On July 17, conservation organization Aspen Valley Land Trust (AVLT) announced that it signed a contract to purchase the historic Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) Marble Base Camp. This purchase of 42 acres of open land, wildlife habitat and COBS’s historic campus is scheduled to close on Oct. 3. Although under contract, AVLT is searching for investors both to assist in the purchase and to restore the campus so that it can continue to educate future generations of youth about coexisting with the great outdoors.
AVLT is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to the permanent conservation of land in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys. Primarily through conservation easements and the purchase of land, over the past 56 years AVLT has worked with both public offices and private owners to conserve over 67 square miles of land. Earlier this year, AVLT celebrated multiple landmark conservation achievements on the Roan Plateau and on ranchland in the Capitol Creek valley, signing easements and preserving important wildlife corridors in perpetuity.
Even those unfamiliar with their work are likely familiar with the land they’ve preserved. In 2017, AVLT purchased the current gateway at the base of Red Hill, ensuring community access to its extremely popular trails for all time.
However, AVLT’s efforts are not limited solely to land preservation. The organization also hosts events for like-minded conservationists as well as outdoor education programs at Coffman Ranch in Carbondale.
Outward Bound, for those unaware, is a network of international outdoor education organizations originally founded in the United Kingdom in 1941. Since its inception, Outward Bound has been guided by principles of experiential learning in the outdoors.
Founded in 1962 by Josh Miner, the campus in Marble was the first Outward Bound campus in America. In COBS’s first year, 80 students attended the school. In the 40 years since, more than 600,000 have participated in Outward Bound programs across the U.S. — all stemming from that one place in Marble.
Currently, COBS’s primary basecamp is located in Leadville. The Marble campus hosted programs since its inception and through 2019. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in its shutting the gates. Since then, COBS has decided that the best solution for the historic space would be to sell it to a local organization driven by the same goals of outdoor learning.
“We are thrilled to be entrusting the Marble Base Camp to AVLT, who shares our commitment to outdoor education and preservation and will help make this dream a reality,” stated COBS Executive Director Laura Schmidt.
The campus is currently equipped with bunks, a dining hall, kitchen, bathhouses and staff housing. However, the infrastructure is in need of restoration, and AVLT hopes to attract investors to provide the financial resources to make this historic space usable for education programs for future generations of youth.
“This project is not one that AVLT seeks to do alone. It will take a village to save this special place, invest in its permanent conservation and safeguard its future use for outdoor education,” AVLT’s website states.
In addition to partnering with possible investors, AVLT will also continue to host COBS programs on the property for part of each summer, preserving a bit of its history.
The COBS campus is also conveniently located adjacent to the Chapin Wright Marble Basecamp, a 47-acre homestead already in use by AVLT for youth outdoor education programs.
The Chapin Wright Basecamp was purchased in 2016 with both community support and grants from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Flatirons Foundation. Although AVLT provides access and group gear, the organization doesn’t host its own programs, and instead schools, nonprofits and youth groups of all types reach out to AVLT in order to utilize the space free of charge from July to mid-October. However, the Basecamp is only equipped with fairly basic amenities — outdoor kitchen, backcountry toilets and two large tents for a maximum of fifty people — so the potential restoration of the COBS campus represents a major step up in infrastructure, accessibility and program capacity.
Notably, the 42 acres of land in Marble are also sensitive elk habitat, and the purchase of the campus is not only a win for experiential learning but for wildlife conservation as well.
Currently, AVLT is still seeking investors, and those interested can learn more at www.avlt.org
“This is an incredible opportunity to protect this region’s history, wildlife and future of outdoor education and relationship to conservation,” said Suzanne Stephens, the executive director of AVLT.