The US Ski industry brings in billions of tourism dollars annually. This industry attracts everyone from elite ski and snowboarders to families simply looking for a winter retreat. The US Ski industry, and Aspen to be specific, has come a long way since the early 1900s thanks to the Paepcke’s, Austrian skier Friedl Pfeifer and the 1932 Winter Olympics.
Aspen was once a quiet mountain town, similar to many of the towns today’s ski resorts call home. In the late 1800s Aspen was known as a location to mine silver. The Silver Boom consumed the Aspen mountains for almost two decades, drawing miners to Aspen Mountain and the many valleys located in the surrounding area. This spike in population was the first sign of the budding town of Aspen, Colorado. During the height of the Silver Boom the population of Aspen rose to 12,000. Looking back, this incredible population spike in a short number of years was a sign of this location’s potential as long as it had something to offer. Sadly, shortly after hitting its peak the price of silver plummeted in 1893 due to the Sherman Silver Act and took Aspen down with it. Once that ended, the people of Aspen had to figure out how to continue making a living. The end of the Silver Boom brought the start of ranching to the city of Aspen. The geographical make-up of the city of Aspen is perfect for ranching as it is situated at the end of Roaring Fork Valley, which is made up of relatively flat land, surrounded by mountains on three sides.
The 1932 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York marks the beginning of American interest in alpine skiing. Just as the Aspen population hit its lowest point of less than 1,000 in the early 1930s Walter Paepcke, a Chicago industrialist, set his sights on the dwindling city. Walter and his wife Elizabeth took a trip to Aspen to gauge first-hand if the city could house a skiing destination. When most people think of skiing destinations today they think of winter sports, however, Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke had a different idea in mind. The purpose of this destination would be for the “renewal of the inner spirit”—a tagline that has stuck since its inception. The Paepcke’s teamed up with Friedl Pfeifer and founded Aspen Skiing Corporation (now known as Aspen Skiing Company) in 1946 after Walter’s acquisition of Aspen’s ski club and school. During this time, Walter was also purchasing land throughout the city of Aspen, the building blocks of his soon to be empire. Pfeifer played an integral part in the development of Aspen Skiing Corporation as he was not only a member of the infamous 10th Mountain Division, but he also trained in Aspen thus giving him first hand insight on the mountains themselves and their potential.
The Paepcke’s were determined to make Aspen into a prime skiing destination. During the early years the Aspen Skiing Company garnered attention by hosting a number of races that sparked the buzz about the mountains. They also built the longest chairlift in the world, known as Lift-1, which was sure to draw additional attention. As Aspen’s popularity continued to grow locally Paepcke decided to take it up a notch and gain national recognition, and what better way to do so than to host America’s first world skiing competition. The 1950 FIS World Championship attracted over 1,500 people to the city of Aspen and finally gained the Aspen Skiing Company the recognition they were striving for.
During this time Paepcke also invested his time in Aspen’s Goethe Bicentennial Convocation. He knew that in order for Aspen to successfully thrive year around there had to be attractions year around. The Goethe Bicentennial Convocation would do just that, and more. At its inception it was simply a celebration of German culture that grew to become the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and the Aspen Music Festival and School. The area continued to flourish with the addition of Buttermilk (Pfeifer) and Aspen Highlands ski areas. Shortly after, Whip Jones, former ski racer turned developer, purchased the land at the base of Snowmass. As time went on the ski areas of Aspen developed and continued to grow in popularity. During this time, Aspen Skiing Company also had some ownership changes. In 1993 the turnover subsided leaving the Aspen Skiing Company privately owned by the Crown family. The Crown family also made the move to purchase Aspen Highlands, which led to the creation of a single four-mountain resort. The late 1990s into the new century brought an increase in attractions to the Aspen area. The mountain bases began to increase the number of shops and restaurants offered, giving visitors other entertainment options in addition to the slopes.
Moving into the destination mix, Aspen has a number of attractions to offer visitors year around. Not only is the city of Aspen enriched in American history thanks to the Silver Boom, it is also home to the ESPN Winter X Games. There are the obvious reasons why people travel to Aspen, to experience the mountains and the great outdoors, however, the city of Aspen has developed so much and is now viewed as more than just a ski town. Topping the Aspen attractions chart is Maroon Bells. This location is a hiker and wildlife-watcher’s paradise as it offers two twin peaks and breathtaking views from the top. The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) is also a must see attraction. ACES is a wildlife sanctuary located on 22-acres of land next to the Roaring Fork River. The center welcomes visitors year round. In the summer they offer guided tours of the sanctuary, demonstrations and have a number of kids programs that educate them on the importance of respecting the earth. In the winter, they offer snowshoe tours and show short slideshows about the center. Another popular Aspen outdoor attraction is Rio Grande Park. Rio Grande Park is known as Aspen’s biggest public park located along the river and intersected for 2.1 miles by the Rio Grande Trail. The park features outdoor basketball courts, an athletic field, skate park, an art museum, sculpture garden and the John Denver Sanctuary.
In addition to attractions highlighting the great outdoors, Aspen also has a number of indoor attractions such as museums and art galleries. One of Aspen’s newest attractions is the Ice Age Discovery Center, which opened in 2011. This center was built after a bulldozer found the tusk of a female mammoth while working in Snowmass. After the authenticity of this find was confirmed, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science conduced a 10-month excavation that ended with the discovery of 5,000+ bones from 41 different animals that lived during the Ice Ages. The Ice Age Discovery Center currently displays a number of the bones found during the 2010 excavation and is expected to expand in the years to come. Another popular attraction in Aspen is the Aspen Art Museum. The Aspen Art Museum is not your typical museum as it features contemporary and edgy sculptures, paintings, video installations, mixed media and photography. The Aspen Art Museum also hosts an annual event called artCRUSH that features an art auction and wine-tasting. The city of Aspen honors their firefighters with a beautiful display in the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department Museum. The first firefighter force in Aspen was formed in 1881. This force was and still is mainly made up of volunteer firefighters. This museum is dedicated to telling their story is located within their new firehouse. The highlights of this museum is a timeline mural located on one of the walls and a restored 19th century firefighter wagon. There are also a number of other art galleries sprinkled around the city of Aspen including Galerie Maximillian, Baldwin Gallery, Peter Lik and 212 Gallery. Rounding out the list of Aspen’s indoor attractions is the Aspen Music Festival. Over the last 60+ years Aspen has attracted some of the world’s top musicians to perform and learn from the most famous people in the business. The festival features student performances at the Wheeler Opera House, Benedict Music Tent and even on local street corners. During this eight week festival, 350+ classical music events can be seen.
As Aspen has grown over the years so has their offering of accommodations. There are numerous accommodation options spread across the mountains and valleys of Aspen. One of the most notable resorts in the area is The Little Nell which opened in 1989. This resort was, and still is, the only hotel in Aspen to feature ski-in and ski-out access. Two years after opening their doors through present day, The Little Nell has received a Five Star rating from Forbes and Five Diamonds from the American Automobile Association. Another popular hotel in the area is the newly renovated Limelight Hotel. Aspen Skiing Company purchased what was formerly known as the Limelight Lodge in 2010. This property is located in downtown Aspen and is one of the many historical buildings in the area, dating back to the 1950s. In addition to its resorts and hotels, Aspen also has a number of lodges, vacation homes for rent, apartment properties for rent, campgrounds and hostels. Aspen does a great job offering a wide range of accommodation options in terms of location and room type.
Another money maker for the city of Aspen is their restaurants. In addition to hotel bars and restaurants the city of Aspen offers a variety of options for visitors to choose from. They have everything from Italian, Japanese, American and Fusion restaurants to pubs, café’s, bistro’s and sandwich spots. A few of the more notable dining options in the Aspen area are Justice Snow’s, Pine Creek Cookhouse and Ranger Station. Justice Snow’s, a saloon known for their speakeasy cocktails, is located in Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House. Pine Creek Cookhouse is a log-cabin restaurant located about 30 minutes outside of Aspen that encourages patrons to hike (in the summer) and cross-country ski over in the winter. The Ranger Station is a popular bar-restaurant located in Snowmass and predominately known for their beer options.
Another important contributor to Aspen’s economy is their shops. The shopping choices in the city range from consignment to designer—there is something for everyone in this town of millionaires. Aspen has a number of streets line with shops and restaurants. These pedestrian malls have a laid back shopping feel and offer everything from outerwear to fine art. Aspen’s Saturday Market is a staple in the community from June through October. The Saturday Market is popular place to socialize while listening to live music and stocking up on locally grown produce.
Over the years Aspen’s land has proven to be good for many things from mining and agriculture to winter sports and hiking. The city’s water system dates back to 1886. They currently receive their water from snowmelt and mountain streams that come from the White River National Forest. As the population in Aspen continues to grow the city has continued to revise the water rates to encourage conservation. The city has a potable municipal water supply system and a pressurized untreated water supply system. The pressurized untreated water supply system provides water to schools, hospitals, parks and for snowmaking at Aspen Highlands. There is also a treated water system that provides water to Aspen Mountain for snowmaking purposes. The electrical system in Aspen was installed unground during two substantial projects in 1976 and 1986. The service area of the electrical system stretches four square miles and is made up of approximately 25 miles of primary cable, 200 transformers and 591 street lights. In terms of streets, Aspen has a well-developed street and highway grid along with well know hiking and skiing trails.
Aspen encourages people to leave their cars at home and use one of their many alternative transportation options. They stress the leave your car at home attitude to preserve the natural environment of the city by keeping traffic and vehicle pollution at a minimum. The Roaring Fork Transit Authority operates the buses in the Aspen area, offering discounted rates to frequent riders. In addition to the bus, the city also started a free downtown shuttle service this past summer around the heart of Aspen from 11am-11pm. There are also park and rides located in multiple locations across the city that allow people to park for free and bus into Aspen. They also offer a car share option called Car to Go. This option allows people to utilize a hybrid vehicle for short periods of time to run errands, etc.. Uber is also a welcomed transportation option in the city of Aspen. For people that prefer to bike, Aspen offers a commuter bike share program called We-Cycle. Further encouraging the preservation of their natural environment, the city of Aspen has sprinkled miles of bike paths and trails for people to travel on. They have also set up a system of trails from Aspen to Snowmass Village to Woody Creek, making it easier for people to travel between locations without a vehicle.
If you are looking to catch a train to Aspen it is a possibility, however, the closest stop is not located within city limits. Amtrak operates a train station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado which is about 40 miles north of Aspen. Once a visitor arrives at the Glenwood Springs station they will need to find another mode of transportation to get them into the city, which most likely will be a car or bus. For visitors opting to fly in, the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport, also known as Sardy Field, is the closest airport to the city (approximately 3 miles). The airport has two different service schedules, winter and summer/fall (see image 1A & 1B). During the winter American Airlines offers daily non-stop flights from Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Chicago/O’Hare. Delta’s winter schedule consists of daily non-stop flights from Atlanta, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Salt Lake City. Rounding off the winter flight schedule is United Airlines who offer non-stop flights from Chicago/O’Hare, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver and San Francisco. The summer flight offerings from each airline are scaled back a bit. Delta’s summer schedule only consists of daily non-stop flights from Salt Lake City and non-stop flights from Los Angeles on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday’s. American Airlines and United Airlines offer the same departure locations as their winter schedule, however, the flights are not offered on a daily basis.
Denver International Airport (DIA) is another airport that is frequently used by Aspen visitors. This airport is located about 220 miles from Aspen and is the Rocky Mountain’s largest and most active airport. Denver International has incoming flights from 17 different airlines out of 80+ cities including international service from London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Tokyo (British Airways, Lufthansa and United Airlines respectively). Two other smaller airports that also service the Aspen area are Eagle County Airport (EGE) located 70 miles from Aspen and Grand Junction Airport (GJT) located 130 miles west of Aspen. With Aspen being a city populated by mostly affluent people, private air travel has become another popular means of transportation. As that market in Aspen has increased over the years the city decided to partner with Sentient Jet, who is currently the official Private Jet Provider of Aspen Snowmass.
The hospitality intermediaries in Aspen are not as vast as other destinations. If you are looking to book a trip you can go through a travel agent, one of the usual OTAs or a website called Stay Aspen Snowmass. The aforementioned website allows visitors to request a free vacation planner based on the time of year they are looking to visit. It also offers a number visitors can call if they are looking to book an all-inclusive stay and/or want to speak with an local expert. Aspen also offers a number of different tours and excursions for visitors to partake in. These excursions range from river rafting, tubing, fishing charters, walking tours, horse-drawn carriage tours, parasailing, nature and wildlife tours, historical tours, hiking, biking and helicopter tours. Many of these tours/excursions can be found and booked online.
One topic that is directly impacting the city of Aspen and the US Ski industry as a whole is climate change. A recent study has proven that Colorado’s average temperature has increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 30 years. Due to this, Aspen has been directly impacted by gaining approximately 30 frost-free days when compared to 1980. Aspen has acknowledged their sizeable use of fossil fuel and is taking the appropriate steps to reduce their emissions. Aspen also encourages their visitors and anyone else working to fight climate change to write letters to Colorado’s representatives and call Capitol Hill to voice their opinion on preserving winters for the ski industry. The Aspen Snowmass website provides a simply written and powerful statement for people to use that reads, “I am spending money in your state on skiing and tourism, and I want our winters to be preserved for future generations. I care about climate change and want you to address the problem.” (Aspen Snowmass, Take Action). This statement is intriguing because it touches specifically on the fact that the state of Colorado gains money via tourism to resorts located in their state and if the representatives of this state do not do something to address this problem this billion dollar industry may be doomed. The city of Aspen is taking matters into their own hands and plans to serve as a model. Many of Aspen’s government officials, corporate leaders and citizens have lobbied to elected officials about climate change. Aspen Skiing Company teamed up with the city to set high goals to reduce local emissions. One of the ways they plan on doing this is by implementing one of the United States’ first carbon fees via the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program. This program applies strict energy budgets to buildings in the Aspen and Pitkin County areas in order to decrease their environmental impact. In addition, the city of Aspen has switched over their electric utility system to now run completely on renewable power. Educating the youth is another step the city is taking to lead the fight against climate change. Each year ACES educates over 6,400 students on climate change and the importance of sustainability. Each of these efforts are huge steps in the right direction for the city of Aspen and will prove to be beneficial in the long run. The city also does a great job of promoting alternative modes of transportation to continue to reduce emissions. Extending bike trails, offering car and bike share options and providing discounts on bus passes are all great ways to encourage people to aid in the city’s sustainability efforts. I also find it interesting that the city prominently displays their sustainability reports dating back to 1999 on the Aspen Snowmass website. This allows people to see hard facts about their numbers and the environmental impact that emissions and global warming has had on the region. It also allows people to see the positive changes that are coming from their sustainability efforts.
Another interesting topic to investigate is the direct economic impact of the US Ski industry. The US Ski industry is a billion dollar industry that is made up of many different sectors. Looking directly at the state of Colorado alone, the ski industry is most likely the state’s largest economic contributor. Vail Resorts and Aspen Skiing Company are the source of hundreds of thousands of Colorado based jobs and are the state’s largest tourism attractions. With that said, it can be a frightening to think what Colorado would be without their $5 billion ski industry. The state relies heavily on the economic benefits from the ski industry, however, Colorado is also known for agriculture, manufacturing and mining. If the ski industry was no longer a contributing factor to Colorado’s economy I am not sure that the aforementioned industries could make up for the loss. It is crucial that Colorado has and maintains these other industries to soften the potential blow to the state if anything ever happened to the ski industry, however the state would still take a major hit.
Reflecting back on my research of the US Ski industry and Aspen Skiing Company to be specific there were a few points I found very interesting. The first is the effort the city and surrounding communities are making to preserve the natural environment. Playing on the fact that the region is beautiful and better experienced outside of a vehicle makes the push for decreasing traffic while also decreasing emissions logical. Furthermore, the city makes it extremely easy for visitors and locals to get around without a vehicle thanks to their bike paths (many of which have recently been extended), bike and car-share options along with public transportation (bus) availability. Another interesting bit of information discovered during my research is about the family that currently owns Aspen Skiing Company. In 1993 the company was purchased and became privately owned by the Crown family from Chicago, Illinois. The Crown family is very wealthy and have significant holdings in a number of other companies. The company was started in 1919 when two of the Crown brothers established a building-supplies company and worked the system by deferring taxes and continuing to build the business using borrowed money. The brothers later merged their growing business with a company called General Dynamics, an aerospace and defense company. Today, the family owns 10% of stock in General Dynamics, which amounts to a whopping $4.8 billion. They also currently have holdings in the sports industry via the New York Yankees and Chicago Bulls franchises. In addition, the family has holdings in Maytag, Hilton Hotels, Alltel, Rockefeller Center and JP Morgan Chase.
The Aspen Skiing Company has recently expanded its business outside of the city of Aspen to Ketchum, Idaho. In 2015 the company made the move to expand their Aspen famous Limelight Hotel brand and build a second hotel located in Ketchum. This hotel was structurally modeled after the Aspen property. Many people in the industry believe the opening of this hotel may lead to the company acquiring a ski resort in Idaho. This would be an interesting move for Aspen Skiing Company as they have not made a move to acquire a ski area in 20+ years. Finally, I also found the impact of politics on the US Ski industry noteworthy. Having a recently elected President that does not believe in or support the fight against climate change can seriously hinder any previous progress made and halt the potential of any future progress, putting the ski industry on edge for the foreseeable future.