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Local ski areas to celebrate closing days with festive parties on the slopes

End of season party at Aspen Mountain Sundeck
Kaya Williams
/
Aspen Public Radio
Crowds celebrate closing day at Aspen Mountain with a dance party at the Sundeck on April 23, 2023. Colorful, springy outfits are highly encouraged for the end-of-season festivities.

Springtime means raucous parties, neon onesies and spirited competitions, as local ski areas wrap up operations for the season.

Buttermilk Mountain will shut down first, celebrating the end of the season with “Bacon Appreciation Day” this Sunday. Skiers and riders will find treats all over the mountain — as well as a few people in bacon-themed costumes.

Aspen Highlands and Sunlight Mountain Resort will both close next Sunday, April 7.

Highlands is known for its debaucherous closing party at the base — and for some final laps on the Highland Bowl in festive costumes. Meanwhile, Sunlight, near Glenwood Springs, will host its first-ever “Color Festival,” with vibrant, eco-friendly powders to leave a mark on the season.

Snowmass Ski Area closes on April 14, but the “Surf and Snow”beach party with a pond skim at Elk Camp takes place one day prior, on April 13.

Aspen Mountain is the final resort standing, with a closing day on April 21. Skiers and riders should expect a lively party at the Sundeck and plenty of springy outfits, as well as some spirited ski-jumping at Boyd’s Bump on the Ridge of Bell.

Kaya Williams is the Edlis Neeson Arts and Culture Reporter at Aspen Public Radio, covering the vibrant creative and cultural scene in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. She studied journalism and history at Boston University, where she also worked for WBUR, WGBH, The Boston Globe and her beloved college newspaper, The Daily Free Press. Williams joins the team after a stint at The Aspen Times, where she reported on Snowmass Village, education, mental health, food, the ski industry, arts and culture and other general assignment stories.