You visit Colorado for the winters. You move there for the summers

So we've been told by many a happy transplant. Colorado's glorious mountains--which look like a postcard from above, and a massive wedge of chocolate fudge ice cream cake when you drive through--offer endless opportunities for adventure and discovery. Just in time for summer, we explore the best bike trails, fly fishing spots and white-water adventures in the Aspen/Vail area.

Until then, here's a peek at some of the developments underway in 2008.
Snowmass has always been Aspen's dumpy, eighties-styled little sister, but that won't be the case for much longer. The Hayden Lodge opened this winter; the luxury condo building is the first of 19 total hotel/residence developments that will transform the resort in the next decade. Capital Peak will open next, with Viceroy and Little Nell Residences midway through the construction/selling phases. Both are slated to open in winter 2009/2010. A second location of Basalt's Roaring Fork Club is in the planning stages, while the town council is currently reviewing several other proposed hotel, condo and fractional projects. Locals are particularly pleased about the slew of restaurant and retail openings--they're understandably tired of driving to Aspen every time they want a good meal.

Our favorite new bit of Snowmass, though, is ironically off-limits to us, as well as grownups in general. The Treehouse Kids' Adventure Center, a $17 million playland / interactive discovery center that opened this winter, and is having a magnetic effect on visiting families. The place is a licensed daycare that can take infants up to age 15--meaning parents can drop their youngsters all day with a clean conscience, while kids can lose themselves in a fantasy of themed rooms, costumes, Foosball tables, trampolines, fresh-baked cookies and lemonade. A tour through the facility had us laughing (at the petticoat-wearing, face-painted ladybug princess in the 2 ½ - 3 ½ area), wishing for earplugs (in the 'Bear Den,' which is jam-packed with hyperactive 4 year olds and could fairly be renamed 'The Zoo'), and wanting to steal the squashy toys (in the infant room, which boasts the most beautiful butterfly mobiles we've ever seen).

Over in Vail, the town's proposed "Billion Dollar Renewal" has surpassed the original mark and is still going strong. The Arabelle, pride and joy of Rock Resorts, opened in January and changed the face of Lion's Head Village. While this elegant lodge seems small in comparison with the Marriott or neighboring condo developments, it's literally in the center of the new shopping center. Lion's Heads' new gondola ski lift picks up right outside the back door.

Ritz Residences and a Four Seasons are also under construction, while the Westin Beaver Creek is slated to open in July, 2008. Meanwhile, established hotels like the family-owned Tivoli Lodge and the Vail Mountain Lodge are keeping pace with multi-million-dollar revamps of their own. Vail's summer season kicks off with the Teva Mountain Games in May.