Whip Jones
Encyclopedia
Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides some of the most intense skiing in the state. The lift system has recently been redone and provides quick transport around the mountain.-History:...
ski area in Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Whip Jones and the company he founded, Aspen Highlands, won a US Supreme Court case against his rival, the Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen Skiing Company
The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as "Ski Co", is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado in the United States.-History:Founded in 1946 by Walter Paepcke, it operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas near the town of Aspen...
. 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.
Early years
Jones was born in Oconomowoc, WisconsinOconomowoc, Wisconsin
Oconomowoc is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi term for "waterfall." The population was 12,382 at the 2000 census. The city is partially adjacent to the Town of Oconomowoc and near the Village of Oconomowoc...
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
.
Founder of Aspen Highlands
Jones was the builder and the owner of the Aspen HighlandsAspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides some of the most intense skiing in the state. The lift system has recently been redone and provides quick transport around the mountain.-History:...
, 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
Aspen Skiing Company
The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as "Ski Co", is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado in the United States.-History:Founded in 1946 by Walter Paepcke, it operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas near the town of Aspen...
who turned it down. He then hired Dick Durrance
Dick Durrance
Richard "Dick" Henry Durrance, Jr. was a 17-time national championship skier and one of the first American skiers to compete successfully with European skiers....
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. http://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Whip_Jones.htm The base area of Highlands Mountain is located 1½ miles from the village of Aspen.
Supreme Court antitrust case
- Main article: Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp.Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp.Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585 , was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, notable as "the very last gasp" of the Harvard School of antitrust....
Throughout his ownership, Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides some of the most intense skiing in the state. The lift system has recently been redone and provides quick transport around the mountain.-History:...
and founder Jones remained at odds with the local rival Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen Skiing Company
The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as "Ski Co", is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado in the United States.-History:Founded in 1946 by Walter Paepcke, it operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas near the town of Aspen...
, which owned and operated the three other ski areas Aspen Mountain (Ajax)
Aspen Mountain (ski area)
Aspen Mountain is a ski area located in Pitkin County, Colorado, just outside and above the city of Aspen. It is situated on the north flank of Aspen Mountain and the higher Bell Mountain at an elevation of 11,212 ft just to the south of Aspen Mountain...
, Buttermilk
Buttermilk (ski area)
Buttermilk Ski Area is frequently considered the easiest skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. Buttermilk has also been the host to the ESPN Winter X-games multiple times. It is also home to one of the best ski schools and children's programs in the United States. It contains three ski...
and Snowmass
Snowmass (ski area)
Snowmass is a part of the Aspen/Snowmass ski resort complex located in western Colorado near the town of Aspen, Colorado. It is owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company. Snowmass is the largest of the four Aspen/Snowmass mountains, comprising . The mountain is most notable for its wide...
in Aspen, with Jones owning the remaining independent ski area, Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides some of the most intense skiing in the state. The lift system has recently been redone and provides quick transport around the mountain.-History:...
. In 1979, Jones sued the Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen Skiing Company
The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as "Ski Co", is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado in the United States.-History:Founded in 1946 by Walter Paepcke, it operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas near the town of Aspen...
, alleging violations of the Sherman Act. Aspen Highlands and Aspen Skiing had, for several years, cooperated to sell an "all-Aspen" ticket that allowed a skier to visit Aspen Skiing's three mountains and Aspen Highlands. However, the rival companies were unable to agree on a means to administer this program and distribute proceeds. In 1978, Aspen Skiing decided to discontinue the all-Aspen ticket, and to instead sell only the ticket to the three Aspen Skiing mountains. Aspen Skiing also refused to sell Aspen Highlands any lift tickets to the Aspen Skiing mountains (even at full price), thereby preventing Aspen Highlands from offering its own multi-mountain package. The issue made it to the US Supreme Court and was decided as with Jones winning over $10 million dollars in treble damages.
Halls of Fame
In 1998, Jones was inducted into the Aspen Hall of Fame http://www.aspenhistory.org/hofnom.html and in 2000, he was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Famehttp://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Whip_Jones.htm. At the induction ceremony, the Colorado Hall of Fame noted:http://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Whip_Jones.htm
Whip's vision and marketing ingenuity proved invaluable when he had to compete with the larger Aspen Ski Corporation... His innovative marketing lured many a skier to the Highlands with the promise of fun. Many Coloradans remember with nostalgia the wine and cheese parties, Stein Erickson's flips on skis, and the opening of Steeplechase near the top of Loge Peak--a steep, avalanche-prone slope that gave expert skiers a taste of adventure.
Harvard endowment
In 1992, after the longest continuous ownership of any ski area in Colorado, Jones donated the Highlands to Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. http://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Whip_Jones.htm The $18.3 million gift remains one of the largest donations the University has ever received. The proceeds endow the "Whipple V.N. Jones Cornerstone Scholarship Fund" and the "Whipple V.N. Jones Professor of Economics Chair" once held by Andrei Shleifer
Andrei Shleifer
Andrei Shleifer is a Russian American economist. From its inauguration in 1992 until it was shut down in 1997, Shleifer served as project director of the Harvard Institute for International Developments Russian aid project...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/14/harvard_professor_loses_honorary_title_in_ethics_violation/ and currently held by Xiao-Li Meng.