Don’t even think of touching the safety bar! If you reached up while sitting in the Paradise Express chairlift, grabbed the restraint and pulled it at belly height, everyone around you will assume you are beginner or perhaps worse — a wimp. What an embarrassment. After all, Crested Butte is considered a hotspot for extreme skiers.
The Victorian mining town (estimated year-round population 1,500) is tucked away about four driving hours southwest of Denver in the pristine West Elk Mountains, a ragged mountain range deep within the Colorado Rockies. In winter, when an average of more than 200 inches (5.1 m) of snow falls upon Crested Butte, the two-lane through road is closed only a few miles behind the last town buildings.
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| The town of Crested Butte is one of Colorado’s mountain treasures. |
Crested Butte is not easy to get to. You probably won’t pass it coincidentally. However, chances are you may wish to get stuck here after having discovered this mountain gem.
Pippi Longstocking would be envious. With its colorful wooden houses along picturesque Elk Avenue, Crested Butte seems cheery and welcoming, without any glitz or glamour.
No attitude here. Maybe that’s why it’s sometimes called “the anti-Aspen.” You won’t meet Hollywood here, but probably ex-hippies, nature lovers and ski-fanatics.
True “Buttians” don’t care much about big money or a steep career path. A precipitous ski run on a powder day is much more meaningful. There are no chain hotels or fast-food joints around. And even “lifties,” some of whom hold a double master’s degree, can still afford a ski-in ski-out condo in “Colorado’s last great ski town.”
Continued: Shark Fin Mountain: Skiing Crested Butte
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