The Skittles Gondola Has One Winter Left, and Its Replacement Is Built to Look the Same

"As far as guests are concerned, they will think it is exactly the same." That was how Mak Keeling, Aspen Skiing Co.'s vice president of mountain planning, described the new Sky Cab to the Snowmass Village Town Council, as reported by the Aspen Daily News in August.

That design goal shapes the whole project. The 12 candy-colored cabins over Fanny Hill will look much the same when the replacement opens. The biggest change is capacity, which roughly doubles. The other changes come at the two ends of the line, the Base Village terminal and the Mall terminal. Those are also the pieces the town still hasn't decided.

The calendar for the gondola's last full year

Right now the Sky Cab is shut for the shoulder season. Go Snowmass listed its fall run as weekends only from Sept. 7 through Sept. 27, closed Monday through Thursday except Labor Day. Here is what's left for the 2005 lift the town owns:

1. Nov. 26, 2026. Snowmass opens for the season. Go Snowmass lists the Sky Cab running daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
2. December 2026. Final design for the replacement is expected.
3. Apr. 18, 2027. The ski season and the old gondola's last winter end.
4. June and July 2027. The old gondola runs through the two busiest summer months one last time.
5. August 2027. Construction begins.
6. Thanksgiving 2027. The new gondola is scheduled to open.

So this winter is the last time the Base Village to Mall link runs on the original system for a full ski season. That same winter brings two other changes nearby. Ullrhof, which began a complete rebuild in summer 2025, is set to reopen as Aspen Snowmass's first fully electric restaurant, with seating for more than 600. And the 93-room Stonebridge Inn, which opened shortly after the ski area did in 1967, is due back in December after a $15.7 million renovation, the Aspen Times reported.

The upgrade riders will feel is the wait

The current Sky Cab is a pulse gondola. Instead of a steady stream of cabins, it moves them in clusters of three. The replacement is a high-speed detachable, which Keeling said allows faster pickup and delivery and cuts congestion.

Capacity roughly doubles while the footprint stays the same. Keeling said both bullwheel terminals will look largely as they do now and will reuse as much of the old material as possible. The cabins come from what he called the "highest-end cabin company," with a focus on making the interior components durable. Code requires the terminals to sit 6 inches higher. The cabins grow by about the same amount "for comfort."

The town and SkiCo are splitting the $10 million cost evenly, $5 million each.

Why the colors survive

Doubling capacity on the same route is one reason the new gondola will look familiar. The other is that the town's affection for the cabins comes from the colors. A May 2026 feature in the Skier Scribbler, a local student newspaper, traces the "Skittles" nickname to the red, blue, yellow and green cabins. The student writer remembers riding them.

The replacement keeps the candy theme with one change. Keeling explained that the blue cabins will become purple because "there is no blue Skittle." Talks are still going on about how to spread the candy's five classic colors across 12 cabins, and the decal designs haven't been chosen.

Summer is when the gondola works hardest as a community connector. Go Snowmass points people heading to the free Thursday concerts on Fanny Hill, a series it calls a 34-year tradition, to the free Sky Cab from Base Village. The gondola has carried event crowds between Base Village and the Mall almost from the start. A 2009 Aspen Times story described it carrying Chili Pepper & Brew Festival attendees at no charge. Running the old gondola through June and July 2027 means it handles one more concert season before construction begins.

The open decisions sit at both terminals

The line itself is decided: same route, fewer towers, the same candy theme. The terminals are where things are still open.

At Base Village, the ramp, retaining wall and landscaping planned beyond the existing platform need approval from the neighboring property owners. Keeling called that the only part of the project not yet fully secured or approved, according to the Aspen Daily News. As of the August update, outreach to those owners was scheduled for the following week, and the reporting we reviewed doesn't say how those talks turned out.

At the Mall, the plan replaces the gravel approach at the top terminal with a heated paved walkway, which Keeling described as a better "storefront for the product." What surrounds that walkway depends on other projects. Keeling said he hopes the developers of the new Ritz-Carlton above the Mall will "come to the table with the continuation of the plaza." That Ritz-Carlton proposal would redevelop the Viewline, the Snowmass Conference Center and Wildwood Lodge, and it is still early in review. In September the Aspen Times reported that the Planning Commission had continued its sketch-plan review to Oct. 7. On Oct. 7, the Aspen Times reported that the commission was recommending Town Council move the proposal from Sketch Plan to Preliminary Plan.

The Snowmass Mall Transit Center is unresolved as well. After one-level and two-level concepts were presented at an Aug. 27 roundtable, council members were still divided on Sept. 14 over public input and next steps, and made no decision. The Aspen Times put the two-story concept at $39.3 million, with $9.3 million set aside for design and planning. Separately, the town's proposed 2027 budget lists just over $6.5 million for depot improvements, the Aspen Daily News reported.

Put together, the gondola has a firm opening target, but the hotel and transit hub around its Mall terminal don't have approved plans yet. When the new cabins arrive in late 2027, the Mall terminal could open into a finished plaza or into an area still being built.

Getting between the two villages in fall 2027

Construction from August through Thanksgiving 2027 means a fall season without the gondola. Snowmass Village Transportation Director Sam Guarino told council his team is working on more ground transportation between the base and the Mall. The Aspen Times reported that staff were considering changes to existing bus routes or a new route between Base Village and the Mall. Pedestrians will use the Benedict Trail. No route has been chosen and no exact closure date has been announced.

The old gondola may go on to another ski area. Keeling said several ski areas have asked about buying it. Council, which owns the lift, told him to collect a couple of offers before deciding. Town officials said it's still unclear whether a sale would cover individual cabins or the whole Sky Cab. If the cabins are sold separately, some of the originals could end up somewhere other than Fanny Hill.

The last full winter of the original Skittles starts Nov. 26, with daily rides from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Apr. 18.

Base Village, the Mall and the slopes between them will look different over the next two years as the gondola, the Ritz-Carlton proposal and the transit center move forward. If you'd like to talk through what those projects mean for a Snowmass Village property you own or are considering, The Shea Team follows each of them closely. Connect with The Shea Team.