Whip Jones

Whipple Van Ness "Whip" Jones (November 8, 1909 – June 29, 2001) was a ski industry pioneer, founder, developer and the original operator for 35 years, of the Aspen Highlands ski area in Aspen, Colorado. Whip Jones and the company he founded, Aspen Highlands, won a US Supreme Court case against his rival, the Aspen Skiing Company. Jones was also a philanthropist, and was inducted into The Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and The Aspen Hall of Fame for his work with Aspen Highlands.

Jones was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin to Esther Olin Whipple (1884–1977) and Frank William Jones I (1876–1936). He married heiress Mary Sue McCulloch (1913–1996). He was a captain in the Missouri State Guard and worked as a trust officer at the St. Louis Union Trust Company. At the outbreak of World War II he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Jones was the builder and the owner of the Aspen Highlands, one of the four ski areas of Aspen, Colorado.

Aspen Highlands had its beginning in 1956. Jones owned the land at the base of the mountain and became interested in developing it after the Forest Service suggested it would be a "great place for a ski area." Jones first offered the opportunity to Aspen Skiing Company who turned it down. He then hired Dick Durrance to do a feasibility study and Fritz Benedict to design a lodge. Jones went ahead with the project on his own, and laid out a well-balanced set of ski runs: 25% beginner, 50% intermediate, 25% advanced. Jones financed the project by selling the lumber from the cleared ski runs and using low cost labor. When the area opened in 1958 it had three lifts, including the world's longest single section double chairlift and eventually grew to over 50 trails. [1] The base area of Highlands Mountain is located 1½ miles from the village of Aspen.

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