a dedicated ski trip. But overall, Hero\u2019s is a surprisingly effective addition to Ajax. The expansion substantially improves the resort\u2019s flow for experts, provides a haven from the rest of the resort\u2019s logistical issues\u2014and, at least for now, allows an escape from the crowds.<\/p>\n

Considering a ski trip to Aspen Mountain this year? Check out our full Colorado<\/a> rankings, as well as our comprehensive Aspen Mountain review<\/a>. You can also check out our analysis of the major 2022-23 ski resort upgrade projects in video form below.<\/p>\n

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  The Hero\u2019s lift serves Aspen Mountain\u2019s first terrain expansion in 23 years.   This past season, Aspen Mountain, which is the town hill for the namesake Aspen Snowmass complex, got its first terrain expansion since the year 2000. This modestly-sized Colorado mountain, known locally as Ajax, brought a 153-acre upper-mountain expansion known as Hero\u2019s. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mountain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/elite-escort.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}