# Aspen Skiing Company The Colorado resort operator (Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, Snowmass) controlled by the [[Crown Family]] of Chicago through [[Henry Crown and Company]]. The Crowns bought into the company in 1985 and became sole owners in 1993; in 2017 they partnered with KSL Capital Partners to form Alterra Mountain Company, one of the two dominant North American ski-resort empires (rival to Vail Resorts). It is one of the most visible consumer-facing assets of the otherwise low-profile Crown fortune, and the social hub where the family's Aspen-centered network — overlapping with the [[Aspen Institute]] — gathers. > [!note] Stub > Minimum-viable page created to resolve inbound wikilinks. Expand with the Alterra/KSL deal and the Crown-Aspen social-network angle.