Snowmass Village, Colorado

Last updated

Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado
Snowmass Village.JPG
Pitkin County Colorado Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Snowmass Village Highlighted 0871755.svg
Location of Snowmass Village in Pitkin County, Colorado.
Coordinates: 39°12′51″N106°56′43″W / 39.21417°N 106.94528°W / 39.21417; -106.94528
Country Flag of the United States.svg  United States
State Flag of Colorado.svg  Colorado
County [1] Pitkin County
SettledAbt. 1910
Incorporated 1977 [2]
Government
  Type Home rule municipality [1]
Area
[3]
  Total27.86 sq mi (72.17 km2)
  Land27.78 sq mi (71.95 km2)
  Water0.08 sq mi (0.21 km2)
Elevation
[4]
8,209 ft (2,502 m)
Population
 (2020) [5]
  Total3,096
  Density110/sq mi (43/km2)
Time zone UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP code [6]
81615 (PO Box)
Area code 970
FIPS code 08-71755
GNIS feature ID 0204832
Highways none
Website www.tosv.com

Snowmass Village is a home rule municipality in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,096 at the 2020 census. [5] A popular winter resort location for skiing and snowboarding, the town is well known as the location of the Snowmass ski area, the largest of the four nearby ski areas operated collectively as Aspen/Snowmass. In 2010, the accidental discovery by a bulldozer operator of fossilized elements of a Pleistocene ecosystem in the ice age lake bed at the Ziegler Reservoir (commonly referred to as the Snowmastodon site) put Snowmass Village prominently on the paleontological map of North America. [7]

Contents

Geography

Snowmass Village is located at 39°12′51″N106°56′43″W / 39.21417°N 106.94528°W / 39.21417; -106.94528 (39.214104, -106.945288). [8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.6 square miles (66 km2), of which 25.5 square miles (66 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.35%) is water.

Snowmass Village is to the north and at the base of the Snowmass Ski Area. It is located on Brush Creek, not Snowmass Creek. Within the area of the town, Owl Creek and Brush Creek join and then flow north into the Roaring Fork River. Visible from the village from east to west are Burnt Mountain Ridge, Burnt Mountain, Baldy Mountain, Chapel Peak, Garret Peak, Clark Peak, Mount Daly, and Capitol Peak. Neither Snowmass Mountain nor Snowmass Peak, at the headwaters of Snowmass Creek, are visible from Snowmass Village.

The geologic unit Mancos Shale underlies most of the area. On slopes too steep for vegetation, this shale is visible as gray expanses of eroding bedrock. On south-facing slopes, the alkaline soil that develops from the shales supports Gambel oak, sagebrush, serviceberry, and chokecherry. The north-facing slopes feature aspen, subalpine fir, Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and blue spruce.

The area around Snowmass Village has abundant wildlife including black bears which feed on the acorns and berries of the south-facing slopes.

History

The Brush Creek Valley was settled circa 1910 by ranching families including: Sinclair, Melton, Stapleton, and Hoaglund. [9] As a child, Hilder Hoaglund would ride her horse into Aspen to go to school. Her father, Charles Hoaglund, immigrated from Sweden in the 1800s. After a school was built in Brush Creek valley, she attended the Brush Creek Frontier School, now called the Little Red Schoolhouse, located on Owl Creek Road. She became a teacher at that school and then at the Red Brick School in Aspen. At the schoolhouse, she played the accordion or piano for community dances. When she married Bill Anderson, the Hoaglund Ranch became the Anderson Ranch.

Paul Soldner, a ceramic artist noted for developing American Raku, established a studio in the Anderson Ranch buildings in 1966. He founded the Anderson Ranch Arts Center and incorporated it into a non-profit in 1973. [10] The Anderson Ranch Arts Center on Owl Creek Road uses many of the original buildings from the Hoaglund Ranch, although not in their original location, farther down stream on what is now Snowmass Club Circle.

Under the leadership of Bill Janss and DRC Brown, the American Cement Company developed Snowmass Village as a ski resort starting in 1966. * [11] Hayfields were subdivided and the lots sold for houses. Brush Creek is an unappealing name for a ski area, so they named the resort Snowmass after the valley to the west of Brush Creek. Fritz Benidict acted as the architect of the Snowmass ski area. The Campground Chairlift serving the western edge of the ski area, actually does extend into the Snowmass Valley. Five chairlifts were installed: Fanny Hill, Burlingame, and Sam's Knob, the Big Burn, and Campground.

The Snowmass ski area first opened on December 16, 1967. The new ski area hired Olympic medalist Stein Eriksen to direct the ski school. Besides experience as a skier and instructor, Stein Eriksen brought an aura of European glamor to the raw new resort. [12]

Brush Creek Road was paved in 1968. The former hayfields still had mostly alfalfa into the 1970s. The Snowmass Golf Course was first laid out with nine holes in (need date). It was expanded and redesigned several times (need dates), the latest in 2001 by James Engh. The periodic re-landscaping of the golf course led to the relocation of ranch houses and to changes in the valley floor from flat or sloping fields to rolling hills with ponds.

The Snowmass Wildcat Fire Protection District was founded in 1971 and the firehouse built on Owl Creek Road.

Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy abducted and murdered Caryn Campbell in Snowmass Village on January 12, 1975. Her body was later found along the Owl Creek road near what is now the Facilities Maintenance Division.

In 1977, the community incorporated as the Town of Snowmass Village.

The Snowmass Chapel was built near the firehouse on Owl Creek Road in 1988. Previous to this time, church services were held in the Opticon Movie Theater or in the open air Aspen Grove Chapel, where benches were set up under aspen trees separating two ski runs. Later the area was cleared for more condominiums off Wood Road.

Today, Snowmass Village has experienced a building boom, as new condominiums, luxury homes, mountainside mansions, and Base Village have recently been constructed. Westin Hotels and the Viceroy Hotel Group have recently built a respective hotel in Snowmass. Snowmass Village is also experiencing a rising influx of wealthy tourists and skiers.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1980 999
1990 1,44945.0%
2000 1,82225.7%
2010 2,82655.1%
2020 3,0969.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

Real estate

Snowmass Village's real estate, as Aspen's, is much more expensive than the US average. Single family homes are rarely available under $2 million. In the second half of 2020, the average single family home in Snowmass Village sold for $4 million, [13] compared to $11 million in Aspen. [14] The average condo/townhouse in Snowmass Village, many of which are ski-in/ski-out, sold for nearly $1.5 million. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspen, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains' Sawatch Range and Elk Mountains, along the Roaring Fork River at an elevation just below 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level on the Western Slope, 11 miles (18 km) west of the Continental Divide. Aspen is now a part of the Glenwood Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vail, Colorado</span> Town in Colorado, United States

Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually, such as the Vail Film Festival, Vail Resorts Snow Days, and Bravo! Vail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowmass, Colorado</span> Unincorporated community in Colorado, United States

Snowmass is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office located in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. It is situated in the valley of the Roaring Fork River, near the mouth of Snowmass Creek along State Highway 82 between Aspen and Basalt. It consists largely of a post office, several commercial businesses, and surrounding houses and ranches. The Snowmass Post Office has the ZIP Code 81654.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk Mountains (Colorado)</span> Mountain range in Colorado, United States

The Elk Mountains are a high, rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of west-central Colorado in the United States. The mountains sit on the western side of the Continental Divide, largely in southern Pitkin and northern Gunnison counties, in the area southwest of Aspen, south of the Roaring Fork River valley, and east of the Crystal River. The range sits west of the Sawatch Range and northeast of the West Elk Mountains. Much of the range is located within the White River National Forest and the Gunnison National Forest, as well as the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness and Raggeds Wilderness. The Elk Mountains rise nearly 9,000 ft. above the Roaring Fork Valley to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowmass Mountain</span> Mountain in Colorado, United States

Snowmass Mountain is a 14,099-foot-high (4,297 m) mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the thirty-fourth highest mountain peak in the state. Located in the Elk Mountains within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of the White River National Forest, it lies along the border between Pitkin and Gunnison counties, west of Aspen and southwest of the town of Snowmass Village.

Snowmass may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspen/Snowmass</span> Winter resort complex

Aspen Snowmass is a winter resort complex located in Pitkin County in western Colorado in the United States. Owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company it comprises four skiing/snowboarding areas on four adjacent mountains in the vicinity of the towns of Aspen and Snowmass Village. The four areas collectively form one of the most famous winter resorts in the world and are annually the destination for visitors from all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspen Mountain (ski area)</span> Ski area in Colorado, United States

Aspen Mountain is a ski area in the western United States, located in Pitkin County, Colorado, just outside and above the city of Aspen. Situated on the north flank of Aspen Mountain, its summit elevation is 11,212 feet (3,417 m) above sea level. Aspen Mountain forms the end of Richmond Ridge, a long ridge that extends ten miles (16 km) south at approximately 11,000 ft (3,350 m) to join the main spine of the Elk Mountains.

The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as Ski Co, is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Skiing Company operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, which comprises four ski areas: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roaring Fork Valley</span> Place in Colorado, United States

The Roaring Fork Valley is a geographical region in western Colorado in the United States. The Roaring Fork Valley is one of the most affluent regions in Colorado and the U.S. as well as one of the most populous and economically vital areas of the Colorado Western Slope. The Valley is defined by the valley of the Roaring Fork River and its tributaries, including the Crystal and Fryingpan River. It includes the communities of Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs. Mount Sopris and the Roaring Fork River serve as symbols of the Roaring Fork Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado State Highway 82</span> 85-mile road across mountains from Leadville through Aspen to Glenwood Springs

State Highway 82 is an 85.3-mile-long (137.3 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Colorado. Its western half provides the principal transportation artery of the Roaring Fork Valley on the Colorado Western Slope, beginning at Interstate 70 (I-70) and U.S. Highway 6 in Glenwood Springs southeast past Carbondale, Basalt and Aspen. From there it continues up the valley to cross the Continental Divide at Independence Pass. On the Eastern Slope, it follows Lake Creek past some of Colorado's highest mountains to Twin Lakes Reservoir, where it ends at US 24 south of Leadville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White River National Forest</span> National forest in northwest Colorado

White River National Forest is a National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River that passes through its northern section. It is the most visited National Forest in the United States, primarily from users of the twelve ski areas within its boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver Creek, Colorado</span> Unincorporated community in State of Colorado, USA

Beaver Creek is an unincorporated community in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. Beaver Creek is located immediately south of the town of Avon and encompasses the Beaver Creek Resort and adjacent business, lodging, golf course, and residential areas. The U.S. Post Office at Avon serves Beaver Creek postal addresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowmass (ski area)</span> Ski area in Colorado, United States

Snowmass is a ski resort located in the Town of Snowmass Village near Aspen, Colorado. The ski area is owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company as part of the Aspen/Snowmass complex. It was opened on December 17, 1967 . Snowmass is the largest of the four Aspen/Snowmass mountains, comprising 3,362 acres (1,361 ha).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maroon Creek Bridge</span> Bridge in CO, USA

The original Maroon Creek Bridge is a steel trestle along State Highway 82 at the western boundary of Aspen, Colorado, United States. It was designed by George S. Morison in 1888 for the Colorado Midland Railroad, one of the last viaducts in Colorado built for a standard gauge mountain railroad in the 19th century. Of the five steel bridges the Midland built, it is the only one still extant. Due to the later removal of most track and the rail depots, the bridge is the most visible remnant of rail service to Aspen. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with other highway bridges in the state, including the Sheely Bridge, also in Aspen.

Colorado offers many world-class ski resorts. The following table compares their various sizes, runs, lifts, and snowfall:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowmastodon site</span>

References

  1. 1 2 "Active Colorado Municipalities". State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  2. "Colorado Municipal Incorporations". State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. December 1, 2004. Retrieved September 2, 2007.
  3. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  4. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  5. 1 2 United States Census Bureau. "Snowmass Village town; Colorado" . Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  6. "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service . Retrieved January 3, 2008.
  7. (National Public Radio) "Mammoth Find Gives Glimpse Of Rockies In Ice Age"; (Fox News) "Dozer Driver Makes Fossil Discovery of the Century", 20 November 2010.
  8. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  9. "Snowmass".
  10. Newby, Rick (2004). The Rocky Mountain Region. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 45. ISBN   978-0-313-32817-6.
  11. Snowmass: A History Beyond and Between the Slopes | Snowmass Village
  12. Anderson, Paul (2013). The Story of Snowmass. Snowmass Village, CO: Snowmass Village Community Fund. pg 108-109
  13. 1 2 "Estin Report Aspen Snowmass Real Estate 2021 ws". Tim Estin. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  14. Carroll, Rick. "Aspen-area real estate sales top record $3 billion for 2020". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved January 16, 2021.