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Hikers, mountain bikers, families and other visitors will have a whole lot more to do in Snowmass this summer, as the Aspen Skiing Co. is undertaking a major expansion of its summer program.

SkiCo got the green light from Snowmass Village Town Council on Monday night to launch a new summer operations plan on Snowmass Ski Area for the next three years.

The plan includes running the Elk Camp Gondola seven days per week and the Elk Camp chairlift on weekends. The Elk Camp Meadows area, which was made into a beginner area for skiers and snowboarders in the winter, will be the hub of a summer activity area that includes a children’s play area, climbing wall, disc golf and fishing. Camp Aspen/Snowmass will offer mountain bike lessons, mountainboarding and supervised fishing there, and Café Suzanne will be open for meals in addition to being available for groups and conferences.

From there, 25 miles of new hiking and biking trails will be accessible, including gondola-served biking on 10 new trails or hiking on six trails served by either the gondola or the Elk Camp chair.

The 15-plus miles of mountain bike trails includes beginner practice trails in the Meadows area, intermediate descents to the Snowmass Mall and Base Village, and connections to existing trails on the east and west sides of Snowmass mountain. A downhill bike trail from the summit and a freeride biking trail are also in the planning stages, but won’t open until summer 2011.

More than 8 miles of hiking trails will allow hikers to descend from the top of the gondola to Base Village, ascend to the Elk Camp summit, and connect to the Government and other existing trails.

Most of the new trails are already built, said a SkiCo official.

The chairlift can also be used for scenic rides to the 11,300-foot summit of Elk Camp.

The Forest Service has to approve certain activities on its land, as well as a proposed new Café Suzanne restaurant building, which SkiCo is hoping to start construction on in 2011.

An economic stimulus?

For the past seven summers, the town of Snowmass Village has operated the slow Burlingame double chair to access trails and other activities, and paid for summer trail rangers and trail maintenance and construction. The program cost the town up to $120,000 per year, except last summer when the number of days the lift was run was cut back due to budget concerns. There are no funds in the town’s 2010 budget for summer mountain activity.
Per an agreement that dates back to the Base Village approval in 2005, SkiCo is taking over all the costs and operation of summer activity, but only for three years. The switch had to be triggered by Town Council, which is what happened on Monday by a 4-0 vote.

SkiCo executive David Perry told the council on Monday that it would cost $3,400 to $3,500 per day to run the Elk Camp Gondola — far more than the $1,400 to $1,500 it cost to run Burlingame — and that it would take 100 paying customers per day to pay for the gondola operation. The cost of a summer ticket would average around $15, Perry said.

“Our intention is to create and fund a viable summer operation here,” he said, “but we recognize it will take time to ramp up to that. Although some people on the team think we’ll be successful right out of chute.”

At the last council discussion on summer ski area activities, in December, some council members wondered whether it was prudent given economic conditions to go with a new, cost-intensive summer program, especially since the town might be left to foot the bill after SkiCo’s three-year contract period.

Snowmass Mountain Manager Steve Sewell estimated the SkiCo would spend $600,000 to $800,000 on trail work and possibly $15 million on the new restaurant. A rough number of $300,000 per summer was tossed out as the annual operations cost.

But little in the way of economic concern was expressed by Town Council last night. On the contrary.

“My gut feeling is this is going to be very successful and it’s going to be fine,” said Councilman Reed Lewis.

“This town really needs an economic stimulus and I look to this as an opportunity to stimulate the economy in our town,” said Councilman John Wilkinson. “I’m really convinced this is what we need for our community.”

“This mountain is the bread and butter for winter use and we need to allow it to be that for our summer time use,” said Mayor Bill Boineau.

Still, council members quizzed SkiCo on the cost of the operation, and the two entities agreed to meet after the first summer season when those costs will be known more specifically.

The council also wants to keep the doors open for discussion on how to fund the operation after the SkiCo finishes its three years. Some liked the idea of putting a cap on what the town would put in.

“We should be in a partnership to run it so it’s not all on our backs,” said Boineau.

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