Pitkin County Commissioners vote to put cell towers on Aspen mountains

Ajax, Buttermilk, and Highlands are getting new cell towers.

Pitkin County Commissioners on Wednesday voted 4-1 for 10 cell towers to be installed at nine locations among these three ski resorts. The decision comes after Pitkin County Planning and Zoning approved the project on Sept. 3.

But the plan, the third major effort to improve cell service in Pitkin County over the past 15 years, has a few slight amendments.

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Chiefly among them includes an extension of vested rights to six years, which will require a development agreement, as well as an addition: If these towers are not used for two years, they will be removed.

Commissioner Francie Jacober expressed her concern that if these cell towers are installed, it could spur future similar developments in the wilderness.

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“I cannot see us infiltrating our wilderness with cell phone coverage. For me, it’s the first step,” she said, joking that she’s the oldest one in the room and that she’s never skied with a cell phone in her pocket. “That’s just what skiing was.” 

She also noted that ski patrol has done a stellar job for decades without cellphone coverage and that not having access to a cellphone at all times is just what the wilderness is.

“If you’re rowing the Grand Canyon, and you have a heart attack, you’re toast,” she said. 

Commissioner Patti Clapper responded by saying there are more people skiing faster and more people being hit, and as someone who has worked in area hospitals, “minutes save lives.”

“I think we need to be responsive to that and do what we can,” she said. “It saves the lives of people young and old at any time of the year whether skiing, hiking, or biking.”

Commissioner Greg Poschman saw both sides.

“The ski mountains are not wilderness, they’re resorts. They’re bordering wilderness, but they are not wilderness. For safety reasons alone this is a good idea,” he said. “But it makes me sick thinking about people being able to call a helicopter from the top of a mountain, but it will probably save lives.”

Pitkin County Commissioners also approved to amend the ski areas’ structural height code. The long standing 28-foot structure height limit has been altered to allow for installation of the cell towers, which range from 40 to 100 feet.

Mak Keeling, Aspen Skiing Company vice president of mountain planning, said that this plan comes from a safety need during his presentation to the board Wednesday. There is limited cellular coverage across Aspen Mountain, Highlands, Buttermilk, and throughout Pitkin County, and this lack of connection directly impacts communications that are often critical to public safety.

“Two years ago, I was in Beaver Creek, and I got in an accident. Thank God it was just bones, and they heal in six weeks, no surgeries, nothing like that,” he said “But my friend was adjacent to me, skiing with me, saw me, was able to make a call out. The patrol was there within three minutes.” 

“But if that was in the middle of Aspen Mountain, it wouldn’t have been the same.”

Keeling went on to say that with the installation of the cell towers, there would be improved cellular voice and data coverage that would extend beyond Aspen Mountain, Highlands, and Buttermilk into surrounding neighborhoods of Pitkin County.

The improved capacity of the proposed cellular network would also prevent overloading of cellular service, which is crucial during emergency responses and public notices for events like avalanche and fire events. 

LAWMAKERS’ EFFORTS

The presentation cited articles from The Aspen Times about state lawmakers working to get cell reception out to rural parts of Colorado from July 12 and Aug. 24.

“And you have today an application in front of you where much of rural Colorado is collaborating for this and asking for this and begging for this, to the point where lawmakers are trying to figure out how to make it easier, hopefully, to provide a solution,” Keeling said.

Over at the statehouse, there is a Cell Phone Connectivity Interim Study Committee that includes six legislators and representatives from the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, and the cell phone industry. The committee is studying cell phone gaps in Colorado to find ways that the state can improve connectivity.

The committee is also considering four bills that would increase state involvement in cellular projects, provide incentives for cell companies (grants, tax exemptions, and reductions), improve the cell phone tower permitting process, and deter theft or damage of cellular and critical communications infrastructure.

The committee will recommend three bills during the 2025 Colorado state legislative session in January.

TOWERS AND PARTS

Jacober wondered about the actual installation of the cell towers and their parts. 

Ditches will be dug for wires that will then be filled back up, eliminating these hazards. The intention is to use cranes to install the towers, but helicopters may be used if a site is difficult to access, Keeling said.

She also inquired about the tree removal associated with these plans. Keeling said three to five trees per site at the most will be removed, but some sites may not have any trees removed. The towers will not be affected by tree coverage on site since trees are 90% air.

Terrestrial cell towers and low earth orbit satellites, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlinks, were presented as alternatives that were considered prior to the meeting. These options, however, will not replace terrestrial broadband networks, like actual cell towers, within the next 30 years.

Each site will have one or two monopole towers at a height of 40 to 100 feet, with eight feet tall antennas. Each tower will have room for two carriers. Three carriers are currently interested, including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. They will propagate 4G and 5G service. There will be support racks, also known as ice bridges, that secure and protect cables, a concrete pad, and cabinets that contain access to other utilities. 

The towers will be located in previously disturbed areas with existing ski infrastructure: Silver Queen, Bell Mountain/Ajax Express, Cloud 9, Cliffhouse, Tiehack and Ruthie’s, and Bell Mountain Base.

“You notice lift towers, not the cell towers,” Commissioner Steve Childs said. “They’re just something that’s there, unless you’re specifically looking for them.”

In agreement, Keller said that while “nothing will be perfectly hidden,” it will not “be in your face.”

The project is also consistent with the 2023 Pitkin County Comprehensive Plan and has received endorsement from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, Pitkin County Telecommunications Department, Aspen Highlands Community Metro District, and Five Trees Metro Tower.

It was referred to several caucus, including Owl Creek, Castle Creek, Maroon Creek, and East of Aspen. The U.S. Forest Service also accepted the project, National Environmental Policy Act reviews are underway, and through a 299 process submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration, no lights or special paint colors are required for these towers.

Construction is expected to take place between 2025 and 2029.

The town of Snowmass Village approved six cell tower sites in 2023.

Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.