By Debbie Kelly, Alpine Mountain Rescue
Shortly after Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) was incorporated in 1965 there was a mission for a lost 10-year-old boy that sadly ended in a recovery. The family was so grateful for the rescuers’ efforts that they donated the funds for a small pan abode type cabin (600 square feet) to be built on a lot owned by the city of Aspen on West Main Street. This was to be the home for MRA until 2015. There was the addition of a two-vehicle garage, and then a subsequent rebuild of the back half to include a locker room (that also served as a meeting room) upstairs of the now attached two-vehicle garage. As the team expanded with more members and gear, it was obvious that we were outgrowing our cabin. After getting some preliminary plans to re build on the lot, it was determined that the lot would never be big enough to meet our needs. We had equipment (ATVs and snowmobiles) stored at different member’s houses across the county, as well as parked on neighborhood streets near the cabin. A T-card system was necessary to keep track of where all of the equipment was located. We looked to the city and the county for a suitable place to build but all parcels were set aside for other uses and real estate prices in Aspen were exorbitant. At about the same time that we were weighing our options for a larger headquarters, a former member was hired to do a sculpture for a woman who had been rescued from a plane crash back in the 1970s. She had expressed how grateful she was to Mountain Rescue Aspen for saving her and other survivors from the crash that had claimed the life of her father and the pilot. She had done very well financially in her life and was willing to donate the funds necessary to build a new facility for the team. The building would be named after her father.
After much searching for a spot to build, her family foundation also helped secure a site that was central to Pitkin County and big enough to house all of our equipment under one roof. The building would also have plenty of room for meetings, training, and running missions. It was everything a rescue team could ask for. Additional donations were secured from other community members for specific room requirements, and a tiled donor wall was installed for larger donors. But many of our team members were attached to our old cabin. So in the design of this new and much larger building, we incorporated the roof angle and size of the old cabin as the entrance. This room serves as a museum for our old gear and memorabilia, including a logbook of a founding member with recorded details of rescue missions dating back to the 50s. In the front window we have a lantern that is lit 24/7/365 denoting our willingness to respond at any time. So now we have this large building, with a four-vehicle-plus -trailers garage, encompassing 14,000 square feet. But given that we have close to 20 members with more than 20 years on the team, the old timers just couldn’t let the old moniker go. So it stuck, and that’s why we still call our new facility The Cabin.
