When actors Rob Morrow, Chad Lowe and Fisher Stevens recently got lost on Aspen Mountain and required an out-of-bounds ski patrol rescue, they could have used Neal Beidleman’s Aspen Ski and Snowboard Guide. The pocket-size book, published earlier this winter, includes panoramic photos and descriptions of advanced to expert runs at all four of Aspen’s ski areas, including many that are part of local lore but not on the trail maps.

But it’s not just celebs gone astray who can benefit from this insider’s look at some 5,200 acres of skiable terrain.

"You don’t have to be a tourist who’s never been here to appreciate what the book might offer you," said Beidleman, a noted mountaineer who grew up in Aspen and still calls the town home.

Compiling a guidebook — with the myriad details involved — is often a labor of love. In Beidleman’s case, it was his love of Aspen and skiing that motivated him to take on this project when approached by Dave Pegg, owner of New Castle-based Wolverine Publishing.

Here are Beidleman’s insights on what he chose to include (and not to include), how he approached the research and why he wasn’t afraid to share knowledge that some locals consider proprietary.

Why this type of guide?

"There are guides to everything, from where to go hiking, where to ride your horse, where to ride a bike, where to walk your dog on the third Sunday of the month. I thought Aspen deserves a guidebook for all the great skiing we have here, rather than just a trail map. There’s no history in the maps, no basis for where things came from."

Is the book only for hard-core skiers, or only people unfamiliar with Aspen?

"It’s not necessarily for the extreme rider. Those people generally know where they’re going to go. But a lot of people have come up to me who have been skiing here for a very long time and are really psyched by the book. They had their routine of runs and hadn’t ventured very far off of that.

"For intermediate and beginner skiers, it’s worthwhile because it shows visually, through aerial photos, what’s out there and gives a perspective on where a person might be on the mountain.

"In some ways, it’s eye candy. A lot of these people are never going to ski Baby Ruth (a double black) or jump off Stiletto (a cliffed area). But if they’re sitting at Gwyn’s (restaurant at Snowmass), they can get an idea of what they’re looking across at."

It must not have been any fun to research ...

"I did all of the research last year and made sure I had all the photos. A lot were taken on the mountain, from one ridge looking across to another area." (He also put in his fair share of ski time — research can be a tough gig — so that he could accurately describe access to runs and locations. And Beidleman took to the skies above Aspen, with local pilot Peter Hutter, to take aerial photos of the ski areas, one of the book’ highlights. To track all the info, Beidleman, an aerospace engineer, kept a spreadsheet of the runs he describes.)

The photos are the guide’s best feature — they really let you see how a place such as the Hanging Valley Wall at Snowmass fits together. It can be hard to remember exactly how to access the best sections when you’re skiing it.

"A lot of times, I’ll start traversing earlier than I need to, and I wouldn’t appreciate or ski the whole fall line. (The trail descriptions) allow a person to be cognizant of this and get a really good idea of how you could ski the area."

Did you discover, or rediscover, any particular places?

"There was just the base area and a couple of lifts to the top of Sam’s Knob and the Big Burn. (As a planner for the Aspen Skiing Company in the 1960s)my dad did all the surveying for the other lifts and designed and laid out High Alpine, Alpine Springs, Elk Camp, and the Wall (four sections of the mountain). I got to go out and ski all that before it was even part of the area."

You include some info that even the most jaded local may not know. (Beidleman punctuates the guide with brief stories about how various trails got their names. For example, a run dubbed "Hanging Tree" on Aspen Mountain is so called because of a hangman’s noose that dangles from a dead tree at the top.)

"In general these mountains have been loved and used and lived in forever. There’s a continuum of what things have been named for. Some of those names have stuck, others have been more coupled to a particular group or (time) period. It was fun to connect all those."

What about the backcountry just outside the ski areas?

"That’s a whole other book. If you include it in an in-bounds book, then the line between (the two) gets very blurry. For somebody who just picks up the book really fast, it’s a line you don’t want to cross. When you step out of the ski-area boundary, there’s a whole other level of personal responsibility you take on. It’s fine to have books like that, but to have it in the same book is a mistake."

Have you gotten any grief for sharing all this local knowledge?

"None. These ski areas have been skied for 60 years or whatever. To think you’ve got some personal stash or some secret thing is kind of ludicrous. A lot of people have been searching this stuff out and skiing it for a very long time. The book talks about all the runs equally, it doesn’t focus on one given place. I can’t imagine that skier patterns have changed in any significant way (because of it). It’s a valid point if you’re talking about secret mountain places, but we’ve been advertising and marketing (Aspen)for years. How can anyone get bent about people coming here and (using something) that’s meant for commercial consumption and about describing in-bounds named runs? There’s a lot of terrain here."

Did you leave out any secret stashes?

"There are some things that didn’t make the book for one reason or another. Some are very, very small or not appropriate to put in. There are a couple little places I know of that happen to exit onto certain parts of the mountain that are closed periodically. Generally, the patrol does a great job of marking those kinds of things so you don’t inadvertently end up there, but I didn’t want to get someone into a place that wasn’t appropriate."

"Especially at Snowmass, there are a ton of other names for cliffs and hucks. I describe pretty much the general areas but not every single one. A lot of them are condition dependent. There’s still an underground set of names and knowledge that will always remain."

Are you happy with the final result?

"I’m really pleased with how the book came out. It really captures so much of Aspen and our history and culture. A lot of people might say, ‘Who needs a stinking guidebook?’ but even if longtime locals pick it up and give it a few minutes to read through, they could relate and identify with it. It’s not really at all a tourist book. It’s a historical book as much as anything. And it’s a really cool thing to have."

Back to Top