While driving to the desert to camp with friends in April 2008, Lindsay Gillon made a pit stop at Aspen-Snowmass, at the request of a certain male suitor, for a little spring skiing.
It was the first official date between Shaun and Lindsay Cagley — shredding at Highlands followed by an impromptu barbecue apres-ski party of two at the Buttermilk Mountain parking lot.
“I’ve never seen anybody else do that,” Lindsay said in an interview Monday. “Neither have I,” Shaun chimed in, the two both laughing.
The Cagleys, who reigned as Snowmass’ Mardi Gras king and queen during the annual Fat Tuesday celebration, squeezed in a chat the day before, between meetings and a post-powder day bowl lap.
Snowmass’ Mardi Gras revelry and royalty started in the early 80s, the “Story of Snowmass” history book states, as “a proud local tradition … (honoring) well-loved villagers for their contributions to the community.”
The same criteria exists today, said Snowmass Tourism events and group sales manager Keisha Techau.
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“We pretty much just sit around a table as staff and think about who has been around for awhile in the village, who can we acknowledge for their service to the community or for their contributions to the village as a whole,” Techau said.
Lindsay is the general manager of Aspen Skiing Co.’s new Limelight Snowmass Hotel, while Shaun is the director of sales and marketing at the Crestwood Condominiums.
“It’s really easy for me to sell Snowmass because I truly believe it is one of the best places,” said Shaun, who’s worked at the Crestwood for 15 years and lived in Snowmass Village for 15.
The hospitality power couple met at a group sales ski conference in Dallas-Fort Worth. Lindsay was living in Breckenridge and working for the ski resort at the time, while Shaun called Snowmass home.
The couple’s second interaction that led to their first date was at another ski conference, Mountain Travel Symposium, in Vail.
“We started really kind of talking after the Vail rendezvous,” Shaun said.
Sparks flying, he said, “We did the long distance thing for awhile, but took a little bit of a break” after Lindsay moved to Crested Butte.
“Until you showed up at my 30th birthday in a full white tuxedo,” Lindsay said.
Full disclosure, she said, it was an ’80s prom themed party in Crested Butte.
“We had an awesome night,” Shaun said. “That was kind of the moment (when) we were both like ‘OK, we need to make this work and we need to live in the same place.'”
They both started looking into jobs between Crested Butte and Aspen-Snowmass. Within a month, Lindsay was interviewing for a job at Skico’s first Limelight Hotel in Aspen, where she started working in 2011.
After living in Basalt for about a year determining where they wanted to live, the two bought a townhome at Rodeo Place.
Together, the two love to ski, fly-fish, camp, travel and go to music festivals. Lindsay and Shaun were engaged at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which they’ve already taken their beloved two-year-old son, Cooper, to experience.
While the Cagleys recently bought a townhouse in the North 40 subdivision, the two still consider the village home and are passionate about the resort’s future.
“It was bittersweet to move out of Snowmass, to be quite honest,” Shaun said. “Even though we’ve moved to the North 40, I think we still both see Snowmass as kind of our hometown and home-base.”