{"id":2444798,"date":"2019-05-30T21:36:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T03:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/crown-familys-8-million-land-buy-guarantees-skicos-aspen-mountain-access\/"},"modified":"2019-05-31T06:30:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T12:30:55","slug":"crown-familys-8-million-land-buy-guarantees-skicos-aspen-mountain-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/crown-familys-8-million-land-buy-guarantees-skicos-aspen-mountain-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown family\u2019s $8 million land buy guarantees Skico\u2019s Aspen Mountain access"},"content":{"rendered":"
An Aspen Skiing Co.-affiliated group purchased this area on Little Annie Basin for about $8 million to provide space for its Powder Tours and potentially build another cabin.<\/strong>
Aubree Dallas<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly 163 acres of prime backcountry skiing terrain on Aspen Mountain\u2019s backside has been reserved for customers of Aspen Skiing Co. thanks to a more than $8 million real estate deal inked in early March.<\/p>\n

Not only will skiers and snowboarders who sign up for Skico\u2019s Powder Tours be able to access in perpetuity a large portion of the backside and Richmond Ridge in winter, they could one day come back in summer for guided hiking, mountain biking and camping on the property, according to Pitkin County documents and sources.<\/p>\n

In addition, the purchase by the Crown family \u2014 Skico\u2019s owners \u2014 and at least one partner also comes with the right to develop a second cabin on Richmond Ridge near a 250-square-foot \u201cLunch Cabin\u201d already on the property, according to documents filed in the Pitkin County Clerk\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crown family, together with others \u2026 made the purchase to help ensure that the back side of Aspen remains used generally in a manner consistent with historic use, which includes ASC\u2019s use,\u201d said Rana Dershowitz, Skico\u2019s chief legal officer and senior vice president of real estate, in an email to The Aspen Times earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can also confirm that ASC\u2019s goal has been to protect its Powder Tours operations for the long term,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A longtime Aspen resident said one of the Crowns\u2019 partners in the deal is Sam Walton, an heir to the family who started Walmart and who owns a home in Aspen. The resident, who asked for anonymity, is acquainted with Walton and said Walton confirmed his involvement.<\/p>\n

Efforts to reach Walton were not successful. Walton and another family member recently received permission to build 4.5 miles of publicly accessible trails<\/a> on 221 acres they own in Coal Basin northwest of Redstone.<\/p>\n

Dershowitz \u2014 listed as the \u201cauthorized signatory\u201d of the company that bought the property from John Miller and Castle Creek Investors \u2014 did not respond to a question about whom else purchased the property with the Crowns.<\/p>\n

Jim Crown, Skico\u2019s managing partner, also declined to comment on the purchase Wednesday. Miller said he did not know who purchased the property, though he said he heard the Crowns were involved.<\/p>\n

The company formed by the Crowns and Walton \u2014 called AM Summit 105 \u2014 paid $8.15 million March 5 for three groupings of mining claims that encompass a total of 162.79 acres on Aspen Mountain\u2019s back side and along Richmond Hill Road, according to documents filed in the county Clerk\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Of that total acreage, 109.4 acres are sterilized from development and deed restricted as conservation sites, according to a Castle Creek Investors brochure listing the properties for sale. In other words, the development rights granted by Pitkin County\u2019s Rural and Remote backcountry zoning rules that were associated with those mining claims have been transferred off, the brochure states.<\/p>\n

The property \u2014 located between Midnight Mine Road and Richmond Ridge Road with Little Annie Road running through the middle \u2014 is \u201ccritical to any skiing operation or use,\u201d CCI\u2019s brochure says.<\/p>\n

The remaining 53.39 acres \u2014 known as the \u201cSummit Parcel\u201d \u2014 is located about 1.5 miles south of the top of Aspen Mountain along Richmond Ridge Road. It contains the 250-square-foot Lunch Cabin where Skico\u2019s Aspen Powder Tours stop in winter to provide a hot meal for clients, according to the county documents. The entire nearly 163 acres was originally listed for sale in the CCI brochure for $10 million.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County commissioners previously granted permission to the owners of the Summit Parcel to build a new residential cabin on one of the included mining claims, according to documents filed at the Clerk\u2019s Office and the brochure. That cabin cannot be larger than 730 square feet unless the Lunch Cabin is removed.<\/p>\n

If the Lunch Cabin is removed, the new residential cabin can be 1,000 square feet, the maximum footprint allowed under Rural and Remote. Commissioners also could grant permission for a larger residential cabin footprint without removing the Lunch Cabin under the county\u2019s special review process, according to the documents.<\/p>\n

The day after AM Summit bought the property, it granted an easement to Skico that allows use of the property for the winter and summer recreational activities spelled out in the easement.<\/p>\n

In winter, Skico\u2019s customers can ski, snowboard and engage \u201cin other snow-sliding activities \u2026 including a guided skiing service and a Nordic skiing trail system,\u201d according to the easement. Skico snowmobiles and snowcats will have unlimited access to the terrain.<\/p>\n

Dershowitz said the easement allows the ski company \u201cto continue operations of Powder Tours on the property in a manner consistent with past practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summer activities on the property can include guided mountain biking, guided hiking, \u201cnature walks\u201d and camping, according to the easement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe easement we received also allows for certain limited summer activities such as \u2026 guided mountain biking, however, ASC does not have any current plans to start summer activities on these lands,\u201d Dershowitz said in the email. \u201cBeyond (protecting the Powder Tours), there is no intent by the owners to undertake changes at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of the land purchased by the Crowns and Walton in March is part of Skico\u2019s proposed master plan for Aspen Mountain, which is currently under consideration by Pitkin County commissioners.<\/p>\n

Some in Aspen have voiced concerns that the purchase is an effort to corral snowmobiles and keep them off certain areas of Aspen Mountain\u2019s backside. While the principals involved in the purchase declined to comment, Miller made no bones about his opinion of snowmobile activity back there.<\/p>\n

A portion of those who snowmobile on Aspen Mountain\u2019s backside don\u2019t respect private property and destroy backcountry powder fields for skiing, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the snowmobilers have been very rude,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey go chop up the snow \u2026 (and) it cuts it up for powder skiing and ruins it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

Nearly 163 acres of prime backcountry skiing terrain on Aspen Mountain\u2019s backside has been reserved for customers of Aspen Skiing Co. thanks to a more than $8 million real estate deal inked in early March. Not only will skiers and snowboarders who sign up for Skico\u2019s Powder Tours be able to access in perpetuity a […]<\/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-2444798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 00:50:00","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\/2444798","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=2444798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2444814,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444798\/revisions\/2444814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}