LISTEN
I took a guided tour of historic downtown Aspen Colorado in the Aspen Historical Society electric vehicle…read really big golf cart. The tour included a visit to both the Wheeler/Stallard Museum and the Holden Mining / Marolt Ranching Museum. Although this show barely gets us out of the downtown area, the entire trip was great! Founded as a silver mining camp in 1879, by 1890 Aspen was the single largest silver producer in the US. With a population of over 13,000, Aspen was the third largest city in Colorado. Only Denver and Leadville were larger. In the 1940s, the site was considered by the US Army as a training camp for the 10th Mountain Division, however, Camp Hale was established over the surrounding peaks near Leadville for that purpose. Many 10th Mountain veterans returned following WWII to build Aspen into the world class ski resort that we know today. Aspen Mountain’s western base area was home to Aspen’s first true chairlift and the site remains integral to the origins and legacy of “lift-served” skiing in the community and in the country. The original Lift One, combined with Lift Two, was the longest and fastest chairlift in the world when they were dedicated in 1947.
