Crested Butte, CO 01/08/17

Yesterday (snowing hard all day combined with flat light and fog/couldn't see any of the gorgeous surrounding scenery) was one of those times when photos just weren't capturing how good it was. Plus, I was skiing solo so no one was there to take pix of me or to serve as a subject. I usually don't believe in raving "Top 5 day of the season" in real time -- especially not in early January/talk about an instant jinx -- but yesterday certainly felt like a Top 5 day.

CB is generally regarded as one of North America's best expert mountains. See all those double-blacks? They're legit and given my non-expert status, I wouldn't get near a lot of them, especially the hike-to stuff along the top looker's right.




One of the big secrets about Crested Butte is that there's quite a bit of terrain for mere mortals too: looong upper-intermediate runs with no flat spots and even a healthy amount of green trails. The marketing department's been trying to communicate that talking point forever, but the pesky and inaccurate "experts-only" perception persists to a certain degree. In short, it's a fantastic, unique mountain in a location -- four-ish hours from Denver if the roads are dry/add another hour in tough weather, including an occasionally white-knuckle Monarch Pass -- that you have to make a special commitment to ski. The tradeoff is that you're amply rewarded on a variety of levels (including no liftlines), especially when conditions are great. Also worth noting is atmospheric Elk Avenue in the town, which is a U.S. national historic landmark district.

Anyway, all I have are a few pix of when I wasn't in the single-black woods. As I said, they don't do the day justice:







Crested Butte village scores extra points for having a Volant bench at a ski bus stop:

CB is one of my most favorite places in the world. It's probably the coolest ski town in the US.

I hear that the snow pack is really scary right now.

My one gripe about the mountain was always that I wished there was a better lift to do laps on the NF stuff. The three lift rides is kind of a bummer but man, that terrain is so good!

raisingarizona wrote

My one gripe about the mountain was always that I wished there was a better lift to do laps on the NF stuff. The three lift rides is kind of a bummer but man, that terrain is so good!

Yeah, but then all the other hardcores like you would track everything out in an hour and you'd want to go back to the old days with three lifts.

Looks like you timed your visit pretty good James. I saw that they had to close down yesterday

Another one to add to the list. Thanks for the report.

Crazy:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/09/crested-butte-mountain-resort-closed-too-much-snow/

DAM wrote

Crazy:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/09/crested-butte-mountain-resort-closed-too-much-snow/

This kind of shit drives Snoblowco crazy, imagine - closing due to snow when all the trails are covered. They should mount snow blowers on all the groomers and get that snow off the trails.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Crested Butte scores extra points for having a Volant bench at a ski bus stop:

 

Great TR JD. Drift...... Those Volants make a damn fine looking bench. Best looking ski seat ever. Theft worthy.

Is the seat made out of snowboards James ?

PeeTex wrote

DAM wrote

Crazy:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/09/crested-butte-mountain-resort-closed-too-much-snow/

This kind of shit drives Snoblowco crazy, imagine - closing due to snow when all the trails are covered. They should mount snow blowers on all the groomers and get that snow off the trails.

If CB management can't be bothered to open all the lifts like all other mountains do, the area doesn't deserve his business.

Snowballs wrote

Is the seat made out of snowboards James ?

Sorry, I took the pic from my car window -- didn't step out to investigate as I was trying to get outta Dodge so I could climb back up Monarch Pass during a snowstorm in a two-wheel-drive rental car without chains.


As someone who built his own Volant ski chair (my avatar), I'm aware of the work involved: you need a special bit to drill through the titanium "full metal jacket" caps.

On our bucket list - guess we need to move out there!

Crested Butte getting lots of press right now:
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/11/snow-crested-butte-colorado-snowiest-town/

Scroll through the 30 pix at the top of the article, some nice shots.

Rad.

It's like the 90's again.

Damn

One of our crew will be out there next week for a week. looks like he timed it perfectly.

Great TR James ---- as always

CB looks too crowded and snowy. Don't they have any grooming equipment?

Once again you have nailed the goods. Thanks for doing the hard work.