Author Archives: Tim Cooney, Aspen Journalism

Big plans on paper have yet to turn into ski lifts.

The terrain to be added to Aspen Mountain comes with a history fitting of its name.

Andre Roch exclaimed, “Immense schusses, where your face freezes and clouds of powder rise behind you, make the skier feel like a rocket.”

The last miner to live on Aspen Mountain, his life bridged the eras of mining and skiing

Tough terrain scarred by mining era tests ski racing elite at the 1950 FIS Alpine World Championships on Aspen Mountain

In February 1880, B. Clark Wheeler ‘skis’ into town from Leadville on Norwegian snowshoes to complete the first survey of Ute City. He renames the town Aspen.

The original Silver Queen appellation was first coined in the 1880s by town pioneers who saw her reclining across West Aspen Mountain, now more commonly known as Shadow Mountain. Then came the silver statue, and the ski run.

During the 1880s the high number of hardy young men in town took to the new game, mirroring the rising popularity of the sport

The Aspen Public Tramway, rising from the bottom of Aspen Mountain to Tourtelotte Park, was a precursor to today’s Silver Queen Gondola, known by many locals as “the bucket.” The tramway, little known to local history buffs, was built to haul silver ore, but it also carried a few adventurous passengers.