ASPEN — Resort officials believe the town has positioned itself well for the return of the USA Pro Challenge next year, and at least some are hoping the U.S. Forest Service will reconsider the ban it put in place this year on Independence Pass camping.

Last week’s second running of the bike race, which brought a stage finish and a start to Aspen, was on the minds of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association board of directors when they gathered for their monthly meeting Tuesday.

Board members who commented on the event offered universal praise, and Mayor Mick Ireland said a conversation with a race organizer led him to believe that Aspen will be among the host cities again next year.

Among the city’s goals, he said, was making it “impossible for the race organizers to conceive of the race without Aspen.”

Board member John Olson, a local builder, urged resort officials to approach the Forest Service about the camping ban. This year’s crowd did not match the throngs that watched racers climb Independence Pass during 2011.

Ranger Scott Snelson, of the Forest Service’s Aspen-Sopris Ranger District, said he’s open to discussion of the issue.

Read more about the Aspen stage of the USA Pro Challenge.