If you want a piece of Aspen ski history, now could be the perfect time.
To make way for its new Nell Bell chairlift, Aspen Mountain, Colorado, has taken down its historic Bell Mountain and Little Nell chairlifts. The two lifts served the resort’s skiers and snowboarders for nearly 120 combined years. While it is disappointing to see them go, it could be an opportunity for ski history buffs to get their hands on a rare item.
Aspen Mountain has sent chairs from Little Nell and Bell Mountain to auction, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the public to take home a piece of Aspen ski history. There are 15 Little Nell chairs and 100 Bell Mountain chairs available, with the auction running online from July 4 through July 19. Bidding started at $25o for The Little Nell chairs and $500 for Bell Mountain chairs. Every dollar raised goes towards voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts, the protection of voting rights, and climate action.
So far, the auction has raised nearly $15,000 through public bidding for the chairs. Bids can be placed on the auction’s web page.
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Giving Back to the Aspen Community
In addition to the public auction, Aspen Mountain is giving history back to its local community. A total of 24 chairs will be given to local community organizations, including the Aspen School District, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES), the Aspen Hope Center, Ski Noir, and other organizations.
The resort will place 75 chairs in an Aspen One employee raffle, with tickets available to employees for $10 each. Proceeds from the raffle will support organizations and candidates working toward climate action and protecting voting rights.
An additional 10 chairs will be reimagined as unique pieces of art by the non-profit Buckhorn Public Arts, based in Aspen. The art chairs will be available for auction online, with bidding starting at $2,500 per chair.
“These chairs have carried people up Aspen Mountain for nearly 120 combined years, and their final job is a fitting one,” Aspen Ski Company Director of Sustainability and Philanthropy Hannah Berman said in an Aspen Times article. “We launched this chairlift auction on the Fourth of July, as our country celebrated its 250th anniversary and climate change-fueled fires impacted communities across our state. So the sales benefit two things we think our future depends on: climate action and a healthy democracy. The proceeds will support organizations advancing climate action, defending voting rights, and promoting civic engagement.”
The Chairlifts’ History
The Little Nell chairlift first spun in 1956 as Chair 4. It had replaced the T-bar built on the Little Nell run, which was cleared and created as a beginner’s hill. Little Nell was originally built as a fixed-grip double chair, carrying skiers 673 meters to the top of the Little Nell run near the resort’s base area. The chairlift was upgraded to a four-seater after 30 years of operations in 1986.
The Bell Mountain chairlift opened one year after Little Nell in 1957 as Chair 5, carrying skiers from the bottom of Bell Mountain to the top. At the time, it nearly doubled the resort’s uphill capacity to the top of Aspen Mountain. The two-person fixed-grip chair was manufactured by Riblet and was 2,059 meters in length with a vertical ascent of 657 meters.
In 2025, Aspen Mountain decided to replace the Little Nell and Bell Mountain chairlifts with the new Nell Bell chairlift, a high-speed quad running from the Gondola Plaza to the top of Bell Mountain. The new lift is being installed with the hopes of reducing lift ride times, enhancing operational efficiency, and improving guest experience. It is set to make its debut this coming winter season.
