Colorado Ski Resort Installs the World’s First Ski Lift Battery Backup

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There’s a fancy bit of technology coming online at Aspen Snowmass, Colorado, this winter.

The resort’s Elk Camp chair is now home to the world’s first battery-powered ski lift backup, marking a notable change to the usual approach. Nearly all other ski lifts have gasoline or diesel backups so that they can continue operating through power outages. 

Elk Camp, though, can now run for up to two hours without burning any diesel when the power cuts out.

“When it’s not backing up the lift, that same battery sends power back to the grid in partnership with our local utility, Holy Cross Energy, helping smooth out peak demand and supporting the co-op’s path to 100% renewable energy,” the resort wrote in a social media post.

In October, The Aspen Times reported that the project aims to cut about 144 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. On a bigger scale, it’s a small reduction, but if more lifts and resorts adopted a similar system, the emissions savings could add up fast.

“We really do set the standard for resort operations in our industry, from a guest experience but also from a sustainability perspective,” Chris Miller, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen One, told the Times. “Having an impact in the work that we do is super important.”

The installation comes with some other benefits. According to Miller, the new generator is quieter. Each summer, lift fuel is also pumped out of Snowmass’ tanks for replacement.

“It’s bad from an environmental perspective, and you just don’t want to be moving that stuff up and down the mountains,” Miller said, per the Times.

The behind-the-scenes adjustment may go unnoticed by skiers, but if you’d like to ride the upgraded lift, you can find it by hopping on the Elk Camp Gondola or Two Creeks lift. The current high-speed six-pack iteration of Elk Camp was installed in 2025, replacing an older quad model.

Beyond that, skiers curious about battery-powered lifts may want to try the PL1, a very nifty device designed for the backcountry that we tested a few years ago.

Aspen Snowmass is scheduled to open on November 26.

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This story was originally published by POWDER on Nov 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add POWDER as a Preferred Source by clicking here.