Aspen is dumping $27m into mountain amenities
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- Created on Monday, 09 May 2011 15:19
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
The Aspen Skiing Co. is investing more than $27 million into its mountains this summer, with projects ranging from new restaurants to a ski lift to mountain biking trails.
Work is under way at Buttermilk, Snowmass and Highlands, and will continue through summer, with all but one project scheduled to be completed by opening day of the 2011-12 ski season.
Perhaps the most significant improvement comes at Buttermilk’s Tiehack area with a new high-speed quad detachable chairlift. The $7 million lift, which will serve the only advanced terrain at Buttermilk, will replace both the Upper Tiehack and Eagle Hill — aka lower Tiehack — chairs. Combined, those two lifts take 18 minutes to ride. They were built in 1969. There’s a short list of people who want the old chairs for sentimental value; the rest will be sold for scrap metal.
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Summer trail crews at Snowmass Ski Area spent last summer constructing a freeride mountain bike trail called the “Vapor Trail” that extends from the top of the Elk Camp quad down to the Cafe Suzanne area.
The 36-inch wide single-track trail, built especially for downhill mountain biking, now swings back and forth across the intermediate ski slopes with huge bermed corners, which will make the trail more fun to ride for all levels of riders. The new trail connects to a growing network of trails on Elk Camp.
The SkiCo is building three more trails this summer: two of them will go from the top of the Elk Camp Gondola near Cafe Suzanne to the Base Village area, and one connector trail will run from the top of the gondola to the existing Cross-Mountain Trail.
Read more about improvements in Aspen.
PHOTO: That's a shot from Aspen Highlands during the 2010-11 season.
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