SKI'S UP

From the Rocky mountains of Colorado to the snowy peaks of the Dolomite Alps, we've rounded up the most exciting places to hit the slopes this winter. And what to wear when you go.

- MADELAINE CLARK

ASPEN, NORTH AMERICA
With a boom in cultural offerings and exciting hospitality openings, there’s never been a better time to visit Colorado’s premier ski resort.

With its concentration of ultra-high-networth individuals, a blazing property market and private jets being the preferred mode of transport, today Aspen has become a byword for billionaire’s playground. More recently, however, the Colorado town has added a new string to its gilded bow: art hub. Although there’s been a healthy supply of culture in the town since the opening of contemporary Aspen Art Museum in 1979—it was redesigned in 2013 by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban—and the Anderson Ranch Arts Centre, in 2021 things started heating up when the pandemic caused wealthy collectors to move out of big cities.

First came the arrival of pop-ups from blue-chip galleries such as Lehmann Maupin and White Cube, and this summer Aspen Art Week debuted at Hotel Jerome, bringing 30 international galleries to showcase art throughout the property. For the coming ski season, multimedia artist Alex Israel was commissioned to design the lift ticket as part of the resort’s new Art in Unexpected Places Initiative, with a solo show also in the works.

There’s also buzz building up around the resort’s forthcoming X Games in January and Snow League in March, when visitors can watch world-class skiers and snowboarders competing in high-stakes events.

Ski: Aspen comprises four mountains easily accessible from the town: Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Snowmass. Lifts run from the end of November to mid-April, and this season Snowmass debuts the Coney Express, a new high-speed chair lift providing wider access to the mountain’s 98 trails.

Stay: Hotel Jerome has been a regular on the scene since it opened in 1889 and is known for interiors that combine all the hallmarks of alpine aesthetics with a distinctly