Sister’s Cabin Off-Grid Timber Frame Ski Hut

Colorado Timberframe teamed up with non-profit, Summit Huts Association, to construct a 2,000+ square foot, timber frame ski hut on top of Breckenridge’s Baldy Mountain, known as Sister’s Cabin. At 11,445 feet, the cabin can only be accessed by a 3.5-mile trek on skis or snowshoes and gains 1,800 feet in elevation.

The off-grid retreat will be heated by a wood stove in the main living area, with electricity coming from an array of solar panels. Unlike the other Summit Huts cabins, Sister’s Cabin will be outfitted with two indoor compostable toilets, enough single beds and bunk beds to accommodate 14 people and will even have a wood-fired sauna.

Due to the project’s remote location, our team faced a number of logistical challenges that required all material to be air-lifted to the site by helicopter. Twelve bunks of pre-fabricated timber and fifteen bunks of pre-fabricated SIPs, each weighing 4,000+ lbs., were air-lifted from the base of Bald Mountain to the top with each round trip flight taking just under 15 minutes.

“Sister’s Cabin” is named after donor, Sue Sturm, and her long-time group of friends, who found sisterhood and solace taking backcountry ski hut trips together. Colorado has more than three dozen backcountry huts, most of which are administered by the 10^th Mountain Huts Association, however, this is the first new construction hut to be approved on public land in Summit County in 22 years. The hut will only be available to guests in the winter months from the third week of November through the end of April in order to preserve and protect the lynx habitat in Summit County.

After a decade in the works, the hut is finally expected to open its doors in January 2019 and can be reserved for as low as $50/night.