Downtown Aspen Finishes Reopening on Wintersköl Weekend

Mill Street shows the whole schedule. The Wild Fig at 305 S. Mill St. is scheduled to reopen Nov. 26, the day Aspen Mountain opens. BOSQ, across the street at 312 S. Mill, is scheduled back Dec. 10. Cache Cache, a block down at 205 S. Mill, follows on Dec. 11. That's two weeks between the first reopening and the last on a single street, and nearly every downtown block runs on a similar split.

Laid out in order, the dates in the Aspen Chamber's fall dining guide fall into two waves. The first follows Thanksgiving and Aspen Mountain's opening day. The second wave brings back the Michelin-starred BOSQ and lines up with the weekend of Dec. 10 through 13. That's when Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk open, Aspen Snowmass sells $80 lift tickets and Wintersköl turns 75.

The First Wave Starts in the Hotel Kitchens

The Thanksgiving-week reopenings lean heavily on hotel restaurants. That makes sense: hotels need full kitchens running when their winter guests arrive.

• Nov. 18: Yuki Aspen, 510 E. Durant Ave., was scheduled to end its offseason closure yesterday.
• Nov. 20: Three Little Nell outlets are scheduled to reopen together: Ajax Tavern, Element 47 and The Wine Bar.
• Nov. 21: Velvet Buck at The St. Regis Aspen.
• Nov. 22: The St. Regis begins its daily Alpine Winter Afternoon Tea, 1 to 4 p.m. It also turns its pool deck into an Alpine Winter Village from 3 to 5 p.m. each day, with a free hot chocolate station, a s'mores garden, Glühwein and raclette sandwiches.
• Nov. 25: French Alpine Bistro is scheduled back. Chef Ludo Lefebvre's rooftop Petit Familia reopens at MOLLIE Aspen, open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. New this winter: a $12 après margarita from 4 to 6 p.m. and a firepit on the Roof Terrace.
• Nov. 26: The Wild Fig, Betula, Monarch and Hotel Jerome's Bad Harriet are all scheduled to return on Thanksgiving Day.

These join the kitchens that stayed open through the shoulder season. The Chamber lists Matsuhisa, Jimoto, Clark's Oyster Bar, Casa Tua, Mawa's Kitchen, Prospect and J-Bar at Hotel Jerome, and Sant Ambroeus as open this fall. Two smaller spots were scheduled to return earlier in November: Spring Café on Nov. 11 and Aspen Brewing Company on Nov. 17.

Opening Day at Gondola Plaza

Aspen Mountain is scheduled to open Thursday, Nov. 26, the same day as Snowmass. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk follow on Dec. 12. The Little Nell has Thanksgiving dinner planned at Element 47 and casual Thanksgiving dining at Ajax Tavern that day, plus a Thanksgiving To-Go option. The mountain's opening party comes two days later. It runs from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28, at Sundeck, with a local band, Aspen Vodka cocktails and food and drink specials.

The biggest change at the base has its own timeline. The new Nell Bell is a high-speed quad with 135 chairs. It replaces the Bell Mountain lift, built in 1957, and the Little Nell lift, built in 1986, with a direct ride from Gondola Plaza to the top of Bell Mountain, a 2,656-foot vertical rise. Aspen Skiing Co. says the lift will open early in the 2026/27 season. In late October, Lorenzo Semple wrote in his Aspen Times column that the cable had been spliced and pulled taut, and crews were hanging chairs. He had been watching the Leitner-Poma crew since construction started in April. Aspen Public Radio describes it as a nine-minute ride to Ajax's top terrain.

The Second Wave Lands on One Weekend

After Thanksgiving, the reopenings pause for about a week. Then they pick up again and close in on the second weekend of December:

Several of these come back to downtown with recognition in hand. On Sept. 14, BOSQ kept the Michelin star it has held since 2023. It remains the only starred restaurant in Colorado outside Denver and Boulder. Element 47, Mawa's Kitchen and Prospect kept their Michelin recommended listings. PARC Aspen is one of nine local businesses that earned state recognition in 2026 through the Colorado Green Business Network of Aspen.

The mountain makes the same bet on that weekend. Aspen Snowmass is pricing lift tickets at $80 on Saturday, Dec. 12, and Sunday, Dec. 13, for its 80th anniversary, the first weekend all four mountains are open.

Wintersköl's 75th, Block by Block

The Aspen Chamber's 2026 Wintersköl schedule runs Dec. 10 through 13. A Cam Williams & Friends set in Wagner Park calls this year the festival's diamond anniversary. In the downtown core, the weekend goes like this:

1. Thursday, 7:30 p.m.: A free screening of the 1993 film Aspen Extreme at the Wheeler Opera House. RSVP is required, and retro ski clothes are encouraged.
2. Friday, 9 a.m. to noon: Anderson Ranch Arts Center's KIDSCULPT on the Mill Street Mall, where local school teams carve snow sculptures.
3. Friday, 4 to 6 p.m.: Opening of the Hotel Jerome courtyard skating rink. It's open daily from 2 to 4 p.m. after that, ice permitting.
4. Friday, 7 p.m.: A drone show over Wagner Park. It's part of History Colorado's Stories in the Sky series, nearly 150 shows marking the nation's 250th and Colorado's 150th anniversaries. The series ends in December, which makes Aspen one of its last stops.
5. Saturday, noon to 1 p.m.: The Canine Fashion Show returns to Wagner Park for the first time since 2019, hosted by the Rubey Rescue Run.
6. Saturday afternoon: The beer festival runs from 2 to 6 p.m., with tastings for guests 21 and older. Soupsköl runs from 3 to 5 p.m., when restaurants compete for the soup pot trophy and tasting is free. The bonfire burns from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. All three are in Wagner Park.
7. Saturday, 7 p.m.: The torchlight parade down Aspen Mountain and fireworks, best seen from Wagner Park and downtown.
8. Sunday, 5 to 7 p.m.: The Little Nell's annual tree lighting in the Wine Bar and Courtyard. The ceremony is at 5:30 p.m., with Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Aspen Animal Shelter and DanceAspen.

Hyman Avenue's Changes Run Past the Holidays

The second wave doesn't finish downtown's season. Hyman Avenue has new tenants this winter. At 315 E. Hyman, Eddy's runs two businesses off one patio. Eddy's Marketplace is a grab-and-go market and specialty coffee shop, and Eddy's Kitchen is a sit-down room with comfort food, cocktails, beer and wine. The same address is home to The Grove, Buckhorn Public Arts' new space for the Aspen Arts Club. Depending on the night, it works as a lounge, gallery or dinner hall.

A block east, the former Madame Ushi space at 415 E. Hyman is set to reopen as Guest House on New Year's Eve. The Aspen Times reported plans for a 220-seat room serving dinner, cocktails, music and late-night entertainment in its RSVP Lounge. The partners are Snowmass resident Cedric Gervais, a Grammy-winning DJ and producer, and Raj Kumar of RDM Hospitality. Both had been involved in Madame Ushi before buying out the other partners. Kumar told The Aspen Times:

"We are going to make it approachable so anyone can make a reservation and come in and have a great night."

The paper also reported that the partners plan discounts for ski and snowboard instructors and other valley groups, with walk-in seating at the bar. The Chamber notes that Aspen will be the first Guest House to serve sushi and Asian dishes alongside its New American menu.

Before then, Angelo's and Duemani put their winter yurts back up from Dec. 20 through Jan. 4. The Aspen Art Museum opens a new Koo Jeong A exhibition on Dec. 11, during Wintersköl, and it runs through April 4, 2027. Reopening dates can shift, so check with each restaurant before booking a holiday dinner around one.

If you're planning December in town, whether that's hosting family over Wintersköl weekend or opening a home for the holidays, the Engel Lansburgh Team is glad to share what we know about downtown Aspen this season. Request a Confidential Consultation.