{"id":2455934,"date":"2020-03-17T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T04:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/"},"modified":"2020-03-17T22:56:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T04:56:00","slug":"the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The best run\u2019: Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine family donates food to community to cap final season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.4457215836526\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-322831-277\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1024x691.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | George Gordon, left, Whitney Gordon, center left, and other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine hand out the restaurant\u2019s food supplies to Snowmass community members in the parking lot of the Housing Office on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2.4264705882353\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15.529411764706\">\n<p><strong>George Gordon, left, Whitney Gordon, center left, and other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine hand out the restaurant\u2019s food supplies to Snowmass community members in the parking lot of the Housing Office on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1024x691.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1024x691.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"George Gordon, left, Whitney Gordon, center left, and other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine hand out the restaurant\u2019s food supplies to Snowmass community members in the parking lot of the Housing Office on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1-1024x732.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Gwyn Knowlton, right, and George Gordon, center right, along with other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine pass out food supplies to Snowmass community members on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1.9302325581395\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"14.476744186047\">\n<p><strong>Gwyn Knowlton, right, and George Gordon, center right, along with other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine pass out food supplies to Snowmass community members on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1-1024x732.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-1-1024x732.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Gwyn Knowlton, right, and George Gordon, center right, along with other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine pass out food supplies to Snowmass community members on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Anna Stonehouse\/Aspen Times file photo | From left, George Gordon, Whitney Gordon and Gwyn Knowlton of Gwyn's High Alpine at Snowmass.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.46808510638298\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9.3617021276596\">\n<p><strong>From left, George Gordon, Whitney Gordon and Gwyn Knowlton of Gwyn&#8217;s High Alpine at Snowmass.<\/strong><br \/>Anna Stonehouse\/Aspen Times file photo<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-2-1024x682.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-2.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"From left, George Gordon, Whitney Gordon and Gwyn Knowlton of Gwyn's High Alpine at Snowmass.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Anna Stonehouse\/Aspen Times file photo | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.625\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"5.6875\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>Anna Stonehouse\/Aspen Times file photo<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-3-1024x682.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-3.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/gwyns-atd-031820-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Outside of the Snowmass Village Housing Office on Tuesday night, residents were invited to pick up free food boxes in an effort to support individuals and families affected by the local COVID-19 related closures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The food pickup was originally slated to start around 5:15 p.m. By 5:10 p.m., a group of at least 20 people spaced themselves around the parking lot in front of the housing building, waiting to grab tall, cardboard boxes full of items such as celery, sugar, bread, cheese, tea, apple cider mix, oranges, chips, buckets of chili and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some people took the food items out of need and a desire not to let it go to waste. Others left without food, stopping by just to thank Gwyn Knowlton, her husband, George Gordon, and their daughter Whitney Gordon who donated the food from their family-run Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine restaurant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou guys are angels,\u201d one man said, clutching a box filled to the brim with food. \u201cThis really is community right here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Within about 30 minutes, all of the food Gwyn, George and Whitney didn\u2019t want to go to waste was on its way to residents\u2019 homes, including a few packages slated for delivery to older locals in need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This was the family\u2019s last winter season operating Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine, the longtime mid-mountain mainstay at the top of the Alpine Springs Lift at Snowmass. And given the recently issued <a id=\"N0x1896610N0x1921390:N0x1896610N0x17a5400\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/restaurant-closure-order-latest-blow-to-aspen-life-some-plan-to-keep-take-out-and-delivery-option\/\">state public health order to shut down dine-in restaurants<\/a> until mid-April to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the family said it is unlikely they\u2019ll open Gwyn\u2019s doors again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe were all so blindsided by all of this and really hoped to end our last season with a lot of celebrations,\u201d said Whitney, who has headed the restaurant in recent years. \u201cEvery day we\u2019ve had to say goodbyes and haven\u2019t had that point of closure, which has been hard for all of us, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite their disappointment of not being able to celebrate the beloved restaurant\u2019s final season the way they envisioned, the family felt it important to end on as positive a note as possible by portioning out its leftover food for its employees and the village community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gwyn, Whitney and George said the restaurant\u2019s food also is being dispersed to other Aspen-Snowmass area pickup locations, and that they were more than happy to donate their food to the community they love so much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cForty-one years was a great run and we felt this was the most positive thing we could do to end and to help our own,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In 1979, Gwyn and George opened their on-mountain restaurant at the top of the Alpine Springs lift, which is well known for its fine dining and multitude of options \u201cfor all palates,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At the time, the couple worked to turn the existing, below-average eatery into a dining experience centered on many of Gwyn\u2019s family recipes, soon creating a Snowmass Ski Area staple with favorites like seafood puffs and homemade chili.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When the family announced on its restaurant\u2019s Facebook page Saturday evening that it would likely not reopen again this winter season due to the state\u2019s COVID-19 outbreak, more than 30 people commented to share personal anecdotes, praise and gratitude for the family\u2019s longtime on-mountain dining legacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThree generations of our family have enjoyed Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine. \u2026 We all appreciate the love with which the food was prepared and the welcoming atmosphere Gwyn and George provided,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYour fantastic restaurant was the most memorable with fantastic food and great people that worked there,\u201d another person commented.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou are awesome. You will be forever in people\u2019s memories for generations!\u201d another posted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen Skiing Co. made the decision not to renew its lease contract with the Gordon family in fall 2018 \u2014 which the family said in November they\u2019ve made peace with \u2014 Skico President and CEO Mike Kaplan recognizes this widespread, multi-generational impact Gwyn\u2019s has had on locals and visitors over the past four decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cGwyn\u2019s will always be an important part of the legacy of Snowmass. They touched so many of us with their hospitality and warmth and we will all miss them,\u201d Kaplan said Tuesday evening via email.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cObviously none of us expected this year to end so suddenly and in such a dramatic fashion, so it\u2019s disappointing not to have the opportunity to spend one more sunny day on the deck there and celebrate that legacy. We wish Gwyn, George and Whitney and their team all the best in their future endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When asked how they felt the last season went, Gwyn, George and Whitney said that before Saturday, it was the best season they could have hoped for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The family plans to throw a big BBQ over the summer to celebrate their more than 40 years of on-mountain dining, and said they\u2019re not going far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019ve cried a lot over the past few days,\u201d Whitney said, looking at her mom and dad, smiling. \u201cBut we\u2019ll still be here in the village and will see everyone around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe really have had the best run,\u201d Gwyn added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:mvincent@aspentimes.com\">mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/the-best-run-gwyns-high-alpine-family-donates-food-to-community-to-cap-final-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Gordon, left, Whitney Gordon, center left, and other people from Gwyn\u2019s High Alpine hand out the restaurant\u2019s food supplies to Snowmass community members in the parking lot of the Housing Office on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo Gwyn Knowlton, right, and George Gordon, center right, along [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 09:50:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}