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Articles by Britta Gustafson
Gustafson: A yes for housing, and the people who will call it home
Snowmass is woven into who I am. It raised me, and now I’m raising my children here. As a working mother who has held multiple jobs to make ends meet, I know that loving Snowmass doesn’t make it easier to afford. No one should have to choose between the place they call home and the ability to make ends meet. Long before serving on the Snowmass Village Town Council, I wrote hundreds of columns about protecting Snowmass’s character, natural beauty and small-town sense of community.
Gustafson: A Yes for housing, and a Yes for the people who will call it home
Snowmass is woven into who I am. It raised me, and now I’m raising my children here. As a working mother who has held multiple jobs to make ends meet, I know that loving Snowmass doesn’t make it easier to afford. No one should have to choose between the place they call home and the ability to make ends meet. Long before serving on Town Council, I wrote hundreds of columns about protecting Snowmass’s character, natural beauty and small-town sense of community.
Wikipedia Banned Its Co-Founder Because Its Rules Mostly Work, Actually
In Larry Sanger’s recent failed attempt to start a “WikiProject Intellectual Diversity”, he tried to recruit his followers to help him change Wikipedia’s rules around representation of viewpoints, religions, parties, and nationalities (a version of his earlier “Nine Theses”). The draft WikiProject was not itself a bannable offense, but his approach broke rules that were designed to foster fair discussions.
In Snowmass, it’s our time to thrive
It’s a niche nail-biter, resonant within our resort towns, watching the forecast and yearning for that stormy relief. When the snow finally clings, our spirits soar: Planning accelerates, workloads ramp up and we are energized by a shared commitment to hospitality and our outdoor lifestyles. This surge in momentum is part celebration, part added workload and always a reaffirmation of the values that bind our towns together.
In Snowmass, it’s our time to thrive
It’s a niche nail-biter, resonant within our resort towns, watching the forecast and yearning for that stormy relief. When the snow finally clings, our spirits soar: Planning accelerates, workloads ramp up and we are energized by a shared commitment to hospitality and our outdoor lifestyles. This surge in momentum is part celebration, part added workload and always a reaffirmation of the values that bind our towns together.
Critical choices ahead on Draw site development
On Monday, the residents of Snowmass Village are invited to participate in a pivotal decision that stands to shape the character and landscape of our beloved community for generations to come. Join us in voicing your opinions on what could be the single largest and most expensive project the town has ever undertaken: the proposed workforce housing development on the Draw site. This is not simply about numbers; it’s about our identity, our values and our vision for the future.
Gustafson: Engage in the vital discussion on Snowmass Village’s Draw Site development
On May 19, the residents of Snowmass Village are invited to participate in a pivotal decision that stands to shape the character and landscape of our beloved community for generations to come. Join us in voicing your opinions on what could be the single largest and most expensive project the town has ever undertaken: the proposed workforce housing development on the Draw Site. This is not simply about numbers; it’s about our identity, our values, and our vision for the future.
Snowmass council member writes memoir of former mayor
Snowmass Town Council member Britta Gustafson recently finished writing a memoir of former mayor Jim Hooker, who passed away last September at 82. Hooker was a “true founder of our town and community,” wrote Gustafson to The Aspen Times.
Gustafson: ‘No’ on the Draw Site is a ‘yes’ for housing
A “no” vote on the ballot question regarding the Draw Site is not a rejection of workforce housing; it’s a powerful stand for a better vision for Snowmass. This vote champions thoughtful planning that aligns with our community’s guiding principles in our own Comprehensive Plan and our belief that “Just Big Enough” is essential to harmonizing the balance of community and resort. The proposed project is oversized, overpriced and out of touch with our character.
Remembering Travis Smith Sinclair
Travis Smith Sinclair’s celebration of life this past Sunday was a beautiful event. Several hundred community members and loved ones from far and wide attended to send him off with love, grief, and gratitude. “Travis was the quintessential Colorado rancher on skis, and he loved everything these mountains and this town represents,” his family said.
Guest Commentary: Snowmass council could use fresh perspective representing working locals
Filled with passion and love for the place I was born, I am running for Snowmass Village Town Council for all the right reasons. But this isn’t about me, it’s about the future of Snowmass Village. It’s about our collective experience and this finite, ephemeral time we have together — and the impact our time here will have on the future. While there is much to celebrate about Snowmass, it often seems as if we have been debating, discussing and voting on similar topics for the past four decades.
Britta Gustafson: Are we looping?
It often seems as if we have been debating, discussing and voting on similar topics for the past four decades. You can probably run through the list by now: Base Village, employee housing, entryway and town center improvements, transportation challenges and, oh, the various perennial topics Krabloonik, JAS and rodeo, to name a few.
Britta Gustafson: Do it once and do it right with the Snowmass entrance
There is something winsome and captivating about rounding that final bend off of the rustic, rural Brush Creek Road to find the town of Snowmass Village nestled so harmoniously into this mountainous valley. With Mount Daly as our signature backdrop, and a rich natural centerpiece, with the rolling golf course and homes tucked throughout the hillsides, the charm of this mountain town has managed to remain quite inviting. And many of us recognize that our entryway must match in pitch and tone.
Britta Gustafson: Shining a light on the Sun
The smaller the community, the more important its newspaper. And Snowmass Village is still a small town, even as we’ve grown into a renowned resort. And it’s true that “nobody covers Snowmass like the Sun,” because nobody prioritizes our news, attends all the events and local happenings, sits through all the town meetings and knows our community as well as we know ourselves.
Britta Gustafson: Food is a connection (and a little wine helps)
If the lanyard-clad crowds and white tents covering our public parks have caused you to roll your eyes over the years, I feel you. The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen rolls into town each June whether we’re ready or not. And from the outside looking at, well, the outside, I’ve likely too often made assumptions. But this year, a work-related opportunity gave me a peek behind the canvas curtains, and my somewhat skeptical self was set straight, or at least a little straighter.
Britta Gustafson: ‘Let’s get together and feel all right’
Are you humming it already? “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Bob Marley’s sentiment is universal. A musical experience can transcend the hassles and hustles, tragedies and trials of life. When those first few chords of a favorite song fill a room, that’s the moment; collective effervescence, a place where we become one. Here, music is our common denominator.
Britta Gustafson: The question learned in time
It feels like a rare and precious thing to have time to simply sit and observe. Sometimes it feels like we’re just witnesses to an epoch of humanity, living in geologic time, watching a timelapse portrait of our lives flashing by with swirls of stars. Sunrise, sunset, day to night, snow to summer and back again, in a whirl of daily duties, we age so quickly. Trying to simply focus on one moment has its challenges. The desert, in its extreme and patient way, can seem to slow that pace.
Britta Gustafson: Is it dangerous always playing safe?
My friends, family and I often play the how-did-we-ever-survive-childhood game, in which we regale one another with hilarious and harrowing tales of how we lived through growing up in this valley during the less-litigious years of our youth.
Britta Gustafson: Falling in love with Earth
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun I love nature’s curveballs. A snow day in April keeps us on our toes, a humble reminder of who is really in charge. I think I officially fell in love with the Earth some time around the age of 10; it was easy while growing up in this valley. It was hard not to feel awestruck, filled by some inner passion, a genuine longing to spend time outside in these mountains.
Britta Gustafson: Tourism’s footprints
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun I’m guilty of feeling like I’ve “got to get there before it’s ruined,” wanting to travel to some special location before it’s “spoiled” and becomes too popular and overrun with tourists. I also find it sad that the ideology has become the part of what travel is: See it first, get your piece of it. That’s something I believe we must constantly work to resist in a tourist town.
Britta Gustafson: Deep winter
Britta Gustafson Then Again An aspen tree stand welcomes home the residents of North Ridge Lane to our quiet little cul-de-sac in Snowmass Village. The arbor of boughs, bending in unison over the small winding lane, seem to tip their hat in welcome: a natural arched entrance. It’s easy to take it for granted, the quaint brilliance of that landscape-painting worthy curve down a little mountain lane.
Britta Gustafson: What matters most
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. When faced with difficult decisions, we can often benefit from starting small — really, really small. Thinking like children.
Britta Gustafson: Don’t put words in my mouth
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun As a mom, I can understand the view some take of the COVID-19 pandemic as a tragedy for children who must adapt to mask-wearing and other limitations. But I choose to see this as an opportunity for kids to gain resilience, and more importantly, for them to learn how to put the needs of others ahead of their own.
Britta Gustafson: Aspen Monopoly
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun I’m grateful for the snow and the outdoor playground that we can call home here in the mountains. But when we’re too tired to hit the slopes, we bring out the ‘bored’ games to we keep ourselves entertained.
Britta Gustafson: It’s only now
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun As we pass through the longest night of the year, advancing to the other side of the final full moon phase of 2021, our circannual (biologically-seasonal) rhythms are ready to reset. But in this midnight hour, I feel an overwhelming desire to hold fast this moment. Outside, the hushed effect of a fresh snowfall is pleasantly isolating. Snowy drifts absorb the routine sounds of humanity and soften the edges of our man-made structures.
The Future of Fruit
As climate change hits home for Colorado orchardists, the time is ripe for big questions. By Katie Brimm / Photography By Britta Gustafson | December 20, 2021 An apple freshly picked from a small orchard in El Jebel. An early frost in 2021 added to the sweet flavor of the apples enjoyed by people, birds, and bears alike.
Britta Gustafson: Life is just a box of rocks
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun This morning I was surprised to find a box of rocks that appeared to be a hefty collection discarded at our local dumpster. They sat, as rocks do, awaiting pickupL off to find themselves integrated with the debris of human leftovers, ready to waste away in the Pitkin County Landfill after a journey across time to arrive in that box at a dumpster.
Britta Gustafson: Pressure cooking
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun Cooking generally involves the manipulation of food until chemical reactions take place. Similarly, rising pressures can take place inside — and outside — the oven around the holidays. In the oven those reactions happen faster at higher temperatures, and the added pressures we often put on ourselves during the holidays can act in much the same manner.
Britta Gustafson: A district theater legacy in its second act
Britta Gustafson Then Again Britta Gustafson for the Snowmass Sun Amid all the recent talks about upgrades to the Aspen District Theater, I’ve found myself thinking about the history of the space — both public and personal — and reading though playbills, documents and articles that my dad tucked away from that time in his life, when he was the architect who worked on the design of the space.
Britta Gustafson: Flavors of Colorado and our bittersweet season
Britta Gustafson Then Again Just when the warm days feel endless, this spicy time of year arrives. We feel fall breeze in and smell its advance, sensual and emotional, like nutmeg and cinnamon, a tart and creamy turning point that fills the senses and evokes the emotion of beginnings and ends. Frostbitten mornings can turn to sun baked afternoons like warm apple pie with a dollop of cool whipped cream. Fall’s first frosty kiss hints at the season’s eminent shifts.
Britta Gustafson: When we paint the sky
Britta Gustafson Then Again To take flight through the sky in a hot air balloon seems an idyllic image, one that for many invokes vintage fantasies of dreamy days painted on the minds of childhood or thoughts of a wonder-filled futuristic utopia. Those fantastic flights of fancy can reawaken both innocence and optimism. As little kids, we would rise before the sun and make our way down to the golf course in time to see the first balloons of the annual Snowmass Balloon Festival take flight.
Britta Gustafson: Miss Connection
Britta Gustafson Then Again I was struck by the community photo that appeared in the Snowmass Sun a few weeks ago that was taken at a 2006 gathering. For those of us living here at that time, the upturned faces in that photo are almost all recognizable. By focusing on an event for the community, our multi-generational residents were able to know and enjoy each other at those events. I’ve been missing that lately.
Britta Gustafson: Outdoor education is our gift to the next generation
Britta Gustafson Then Again Like the ceremonial rite of passage from ancient civilizations and worldwide throughout various cultures, solitary time spent in nature — hungry and alone — ignites a deep connection from within to the vast outer world. I can still hear the sound of my footsteps crunching on the pine needles as a 13-year-old walking to my much-anticipated eighth grade outdoor education solo site.
Britta Gustafson: Teamwork makes the dream work
Britta Gustafson Then Again When I hear John Williams’ “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” echo out from the TV speakers, I’m instantly transported back to the summer of 1988, when I watched the story of gold medalist Nadia Comăneci as part of the lead up to the summer games in Seoul, South Korea. It had been more than a decade since the young gymnast achieved a perfect score at the age of 14, but a made-for-TV movie brought her story into my living room in the late ’80s. And I was starstruck.
Remembering Roy Orbit’son: Aspen’s iconic alpaca
Britta Gustafson Then Again A young girl looks in on Farm Collaborative alpacas Kona (right) and Roy at the Aspen Saturday Market on Saturday, June 12, 2021, in downtown Aspen. Roy, a fixture at the Snowmass Village-based farming nonprofit, died on July 4, 2021. Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times. Many have referred to Aspen’s famous alpaca duo as the most photographed alpacas in the United States. And it’s likely true. Kona and Roy, the faces of The Farm Collaborative, also have their own claim to fame.
Gustafson: Saddle up, ghost riders
Britta Gustafson Then Again When the dust settles in the rodeo arena and the breathless cowboy clambers to his feet, wiping the crimson sweat from his brow, it’s like watching a part of our living history here in Snowmass Village. As he slaps his hat clean against his thigh, squinting from the rays of the setting sun, he pulls that hat back down as he hurls himself out of sight, leaving behind only the ting of his spurs against the rails.
Britta Gustafson: Get dirty
Britta Gustafson Then Again If you want to bury your troubles, start digging. There’s more to gardening than the promise of fresh food and fragrant flowers. Beyond connecting with nature, absorbing a little extra vitamin D from the sun and breathing fresh air, getting dirty — really getting down in the dirt — helps our mental health, too. Here in Snowmass Village, our mountain landscape unpretentiously encourages a physically active, outdoorsy lifestyle.
Britta Gustafson: Serving up a community space
Britta Gustafson Then Again Last spring, while many were searching for ways to occupy idle time, our workload went into overdrive at the Farm Collaborative. As part of the local agricultural community — the organization focuses on sustainable farming issues — we watched as the pandemic began to highlight food insecurity and reveal more cracks in our food systems. I feel blessed, every day, to be working with and for some of the most creative, influential and energizing people I have ever met.
Britta Gustafson: Challenging students to hit pause on social media
Britta Gustafson Then Again It is probably better to have a childhood filled with imagination, scrapes and bruises than one filled with apps and “likes.” I feel lucky that when I was a kid, being “social” meant going outside and finding friends in person, not adding them on Facebook. So I especially appreciate the “I’m Off Social Media Challenge” that Aspen Middle School is encouraging this week.
Britta Gustafson: Knowing when the race is done
Britta Gustafson Then Again The cool baton slammed into my outstretched hand, and all that nervous energy I had been collecting from the starting line fused with a jolt, propelling me almost against my will. I was off, the third runner in the 400-yard relay for the Aspen Skiers at a track meet in Hotchkiss. Without thinking about pacing, I sprinted around the first curve in the track. I had trained for this race all season, but had not yet had the opportunity to compete until now.
Britta Gustafson: Let’s grow a better future
Britta Gustafson Then Again Growing food, eating local: the idea is as old fashioned as it is forward thinking. What if we took an edible approach to landscapes, a more beautiful, flavorful outlook? Food should be all around us, as nature intended. What if we put more focus on local food as an edible amenity, a cultivated place in the community, a palatable public plot? How about a local food growing project, something more progressive than a small community garden?
Britta Gustafson: Think big, stay small
Britta Gustafson Then Again Snowmass Village as seen from Brush Creek Road in January 2019.
Britta Gustafson: Smile with your eyes
Britta Gustafson Then Again Many of us are missing a small but important social cue these days: smiles. They’re our most straightforward way to communicate kindness, and for those who want to be both socially responsible and friendly, the inability to express our feelings is starting to take its toll.
Britta Gustafson: Advice from a self-proclaimed astrologist
Britta Gustafson Then Again "Astrological Advice" columns by Britta Gustafson pile up in a stack of Campus Press newspapers. Britta Gustafson/Courtesy image Twenty years ago today, on Jan. 20, 2001, I offered some astrological advice in my college newspaper. “Aries(…) This Week: All that raw energy can sometimes get out of hand, have a heart and let that little thing slide. The Weekend: Your days and nights are mixing as well as oil and water, find a happy medium.
Britta Gustafson: Waiting for hugs
Our kids spent 2020 adjusting their lives to an altered tempo, from how they learned and played to experiencing childhood in a culture shift. And as much as we adults try to protect them, the youngest among us are still reconciling with the disruptive cadences of 2020. “Adults, I mean they can tell us everything is fine. But we know. We are not blind,” explains my 11-year-old daughter Lia. She has been navigating an “unforgettable” year as she embarks on her middle school years through a pandemic.
Britta Gustafson: 2020, now that’s a wrap (in plastic)
Britta Gustafson Then Again With years of hindsight helping us look toward better climate choices, the “20/20“ version of this vision seems to be blurred behind a veil of sanitary plastic wrap. Gazing beyond the hump of the longest night of the year, past a holiday season of unrivaled chaos and beyond Pitkin County’s flashing Red level restrictions, a distant, faint, yet hopeful light seems to be shining on a return to normal.
Britta Gustafson: In gratitude for life
Britta Gustafson Then Again Every Thanksgiving I reflect on one of the most cherished relationships in my life: my aunt, who was a kindred spirit, a woman who could see deep inside my heart. She loved this holiday — its spirit of togetherness, the tangible nature of cooking and sharing and nourishing those we love. A few years ago I was present when my dear aunt passed.
Britta Gustafson: Ready for peaceful discord
Britta Gustafson Then Again “Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” ~ Ronald Reagan For some of us, it’s felt like years, for others a lifetime of miscommunication, or non-communication, even heated arguments, and some fights. We know the instigating factors, and some will always remain, but perhaps we might be ready to begin to let go of the past and find a way, from within, to support moving forward in a healthy productive way.
Britta Gustafson: While being ‘right’ feels good, I hope I’m wrong about this one.
Britta Gustafson Then Again And so it begins.
Britta Gustafson: Local officials and our vision of the future
Britta Gustafson Then Again As our beleaguered country stumbles toward the Nov. 3 general election, eyes are understandably focused on the presidency. We often end up thinking nationally, not locally. But when our leaders at the very top fail us, it is often local officials who step in and make change. This pandemic has been shining its spotlight on the effectiveness of local leadership, proving that it is time for our view of local elections to change.
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