United States of America

Colorado Unleashed

13 ways to get your Rocky Mountain High

Need a Rocky Mountain high? Colorado hosts 78 of the iconic range’s 100 highest peaks, and powder snow so pure it’s earned its own trademark.

Fill your lungs with crisp, invigorating mountain air as you hit the slopes, climb walls of ice, hitch a helicopter ride to the top of untouched powder runs, and indulge in a legitimately buzzing après scene. Away from the ski fields, Colorado’s thriving arts culture, craft beer industry, international-level snow sculptors and festivals mean you don’t have to be a serious shredder to have an epic time.

Here are 13 experiences that will make you fall in love with Colorado:

1. Incredible Snow Sports, LITERALLY EVERYWHERE

What do you get when you take the Rockies and add snow? Some of the USA's most elite skiing and snowboarding areas.

With 30+ ski areas, Colorado has something for every type of snow lover. Breckenridge has long groomed trails, monster mogul runs, steep chutes, and beginner areas, Crested Butte is loved by backcountry enthusiasts for its untouched powder, Howelsen Hill has the country’s largest natural ski-jumping complex. Then there's Ski Cooper—where it's not just slopes, but history too; the extraordinary story of the United States Army's 10th Mountain Division is celebrated in the country's most recent national monument, built in 2022, to honour the division's history in the area.

2. Outdoor Arts, BRECKENRIDGE

Think you’ve got mad sandcastle skills with a bucket and spade? Prepare to feel inadequate at the Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Championships.

Teams from around the world descend on the ski area, in the aptly named Summit County, and turn 20-tonne blocks of snow into works of art. When darkness falls, the sculptures are lit up to create a glowing open-air art gallery. You can’t have a crack at creating your own masterpiece, but you can take part in the people’s choice vote.

3. Ice Climbing, OURAY

Ice climbing appears to have been invented for people with adrenaline deficiencies.

Climbers strap on a helmet and harness, grab ice axes and fit crampons to their shoes before tackling absurd, virtually vertical cliff faces covered in sheets of ice. Ouray’s free public park is the world capital of ice climbing, offering more than 200 routes to suit both novice and experienced climbers throughout the Uncompahgre Gorge.

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4. Snowmobiling, VAIL

Ever experienced the rush of riding a snowmobile up and over the second largest single mountain ski resort in North America, then indulged in a snack whilst relaxing in a private, luxury yurt?

Thought not. This is your chance. Experience Vail Mountain on a snowmobile tour within the beautiful White River National Forest.

5. Hot Springs Soaking, STRAWBERRY PARK

Imagine skiing on snow so light and fluffy it has its own trademark—Champagne Power®, then easing your tired muscles in 40°C hot springs, perhaps even indulging in the water therapy, Watsu® in your own, private pool.

Strawberry Park Hot Springs has maintained the natural look of its mineral-rich geothermal springs edged with crafted stone masonry. It’s an adults-only venue after dark, and as the steam rises from the natural springs towards a stunning blanket of stars, clothing becomes optional.

6. Heliskiing, SILVERTON

Silverton Mountain is the highest and steepest ski area in North America, but if you want to save your muscles for the sharp descent, you can take a chopper to the top and be dropped at the start of the spectacular run through virgin snow.

You know you're in for an adventure when Silverton Mountain Heliskiing website’s list of general questions includes whether you need avalanche training (you don’t, the guides will give you a briefing).

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7. Chilling with Frozen Dead Guy Days (Festival), ESTES PARK

In 1989 a Norwegian man Trygve Bauge brought his deceased Grandpa, Bredo, to the USA, where he was cryogenically frozen and stored in the quaint town of Nederland. More than 30 years, some pesky VISA issues, and a national news story later, Bredo is still freezing away in Nederland—the ultimate chill seeker.

Every year in March, Frozen Dead Guy Days festival is held in honour of Bredo, an inexplicably strange event the like of which we at get lost, a travel magazine of 20 years, have never encountered before. There’s coffin races, a Grandpa Bredo lookalike contest, frostbite fashion shows, and the polar plunge, where admirably and idiotically brave participants break ice in the local lake and try their hand at freezing themselves, Bredo-style.

8. Shoes Optional, ASPEN

Rather ski or board than walk? The Little Nell is the only accommodation with ski-in/ski-out access on Aspen Mountain.

Draw back the blinds of your room at the Five-star, Five-diamond hotel, and you’ll find yourself right in the heart of the action. No regular shoes required. But you could pull on some snowshoes for a moonlit mountain tour or take to the skies for a heli-skiing adventure. The Little Nell also offers ‘First Tracks’, which gives its guests early access to the mountain, so you can be the first to experience the pleasure of carving some lines through the virgin powder.

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9. Secret Après Happy Hour, CRESTED BUTTE

The French may have coined the phrase après-ski to describe the fun that happens once you’ve left the slopes, but Crested Butte has made après its own.

A mecca for extreme skiers, the town also caters for those more interested in post-ski activities, with an eclectic mix of live music, wine bars and a range of restaurants and theatres. Enjoy live entertainment at Kochevars Saloon & Gaming Hall, formerly a brothel and bowling alley (presumably not at the same time) or meet some locals when you dine at Bonez Tequilla Bar & Grill’s community dining table. Happy Hour is from 3–5pm, but you have to ask the bartender for the secret Happy Hour menu.

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10. The See forever Run, TELLURIDE

There are views, and then there's the view from Telluride’s See Forever run.

It's where the panorama is so vast and so breathtaking that it feels like you are skiing or boarding above the clouds, with a line of sight through to the neighbouring state of Utah on a clear day. The straight run, which hides a service road, combines groomed sections with challenging moguls, so you’ll need to choose your moments to safely enjoy the view.

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11. Art Immersion, DENVER

Denver Art Museum is a beacon of creativity slap bang in the centre of the city, housed in a building that is a work of art in itself.

The museum is large, housing 70,000 works from across the centuries and world but, if you’re more of a participant than a spectator, it also runs a dynamic event calendar that includes creating your own works of art under the guidance of its resident artists.

12. Road Trippin', CACHE LA POUDRE SCENIC BYWAY

Did someone say Rockies road trip? I’m in.

As the college town of Fort Collins fades into the rear view mirror, head back in time and nature on the 162 kilometre Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway route that takes road trippers from Denver, through Fort Collins and into Steamboat, encountering roaming coyotes and moose along the way. The road winds through the spectacular Poudre Canyon, and in winter the landscape is spectacular; rugged peaks that line the route are dusted magically white, and surrounding mountains that take your breath away. Keep an eye out for Colorado's state animal, the bighorn sheep.

13. Beer & Rocky Mountain Oysters Buckhorn Exchange, DENVER

With more than 400 boutique breweries dotted throughout Colorado, it has been labelled the ‘Napa Valley of beer’, and you might need a drop or two of the stronger stuff to sample more of the state’s hearty cuisine—deep-fried testicles.

Known as ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters’ this Colorado delicacy consists of deep-fried bull balls, and the Buckhorn Exchange (Denver's oldest steakhouse, established in 1893) is the best place to get it. Bison is also on the menu, a leaner meat than beef. Fish lovers have a less challenging choice of cuisine, with Colorado’s pristine rivers and lakes providing a rich source of freshwater trout.