Aspen Beyond the Boardroom: 10 Fun Facts for Meeting Planners
There is a significant amount of logistics that go into planning an event. From sourcing the location, negotiating hotel contracts, inviting attendees, arranging transportation, dining, and planning activities for attendees to enjoy upon arrival.
It is easy to forget why you chose to bring your group to Aspen in the first place or it may make you realize that you do not know much about our mountain town. So rather than tell you the number of hotel rooms we have or our airlift capacities we thought you would enjoy some fun facts about this little place called Aspen.
Aspen is a place for mind, body and spirit connection. Aspen is a place where attendees can learn about our mining past and evolution over time, or they can hit the slopes or a trail and marvel in the mountains that surround them. We are almost positive you did not learn these facts while negotiating hotel contracts.
- Aspen was originally named Ute City. Aspen was later renamed after the Aspen tree, whose leave turn golden each fall.
- Aspen has an elevation of 7,908 feet or 2,442 meters.
- In 1885, Aspen became the first city west of the Mississippi to use hydroelectric power to light our streets and businesses.
- In 1888, during the peak of the silver mining era, Aspen had 2 railroads. The Denver/Rio Grande and The Colorado Midland, both ended in what is today’s downtown Aspen. Unfortunately, neither railroad is in existence today.
- The Hotel Jerome, opened in 1889 and is still in operation today, with some major renovations over the years, like the addition of indoor plumbing. If you have time take a tour while you are here to discover the history of Aspen through the eyes of the Hotel Jerome.
- The world’s largest silver nugget was found in Aspen. The nugget weighed 2,350 pounds and was pulled from Smuggler Mine in 1894.
- In 1947 Lift 1 opened on Aspen Mountain and was the world’s longest and fastest chairlift. It took approximately 30 minutes to reach the top and was 6,800 ft long. Lift 1 was replaced by Lift 1A in 1971, which is still running today.
- In 1950 Aspen hosted the FIS World Alpine Championships, the first sanctioned international alpine competition in the US. Skiers now recognize Aspen’s skiing potential.
- The City of Aspen has 30 city parks, 22 miles of pedestrian (hiking and bicycle) trails and over 90 kilometers of Nordic ski trails for locals and visitors to enjoy.
- Aspen’s year-round population is 7,004 (per the 2020 census) but in winter season the population jumps to approximately 27,000 people.
Now you will be prepared onsite with some fun facts to share with your attendees and can enjoy some Aspen intel other than capacity charts. Remember we are here to assist you in your planning journey, our meeting planner tool kit, team building information and how to get here page should help you through the process as well as our Top Ten Reasons to Meet in Aspen blog. If you have additional questions, email us at sales@aspenchamber.org or sign up for our quarterly e-news letter to stay up to date on the latest Aspen intel.
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