Ashcroft: The Ghost Town That Almost Became Aspen

Just 12 miles from Aspen, Colorado, the ghost town of Ashcroft once rivaled its neighbor as a silver-mining boomtown and nearly became a major European-style ski resort. In the 1930s, investors planned a tram up Hayden Peak, but World War Two diverted steel to tanks and fighter planes, cancelling the project. Skiing instead took root in Aspen.