Skiing enthusiasts have a chance to own a piece of history, as several chairlifts from Aspen Mountain go up for auction this month.
Aspen One, owner/operator of four ski resorts near its namesake town, is preparing to dismantle two of the lifts on Aspen Mountain — the Little Nell and Bell Mountain lifts — and replace them with a single new one. Construction is expected to start this summer and the company is giving the public a chance to purchase chairs that have carried skiers up the terrain for a combined 100-plus years, according to an announcement. The Bell Mountain lift originally started spinning in 1957, while the Little Nell lift opened in 1986.
One hundred chairs from the Bell Mountain lift and 15 chairs from the Little Nell lift are up for grabs. Additionally, Aspen One partnered with local nonprofit Buckhorn Public Arts to have artists decorate 11 chairs in their own unique styles. One is outfitted with disco tiles and a disco ball, for example, while another is decorated with macrame.
Bidding opened on July 4 at $500 and $250 per chair, respectively, for the Bell Mountain and Little Nell chairs; however, due to the level of interest it will likely cost you more now to get your hands on one. As of Thursday, the minimum bid needed to win a Little Nell chair was $501 and the average winning bid was $653. Prices for the artistic chairs started at $2,500 per unit.
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Bidding is open now through July 19 at us.givergy.com/AspenChairlifts and proceeds will benefit “funding voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts, and the protection of voting rights,” Aspen One said in a statement.
Looking ahead to ski season, Aspen Mountain’s new chairlift will be called the Nell Bell lift and traverse a vertical rise of 2,656 feet from the gondola plaza in the town of Aspen to near where the Bell Mountain lift currently unloads, according to plans submitted to the U.S. Forest Service.
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