Snowmass Town Council wants firm commitment for gondola improvement as SkiCo works to expand ski area offerings, infrastructure

Aspen Skiing Company’s (SkiCo) improvement plans for lifts, on-mountain dining, glades, and summer activities at the Snowmass Ski Area drew concerns from Snowmass Town Council over traffic impacts and prioritizing Sky Cab improvements.

SkiCo is pursuing a minor amendment to its 2017 Planned Use Development (PUD) Guide for the 3,300-plus acre ski area. 

The proposed changes span most major offerings on the mountain and have been outlined in the 2022 Master Development Plan, which has been approved by the White River National Forest — though many proposed changes will need to go through varying levels of environmental studies before being accepted. SkiCo leases the ski area land from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). 

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The council passed the ordinance to approve the amendments at their April 1 meeting but with strong expectations about council priorities and traffic/growth studies.

A major priority for the council was the Sky Cab, also known as Skittles, which connects Snowmass Base Village to the Snowmass Village Mall. The town and SkiCo both benefit from its existence, and costs have been shared historically, said Town Manager Clint Kinney.

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Council wants to see a stronger commitment to a timeline and plan for that improvement/replacement, as lines at Skittles can get exceedingly long, and visitors don’t realize they might be able to avoid it. 

“(The ordinance) says nothing about prioritizing it,” said Mayor Pro Tem Alyssa Shenk, who said she hears complaints about Skittles frequently. “To me, it’s not strong enough. And I think that language needs to be a heck of a lot stronger.”

Kinney said that the town has set aside funds for a replacement in partnership with SkiCo. To his recollection, the cost would be about $8-10 million. 

“I think it’s fair to say the town’s reason for (investing in Skittles) is connecting base village to the mall. That pedestrian access (is) really our drive. SkiCo’s is that summer bike access,” he said. “If we could agree on some kind of cost share and the timing, the town’s prepared … We’ve saved money out of the tourism fund annually for this … We just got to line up our investment with our investment.”

Council members also wanted to hear more about the potential impact to traffic, parking, and town infrastructure by expanding mountain offerings. 

SkiCo said the mountain would stay well below its threshold for skier visits per day — 13,600, a number set in 1994. 

Second reading, with updated language and direction from town staff on commercial service areas, traffic and growth analysis, special summer attraction areas, and a timeline and stronger commitment on Skittles improvement or replacement is scheduled for the Monday, April 15, meeting. 

SkiCo’s plans for Snowmass

The proposed expansion first went through the Planning Commission earlier this year, which recommended approval to the council. 

Lift plans for the ski area include:

• the extended Coney Express quad, with access across from the Snowmass Mall and a mid-station access point, 
• a Cirque T-bar replacement, 
• upgrade the Village Express to a 10-person gondola — possibly a telemix to allow chairs and gondola — for summer and winter access to on-mountain dining and recreation, 
• upgrade the Alpine Springs lift to a 6-pack, upgrade the Elk Camp chairlift to a 6-pack, 
• maintain the yearslong approval for a new Burnt Mountain quad lift, 
• expansion of the Dawdler area for intermediate terrain for learning, 
• a surface lift at Sam’s Knob.

Snowmaking changes are also part of the proposed amendments, improving efficiency by moving operations to a higher elevation to escape high temperatures at the lower elevations.

Mak Keeling, vice president of mountain planning for SkiCo, said no new water rights or agreements with the Snowmass Water and Sanitation District would be required with the plan, which would add 146 acres of coverage to the pre-existing 329 acres of snowmaking coverage.

The goal of expanding snowmaking operations is to have a good amount of skiable terrain on Thanksgiving.

Trails and glades proposed amendments include:

• a new trail from The Edge to the High Alpine Restaurant that minimizes skier cross traffic, 
• glade improvements at the Frog Pond Glades, 
• connecting Baby Ruth to the Hanging Valley Glades, 
• five new trails and distinct gladed areas off the Alpine Springs lift (which is proposed to be upgraded to a 6-pack), 
• expand the Sneaky’s Glades on skier’s left, 
• new glades between Wildcat and Howler and Wildcat and Slot, 
• new beginner areas in Dawdler.

Keeling said that the proposed glade work is a result of a USFS study that identified areas with deadfall or other issues that could be improved or rectified by this kind of attention.

SkiCo also wants to expand on-mountain dining by building out the Ullrhof restaurant from about 220 indoor seats and 100 outdoor seats to 425 and 175, respectively. They’d like to expand Elk Camp Restaurant and the Lynn Britt Cabin decks, re-activate grab-and-go at Spider Sabich, and offer night time service at Sam’s. 

New dining areas are also part of the proposal. Keeling said SkiCo aims to construct a servery-style restaurant just uphill of the bottom terminal at the Alpine Springs lift, as it’s accessible from nearly every other lift on the mountain. 

They also plan to construct a 100-seat fine dining restaurant off the Gunner’s View trail. 

Summer offering activities are aimed at keeping folks of all ages, particularly young children, entertained on the mountain. 

Chris Kiley, senior vice president of planning and development with SkiCo, updated the council on the company’s intent to construct more workforce housing.

“We’re looking to increase the supply here in the town,” he said. “We have a couple of parcels that are under the SkiCo and in the (Crown) family’s control that we’re looking at trying to develop into housing.”

SkiCo employs about 3,500 workers across the four mountains in a winter season and has about 1,000 units to offer them. Emphasizing yearlong employment and cross training workers is a big focus moving forward, to maximize efficiency and recruit community members, they said.