Good advise. Depending on weather, Rifle may be a good alternative to Aspen. It's likely that one could stay under 11k getting to Rifle from Denver by going to Hayden on the northern route (not Corona pass) and hanging a left. But just for general planning stopping in Denver is darn good advise.
I'd do it in the 310, but not the Aztec. The 310 is also a much better altitude performer.
Or if you want to depart on a summer afternoon...a turbo has it's place. It's not a be-all, do-all but it does help.
First time I crossed the Rockies was in a Navajo in July. I was happy having turbos for that. They also definitely helped on the takeoff roll vs. my 8500 DA takeoff in the Aztec out of LMO a few years ago.
If you'd told me 14K was no problem, I'd test it to 18K and then go. You didn't so I'll stick to Denver lacking anything else. I have had it to 10K returning from Oshkosh over the lake... it was still climbing but not what I'd expect it to be to keep going up much more.
Occasionally I'm wishing I bought a turbo aztec but being this was my first twin I opt'ed for as easy as possible. So far I've been quite pleased.
Thanks for the tip.
You're welcome. In the 1,000 hours of hard flying I did with the Aztec, I explored just about every realm I think that airplane could do. It was an excellent machine, but there's a reason you don't see many of them in the mountain areas. Piper just didn't design the things with that as the goal.
When I bought the Aztec I figured I wouldn't be doing long enough trips to need a turbo. Then I found that 1,000 nm in a day was normal for me, and wished I'd bought a turbo model. Then I learned more about the turbo Aztec and figured that the extra cost wasn't worth it for the relatively few times I'd truly benefit, and ultimately I still stand by that.
After the 310 came along, we had the two planes for a bit, but once the 310 came into the picture the Aztec's days were numbered, and when it came time to downsize a plane, the Aztec was the easy choice to get rid of. With 520s in the 310, I rarely find myself wanting for a turbo. I just make up for it with more power to start with.