The Little Nell's Last Winter Before Its Long Pause, and the New Lift Rising Beside It

Two changes are underway at the base of Aspen Mountain, and they run on separate schedules. The Nell Bell chairlift is going up beside the Silver Queen Gondola, replacing two old lifts that sat mostly idle. The Little Nell, the hotel that has anchored Gondola Plaza for more than three decades, is heading into its final winter before a renovation that now runs well past next ski season.

When Aspen Mountain opens on November 26, the base will have a new way up the hill and its usual hotel. If the current schedule holds, it will have neither of the old lifts and no Little Nell for all of next winter. This season, the base has both.

Two Lifts That Had Mostly Stopped Running

The case for the Nell Bell started with how little its predecessors ran. When Aspen City Council unanimously approved the project's land use amendment in December 2025, Aspen Skiing Company told The Aspen Times that the Little Nell lift had run only 28 days the previous season and the Bell Mountain lift just two.

Those two chairs dated to 1957 and 1986. Riding both took a combined 21 minutes. Here is how the replacement compares, using Aspen One's October 29 winter announcement for the new lift's specs.

POWDER reported in late September that Leitner-Poma is building the lift and that it follows a route combining the old Little Nell and Bell Mountain lines. The old chairs were auctioned off the previous summer. At the top, the Nell Bell connects to the Hero's, Ajax Express and FIS lifts, according to the council coverage in The Aspen Times.

A Lift Built for Wind Days

Speed is one reason for the new lift. Wind is the other, and for anyone who has stood in Gondola Plaza waiting out a Silver Queen wind hold, it is the more useful one. Mak Keeling, Aspen Skiing Company's vice president of mountain planning, told council the lower chairs might keep running in conditions that close the gondola, according to The Aspen Times:

"So we're hoping that that will decrease the wind speeds, so that we can be operating this when the Queen would normally be shut down. But there will, of course, be days that are just too windy for anything."

If that works, the base gets a second way into the core of Aspen Mountain on days when the only way up has been closed. That second option replaces lifts that ran a combined 30 days in a season.

Construction carried through the summer. Helicopter crews worked on the lift in late July, according to the Aspen Daily News. An October 8 photo in The Aspen Times showed a loading station still under construction. By late October, Aspen Snowmass had finished splicing the haul rope with Knight Equipment, Unofficial Networks reported. Aspen One says the lift is set to open early in the 2026/27 season.

The Hotel's Reopening Date Moved Past a Whole Ski Season

Beside the new lift sits the hotel this winter is really about. In July, Aspen Hospitality announced its new Nell Hotels brand and a sister property, The Nell New York, at Rockefeller Center. In the same announcement, the company said The Little Nell would close in April 2027 for a full renovation and "reopen transformed for the 2027-2028 winter."

By October that date had changed. Luxury Travel Advisor reported on October 19 that the closure, "originally set to reopen in early winter 2028," was now planned to run through early summer 2028. Aspen One's winter announcement ten days later gave the same timeline: close in April 2027, reopen early summer 2028.

That revision takes the hotel out of the entire 2027-28 ski season. The plan in July was a single offseason of construction. The current plan is a closure of roughly 14 months, which covers a full winter at the base of Aspen Mountain. The renovation includes guest rooms, public spaces and dining outlets, the hotel's restaurants and bars among them.

Jeff Toscano, CEO of Aspen Hospitality, said in the July announcement that the work would let the hotel evolve "from a place of excellence, not necessity," and that "the temporary closure reflects a commitment to preserving what makes The Little Nell exceptional."

Some parts of the property will keep operating during construction. The weddings program will continue to host events, the Wedding Deck will stay available, and the Residences at The Little Nell will remain open for bookings, with their rooftop pool and 24-hour concierge.

How the Final Season Runs

The hotel is treating this winter as a send-off. Sandra Estornell, managing director of The Little Nell, told Luxury Travel Advisor the season is about "bringing new ideas and global talent and experiences into what our guests have long loved about The Little Nell." The same report says the hotel will "honor the traditions that have become synonymous with the property."

Here is the base-area calendar from mid-November on:

1. November 20. According to the Aspen Chamber's fall dining guide, Ajax Tavern, Element 47 and The Wine Bar at The Little Nell are scheduled to reopen after their offseason break, which began October 19.
2. November 26. Aspen Mountain opens for the season, which runs through April 18, 2027. Opening Day falls on Thanksgiving, with a holiday dinner at Element 47, casual mountain dining at Ajax Tavern, and Thanksgiving To-Go from The Little Nell.
3. Thanksgiving through New Year's. The hotel's holiday traditions return, including the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in the courtyard, Letters to Santa, holiday cookie decorating, and a children's storybook hour with local author Jill Sheeley. Aspen Branch Design, the hotel's longtime floral partner, will teach seasonal decorating, and The Little Nell Boutique hosts a holiday takeover.
4. Through the holidays. Element 47 and Ajax Tavern serve holiday dining through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Ajax Tavern hosts festive après on the slopes with live entertainment, and the Living Room runs a limited "Naughty List" menu with caviar, truffles and wine features.
5. December 10–13. Wintersköl marks its 75th anniversary with snow sculptures, a soup-tasting contest, a beer festival, a bonfire, a torchlight descent and fireworks.
6. December 12–13. For Aspen Snowmass's 80th anniversary, lift tickets drop to $80 on both days across all four mountains.
7. December 31. The New Year's Eve party returns with Dom Pérignon and a "Through the Decades" theme. It moves room by room: Dynasty glamour in the Living Room, Studio 54 in the Grand Salon, the '90s in the Wine Bar, and a time capsule lounge where guests can leave their mark on The Little Nell before its next chapter.
8. April 2027. The hotel closes for renovation, the same month Aspen Mountain's season ends.

Other programming runs through the season. The Wine Bar hosts a Maybe Sammy residency, and celebrity facialist Georgia Louise returns to The Spa at The Little Nell.

What's New Around the Plaza

The hotel is closing, but the rest of the base is getting new things. The Silver Queen Gondola's base station carries work by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes this winter through Aspen One's Art in Unexpected Places program, and her art also appears on 2026/27 lift tickets and passes. At the top of the gondola, Alpine 46 opens at the Sundeck in the former Four Mountain Sports space. It is a premium rental and retail shop owned by Aspen Snowmass, and its name refers to 1946, the year Aspen Skiing Company was founded. Eleven212, at 11,212 feet on top of Aspen Mountain, adds live music and DJ sets to its après lineup.

Behind the opening-day schedule, Aspen One fully upgraded the Ruthie's pump station on Aspen Mountain as part of a broader snowmaking investment meant to make early- and late-season conditions more reliable.

The current plan for next winter is a Gondola Plaza with the Nell Bell running and The Little Nell closed until early summer 2028. That makes the 2026-27 season the last one in which the hotel's Thanksgiving dinner, courtyard tree lighting and New Year's Eve party take place before the renovation.

The Little Nell's closure and the Nell Bell's opening are the kind of developments that come up when buyers and owners near Gondola Plaza ask what the next two winters will look like. If you have questions about a property near the base, Mike Eaton knows the timelines and the neighborhood. Start the conversation.