ASPEN — The man who was instrumental in expanding one of the backcountry ski-hut systems near Aspen was honored Thursday with completion of a hut that bears his nickname.

About 40 people turned out to celebrate the christening of Opa’s Taylor Hut, named after the late Aspenite Fred Braun. The Alfred A. Braun Hut System south of Aspen also is named after him.

Braun emigrated to America from Germany in 1928 and moved to Aspen in the early 1950s. He founded what evolved into Mountain Rescue Aspen and, in 1967, took over a growing hut system in the high country. He built many of the huts himself, with the help of his family and volunteers.

“He did it because he loved it so much,” said his daughter, Sigrid Stapleton.

The hut is about 6.5 miles southeast of Ashcroft and about 1.5 miles southeast of the summit of Taylor Pass. It’s roughly half way between the Friends Hut and the Goodwin-Green Hut.

Read more about “Opa,” the new hut and the entire hut system.

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Opa’s Taylor Hut, about 1.5 miles southeast of the Taylor Pass summit, was welcomed into the Alfred A. Braun Hut System near Aspen with a party Thursday. Photo by Scott Condon, The Aspen Times