Mountain Mayhem: Last call for spring skiing

As the light lingers longer and the ski season draws to a close, it’s last call for lift-served spring skiing.

Several highlights of late from the slopes include an April 3 ceremony at the base of Aspen Mountain for an ambitious kindergartner, Maddock Lipp. At age 6, Lipp, of Golden, Colorado, reached his goal of skiing all 33 ski areas in the state, a journey that started at age two. He crisscrossed Colorado with his family over the past few seasons from Silverton to Steamboat to lesser-known areas like Howelsen Hill, Cranor Hill and Lake City to reach number 33. Aspen Snowmass hosted a small ceremony for Lipp on the steps of the Silver Queen Gondola with passersby and fellow skiers and riders cheering for him from the lift line.

On April 4, Buttermilk wrapped up the season with Bacon Day. Aspen Highlands also closed, though the U.S. Alpine Championships started the next day for racing from April 5 -16 with men’s and women’s downhill, super-g, giant slalom, slalom and alpine combined, which has been fun to follow on social media since in-person spectating is not allowed.

Aspen Mountain ends the season this Sunday, April 18, and is sure to be a celebration – of socially distant proportions. Lastly, there’s Snowmass’s closure next Sunday, April 25. Though the lifts will soon stop spinning, there’s still plenty of opportunity for skinning well into the spring – snow conditions pending.