As a 31+ year local, I’m frequently asked about Aspen Snowmass’s best-kept winter secret. Well, I'm here to let the "snowcat" out of the bag. With over 1,500 acres of ungroomed terrain exclusively for the use of up to 36 people per day, it's the Aspen Mountain Powder Tours. If you're an intermediate skier/rider or better, there's nothing more fun than skiing or boarding "hero snow" all day long with your own private guides and snowcat. Try it—you'll thank me! 

After a quick ten-minute flight that skimmed over snow-dusted pine trees and steep crags, our helicopter touched down. We were just above a slope in the Sessions private ski zone in the Wasatch Mountain Range, with nothing but wide- open space and endless horizons stretching in every direction. The small group of skiers I had with me couldn’t wait to hit the pure, untouched powder. But they weren’t extreme skiers, or even expert ones. All four were just intermediate skiers—and they were heli-sking for the first time in their lives.

As Madeline’s General Manager, I’m pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to winter sports. When I want to feel the thrill of soaring down the mountain, I ski. When I want to explore the deep tranquility of the backcountry, I snowshoe. When I want to feel as if I’m floating over the snow, I hop on my fat tire bike. Now, after an amazing half-day adventure with Mountain Trip, I have an exhilarating new winter sport to add to my repertoire: ice climbing.

Imagine the best run you’ve ever taken on untouched snow. Now imagine repeating this over and over on snow no one has ever skied. Through a new partnership with Powderbird, the Lodge at Blue Sky has a dedicated helicopter for groups to ski deep in the Uinta and Wasatch Mountain Ranges. I joined a group recently and it was an incredible experience to fly over Salt Lake City, which has more than a million people, then head to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I can’t remember the last time I felt so removed from it all.

When fresh snow blankets the ground, everyone in Telluride heads for the mountains. Luckily, Element 52 is carved into the side of one, making it easy to access the slopes. “Our private funicular transports you 200 feet up, dropping you on a trail with lifts,” ...

A word of warning for parents— your kids are one Junior Je-Roamer trip away from breaking your croquet winning streak, taking the "ski-ripper" family title, or showing you up at fishing. Aspen may be an adult’s paradise, but it doubles as a kid’s disneyland. While there are a myriad of adventures to explore, a Je-Roamer favorite is T-Lazy-7 Ranch, where winter is for suiting up to tour the white wonderland via snowmobile, and summer months are remembered for riding horses through Maroon Creek Valley and catching a trophy-sized rainbow trout while fly-fishing for the first time. (Don’t worry, young in age or young at heart, all are welcome.)