'A fortune of failures': The Colorado ghost town that almost became Aspen

Just 15 minutes from glitzy Aspen lies Ashcroft, an atmospheric ghost town that once had ambitions to become Colorado's next great ski resort.

On a crisp June day, I wander among the empty log cabins in the ghost town of Ashcroft, 12 miles (19.3km) from Aspen at the base of Colorado's Elk Mountains. The only sounds are the rustling of aspen leaves, the gurgle of Castle Creek and the occasional whistle of a high-elevation warbler. In winter, save for the distant glide of cross-country skiers or the soft clop of snowshoes, the valley is nearly silent.

It's hard to reconcile this quiet place with the booming mining town that once stood here – or with the ambitious plan, nearly 100 years ago, to transform it into a major European-style ski resort.

"Ashcroft would have been Aspen," says Aspen Historical Society archivist Anna Lookabill. "I don't think Aspen would have happened had the Ashcroft plans come together."

Before Aspen became a playground for the rich and famous, home to high-end boutiques and $25m mansions, the two towns were rivals – first for silver, then for skiing.  

In 1879, prospectors poured into Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley in search of silver, establishing camps at Independence and Aspen. By the following year, Ashcroft had become one of the region's hottest mining towns.

"The ore was close to the surface in Ashcroft compared to Aspen," Lookabill says. "It had the potential to be a good investment early on. Aspen was slower to get going because the ore was a little deeper."

Walking between Ashcroft's surviving log cabins, it's hard to reconcile the quiet with the town that once stood here. At its peak in 1882, more than 1,000 people lived here, with hotels, mercantile stores, a bowling alley, dance hall, 14 saloons and Pitkin County's first school.  

But the boom was short-lived. Within a few years, the population had collapsed to around 100, with many residents and businesses relocating to Aspen.

The ski resort that almost was

By the 1930s, nearly all of Ashcroft's buildings were abandoned. But a group of business associates who had skied in Europe – Ted Ryan, T J Flynn and Olympic bobsled gold medallist Billy Fiske – saw something in the empty valley surrounded by towering peaks: the making of a ski resort.

They formed the Highland Bavarian Corporation and brought in Swiss mountaineer André Roch to survey the surrounding peaks on touring skis. He chose Hayden Peak above Ashcroft as the centrepiece.

"Mount Hayden was going to be the mountain with the ski area. Ashcroft would be the Bavarian village," Lookabill says.

Ashcroft would have been........

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