A traveling champagne bar, which debuted last spring on the ski slopes, provided a unique experience and caused no problems, Aspen Skiing Co. officials reported.
“I’m happy to report we had no problems whatsoever,” said David Bellack, Skico senior vice president and general counsel. “It was popular with the guests. The people who visited it seemed to enjoy it a great deal.”
In February, when the pop-up champagne “oasis” first came before commissioners, there were concerns about promoting on-slope drinking, and Commissioner George Newman wound up voting against the proposal.
On Tuesday, no vote was necessary, and commissioners raised no concerns with the plan.
“It wasn’t a big party,” John Speers, general manager of The Little Nell, said of last season’s experience. “It was never a big drinking crowd that was going to make a day of it.”
The Nell, the luxury hotel at the base of Aspen Mountain, also operates the Sundeck restaurant at the summit and oversees the champagne bar, a portable affair set up at sunny spots on the mountain where patrons could enjoy great vistas. Skico plans to set up the bar again for spring skiing, starting on Presidents Day weekend, but it did uncork the bar for opening day this winter, given the unseasonably high temperatures.
“It doesn’t work too well when we have temperatures of minus 2,” Bellack said.
The bar operated on weekends last season, selling small, snow-chilled flutes of Veuve Clicquot for $15 each. The amenity was unique among ski areas and gave Aspen some additional media attention as a result, Speers said.
“We’re always trying to figure out how to position ourselves to get more PR,” he said. “It’s about having a cool new thing for our guests that they don’t see somewhere else.”
Source:Aspen Times
