The Lynn Britt Cabin (Snowmass)
The Lynn Britt Cabin is located on Snowmass, almost underneath and slightly to the West of the Village Express lift line, next to the Velvet Falls run, and just above Makaha Park. Its location is just slightly below the place where the Burlingame Cabins were located before one of them was moved in 1985 to a location near Wally's Safety Trail and just above the location of Lizard Lodge. (This location of the Burlingame Cabin used to be shown on the ski trail maps, but is not anymore.) The Lynn Britt Cabin was built new as a restaurant in 1998 and named after and in honor and memory of Lynn Britt, who was a popular ski instructor. Lynn was born on August 17, 1945 and died of cancer at the age of 40 on March 4, 1986. His parents were Rosie and Robert Britt of Redondo Beach, CA. He was a very good friend of Doug MacKenzie, who was the Snowmass Mountain Manager from 1993 to 2007. Doug and Lynn taught skiing together and were also hunting buddies, and that is how the idea of a cabin/restaurant serving big-game type food came to be. Before the Lynn Britt Cabin was built, there was a "Lynn Britt Race Arena" located above where Lizard Lodge is now. Many thanks to Mike Britt and Jamie Britt for their help with the information on this page. Also thanks to these individuals: Dario Del Piccolo, Katie Ertl, Tom Goode, Tony Lizotte, Ed Petrosius, and Tom Wenzel.
Scroll down almost to the bottom of this page for a March 6, 1986 Aspen Times article about the death of Lynn Britt.
The Aspen Skiing Company has this to say about the Lynn Britt Cabin on this web page (as of February 2019): https://www.aspensnowmass.com/our-mountains/snowmass/dining/lynn-britt-cabin "Best known for: Authentic Western ambiance meets gourmet sophistication. Don’t miss: Après food and drink specials and snowcat dinners. Lynn Britt Cabin combines elegance, Western ambiance and gourmet cuisine with the beauty and seclusion of an on-mountain restaurant. This quaint and romantic cabin is a spectacular setting for lunch or après ski. Inside the rustic yet elegant dining room or outside on the patio you will find a menu of gourmet Colorado cuisine at its finest such as elk, lamb, trout and bison. Take in the surroundings and relax in the moment with a glass of wine." This page also has information on snowcat dinners and family chuckwagon dinners at the cabin.
Mike Britt (member of the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol) is the son of Lynn Britt. In February 2019 Mike Britt gave the author this information: "He moved here in 1973 with my mom from Southern California when I was 5 months old. He started teaching at Aspen Highlands and then moved over to Snowmass after a few years."
Jamie Britt (former ski instructor at the Aspen Skiing Company) is the daughter of Lynn Britt.
See this page on this site for the Fisher Davis Britt Memorial Plaque on Aspen Mountain: http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/index.php?The-Fisher-Davis-Britt-Memorial-Plaque-Aspen-Mountain. Fisher Davis Britt was the son of Mike Britt, and the grandson of Lynn Britt.
See this Denver Post article about the Lynn Britt Cabin by Dan Leeth: https://theknow.denverpost.com/2018/11/28/lynn-britt-cabin-aspen-dining/201663/
See this November 15, 2015 Aspen Daily News article by Madeleine Osberger, http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/169016, which contains this quote: "The Burlingame Cabin was moved to its current site in 1985."
Lynn Britt first came to Aspen in 1966 on a ski trip with his friend Bob "Smitty" Smith. Then in 1973 he moved there with his wife and son Mike. (See page 107 of John Moore's 2018 book, "A History of Aspen Highlands," for this quote: "[Bob 'Smitty' Smith] first arrived in Aspen in 1966 at age 22 with his friend Lynn Britt.")
See this page for Yelp photos: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/lynn-britt-cabin-snowmass-village
If you have information about the history of this cabin or information about Lynn Britt that would be appropriate to add to this page, please send to [email protected].
Some photos of the cabin are in the photo section immediately below. All but the first one were taken by the author in February 2019. Click on images to enlarge.
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See the trail maps below. The Lynn Britt Cabin is not shown on the 1996-97 map. It is shown on the 1998-99 map (and has been shown on every map since then). Click on images to enlarge.
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The photos in the photo section immediately below were taken by the author in March of 2019. Click on images to enlarge.
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This photo of Lynn Britt courtesy of Tony Lizotte and Dario Del Piccolo at Lizard Lodge on Snowmass. Lynn Britt has on an "Aspen Manor Lodge" hat. Click on image to enlarge.
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Thanks to Mike Britt for contributing the photos below of Lynn Britt (Mike is in 3 of these photos). Click on images to enlarge.
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In January of 2020 a framed photo of Lynn Britt was mounted on the wall inside the Lynn Britt Cabin. There is also a framed bio of Lynn mounted on the wall below the photo. This bio was written by Lynn's son, Mike Britt. See photos in the photo section below.
The bio reads as follows:
LYNN BRITT
Lynn Britt was born August 17, 1945 in Tiburon, California. He grew up in Redondo beach, California where he graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1963. After Lynn graduated he served with the United States Navy during the height of the Vietnam war. When Lynn’s service in the Navy was up, his love for the mountains grew even stronger. He became a member of the Big Bear Ski Patrol. During this time Lynn set out on numerous road trips to visit ski areas of the west. He finally settled on Aspen, where his best friend from childhood, Bob “Smitty” Smith also moved. Lynn Britt and his wife Valerie moved to Aspen in 1973 bringing along their five month old son Michael, who currently works with the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol. Lynn started his career as a ski instructor at Aspen Highlands where he taught skiing there for three years, after which he moved to Snowmass in 1977. The year 1977 was a big year for Lynn. That was the year his daughter Jamie was born, who currently works as a nurse at Aspen Valley Hospital. When Lynn taught skiing at Snowmass, he met a man who would later be one of his best friends, Doug Mackenzie. Lynn remained at Snowmass for the duration of his career. On March 4, 1986, Lynn passed away at the age of 40, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Lynn was much loved and well respected among his friends, colleagues, students, and most of all, his family. Lynn’s friend, Doug Mackenzie would later become Snowmass mountain manager. Doug tried to think of a way to memorialize his friend. The Lynn Britt Cabin was built and named in his honor.
(This written by Michael Britt, January of 2020.)
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Click on images to enlarge.
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The framed Lynn Britt photo in the Lynn Britt Cabin was the subject ot the Snowmass Sun "Last Shot" photo (by the author) in the February 19, 2020 Snowmass Sun. Click on images to enlarge.
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Here is a March 6, 1986 Aspen Times article about the death of Lynn Britt. Many thanks to Mike and Jamie Britt for contributing this article. In December of 2020 a framed copy of this article was put on display inside the Lynn Britt Cabin (see last photo below, taken in April 2021). Click on images to enlarge.
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As of July 2020, there is a race horse named "Lynn Britt Cabin." The information about this horse below is from this page: https://www.horseracingnation.com/horse/Lynn_Britt_Cabin#
Name of Horse: Lynn Britt Cabin
Age: 2 year old Filly
Status: Active
Owner: Craig Bernick
Trainer: James A.'Fozzy' Stack
Bred: (IRL) by Yeomanstown Stud
Pedigree: Dark Angel - Taraeff by Cape Cross
Lynn Britt Cabin was born in Ireland in 2017.
[By the way, Craig Bernick also owns a horse named "Woody Creek."]