{"id":2444507,"date":"2019-05-22T21:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T03:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/ruthies-huts-mountain-biking-axed-from-aspen-mountain-master-plan\/"},"modified":"2019-05-22T21:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T03:28:00","slug":"ruthies-huts-mountain-biking-axed-from-aspen-mountain-master-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/ruthies-huts-mountain-biking-axed-from-aspen-mountain-master-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruthie\u2019s huts, mountain biking axed from Aspen Mountain master plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
Paul Conrad\/The Aspen Times<\/strong>
AP | The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overnight cabins near Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant and gondola-served mountain biking will not be part of the new master plan for Aspen Mountain.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County commissioners shot down the two ideas<\/a> Wednesday while expressing skepticism about nighttime use of a reopened Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant, expansion of Buckhorn Cabin and plans that could turn the top of the mountain into an amusement park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really needed to have resort cabins on the mountain,\u201d Commissioner George Newman said. \u201cIt takes away from what the ski mountain really is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the urbanization of the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, all four commissioners said they were not in favor of the Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s proposal to build one or two overnight huts upslope from Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant that would have accommodated between eight and 20 visitors each. Commissioner Patti Clapper has recused herself from discussions about the master plan because her son-in-law works on Aspen Mountain.<\/p>\n

\u201cCabins don\u2019t seem to work there,\u201d Board Chairman Greg Poschman said. \u201cThe cabins are a non-starter at Ruthie\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poschman did say, however, that Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant \u2014 which closed about 10 years ago \u2014 should open again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to see Ruthie\u2019s open again during the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Skico, however, is also asking for nighttime use of a reopened Ruthie\u2019s, which didn\u2019t generate as much enthusiasm among board members.<\/p>\n

Newman at first said he was opposed to any nighttime use of the restaurant because light pollution from the facility can be seen from town. However, after Poschman and Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury said they would support limited use of Ruthie\u2019s at night for special events \u2014 such as F.I.S. races or a holiday dinner \u2014 Newman said he could compromise on the issue.<\/p>\n

What he doesn\u2019t want to see at Ruthie\u2019s is nightly dinner service, Newman said.<\/p>\n

McNicholas Kury suggested a maximum of six events a year at Ruthie\u2019s.<\/p>\n

As part of the master plan, Skico also has proposed a two-year trial period in which the gondola would be used to transport mountain bikes to the top of Aspen Mountain for summer downhilling.<\/p>\n

But Newman and Poschman said they were concerned about the possibility of safety issues with other users, including people on four-wheelers and hikers. Problems are likely to come up without mountain biking-only trails similar to those at Snowmass, Newman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very nervous that conflicts could arise,\u201d Poschman said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll ever be comfortable with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Aspen Mountain has a few mountain bike trails that have been constructed over the years, most bikers would likely ride county roads like Summer Road, Midnight Mine or Little Annie, said Suzanne Wolff, Pitkin County assistant community development director.<\/p>\n

McNicholas Kury said the board could re-address the mountain biking issue when and if Skico comes up with dedicated mountain biking trails.<\/p>\n

As for the expansion of Buckhorn Cabin \u2014 a popular picnic and party spot nearly every Saturday and Sunday during ski season \u2014 commissioners asked Skico officials to rein in their plans a bit.<\/p>\n

The master plan calls for demolishing the current 300-square-foot cabin and replacing it with a 1,000-square-foot building with bathrooms and a 2,000-square-foot deck built nearly on the ridgeline.<\/p>\n

Poschman noted that Buckhorn\u2019s current small size borders on inconsequential.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s presently so undersized, it\u2019s useless for any kind of shelter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Newman suggested making the cabin 500 square feet, though Poschman thought that might not be big enough to include the bathrooms.<\/p>\n

Mostly, Poschman said he\u2019d like to see the building pulled back from the ridgeline and situated better.<\/p>\n

David Corbin, Skico senior vice president, said he\u2019d come back with a resized and resituated plan for Buckhorn.<\/p>\n

Skico also wanted designated \u201crights\u201d to construct minor structures near the gondola like bungee trampolines, climbing walls, ropes courses, challenge courses and other activities geared toward children and teens. The company also wants to reserve the right to build an alpine slide, water slides, zip lines and offer horseback riding, mountain boarding and other more significant activities under the county\u2019s \u201cspecial review\u201d process. That means commissioners would have the ability to approve or deny those uses.<\/p>\n

Aspen Mountain is not Snowmass, Newman said, and doesn\u2019t have a lot of room for such activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate for Aspen Mountain,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re turning the top of Aspen Mountain into Disneyland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman suggested making all uses involving the construction of a new structures subject to special review. Corbin, however, said he\u2019d like to come back with better details on how the low-impact uses they\u2019re proposing would be built and situated.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s the issue of public access at the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n

Skico wants to relocate Richmond Hill Road out of new ski terrain in that area called Pandora<\/a>. That would require the county to give up its current right-of-way for the road and accept a new right-of-way, Corbin said. Public access to Richmond Ridge would remain, though the road would be fenced \u2014 possibly with permanent fencing \u2014 to keep mechanized traffic from skiers, he said.<\/p>\n

The realignment is acceptable to the county\u2019s engineering department, Corbin said.<\/p>\n

It was not acceptable, however, to two members of the public who spoke to commissioners Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Claude Salter, who owns a cabin on the backside of Aspen Mountain, urged commissioners to make Skico come up with a specific road plan that ensures public access.<\/p>\n

Marcella Larsen, another Aspen Mountain property owner, said the new road is long and contributes to the urbanization of the top of the mountain. Instead of moving the road, Larsen suggested moving the top of the proposed new Pandora lift from Richmond Ridge to a point below it.<\/p>\n

Her plan preserves public access and minimizes disturbances, Larsen said.<\/p>\n

Commissioners will continue discussion of the Aspen Mountain master plan June 26.<\/p>\n

jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Conrad\/The Aspen TimesAP | The Aspen Times Overnight cabins near Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant and gondola-served mountain biking will not be part of the new master plan for Aspen Mountain. Pitkin County commissioners shot down the two ideas Wednesday while expressing skepticism about nighttime use of a reopened Ruthie\u2019s Restaurant, expansion of Buckhorn Cabin and plans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2444507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 17:04:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}