Snowmass Advances $10 Million Sky Cab Replacement While Airport Flights Surge

Aspen —The smoke didn’t just sit on the valley floor last week; it hung there, a constant, hazy reminder that the air quality advisory wasn’t a suggestion. For locals who had enjoyed a few weeks of relatively clear skies, the return of wildfire smoke across the Northwest mountain region felt less like a weather pattern and more like a disruption to the rhythm of daily life.

The Colorado Smoke Blog warned of a “prolonged stretch” of smoky conditions, with health advisories issued for Grand, Routt, Rio Blanco, Moffat, Larimer, and Boulder counties through Tuesday morning. It wasn’t just about visibility. It was about who could breathe outside, which schools might close, and whether the annual ski season preview would be obscured by the very fires that define the West’s above-average wildfire season.

But while the air quality dominated the top spot in Aspen Times’ most-read stories, the infrastructure beneath our feet was undergoing its own quiet, expensive overhaul.

Snowmass is moving forward with a $10 million replacement for the Sky Cab Gondola, colloquially known as “Skittles.” The current system, constructed in the early 2000s, runs from Lot 1 of the Snowmass Base Village to the Timbermill Property on Daly Lane, right next to the Snowmass Mall. It’s a critical artery for getting visitors — and locals — up the mountain, and it’s showing its age.

Mak Keeling, vice president of Mountain Planning at Aspen Skiing Company, told the Town Council on Monday that the project is on track to begin construction in August 2027. The goal is to have the new gondola operational by Thanksgiving 2027.

“The question is whether the timing holds up,” Keeling noted, emphasizing that staff from both Snowmass and Aspen Skiing Company are currently finalizing the design for the new terminals, cars, and surrounding areas. It’s a significant investment for a town that relies heavily on ski traffic, but the math holds up: you replace the lift before it fails, not after.

While Snowmass was busy planning its future, the logistics of getting to the airport were shifting dramatically. With the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport set to close next summer, American Airlines is preparing to absorb the overflow. The result? A nearly 130% increase in flights to Eagle County Regional Airport (tEGE).

The numbers are stark. The 2027 peak summer flight schedule at tEGE will jump from 46 weekly flights this summer to 112 weekly flights next summer. American Airlines announced a “substantially” expanded summer schedule beginning May 27, 2027, which aligns perfectly with the Aspen airport closure. They’re increasing flights from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from three to four times daily, adding new summer nonstops from Los Angeles International Airport twice daily, and providing one daily flight from Chicago O’Hare.

It’s a logistical pivot that means more traffic on Highway 82 and busier terminals in Eagle. For the commuter driving up from Glenwood Springs, it’s a reminder that the convenience of Aspen’s airport is temporary, and the infrastructure elsewhere is being stretched to compensate.

And if the increased traffic wasn’t enough, the road itself remained a hazard. A Grand Junction man was killed and a woman was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 82 near Carbondale on Sunday. The accident closed the highway for nearly four hours, a delay that locals know all too well can turn a 30-minute commute into an hour-plus slog.

These stories, smoke, construction, flight schedules, and crashes - aren’t just headlines. They’re the reality of living in a valley that is simultaneously a playground, a workplace, and a place where the weather can change the air you breathe in a matter of hours.

To hear Keeling tell it, the Skittles replacement is a necessary evolution. “We’re working with staff to develop the design,” he said, underscoring the collaborative effort between the town and the ski company. It’s a reminder that even as we worry about the air above us, we’re still building the ground beneath us.