Aspen unanimously approves Nell Bell lift

Aspen City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a land use amendment allowing Aspen Skiing Company to build the Nell Bell lift. 

The lift, a high-speed quad that would run from the base of Aspen Mountain by the Silver Queen Gondola to the top of Bell Mountain, would replace the historic Little Nell and Bell Mountain lifts, which were installed in 1986 and 1957. The Little Nell ran only 28 days last year and the Bell Mountain just two days, SkiCo told The Aspen Times on Monday. 

The Nell Bell would cut the lift ride-time from 21 minutes, the combined time between the Bell Mountain and the Little Nell, to eight minutes over its 2,650-vertical-foot journey. The chairlift might also have more flexible operating conditions than the Silver Queen Gondola, as SkiCo told council members on Tuesday that the new lift might not be subject to the same wind closures as the Silver Queen Gondola since chairs would be lower to the ground. 

“So we’re hoping that that will decrease the wind speeds, so that we can be operating this when the Queen would normally be shut down,” Mak Keeling, Aspen Skiing Company vice president of Mountain Planning, told council. “But there will, of course, be days that are just too windy for anything.”

The top of the Nell Bell would provide access to Hero’s, Ajax Express, and FIS lifts. According to White River National Forest, the Nell Bell could load 1,800 people per hour, and the project would have an estimated implementation date of May 2026. 

Apart from Aspen City Council approval, Keeling said on Monday the project must still be reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service through the National Environmental Policy Act. He expects the project to get NEPA approval in January 2026.

Aspen City Council members expressed gratitude toward SkiCo for pursuing the new lift. 

“Thanks for continuing to invest in the community and the infrastructure and our wonderful ski resort,” Council member Christine Benedetti said.