SkiCo will close four redundant lifts across three mountains on weekdays

Midweek on the mountain, you might find yourself alone on a trail. It’s a skier’s dream, but the low traffic has prompted the closure of some redundant lifts across Aspen Snowmass.

Aspen Skiing Company (SkiCo) decided to close redundant lifts most weekdays in response to the dip in skier traffic, a decision which affects four lifts across three of the four mountains.

“We are experiencing soft business volumes mid-week and are seeing softness across the industry. We have made some strategic decisions to address this,” wrote Jeff Hanle, SkiCo vice president of communications, in an email. “All available terrain remains open; however, we have redundant lifts on our mountains that can be turned off without impacting access to open terrain.”

The Gentleman’s Ridge lifts on Aspen Mountain and the Coney Glade lift at Snowmass ski area will be closed Monday through Thursday. The Thunderbowl lift at Aspen Highlands will be closed Mondays only.

While SkiCo works on repairing the Shadow Mountain lift, the Little Nell and Bell lifts will run daily. Upon Shadow Mountain lift’s repair, the Little Nell lift will close Monday through Thursday.

All open terrain will remain reachable. As of Wednesday, 86% of trails are open at Aspen Mountain, 70% open at Highlands, and 71% open at Snowmass.

Hanle did not give an exact estimate for when the redundant lifts will re-open fully.

“As business volume dictates, we will reevaluate and communicate any changes,” he said.