Snowmass Ski Resort sees summer of major infrastructure projects
But on-mountain activities will continue strong
Olivia Klein/Courtesy Photo
Snowmass Ski Resort will see some big changes this summer.
The mountain is replacing its 30-year-old Elk Camp high speed quad with a six-seater, adding 50% to the capacity of the lift. It’s also replacing the 28-year-old Cirque Poma Lift with a T-bar, doubling the capacity. Both lifts will be ready for the 2025/26 ski season.
“We want to be world class. We are world class, and we need to update the infrastructure, stay ahead,” Snowmass Ski Resort Manager Susan Cross said as she walked along the on-mountain construction zones Tuesday.
Along with the lifts, Aspen Skiing Company will add an outdoor — but covered — deck to the Elk Camp Restaurant, increasing the restaurant’s capacity by 120 seats, according to Cross. The deck will be complete by the beginning of the 2025/26 ski season.
The Ullrhoff will also see a remodel. The reconstruction of the 58-year-old building will increase the seating capacity from 325 to a maximum of 690, including indoor and outdoor seating, in a three-story, “modern mountain” design. The restaurant — which has already been demolished as SkiCo prepares to build — will open for the 2026/27 winter season.
SkiCo announced in April that their summer infrastructure investments will total nearly $80 million.
But despite the on-mountain construction this summer, activities will, for the most part, continue as usual.
The mountain will offer $200 summer bike passes rather than their normal $364 passes to account for a shorter lift-operated, upper-mountain bike season, according to Cross. The existing Elk Camp Lift will service bikes from June 21 to Aug. 4, rather than their traditional closure near the end of September, so crews can begin working on the replacement.
Those with season passes can buy a summer pass for $100.
Sunset Tuesdays, the locally-renowned Tuesday afternoon Snowmass downhill bike race, will continue this summer, with free Elk Camp gondola access from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. But it will be accompanied by the “Friday Afternoon Club,” a live music event on the deck of the Elk Camp Restaurant, with gondola access to various food and drink specials until 6 p.m., Cross said.
On normal days, the gondola remains open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It shifts to a Friday through Sunday schedule through September.
But apart from lift access to biking, the gondola provides public access to the “Coaster,” a two-seater roller-coaster-esque rail that runs a mile uphill from the Gondola, before descending at up to 28 miles per hour.
It also gives access to a climbing wall, fishing pond, disc golf course, and seven zip lines through the “Lost Forest,” the area around the gondola.
But the crown jewel of the forest might be Snowmass’ Challenge Course, a high ropes course with five different routes of varying difficulty. The highest point of the course is 35 feet, according to Mark Mueller, Challenge Course Recreation guide.
Before the lifts spin on June 21 for the summer season, crews will finish the ground-level construction of the future Elk Camp Lift terminal, according to Cross.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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