Snowmass Village, Colorado, Development History and Tales

Early Development

Bill Janss was the original developer of Snowmass Village. It all started with Bill's love for skiing. He was chosen as a team member of the U.S Olympic Team in the late 30's; unfortunately, World War II prevented him from competing. Through his frequent visits to Aspen for world class skiing, Snowmass came onto his radar. At the time, Snowmass was ranch country with no skiing area.

Bill's family background in development, prompted him to realize the potential of Snowmass Village as a skiing resort. Janss consulted with his friend, Darcy Brown who was then the head of the Aspen Skiing Company.
Darcy agreed to approach the U S government to convert forest service land to a skiing area with the Aspen Skiing Company installing lifts and managing the area. At the same time, Janss was accumulating private land and ranches around the base of Snowmass Mountain.

Janss idea was to make Snowmass a family skiing area. His original development plan was to make 10 separate villages based on european skiing resort models. That idea was eventually changed to one village with the commercial areas more concentrated.

By 1966, Wood Run Lots were selling from $10,000 to $18,000. Today they are selling for $3M to $10M. Furnished Willows Studio's were selling for $13,000 to $15,000. These units are now selling for $400,000 plus.

1966 Blog

Around the summer of 1966, you could ask any Aspen resident and the general consensus was that Snowmass was too far away and as a skiing mountain, not challenging enough to attract a large skiing crowd. To dispel this misconception, a contest was held. The grand prize was a lot in Melton Ranch, which attracted just about everybody in town. Aspen residents were brought by jeep to the top of Sam's Knob to name the three ski trails. From this vantage point, Snowmass was found to be steeper than imagined. A lot was won, a home was built, and Snowmass now has the largest number of skier visits in the area.

Lucille Ball at Snowmass

By the late 60's, Snowmass was already drawing the hollywood crowd. Lucille Ball, an avid skier, purchased 3 condominiums at the Interlude. One winter, she was advised by her doctor not to ski because she was recovering from a broken leg. This would not stop her. Waiting until the lifts closed, she would sled down "Fanny Hill". Her chaffeur would pick her up at the bottom of the mountain...take her back up to her condo...and she would continue to sled down again and again.