Aspen Mountain's New Lift Doesn't Stop at Little Nell. Here's What Changes on Ajax This Winter

In the winter of 1979, Rachael Richards worked at the Sundeck and rode the old Bell Mountain chair up to her shift. She told Aspen City Council last fall that it was "a long, sometimes cold, 45-minute ride up to work," as The Aspen Times reported. By then she was Aspen's mayor, and she was voting on the lift that would replace it. She liked the shorter ride time. She was less happy about one design choice: the new lift would have no station partway up.

The lift is the Nell Bell, and it debuts on Aspen Mountain this winter. Most of the coverage leads with speed, and the speed is real. Taken together with the removal of Lift 1A on the west side, though, Nell Bell changes something bigger. For the first time in decades, every lift leaving town on Ajax drops you at mid-mountain or higher.

One continuous ride replaces two old ones

For years, getting to the top of Bell meant riding two lifts. Little Nell went up from the base, and the Bell Mountain double loaded near the top of the Little Nell run. Together they ended at a terminal just above the base of Ajax Express. Nell Bell, a high-speed Leitner-Poma quad, follows that whole path as one ride from Gondola Plaza to the top of Bell Mountain.

Aspen Snowmass lists 135 chairs and a vertical rise of about 2,650 feet. In the 2024-25 season the Bell chair ran twice and Little Nell ran 28 days. The old lifts weren't really a second way up the mountain anymore. Nell Bell is built to be one.

The old equipment had reached its limit. According to the Aspen Daily News, lift mechanic Michael Blakeslee wrote to the U.S. Forest Service that parts were getting hard to find. He said his crew could spend more hours on the Bell chair than on almost all the other Aspen Mountain lifts combined. The Forest Service signed its decision on March 19, 2026. On Oct. 8, the new loading station at the base was still under construction.

Two ways up from town, and both go high

Nell Bell arrives as the west side of the mountain loses its lift. The Aspen Daily News reported in July that 2025-26 was the last season for Lift 1A, the Shadow Mountain double. The paper reported that crews would start removing its chairs and haul rope that week, with the towers to follow later in the summer or fall, to make room for the Lift One corridor redevelopment, which includes an Aman hotel and the Chalet Alpina complex. According to Aspen Public Radio, a sequencing agreement for the corridor estimates the new lift will be installed in 2029 and open for the 2029-30 winter, and that schedule is an estimate rather than a firm timeline.

City council linked the two projects from the start. "I am very excited that the ski company is, in my eyes, taking this step forward because of the removal of the 1A lift in the near future," Councilman John Doyle said at the first reading, as The Aspen Times reported.

So the town side of Ajax starts this winter with two lifts, the Silver Queen Gondola and Nell Bell. The gondola goes to the summit. Nell Bell goes to the top of Bell, which The Aspen Times describes as the access point for Hero's, Ajax Express and F.I.S. Mak Keeling, Aspen Skiing Company's vice president for mountain planning, called the lift "a cheat code" for reaching those upper lifts, according to the Aspen Daily News. He said the trip from the plaza to the top of Bell would be several minutes faster than taking the gondola to the summit and skiing down. He also said Nell Bell should shorten base lines on busy days and could carry skiers when the gondola stops for wind or mechanical problems. Because it runs closer to the ground, it may also close less often than the gondola on gusty days.

That backup matters more now than it would have a year ago. With 1A gone, a day when the gondola can't run used to mean almost no way up from town. This winter there is a high-speed one.

What a missing midway stop changes

Nell Bell is fast because it doesn't stop partway, and that same choice shapes the lower mountain. The Little Nell run used to have its own lift. Now it is the way back down to the plaza. Aspen Snowmass's own page for Aspen Mountain notes that Ajax has limited beginner terrain. Mayor Richards described what the old setup did:

"I'm a little concerned you're going to get skiers far beyond their ability getting a lot further up the mountain and having to come down and thinking that they can handle it, and they used to find out on Little Nell they might not be able to handle the rest of the mountain."

The Aspen Times carried that comment from the first-reading vote. The alignment also ends something specific to Aspen. The Aspen Daily News reported that it rules out night skiing on Little Nell, and that SkiCo may consider night skiing on its other mountains in the future.

SkiCo picked this layout on purpose. The 2018 Aspen Mountain master plan looked at options that loaded farther uphill. After Hero's opened in 2023 and the Gent's Ridge chair came out in 2024, the company decided a lift running all the way to the base was the "better alignment for the overall skier experience," according to a Pitkin County review memo cited by the Aspen Daily News. Keeling has also said the lift will allow quicker laps on Bell Mountain and Gent's Ridge. The new layout favors laps on Bell over laps on Little Nell.

The base-area calendar under the new layout

Several of Aspen Mountain's traditions end at the bottom of Little Nell, and the old Little Nell chair used to carry participants up for them. When the council reviewed the lift, Aspen Mountain manager Travis Benson said a higher unload point shouldn't be a problem for most participants. Many can already ski to the Little Nell run from higher on the hill, he said, and a snowcat, snowmobile or toboggan could help anyone who needs it. That was the plan in December 2025. These are the first events to try it:

1. Wintersköl, Dec. 10–13, 2026. The weekend includes a torchlight descent and fireworks on Aspen Mountain. The Aspen Chamber schedule lists them for Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.
2. The 17th Audi Ajax Cup, Dec. 30, 2026. This is the annual fundraiser for the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club.
3. Aspen Gay Ski Week, Jan. 17–24, 2027. The downhill costume contest runs Jan. 22 from noon to 3 p.m. at the foot of Aspen Mountain, and contestants are asked to arrive at West Gondola Plaza.

None of the organizers has said publicly whether the new lift changes their plans. For each event, the open question is how participants get up the hill, since the finish stays at the bottom of Little Nell.

Opening day is four weeks out

Aspen Mountain and Snowmass are set to open Nov. 26, with Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk following Dec. 12, all depending on conditions. Aspen Snowmass has promised Nell Bell for winter 2026-27 but has not said whether it will run on opening day. Either way, the mountain you ski this season is set up differently than it was in April. From town, one lift goes to the summit and the other goes to the top of Bell. The Little Nell run now only brings you down.

If you're thinking about how changes at the base of Aspen Mountain affect where you stay or own near Gondola Plaza and the Lift One corridor, let's connect. Schedule a private consultation with Karina Kwasnicka Marx, in English, Spanish or Portuguese.