On the mountain rising directly above downtown Aspen, Colorado, winter 2026/27 is reshaping one of the resort’s historic base-area portals. Preparations are underway for the new Nell Bell, a high-speed detachable quad chairlift designed to link the heart of town with the summit of Bell Mountain in a single ride, retiring two historic lifts at once—the old Bell Mountain chair and the Little Nell chairlift. Highlighted by Aspen Snowmass among its major summer 2026 construction projects, the new line is slated to debut during the 2026/27 season, while the general opening of Aspen Mountain’s slopes is scheduled for Thursday, November 26, 2026.
To understand how significantly this project changes skiers’ routines, one need only look at the departure point. The new Nell Bell will have its base terminal at Gondola Plaza, right alongside the boarding area of the famous Silver Queen gondola that climbs all the way to the summit of Aspen Mountain. Skiers arriving in the center of town in the morning with skis on their shoulders will now have two direct options in front of them: take the gondola straight to the top of the mountain, or hop onto the new high-speed quad to reach the ridge of Bell Mountain directly without having to break the climb across two separate lifts.
Eight hundred and ten meters of vertical steeped in the history of Ajax
The name chosen for the new chairlift is itself a tribute to the heritage of Ajax, as locals and regulars have always called Aspen Mountain: Nell Bell blends into a single name the Bell Mountain chair, which dated all the way back to 1957, and the Little Nell lift, installed in 1986. The unified alignment will carry 135 chairs across a vertical rise of 2,656 feet, or roughly 810 meters, delivering skiers straight into the heart of the mountain’s central terrain.
The Bell Mountain sector brings together many of the ingredients that made skiing on Ajax famous: classic mogul pitches, steep gladed runs through the trees, immaculately groomed cruisers, and dramatic views looking straight down over the rooftops of Aspen. As the resort always reminds visitors, Aspen Mountain maintains a distinctly technical character, with no dedicated trails for first-time beginners and terrain geared instead toward intermediate and expert skiers—meaning the convenience of boarding right from the town square pairs with a mountain that immediately demands solid legs and experience.
Fittingly, the debut of Nell Bell arrives in the very winter that Aspen Snowmass celebrates its eightieth anniversary, marking that first 1946 season that launched Aspen Mountain’s skiing history. For skiers planning a trip to Colorado from Europe, the new lift will be one of the headline additions to experience on a single lift ticket covering all four mountains of the destination: alongside Aspen Mountain, the vast Snowmass ski area is also scheduled to open on November 26, while Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk will follow starting December 12, 2026, in a season set to run on Ajax until April 18, 2027.
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