Forget the abrupt steeps of AMF or Possible chutes; Snowmass offers a new way to amp up your adrenaline—the Breathtaker mountain coaster, which opened on December 10. It’s the first element of the new Lost Forest on-mountain adventure park that debuts in full next summer with a canopy tour, ropes challenge course, and large climbing wall. Erected between Gunner’s View and Sandy Park, the track slithers through the woods, including a corkscrew turn in the course’s upper third.

Start your ride behind a new operations building near the top of the Elk Camp Gondola, where an automated up-track ascends some 400 feet; the exhilarating descent lasts two to three minutes, with a top speed of 28 miles per hour, depending on how often and hard you brake your car. 

All told, the track runs 5,700 linear feet, which Aspen Skiing Company director of business development Peter Santini calls the “sweet spot of coaster design”—long yet short enough so you get the thrill without the chill. Take the plunge daily or, thanks to the lighted track, during weekly Ullr Nights. $19 for single rides (through December 17), $35 for two hours (includes tubing), aspensnowmass.com