Ski Lift No. 1 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Boat Tow
|
|
West profile of bottom lift station, 2010
|
|
 Location in Colorado
|
|
| Location | Aspen, CO |
|---|---|
| Built | 1939–47 |
| Architect | Bob Heron (designer), American Steel and Wire Company, builder |
| NRHP reference No. | 90000866 |
| Added to NRHP | June 22, 1990 |
The Ski Lift No. 1 is a historic ski lift located in Aspen, United States. It starts on Aspen Street and goes up the side of Aspen Mountain. This lift was built in the late 1940s. It stands where Aspen's very first ski lift, called the Boat Tow, once was.
In 1990, Ski Lift No. 1 was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only two ski lifts in the entire country to receive this special recognition. The lift was built using old motors and parts from Aspen's silver mining days in the late 1800s. Building this ski area helped turn Aspen into the popular resort town it is today. It also helped make downhill skiing a big winter sport in the western U.S. after World War II.
When it first opened, Aspen claimed it was the longest ski lift in the world. It stopped operating in 1971, but its parts are still on the mountain. It is one of the few single-chair chairlifts left in the United States. There's a small park and a special sign at the bottom of the lift. One of the original "boats" from the first lift was once displayed there.
Contents
What Does Ski Lift No. 1 Look Like?
The bottom part of the Ski Lift No. 1 is on the east side of South Aspen Street. It's in an area that gently slopes up towards the mountain. Nearby, you can see chalet-style houses and condominiums. There's an open concrete area where one of the old lift boats used to be shown.
The lift station itself is shaped like an "L" and is made of steel. The long part of the "L" is about 30 feet (10 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) high. In the middle, there's a large wheel called a bullwheel that the lift cable goes around. This wheel got its power from an engine in the shorter, 20-foot-high (6 meters) part of the structure.
Along the cable, single metal chairs hang at regular spaces. The cable is held up by 49 towers. It climbs up the mountain to a spot about 10,480 feet (3,194 meters) high. This is about 2,540 feet (774 meters) higher than the bottom of the lift.
The Story of Ski Lift No. 1
The history of Ski Lift No. 1 is closely linked to how skiing started in Colorado and how Aspen became a mining town. The building and opening of this lift in 1947 changed both Aspen's future and the growth of skiing in the United States.
Early Skiing in Colorado (1857–1935)
People have been using skis for travel in Colorado since at least 1857. This was a type of skiing called Nordic skiing. Miners in the isolated Rocky Mountains needed skis to move around during the harsh winters. They sometimes held fun races. Aspen's first settlers in 1879 learned to make and use skis from Swedish immigrants. This helped them survive a winter with 52 feet (16 meters) of snow!
In the 1880s, when Aspen was a booming silver mining town, miners found a way to ride long boards down the snowy mountain. They used a metal pole between their legs as a brake. This was an early form of skiing, mainly used to get down to town quickly. After the silver market crashed in 1893, Aspen slowly declined. This time is known as "the quiet years."
In the early 1930s, Alpine skiing (downhill skiing) came to Colorado. A group from Denver, called the Arlburg club, created the state's first ski trail near what is now Winter Park. The next year, the second U.S. national downhill ski championships were held at Estes Park.
Skiing Starts in Aspen (1936–1945)
Skiing arrived in Aspen in 1936. Bobsledder Billy Fiske and Ted Ryan were looking for a place in America to build a ski resort like those in Europe. An Aspen man showed Ryan pictures of the area. Ryan saw great ski terrain and visited Aspen with Fiske.
Local miners, Frank and Fred Willoughby, took them up the mountain. Fiske bought land there and planned a ski lodge called the Highland Bavarian. It was built by the end of the year. That winter, it offered guided ski tours.
One of the first guides was Swiss ski champion André Roch. He became friends with the Willoughbys. Aspen's population was only a few hundred people then. Many buildings were empty. Roch noted they could be bought for as little as $30. He helped start the Roaring Fork Winter Sports Club. Frank Willoughby became its president, and Roch taught him and his brother to ski. These events are seen as the start of skiing in Aspen.
The lodge opened just after Christmas, making Aspen the second European-style ski resort in the U.S. Over a hundred visitors came that winter. Roch marked out a challenging ski route, hoping it would attract big races. The city's Lions Club raised $600 to build the first lift.
That first lift was the Boat Tow. It was inspired by a similar lift Ryan saw in Austria. Two hoists from an old mine and a Model A engine powered it. It opened in early 1938. Skiers rode up in 12-by-3-foot (3.7 by 0.9 meters) wooden sleds that held four people. The ride took three minutes and went up 600 feet (183 meters). Skiers could then go down one of North America's steepest trails. A hundred people paid 10¢ a ride or 50¢ for the day. Many drove a long way from Denver to ski. Aspen soon hosted the Southern Rocky Mountain Alpine Championships. This brought many people to Aspen, more than since the mining days.
Further ski development in Aspen paused because of World War II. Billy Fiske joined the Royal Air Force and was one of the first Americans to die in combat. Other early leaders joined the military. During the war, soldiers from the Army's Tenth Mountain Division trained nearby. One instructor, Friedl Pfeifer, believed Aspen could become as famous as Sankt Anton am Arlberg in Austria. After the war, he and other veterans returned to develop the ski area.
More lodges were built, and more trails were cleared. Pfeifer started the Aspen ski school, where other Tenth Mountain Division veterans became instructors. Walter Paepcke, a businessman from Chicago, saw Aspen's potential. He invested time and money into the new Aspen Skiing Company.
Aspen's Transformation (1946–Present)
Everyone agreed Aspen needed a better lift to become a major resort. It needed one that went all the way to the top. Frank Willoughby mapped out a route in 1945. Chairlifts were already used at Sun Valley before the war. In 1946, Oregon's Hoodoo opened the first double chairlift. Pfeifer planned two chairlifts for Aspen. One would go from the base to a false summit. The second, Ski Lift No. 2, would go to the mountain's 11,212-foot (3,417 meters) summit. A lodge called the Sundeck was built there.
Building the lift cost $250,000. Most of the workers were local. Frank Willoughby used a bulldozer to widen roads up the mountain. Bob Heron, an engineer, designed the lifts using parts from old mining hoists. American Steel and Wire, which built the Sun Valley chairlifts, put it up. When the lift was finished in late 1946, Pfeifer and his young daughter took the first ride on one of the 124 single chairs.
People immediately understood how important this lift was for the old mining town. A local newspaper writer said it meant "a new, good, and profitable way of life." Aspen residents claimed Lift No. 1 was the longest chairlift in the world.
The lift officially opened on January 11, 1947. Governor-elect William Lee Knous and Senator Edwin C. Johnson came on a special train from Denver. Knous gave a speech and symbolically "christened" the lift by breaking a bottle of champagne over a chair. About 2,000 people watched a parade, fireworks, and ski jumping shows. This day is seen as the end of Aspen's "quiet years." It marked the beginning of Aspen as a popular resort for the rich and famous.
A year later, the lift was featured in Popular Mechanics magazine as an amazing engineering feat. As planned, it helped the ski area grow. Over the next 20 years, many lodges and chalets were built nearby. New lifts were added. Ski Lift No. 1 closed at the end of the 1971 season.
It was replaced by a new double chair, Lift 1A. Lift 1A only went halfway up the mountain. Eventually, it was replaced when Aspen built a gondola all the way to the summit. In 1999, trees and bushes around Lift 1's base were removed to show the original structure.
Ski Lift No. 1 is one of only four single-chair lifts still existing in the United States. The area in front of the lift's bottom station is now called Willoughby Park, named after Frank Willoughby. A special sign is attached to the bottom station. The Aspen Historical Society has suggested building a skiing museum there. It might include some nearby buildings and the lift itself.
How the Lift Operated
Former instructor Klaus Obermeyer remembers that the ride to the base of Lift No. 2 took half an hour if it didn't stop. It often did stop. One journalist remembers singing "Nearer My God to Thee" to pass the time. Blankets were put on the chairs to keep skiers warm. Many still stopped at the warming hut at the top before going to the summit. Lift No. 2 was not as well designed. The wheels that the cables ran through were right above passengers. They often dripped oil and grease on them. The resort promised to dry clean any clothes stained by the drips. Obermeyer says they had to do a lot of dry cleaning!
Sometimes, a dog even rode up the chair. According to Obermeyer, Bingo, a St. Bernard belonging to another instructor, often climbed the mountain to meet his owner for lunch. Sometimes, the lift operators let Bingo ride up instead.
