Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp.
Case Date: 11/04/1985
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Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585 (1985), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, notable as "the very last gasp"[1] of the Harvard School of antitrust.
Throughout his ownership, Aspen Highlands and founder Whip Jones remained at odds with the local rival Aspen Skiing Company, which owned and operated the three other ski areas Aspen Mountain (Ajax), Buttermilk and Snowmass in Aspen, with Jones owning the remaining independent ski area, Aspen Highlands. In 1979, Jones sued the Aspen Skiing Company, 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 472 U.S. 585 (1985) with Jones winning over $10 million dollars in treble damages.
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