Tom - do you know on what Aspen website I can sign up for a preseason offer? I have found a few different ones and I want to make sure I sign up on the right one. Thanks for the insider tip! My husband and I may go now the week after Christmas and those lift tickets per day are probably even more so that season pass will well be worth it since we are staying for 9 days and possibly skiing for 6 to 7 days.

fmp - the hot air balloon ride would be an amazing thing to do. Just looked it up and it says $295 per person. Wow!

You might just check to be sure they "work" for holidays.

No one suggested that Aspen or Snowmass was cheap or less expensive. Aspensnowmass.com is where you want to sign in and create an account. A season pass at about $1900 will not pay for you. You may hit another bump at that time of year. Most of the rentals will have a min stay of at least one week. May not be able to stretch it over two weekend since most rentals start on Sunday and end Saturday. A VRBO might work but Christmas/New Years is the highest demand of the year. The first couple of weeks after New Year could give you a break on lodging. That is a pretty dead week and a VRBO might be more than willing to deal at that time. Snowmass has an enormous amount of ski in/out properties so offer less.

Also not a big fan of Ballooning - although a number of people do it. Friends of mine did it by Ayers Rock in Australia - and heard a week later - that some people were killed there.

I for one - would want a ballistic parachute were I to venture on to such a craft - which you cannot fly - but are mainly at the mercy of the prevailing breeze - and about all you can do is try to control going up or down.

When the in-laws lived in Rancho Sante Fe - here in SD - the hot air balloons from Del Mar floated inland - and used to occasionally come down in their area - and once - we were even on their patio - talking to a "pilot" whose balloon had dropped down almost to the "deck" (ground) -- and he was really working to fire up the "gas" (think a big bunson burner) - to go up again, which he finally did.

Guess they finally landed OK.

I am so sorry! I got confused. What are front range passes for $500?

We are most likely staying at the ski in/ski out newly renovated Westin in Snowmass for 10 nights.

I will sign up at aspensnowmass.com and look before labor day for deals!

Sorry,local slang. Front range ski areas are Winter Park, Loveland, A-basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper. Because of ownership Winter Park and Copper are combined into one season pass as is Vail, B Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone. The competition for front range skiers (day skiers) is fierce between the two groups so you have cheap packages for locals. Aspen doesn't compete for day skiers so no need for cheap season passes ..

Is there any chance at all for discount lift tickets at Aspen? Just sign up at that website (aspensnowmass.com) and look for deals around Labor Day, right?

I would not plan on big discount tix for Aspen. Way too popular and people that flock there have mucho denaro.

Sure, but the discounts are small. There will be some offers during the month of September and IF I can remember I will forward them to you. But that is a very big IF. Aspen has a certain reputation to maintain and cheap skiing is not part of their picture. And if you think lift tickets are bad, wait till you hit the better restaurants. Aspen is Aspen and there is no other place quiet like it.