Every Ride Up Aspen Mountain Starts at Gondola Plaza This Winter
Aspen's ski history began at the bottom of South Aspen Street. Lift One opened there in the winter of 1946-47, and the Aspen Daily News describes it as the mountain's original base hub. Lift 1A replaced it about 25 years later and ran from the 1971-72 season through this past spring. When Aspen Mountain opens on Thursday, Nov. 26, the west side of the mountain will have no lift.
Every ride up Ajax this season starts in one place, Gondola Plaza. That base has two ways up for the first time, the Silver Queen Gondola and the new Nell Bell quad. The single front door explains most of what will feel different on the mountain this winter, from the routes in and out to the evening traditions on Little Nell.
The Aspen Daily News reported in July that crews would begin removing Lift 1A's chairs and haul rope that week, with the towers to follow later in the summer or fall. The removal clears the way for the Lift One corridor redevelopment. Aspen Skiing Co. CEO Geoff Buchheister confirmed that the 55-year-old double chair, also called the Shadow Mountain lift, had made its final runs in winter 2025-26. The ski patrol locker room that used to be at 1A has moved to Gondola Plaza for now.
Its replacement can't simply be built in the old lift's place. The new lift will load farther downhill near Dean Street, close to where the original Lift One stood. Its base terminal will sit on top of an underground parking garage, so the garage has to be built first. The city, SkiCo and the two lodging projects, Chalet Alpina and Aman Aspen, finalized a construction sequencing agreement on July 31. Aspen Journalism's reporting on that agreement gives an estimated timeline: SkiCo orders the lift in fall 2028, installs it in 2029 and opens it in the winter of 2029-30. The agreement treats those dates as estimates. It also sets steep fees for parties whose delays hold up the new lift.
That means this is likely the first of at least three winters with one base. City of Aspen Community Development Director Ben Anderson told Aspen Journalism in August, "Starting very soon, the entire area will have significant disruption."
The Nell Bell gives the plaza its second way up. It's a high-speed detachable quad, built by Leitner-Poma according to Powder, that loads at Gondola Plaza and runs to the top of Bell Mountain. It replaces two of the oldest lifts SkiCo operated.
| Old route | Nell Bell | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifts | Little Nell (1986) to Bell Mountain double (1957) | One high-speed quad |
| Ride to top of Bell | About 21 minutes combined | About 8 to 9 minutes |
| Loading point | Little Nell base, transfer near top of Little Nell | Gondola Plaza |
| Vertical | Split across two lifts | 2,656 feet |
The ride times come from two sources. The Aspen Times reported SkiCo's figures of 21 minutes on the old pair and eight on the new lift. Aspen Snowmass's Oct. 29 winter announcement gives nine minutes, 135 chairs and a 2,656-foot vertical rise.
Mak Keeling, SkiCo's vice president for mountain planning, called it "a cheat code" when he presented it to city council, according to the Aspen Daily News. He meant faster access to the upper-mountain lifts: Ajax Express, Hero's and F.I.S. SkiCo expects the lift to shorten base lines on busy days. It's also a way up when the gondola is stopped by wind or a mechanical problem, and Keeling said the chair runs closer to the ground, so it may be less likely to close in wind than the gondola. In the same story, Councilman John Doyle supported the lift partly because the Lift One corridor's base lift would be offline for a winter or two during redevelopment.
Construction ran through the summer, with helicopter flights that closed parts of the Ute Trail and sometimes stopped the Silver Queen. On Oct. 8, an Aspen Times photographer captured the loading station still under construction at the base. Aspen Snowmass says the lift is set to open early in the 2026-27 season. For the first stretch of the season, check the lift status board before planning a Bell lap from the plaza.
Earlier plans looked different. SkiCo's 2018 master plan considered a Bell replacement that loaded higher up the hill. According to a Pitkin County review memo quoted by the Aspen Daily News, the plan changed after skiers flocked to the new Hero's lift and terrain in 2023 and SkiCo removed the nearby Gent's Ridge chair in 2024. SkiCo then judged a lift reaching all the way to the base a "better alignment for the overall skier experience."
The old Bell chair also couldn't keep running. Lift mechanic Michael Blakeslee wrote to the Forest Service that the hours his crew spent on Bell could exceed the hours needed to maintain almost all the other Aspen Mountain lifts combined. Buchheister told council, "A lot of people love the Bell chair, but I don't think we can continue to run that any longer." The Forest Service decision was signed March 19, 2026.
Some concerns came up during approval. As The Aspen Times reported, Mayor Rachael Richards pointed out that the new lift has no mid-mountain unload, so less experienced skiers could end up higher on the mountain than their ability. Anyone bringing a newer skier to the plaza this winter should know that the Nell Bell doesn't stop partway up the way the old Little Nell chair did. Riders go all the way to the top of Bell.
Westside residents can still ski home. The sequencing agreement requires Aman Aspen's crews to keep a ski corridor open past their site during construction. Keeling told Aspen Journalism that SkiCo intends to keep Schuss Gully open to reach it "as conditions allow." Norway and Normandy will be closed.
The practical result: you can finish a day at the bottom of South Aspen Street, but you can't start one there. Every morning begins at Gondola Plaza. The base already has its own changes. Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes's work covers the Silver Queen Gondola station as part of Aspen One's Art in Unexpected Places program, and her designs appear on this season's lift tickets and passes. At the top, Alpine 46 is a new rental and retail shop in the old Four Mountain Sports space at the Sundeck. Its name combines the alpine terrain with 1946, the year Aspen Skiing Company was founded.
Replacing the Little Nell and Bell chairs with one lift means losing a few things that depended on the old setup.
Some of the old chairs are now in local homes. Aspen Snowmass auctioned Nell and Bell chairs online from July 4 to July 19. Others went to community organizations and an employee raffle, and some were turned into art, according to The Aspen Times.
The early-season dates all come back to Gondola Plaza.
Aspen Mountain's season runs through April 18, 2027. That is likely the first of several winters before a lift runs again near Dean Street, close to where Lift One loaded in 1946.
If you live on the west side of town and want to talk through what the Lift One corridor construction means for your street over the next few winters, Karen Peirson has followed this project closely and is happy to share what she knows. Book a consultation anytime, or browse more of the Aspen neighborhood guide.
Start your Aspen home search with a trusted local expert. Whether you're looking for a ski-in/ski-out retreat or a cozy home in the valley, Karen will guide you every step of the way.