The man who was instrumental in expanding one of the renowned backcountry ski-hut systems surrounding Aspen was honored Thursday with completion of a new hut that bears his nickname.
Opa’s new hut is stunning. It’s tucked into a granite-lined niche at 12,000 feet. While standing on the expansive deck facing due south, it only takes a subtle turn to see it from Grizzly Peak east of Aspen to Taylor Peak, which looms to the hut’s west. Jagged peaks are planted everywhere between.
The hut is about 6.5 miles southeast of Ashcroft and about 1.5 miles southeast of the summit of Taylor Pass. It’s roughly half way between the Friends Hut and the Goodwin-Green Hut.
“When I look at the system, I think of this as the center of the web,” said Hawk Greenway, longtime manager of the Alfred A. Braun Hut System. Opa’s Taylor Hut is located within 4.5 to six miles of five other huts in the system, so it will be integrated into multiday trips, he said.
Like all huts in the Braun system, Opa’s won’t be for the casual backcountry traveler. Nearly all the routes to Braun huts cross big avalanche paths. The huts also can be difficult to find. There are no trail signs.
Opa’s hut is burrowed into a granite outcropping. It’s invisible from the northwest until travelers are upon it. The most direct route during the summer, via Express Creek Road and another forest route from the summit of Taylor Pass, most definitely isn’t a route backcountry skiers will want to take because of avalanche danger, said Greenway and David Swersky, a member of the hut system’s board of directors.
Stewart Seeligson’s business education and diverse real estate experience set him apart from other real estate brokers in the Telluride region.