ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
After nearly 40 years of service, Aspen Skiing Co. plans to remove and sell Aspen Mountain’s Gent’s Ridge lift — also known as “the couch” — before the beginning of this ski season.
SkiCo sold the 122-chair fixed-grip quad lift to Maverick Mountain, a family-owned ski area in Montana, according to a press release. Apart from the terminal foundations, no part of the lift will stay in Aspen and none of the chairs will go up for sale, as SkiCo occasionally does with other retired lifts.
With last season’s opening of the Hero’s terrain and lift, formerly known as Pandora’s, Gent’s Ridge serves similar terrain but at a much slower pace. The planned removal also plays into SkiCo’s plans to expand snowmaking for early-season top-to-bottom routes.
Gent’s Ridge was one of four “redundant” lifts temporarily closed in February when SkiCo responded to “soft business volumes” most weekdays. The press release alluded to “careful consideration of skier traffic patterns and ridership numbers” in its reasoning for retiring the lift in Aspen.
Other lifts affected by last season’s temporary closures included Coney Glade at Snowmass, Thunderbowl at Highlands, and the Little Nell lift on Aspen Mountain. Jeff Hanle, VP of communications for Aspen One (SkiCo’s parent company), said that the Thunderbowl lift is likely to be replaced one day.
“It is on the future lift plan for replacement but not in the near future,” Hanle said in an email. “It will stay, as it serves a great slope and (Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club) training venue.”
Before work to remove the infrastructure can begin, SkiCo must secure approval for the work from the White River National Forest, as some of the lift sits on U.S. Forest Service property.
Aspen-Sopris District Ranger Kevin Warner said that his office has not yet received a formal proposal from SkiCo to remove the lift, but that the Forest Service is amenable to proposals like this.
“From the Forest service perspective, it's in all of our best interests — all of us being the public landowners — to remove any unnecessary infrastructure from National Forest Service lands,” he said. “Whether that's within a ski area permit boundary or in other locations.”
Hanle said in an email that SkiCo has been in conversation with the Forest Service all summer and plans to submit a proposal soon.
Once submitted, the Forest Service will evaluate the proposal based on potential for ground disturbance and other factors, but without the actual proposal, Warner said he cannot precisely relay what the Forest Service will evaluate.
SkiCo aims to complete the removal with assistance from Grand Junction-based aerial manufacturer Leitner Poma within 4-6 weeks once work begins, saying work could start as soon as early September.
Warner said SkiCo is responsible for appropriately blocking off the construction zone during removal and that Forest Service employees will inspect the site to ensure compliance with all approvals.
“Gent’s has served us well for decades, and I’m glad that it will get a second life at Maverick Mountain,” said SkiCo CEO Geoff Buchheister in a press release. “I know firsthand how important these community-based resorts are to creating passionate lifelong enthusiasts for the sport, and it’s exciting to see that what no longer works for us can benefit another ski area.”
The 2019 Aspen Mountain Master Plan approved by Pitkin County allows for the removal of lifts, but allows only the construction of the now-Hero’s lift and the upgrade or realign two existing lifts: Shadow Mountain and Bell Mountain. Shadow Mountain lift work occurred last season.