Aspen Snowmass Tops Colorado Ski Resorts In Early Season Snowfall

Aspen —The most popular thing on the internet in our valley last week wasn’t a new restaurant opening, a city council fight, or a property tax increase. It was snow.

Specifically, it was the fact that Aspen Snowmass recorded the highest snow totals of any ski resort in Colorado. According to the Aspen Times, stories on their site from Nov. 2 through Nov. 9 drew the most page views, and that report sat at number one.

To hear them tell it, the numbers were undeniable. Aspen Snowmass reported up to 8 inches in a single day across all four mountains following Wednesday night’s storm. For comparison, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Beaver Creek each received about 4 inches. Vail got roughly 2 inches. The only resorts currently open in the state — Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Winter Park — scraped together about 1 inch each.

It’s a simple math problem, but one that matters to people who plan their winter around lift tickets and powder days. The question is whether this early-season burst changes the trajectory for the rest of the winter, but for now, it’s just a fact: we got more than everyone else.

The second most-read story isn’t about what’s happening now, but what’s coming in April. A new shuttle service will connect the Eagle County Regional Airport with Aspen, running six daily trips to Eagle and eight to Aspen. The cost is $69 each way.

This timing is deliberate. The shuttle launches just in time for the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport’s seven-month closure in 2027. Bill Tomcich, an airport consultant for Fly Aspen Snowmass, said in a press release that having convenient scheduled ground transportation to and from the Eagle Airport will "almost certainly help drive demand for those additional flights."

That depends on who you ask. If you’re a local who relies on the Pitkin County airport for quick hops to Denver or Phoenix, $69 one way is a steep price of admission for a ground connection. But if you’re an out-of-state visitor flying into Eagle to access the mountains, it’s a logistical bridge that keeps the region accessible while our own runway is closed for work. The Aspen Times noted that a plane preparing to take off from the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport was photographed on Feb. 28, 2026, a reminder that the closure is a future event, not a present one.

The third most-read story took a step back from local logistics to look at the state’s political landscape. Colorado voters weighed in on 14 statewide ballot measures during the Nov. 3 midterm election. That number ties a record for the most questions put to Colorado voters in the last 52 years, matching the counts from 2024, 2008, and 2006.

What stands out this year is how those measures got there. All but one were placed on the ballot by groups that collected signatures. Only Proposition NN was referred by the state legislature. The Aspen Times reported this as a significant shift in how Colorado politics operates, with petition-driven initiatives dominating the ballot rather than legislative referrals.

The fourth story on the list is a reminder that our geography offers more than just skiing and politics. With the end of daylight saving time, dusk comes sooner in November, and nights are growing longer as winter approaches. For Colorado astronomy guide Mark Laurin, the month features a "can’t miss celestial event," multiple meteor showers, and a supermoon.

It’s a quiet counterpoint to the noise of elections and airport closures. The sky over Ptarmigan Mountain doesn’t care about ballot measures or shuttle fares. It just gets darker earlier, and the stars get brighter.

The Aspen Times listed these as their top five stories, though the provided text only details four. The fifth is missing from the data, but the pattern is clear: our attention was divided between the immediate thrill of snow, the practical headache of airport logistics, the weight of state politics, and the beauty of a clear night.

We read what we need to know to get through the week. We read about snow because it’s here. We read about shuttles because they’ll be needed soon. We read about ballots because they shaped the state we live in. And we looked up, because the dark is coming faster now, and there’s something to see.

Bill Tomcich said the shuttle will help drive demand for flights. That’s his job, to sell the connection. But the people reading these stories are deciding for themselves what matters. They decided that 8 inches of snow beats a $69 fare, and that a supermoon is worth more than a ballot measure.

The snow will melt. The airport will close and reopen. The stars will move on to their next position in the sky. But for now, we’re here, and we’re paying attention to what’s right in front of us.