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Mountain Mayhem: Holiday tidings

ACES Development Director Christy Mahon was a cheerful greeter at Toklat over the holidays.
May Selby/Courtesy photo

The holiday season offers a time for reflection, gathering together, giving, and embracing gratitude. The following events honored these values while also honoring the heritage of the area, community, and bright futures ahead. 

On Dec. 22, an on-mountain get-together took place with a multigenerational guest list as kids, parents, and grandparents gathered at Burlingame Cabin on Snowmass owned by the Chaffin and Light families. All were in a for a treat hearing about the history of Snowmass Village by developers Jim Chaffin and Jim Light who moved to the area in 1978 and helped the area blossom from a burgeoning ski resort into a true community as they developed the Snowmass Club and West Village areas. Chaffin/Light also provided the land and resources to support the Snowmass Chapel and Community Center and the Snowmass Conference Center, as well as donated land and buildings to the now world-renowned Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Chaffin/Light also provided Snowmass Village with significant attainable housing opportunities. These colorful stories were relayed by “the Jims” who also described the origins of Burlingame Cabin before they acquired it, describing how it originally belonged to Swedish sheepherders in the early 20th century. 

Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) celebrated the reopening of The Catto Center at Toklat in the Ashcroft Valley with their “10 Days of Toklat” that began on the winter solstice on Dec. 21 and carried through New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31. Each day brought a new theme and an opportunity to exchange stories and make memories in the heart of winter. Guests were presented with complimentary hot beverages and delicious bites, sponsored by Michael Fuller Architects who was the team behind the redesign.

Guests snowshoed, cross-country skied, and enjoyed the outdoors surrounding the beloved Toklat. Isa Catto and Daniel Shaw warmed up one afternoon from cross country skiing and shared stories of Isa’s parents, Henry and Jessica Catto, who helped ACES purchase Toklat from the Mace family in 2004, ensuring the continuation of this community gathering place. 

Toklat is now open indefinitely as a site of ACES, with hours of operation from Tuesday-Saturday from 12-5 p.m.

Andrew Light, Jim Chaffin, Jim Light, and Pete McBride at Burlingame Cabin.
May Selby/Courtesy photo
Merry Christmas from the Klugs at Burlingame Cabin!
May Selby/Courtesy photo
Birthday girl Katie Cooper with her husband, Brin McCagg, at Burlingame Cabin.
May Selby/Courtesy photo
Isa Catto and Daniel Shaw at Toklat.
Courtesy photo.
Austin Weiss, Annie Denver, and Rebecca Weiss at the opening of ACES’ Toklat on the Winter Solstice.
Courtesy Photo
Chef Chris and Rena Lanter at the Burlingame Cabin party in Snowmass.
May Selby/Courtesy photo
Lisa and Lou Dawson enjoyed the restored Catto Center at Toklat and looking at old historical maps of the Ashcroft in the upstairs library. Courtesy photo.
Courtesy Photo
Jim Chaffin, Tom Engelman, and Jim Light at Burlingame Cabin.
May Selby/Courtesy photo
The bright patio at The Catto Center at Toklat.
May Selby/Courtesy photo
The beautifully restored Catto Center at Toklat.
Dan Bayer/Courtesy photo
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