We now have a new blog that replaces this blog. The new blog is found at: http://grandhutsassociation.blogspot.com/
Visit the new blog, where you can find general news updates, building progress, and photos of the Broome Hut project.
If you have this blog bookmarked, please update the link to the new blog at: http://grandhutsassociation.blogspot.com/.
Thanks!
Feb. 24, 2011
Events are happening fast and furious as we prepare the Broome Hut for construction this spring. We hosted another successful Progressive Ski Dinner at Devil’s Thumb Ranch this past Friday, an initial review shows we likely raised close to $10,000! 230 candles provided supplemental (to the moon) light for a fast set of tracks. Food was plentiful – I even found home made chocolates left at Heck’s Tavern when I finally got in at 10:30.
Two weeks ago I drove to Montana to pick up the composting toilets for the cabin. Glen Nelson was the same individual I bought composters from 35 years ago. He has been working diligently ever since to perfect the science of turning waste into soil – 900 units installed (many in public parks) testify to his progress.
We are hauling logs to my bandsaw mill – set up in Fraser – and will begin serious cutting this weekend. Volunteers continue to sign up to help this spring and summer, this will be a true community project! Andy Miller, Project Manager
Nov. 3, 2010
Because there is little to no firewood close to the Broome Hut, we will use wood pellets for back-up heat when clouds keep our passive solar design short on warmth for users. The other fuel need is for cooking. The hope is to find a pellet stove which utilizes little electric power (stoves typically have fan assisted burning and electric ingnition systems) and one which can be used for melting water and cooking. Most huts use propane stoves, propane is hard to get to the site and has real environmental impacts. Pellets are manufactured locally (in Kremmling) from beetle killed trees.
So far we have not found pellet stove products meeting the needs of this cabin. Pellets should fit well with many alternative energy projects – so our quest could help others. Let us know if you know of any stoves which might work!
Friday, Feb. 18 2011 has been set as the date for the 8th annual Progressive Ski Dinner. This will likely be yet again the main social event for the Nordic ski season, so put it on your calendar! Tickets, which normally sell out, will be available soon.
Snow is falling heavily this morning, and I am beginning the winter’s work of staging construction of the Broome Hut on Second Creek – slated for next summer. The owners of the Rendezvous Development in the Fraser Valley have kindly donated the use of a large metal building where materials for the project will be bundled in loads designed for lifting by a helicopter from the top of Berthoud to the cabin site.
Loads of logs were hauled from various places to a storage yard donated by Boxwell Construction in Tabernash. These logs will be processed on my portable band saw mill this winter into beams for the center, timber framed section of the structure – and into beetle kill paneling for the interior of the cabin.
GHA will be searching this winter for donated building materials and components. If you have any likely items, please contact us. We have a master list of items needed.
Mainly we need pledged volunteer hours for next summer’s construction. There is a link to the Volunteer Interest Form at the bottom left portion of the home page. We have a good financial base to complete the cabin, but need pledged volunteer hours and donated materials to complete our cabin building budget. You do not need any building skills to be a volunteer! – Andy Miller, GHA Project Manager 970-726-4099
Press Release: Grand Huts Progressive Ski Dinner and Benefit
Hard to imagine anything better than skiing through a meadow at Devil’s Thumb Ranch by moonlight. Picture a bowl of hot soup during your trek, served up in a Yurt. Throw in candle light along the trail, dinner at the Ranch and fabulous music & desert at the beautiful Hecks Tavern. On Saturday, Feb. 27, the eighth annual Grand Huts Association Progressive ski dinner will be staged, with proceeds helping to fund the construction of the Broome Hut on Second Creek.
Local restaurants donate delicious dishes, served with aplomb at three venues. Revelers will begin with a short jaunt to the horse barn where appetizers will be served; then on to the Yurt at the top of Sawmill Meadow, where hot soup and bread awaits. A downhill slide across the meadows return moon inspired travelers to dinner at the Day Lodge. The final stop is Hecks Tavern for desert, a silent auction, and music by the acclaimed local Jazz band Tight Like That. This will be an incredible evening!
Diners will get to see the design for the Second Creek Hut. Huge windows will heat the cabin and give the airy perch incredible views of the timberline basin above the west side of Berthoud Pass. The cabin will serve as a retreat for visiting and area residents, and will double as an educational center – giving students a classroom at timberline.
The goal is to create a building that derives its heat and electricity from the sun and wind and processes the waste generated by its occupants, minimizing its impact on the local and global environment. A day use room and volunteer quarters will provide free use and a way to lessen the human footprint in the heavily used Second Creek basin.
In the future this classroom in the sky will lead young and old alike up a path toward engagement with our mountain studded back yard.
Tickets for the dinner are available at the Winter Park Market, Devil’s Thumb Cross Country Center, Rocky Mountain Roastery by Alco in Fraser, Budget Tackle in Granby and Never Summer Mountain Products in Grand Lake. Call 726-4099 or 726-9877 if you need any other information, if you need tickets mailed and for will call tickets. You may also visit Grandhuts.org to find more information or to buy tickets online.
Tight Like That will perform from 8:00 – 10:30. All are welcome! No cover but donations will be appreciated.
Hope to see you there!
The 2010 Moonlight Progressive Dinner and Auction is just around the corner. Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 27th, and join us for a fun evening on the nordic trails at Devils Thumb Ranch. Ski to three locations for a fabulous five course meal. There are three separate dinner start times (6:00 pm / 6:30 pm / 5:30pm is SOLD OUT) and tickets are available for purchase through our website (www.GrandHuts.org). There is also a listing of locations in Grand County where tickets can be purchased in person that can be found on the events page of our website.
The Silent Auction and Live Jazz Music by Tight Like That will be in Heck’s Restaurant until 11pm. The GHA silent auction will have a fabulous selection of items to bid on such as: Winter Park Resort Lift Tickets, Art & Photography from local artists, nights stay at High Lonesome Hut and other lodging properties, tickets to Events, Sporting Goods, Food and Beverage, Massage Therapy, a variety of services from professionals and much more!
Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010
Location: Devil’s Thumb Ranch Nordic Center
Times: 5:30 pm (sold out), 6:00 pm, and 6:30 pm start times
Tickets: $50 adults, $15 under age 16 – BUY NOW!
Join Grand Huts for the 7th Annual Moonlight Ski Progressive Dinner and Auction on Saturday, February 27, 2010. Ski to Three Locations for a Fabulous Five Course Meal. Silent Auction and Live Music in Heck’s Restaurant until 11pm.
There are three different start times for dinner to choose from, and tickets are available on the GHA website, as well as at local participating businesses, which are listed on the website. The 5:30pm start time has Sold Out! so get your tickets quickly before the rest are all gone! Ticket includes moonlight skiing trail fee and equipment rental. (For better visibility bring a headlamp).
Help us build the new ski hut! All proceeds will go towards building the Broome Hut at Second Creek on Berthoud Pass.
In heavy south wind driven snow, I skied to site with soil engineer, Jed Dindinger. His High Country Soil Testing company is donating time to design the Hut’s greywater (sewer water without toilet waste – which will be composted in large tanks) disposal field. We dug a small test pit to determine how deep the soil was over the granite bedrock – hoping for two feet of soil to allow for the required separation between the infiltrator pipes and bedrock. Using a claw hammer we made it through eight inches of frozen ground to softer soil beneath – finding two feet of dirt above the granite slab beneath. Good news! The ski back out was dicey, thin snow on any sun exposed slopes, three foot deep unconsolidated snow in north facing areas – this will be a crazy year for avalanches.
GHA is working on an eco-friendly hut system for Grand County. The proposed system will eventually go from Berthoud Pass all the way to Grand Lake. This consists of nine huts total and includes four existing huts – Second Creek Hut, First Creek Hut, High Lonesome Hut, and Twin Creek Hut – and five newly proposed huts. The Second Creek Hut is structurally unfit and will be rebuilt as the Broome Hut as the first construction project for GHA.
All funding for the first hut project must be in place in order to receive the final permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Once this permit is issued, building of the hut can begin. Help us reach our goal by donating today! Grand Huts Association is a Colorado 501c(3) non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible. Donations can be made online through the GHA Website.