Aspen
Historical Background

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Aspen was not always a quirky town filled with posh eateries, hotels, multi-million dollar homes and fur-clad celebrities on skis. What is now the winter hub for the rich and famous, and a world-class destination for extreme sport fans, was once the summer hunting home of the Ute Indian tribe. Archaeologists have found evidence of an ancient people in the Roaring Fork Valley some 8,000 years ago.

By the time Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the rush for gold and silver was in full swing. Mining settlements sprung up on the high country, as prospectors pried their fortunes from the rock with an undying urgency. At the time, Leadville was the state's second largest city next to Denver. The settlement, tucked away on the east side of the Continental Divide, had some of the deepest veins of silver ever found. But it was not until 1879, when a few pioneers surmounted the divide at what is now Independence Pass and ventured into the Ute's hunting ground, that the ground was literally spitting silver. They quickly set up camp, pushed the tribe out of the valley and named it Ute City. In 1881, the city changed its name to Aspen.

Mining camps popped up everywhere west of the divide and took names like Ashcroft and Independence. But Aspen benefited from more than just mining. Two railroads utilized the town as a hub. Plus, outside investments from the likes of Macy's president Jerome Wheeler and lawyer David Hyman helped build a solid industrial infrastructure and urban framework.

By the late 1880s, Aspen's population topped 12,000. The town now had an opera house, six newspapers, a red light district, three banks, a host of churches and a hospital. At that point, close to a million dollars worth of silver and one of the biggest nuggets ever (weighing in at 2,200 pounds) had been extracted from the area mines.

Once the Sherman Silver Act was passed and silver was devalued in 1893, those hunting fortune vanished, and the area settlements stood empty and dilapidated. Most of them ultimately crumbled and disappeared. The remnants of Independence and Ashcroft are now ghost towns popular among tourists. Aspen survived, but the population dwindled, bottoming out to about 700 people in the 1930s.

In 1935, a group of international investors came to the Roaring Fork Valley looking for an ideal location to build a ski area on par with European resorts. Andre Roch, a renowned Swiss outdoorsman, was given the task, but after constructing a lodge, boat tow, and initial slope, World War II began and eliminated any hope of completion.

The 10th Mountain Division, a military ski unit stationed at a camp outside of Leadville, returned to Aspen Mountain once the war ended. The most prominent of these soldiers was an Austrian named Friedl Pfeifer. Pfeifer, who purchased a number of the mining claims and some of the surface rights to the area, partnered with Walter Paepcke, a wealthy industrialist, to transform Aspen.

Paepcke sought to create the “Aspen Idea.” He wanted the town to be a cultural Utopia, a place where great thinkers could assemble and share ideas, a place where people could travel to renew the spirit and rejuvenate the mind. Pfeifer just wanted to build a major skiing center and watched with pride as the longest chair lift (Lift-1) in the world at the time escorted the first skiers up the slopes for Aspen Mountain's official opening in the winter of 1947.

Two years later, Paepcke conceived the Goethe Bicentennial Convocation, where Dr. Albert Schweitzer and other distinguished minds put Aspen on the intellectual map. This event spawned a number of programs in music, theater, art and dance, including the Aspen Musical Festival. Paepcke also hired Bauhaus architect Herbert Bayer to leave a visual impression on the town. Bayer, along with Fredric Benedict, designed the Aspen Institute and Aspen Meadows Conference Center, which acted as the grounds for Paepcke’s intellectual meetings. Bayer also restored existing structures like the Wheeler Opera House.

In 1950, the ski area hosted a prestigious downhill championship, attracting the best skiers in the area. This event, the first of its kind in the states, established Aspen as a world-class ski destination. The stage was set for Aspen's final conversion from a mining hub to an elite cultural and sport center.

In 1958, Pheifer went on to construct slopes at neighboring Buttermilk Mountain, while Whipple Van Ness Jones carved the trails for Aspen Highlands. An avalanche of development spread across the valley as investors sought to make Aspen attractive year-round. The Aspen Golf Course soon popped up and condominiums became the preferred choice of housing.

The Aspen Ski Corporation, which took over management of Aspen Mountain, Highlands Mountain and Buttermilk, built Snowmass in 1967 to complete the four-mountain resort. Snowmass, back then, featured around 50 miles of trails.

The 1970s and 1980s brought about the quaint pedestrian malls. Posh restaurants, five-star hotels, mansions, and, of course, celebrities followed, solidifying Aspen as a high-class ski wonderland.

The town John Denver put into song has come a long way from its mining heydays. The population now hovers around 6,000. Issues of growth have forced locals to take extreme measures to preserve its sanctity. Commercialization is rampant and high monthly rents, especially in the Downtown vicinity, have sky-rocketed to be more than most people’s annual salary. Condos sprawl along the four mountains and many of the mammoth mansions littering Red Mountain and the upper West End sit empty most of the year.

Unlike many other Colorado resorts, Aspen maintains a small town charm. The locals are exceptionally friendly and make a great effort to take away any preconceived pretensions associated with the town. Sure, the stars like Kevin Costner, Jimmy Buffet, Michael Jordan and Jack Nicholson are just a few that frequent the town. But under a mass of stylish ski wear, they look just like anyone else.

Aspen Mountain recently celebrated 50 years, reminding everyone just how far a town will go for the love of a sport. Through all the glitz and glamor, the “Aspen Idea,” is still at the heart of the town.