Sunlight's New Lifts Barely Got a Winter. This One Is Their Real Debut.
Sunlight Mountain Resort spent the summer of 2025 on the biggest capital project in its history. It replaced both Primo and Segundo, and the plan was to have them ready for the start of the 2025-26 season. Then the snow didn't come. The new Segundo triple carried its first public riders on January 24, 2026, and the resort closed for the season on March 22. That leaves the lifts with roughly half a winter of history. The Glenwood Springs ski season is about to start again, this time with the new chairs running from the beginning, and the first dates on the calendar fall in October and November.
Here is how the last year went, based on reporting from the Post Independent and the Aspen Times:
Count from Segundo's first day to closing day and you get 58 calendar days. The window Sunlight had planned for, a mid-December opening through April 5, was about twice that long. Sunlight never announced Primo's first public day, so we won't guess at one. The Post Independent did report that it took "until almost February" for the resort to run all three lifts at the same time.
"In my nine year tenure, it's definitely the latest we've ever opened Segundo."
Travis Baptiste, Sunlight's director of business, speaking to the Post Independent in January 2026
CEO Cindy Dady called it one of the resort's "toughest seasons" in the closing announcement the Aspen Times reported on. She also said, "Even with limited snow, the energy on the mountain never wavered."
The short season matters because of what changed. Segundo was the oldest operating chairlift in Colorado. It carried skiers in Aspen from 1954 to 1969, then spent more than five decades carrying riders to the west side of Sunlight. Its replacement is a triple that used to run at Arapahoe Basin. Primo, for years the main way to the top, went from a fixed-grip double to a new quad with safety bars and footrests. Sunlight expects the quad to increase capacity and shorten lines. Both lifts kept their original names.
A shorter wait on Primo is the kind of improvement that only shows up across a full season of weekends, holidays and powder mornings. Last winter, all three lifts ran together only from late January until the early close in March. A full winter of Saturdays would be the first real measure of what the money bought.
The old chairs went into the community. Sunlight gave some to winners of a passholder drawing, sold others at online and live auctions, and donated more. The resort said auction proceeds would support resort upgrades and a scholarship program for its Ski Patrol and Ski School staff. That giving continued this summer. The Post Independent reported on August 31 that Sunlight would donate $10,000 to the Glenwood Springs Elks Lodge Scholarship Program.
Opening day hasn't been set. Sunlight's opening day event listing currently shows no events. OnTheSnow projects December 12, the same date Sunlight originally planned for last season, but the site says its projections may not be official or final. In the meantime, the first events of the season are in downtown Glenwood Springs.
| Date | What | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 23, 4 to 6 p.m. | Ski Swap gear drop-off | Sunlight Ski & Bike, 309 9th St. | Ski and snowboard hardgoods, nothing older than five years |
| Oct. 24, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Sunlight Ski Swap | Sunlight Ski & Bike, 309 9th St. | Sellers pick up unsold gear 4 to 6 p.m. |
| Nov. 1 | Most season pass prices go up | Online | 10-Day pass goes from $559 to $629 |
| Nov. 7, doors at 6 p.m. | Warren Miller's "DAYS OFF" | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, 915 Grande Ave. | $25 adults, $15 kids 6 to 12 |
| Dec. 12 | Projected opening | Sunlight | OnTheSnow's estimate, not confirmed by Sunlight |
| Dec. 17 | First Moonlight Race | Sunlight | Series with Cripple Creek Backcountry |
| Dec. 20 | Ski With Santa | Sunlight | Lodge photos and a themed lap on Tercero and Midway |
The Ski Swap has the most detailed rules. Sunlight keeps the right to turn down any equipment. Private sellers can take 100 percent of their proceeds as store credit or 60 percent as a check. Taking credit keeps the full sale price in the same shop, which also sells and reloads passes. First-time passholders can buy online and pick up their pass at the downtown shop in summer or fall.
The Warren Miller night at the Vaudeville Revue benefits the Sunlight Winter Sports Club. Doors open at 6 for dinner and drinks, the film follows, and there is a prize drawing. Tickets are reserved through gvrshow.com.
Sunlight says its 2026-27 season pass prices are frozen at last year's levels. Right now, the Individual Season Pass is $699 for adults 26 to 69, $459 for young adults 18 to 25, $349 for students 13 to 17, $269 for children 6 to 12 and $459 for seniors 70 to 79. Military and first responders pay $569. Children 5 and under and skiers 80 and over ski free. Sunlight's pass page shows most of these tiers going up on Nov. 1. The Mid-Week pass is $439 and rises to $489 that day. The Max Family pass is $1,889 and rises to $1,949.
"Frozen" covers prices through October 31. From today, October 12, that's less than three weeks away, and the cutoff lands six days before the Warren Miller screening.
Returning passholders can reload a 2025-26 pass online through Sunlight's new RFID gate system, skip the $5 media fee and go straight to the lift. Season passes also come with a free Uphill Season Pass, 10 percent off at Sunlight Ski & Bike and 10 percent off food and drinks on the mountain. Sunlight's pages list partner-resort ski days differently depending on which page you're on. Confirm with the resort before counting on a particular partner.
For anyone who skins Sunlight before the lifts turn, early-season snowmaking is the rule to know. Sunlight's uphill policy requires a current uphill pass or day ticket. It closes uphill access while snowmaking is underway, sends users to designated routes and doesn't allow dogs. It also warns that Ski Patrol isn't on the mountain before or after normal operating hours. On its own, the 2026-27 Uphill Season Pass costs $50.
Last December showed how that plays out in a thin year. When Tercero opened for the December 13 weekend, the Post Independent reported that uphilling was prohibited while the resort kept making snow to open the top of the mountain. In January, the resort was also making snow on Ute, its longest run, to spread traffic to the west side once Segundo was running. Even in that short season, the uphill community had its own event. The third annual "12 Hours of Sunlight," in which teams skin the Sunking route and ski down as many times as they can in 12 hours, fell on the same Saturday Segundo opened. Baptiste said 52 people had signed up by that week.
The 2026-27 Moonlight Race Series runs one night a month from December into spring: December 17, January 14, February 18 and March 18, with long and short courses. On the calendar, the March 18 race falls four days earlier than the March 22 date when last season ended. Sunlight hasn't posted a 2026-27 date for Ski Spree, its winter night of fire dancers, a torchlight parade and fireworks. Last season it was held January 31.
Last January, the new Segundo started carrying riders a week before Ski Spree. This season, the new chairs are on the schedule from the first race in December to the last one in March.
If you're a Glenwood Springs homeowner wondering how a full season at Sunlight shows up in the value of homes around town, Karen Peirson follows this part of the valley closely and would be glad to talk it through. Book a consultation, or start with a home valuation before opening day.
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.