Aspen

Introduction

Aspen 075

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Aspen is a town, city, and ski resort community in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. It is the county seat of Pitkin County and is in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains' Sawatch Range, along the Roaring Fork River at an elevation around 2,400 metres above sea level on the Western Slope, 18 kilometres west of the Continental Divide. The town has about 7,000 inhabitants.

Sights and Activities

• Skiing

Weather

Aspen has humid continental climate owing to its high altitude. This means generally warm summers and cold snowy winters. Temperatures in summer are mostly in the 20-25 °C range with nights dropping to or below 10 °C or so. Winter days average around freezing during the day but plummit to -10 °C to -15 °C at night. The alltime high and low temperatures stand at 34 °C and -38 °C respectively. The average annual amount of precipitation is about 600mm and there is about 3.5 metres of snow a year as well. Even in June and September snow is common, though rare.

Getting There

By Plane

Aspen Pitkin County Airport (ASE) offers flights to/from [[Denver and Los Angeles year-round and additional seasonal (winter) flights to/from Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Houston.

By Car

Colorado State Highway 82 is the only major road that provides access to Aspen. There are some mountain pass roads that lead to the town, but those require all-terrain vehicles and are typically impassable during the winter. Highway 82 east of Aspen is also impassable due to persistent snow on Independence Pass, leaving leaving Highway 82 west of Aspen as the only means of motor vehicle access during the winter.

Getting Around

By Public Transport

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, or RFTA, provides free bus service within Aspen and Snowmass Village, and pay service to the surrounding communities of Basalt, El Jebel, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Rifle. Local RFTA bus service within Aspen and to Snowmass Village is free.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

The US Postal Service is very good and well priced mail system. There are post offices in every small and large town for sending packages internationally or domestically. If wanting to send a letter or postcard it is best just to leave it in a blue mail box with the proper postage. There are also private postal services like FedEx, UPS and DHL.

External Links

• Official Website