THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS about Aspen in winter. The population soars from 6,000 to as many as 40,000, celebrities compete with billionaires for restaurant tables, and $3,000 cashmere sweaters walk out of stores by the dozens. Winter also is when powdery snow blankets the wide-open bowls and steep glades that funnel skiers from the surrounding peaks into town. It’s been this way ever since developers created the first ski runs in the late 1930s, making champagne powder, not silver, the new economic gold mine. But as sensational and glitzy as Aspen’s winters may be, here’s a little secret any local will gladly tell you: Summers are even better.

ADVENTURE
With snow, Aspen is a wonderland for adrenaline junkies. But when the snow melts, a whole new world of recreation opens up in the thousands of green acres of the Maroon Bells wilderness and White River National Forest. Rafting the mellow Class I rapids or the nail-biting Class IV rapids on the Colorado or Arkansas rivers, casting for rainbow trout in a quiet corner of the Roaring Fork, or even paragliding off the steep slopes of Aspen Mountain are not just possibilities—they’re commonplace activities. 

Weekend warriors might get started by taking a hike up the Hunter Creek Trail, a relatively simple day trip through groves of aspen trees. The trailhead is just half a mile from downtown. Numerous day or overnight hikes through the Maroon Bells wilderness begin 12 miles outside Aspen. They range from easy to extremely difficult, but all come with eye-popping views of the towering, maroon-colored Pyramid Peak, one of Colorado’s toughest 14,000-footers.

Because of the vast array of recreational options, you might want to hire an outfitter to show you the best places for fishing, biking, rafting, rock climbing or hiking. A guide can accompany you for just a day or for your entire trip. Or ask the obliging staff at one of the town’s sports shops for recommendations on where to go. The shops also rent the equipment you need and will help you find guides to the backcountry. The best shop in summer is the Ute Mountaineer (970-925-2849; utemountaineer.com), located on the downtown mall.

If you’re visiting with young kids, consider examining Aspen’s high-altitude flora and fauna via a gentle 45-minute guided nature walk along Richmond Ridge at the top of Aspen Mountain. The free walk is sponsored by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (970-925-5756; aspennature.org).  

The downtown mall is a constant maze of activity. Jugglers, clowns and musicians all perform here throughout the early evening, as does the dancing fountain. But sometimes, a classic jungle gym is all you need—Wagner Park’s playground has a few sets.

CULTURE
Since its early years as a ski resort, Aspen has taken the lead in devising ways to lure visitors in July and August. That started in 1945, when Chicago industrialist Walter Paepcke first saw and fell in love with the town. He founded such Aspen mainstays as the Aspen Music Festival, the International Design Conference, the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Center for Physics, all of which continue to flourish. In recent years, many newer cultural offshoots have arrived on the scene, thriving in Aspen’s moderate temperatures, dry climate and sun-filled days. It’s a desirable locale not just for tourists but also for the great artists and thinkers who have been taking summer sabbaticals here for more than half a century.

The summer season typically kicks off with the annual Food & Wine Classic in mid-June (970-925-1940; foodandwine.com; $1,075 per person). It’s certainly the most prestigious, if not the largest, food and wine event in the country and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer. Food and wine lovers come for three sybaritic days of nonstop cooking demonstrations, wine tastings in Wagner Park, vintner dinners, and parties both large and small thrown by sponsors and food-world royalty. This year (June 15–17), renowned chefs like Mario Batali and Bobby Flay will be here, along with hundreds of vintners from around the world. (Next year’s event takes place June 13–15; reserve well in advance.)

Simultaneously, music begins to exude from Aspen’s very pores. Classical concerts are held every day for nine weeks, from mid-June through mid-August, courtesy of the Aspen Music Festival (970-925-3254; aspenmusicfestival.com). Promising students come from all over to play with stars like Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin and Yefim Bronfman under the Benedict Music Tent at the Harris Concert Hall and the Wheeler Opera House. At the other end of the spectrum, Jazz Aspen Snowmass (970-920-4996; jazzaspen.org) expects an eclectic group of big names (Sheryl Crow and Bob Dylan have performed in years past) from June 21 through 24 and August 31 through September 3.

Ideas also burgeon in the summer here. The Aspen Institute (970-544-7960; aspeninstitute.org) brings Supreme Court justices, former presidents, writers and scientists to town throughout the season. The Aspen Ideas Festival, with a pair of four-day sessions (starting July 2 and July 5), will be providing vibrant intellectual exchanges for the third year running. After listening to Karl Rove or Queen Noor speak, you might well find yourself sitting next to one of them at the lecture of some famous physicist a day later.

Like music, art is a major summer player in Aspen. The Anderson Ranch Arts Center (970-923-3181; andersonranch.org) is a modern-day artists’ colony located on a historic ranch in Snowmass Village, 10 miles west of town. Each summer, photographers, painters, sculptors and other artists give more than 130 workshops. One year, Sam Maloof offered lessons in furniture design, while David Ellsworth taught woodworking. The artists also present weekly lectures to the public and often sell their museum-quality wares in the ranch’s store and gallery.

Small but mighty, the Aspen Art Museum (970-925-8050; aspenartmuseum.org) will display Nicole Wermers’s playful but sleek sculpture this summer until July 22. On the third Thursday of each month, the museum offers live music and free curator-led tours from 5 to 7 p.m. Exhibiting artists, such as New York sculptor Tony Feher, field questions about their work, while local collectors mingle with those who are simply there to socialize.

SHOPPING
Some visitors pray for a day or two of bad weather so they can take time off from the bike or the trails and spend it shopping in Aspen’s world-class boutiques. “Spend” is the operative word. Downtown, which is roughly one square mile in size, is jammed with high-end retailers like Dior, Prada and Bulgari. For shoppers who appreciate a mix, there are such boutiques as Max (609 E. Cooper St.; 970-544-3445), offering gorgeous Missoni dresses and Dries Van Noten trousers; Nuages (601 E. Cooper St.; 970-925-6569), for Jil Sander jackets and dreamy Lainey sweaters; and Distractions (465 E. Hopkins Ave.; 970-544-9946), which carries Lucien Pellat-Finet cashmere and Marc Jacobs blouses.

New kids on the block include Tomorrow’s Laundry (303 S. Galena St.; 970-925-6888), selling fashionable styles brought in by “Boogie” Weinglass, the owner of Boogie’s Diner (and the inspiration for a character in the film Diner); and the Aspen Leaf Soap Factory (400 E. Hyman Ave.; 970-925-3233), a skin deli where you’ll find some handmade souvenirs for home.

ALFRESCO ASPEN
Because Aspen summers are short, everything moves outdoors at this time of year. People stroll the historic West End, with its colorful Victorian houses, and visit the Saturday farmer’s market, overflowing with regional produce. Almost all of the town’s 75-plus restaurants set up tables on outdoor patios lined with brightly colored flowerpots. A carefree attitude pervades these months, as friends meet and greet and often end up dining or drinking together on an impromptu basis.

Be sure to tailor your trip to your own personal speed, whether it’s doing nothing more than settling back with a good book or cramming in as much as possible: scaling mountains in the morning, listening to a virtuoso violinist in the afternoon and joining Little Nell’s sommelier Richard Betts for a tasting of French burgundies before dinner. To round off the evening, you could head to Belly Up Aspen (450 S. Galena St.; 970-544-9800), a club where many stars have performed casual sets (Ben Harper and Seal both have appeared here in the past). Sounds like an ambitious plan? Hey, that’s Aspen—winter or summer.