Highland Bowl is the whole reason. It is 110 hectares of hike to terrain reached along the ridge, and it is held in a regard among American skiers that few places in the country match. Highlands stays out of the spotlight and feels like the locals' mountain. Somewhere you ski because you want to and not because anyone is watching.

Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro halfway up serves fondue and wine with the Maroon Bells behind it and has become an institution in its own right. In the evening a snowcat runs up for dinner there after hours. One lift ticket covers all four Aspen Snowmass mountains with a free bus between them, so Highlands becomes the steep day in a week that also holds Snowmass and Buttermilk.