Star destination: Aspen is favoured by celebrities including Mariah Carey but it can be done on a shoestring too A few days in Aspen - now that's got to be a treat, I thought. Five-star luxury, rubbing shoulders with celebrities while meandering the affluent streets of this former mining town nearly 8,000ft up in Colorado's Rockies, perusing art galleries and fashion boutiques, agonising between a margarita or a martini in swanky bars and delighting in exquisite cuisine - what's not to like?
I knew I'd slot seamlessly into this exotic lifestyle and make the most of living the 'I've made it' dream.
Heck, even the slopes get spa-like treatment - so meticulously buffed that the snow is gossamer-soft and the surface as true as an Olympic-quality ice-dancing rink.
All the above is normally true but, as I discovered, there is another side to Aspen, a shockingly inexpensive, unglamorous, hard graft side.
For a start, this way you don't even fork out for a lift pass because you walk up the mountain.
Some of our 16-strong party used snow shoes, others, including myself, used touring skis which have easily removable synthetic skins on their bases enabling us to push uphill without sliding back, simulating the action of seal skins used in the pioneering days by skiing explorers.
We also had combination ski bindings, meaning when in uphill mode you can release the heel binding to more easily effect a walking motion. Then when skiing downhill, it can be clicked back into place.
Our destination was Margy's Hut, one of 17 huts built by the US Army's 10th Mountain Division dotted across the central Rockies, the first few huts funded by relatives of loved ones killed in the Second World War.
The snowy trail-head started a few miles out of Aspen from a village called Lenado at an altitude of 8,640ft just past the old, bohemian community of Woody Creek where the colourful writer Hunter S. Thompson lived and eventually took his own life five years ago.
Back to basics: Neil heads into backcountry where a sobering sign gives a grim warningThe seemingly endless uphill trudge, with a backpack containing food, water, toothbrush, change of clothes and mandatory avalanche safety equipment such as probe, transceiver and shovel, took me nearly five-and-a-half hours.
I didn't sit down once as I was so fatigued I thought I would fall into a deep sleep. The altitude, exhaustion and jet lag combined to make me rather confused but I kept going and the eventual sight of the basic, rustic hut at 11,300ft was such a relief it might as well have been a palace.
This palace didn't have central heating but it did have a wood stove which we surrounded with our sweaty boots, leaving them to dry.
We filled the large cauldron on top with snow to make water. On the kitchen gas stove, the heroic ladies in our group cooked up a spag bol fit for royalty and we all gobbled it with silent, grateful relish.
There are no baths or showers and the outside toilet, 20 yards down an icy track, was grim.
But even with the simplicity of our accommodation, the symphony of aromas from the boots, the mattress-to-mattress dorm-style sleeping and inevitable chorus of snoring, it was the magnificence and remoteness of our location, the effort it took to get here, the clarity of the stars and the camaraderie that made this experience something I will definitely seek more of.
Homely: The Woody Creek Tavern used by Hunter S. Thompson where locals are on hand to recount the stories about the journalist and author's lifeAfter skiing down next day we stopped at the Woody Creek Tavern. I wanted to see the old, wooden bar and restaurant which was Hunter S. Thompson's favourite hangout.
Among the paraphernalia on the walls is a poster from when Hunter wanted to become sheriff. He didn't get elected but did have a lot of support for his legalise-practically-everything policies!
A few feet away is a picture of him with a handwritten letter to the Tavern owners apologising for letting off a smoke bomb inside.
A bath later that afternoon in Aspen's funky Sky Hotel was sooooo good. Then a dip in the outside heated pool and soak in the elevated hot tub with margarita in hand. Finally I was living the Aspen lifestyle I had dreamed of.
The 45-minute hike to the top of the bowl above Aspen Highland's ski lift system, for a wonderful off-piste descent, seemed like child's play after my five-hour ordeal.
The reward is not just the skiing but the lunch at Cloud 9, the best on-mountain food of any of Aspen's four separate skiing mountains.
After a great osso bucco of elk lunch, most tables were ordering shots of all things super-alcoholic.
Then, as the DJ music got louder, tables were cleared from the centre and a scaffold pole was brought in and fixed from floor to ceiling, allowing skiers and snowboarders of all ages to show their prowess as pole-climbers with willing male hands helping the women upwards.
Our party left just as management were bringing out the whipped cream. Only in Aspen!
Travel facts
Ski Independence (0131 243 8097, www.ski-i.com) offer a wide range of accommodation in Aspen to suit all budgets and tastes.
Seven nights' B&B in early March at the four-star Sky Hotel, including return flights from Heathrow to Denver with British Airways (www.ba.com) and transfers, costs from £1,809pp.
For information on backcountry hut trips, visit www.aspenexpeditions.com. Margy's Hut costs from £350 per night and can sleep up to 16.
source: dailymail