Colorado’s Best-Kept Skiing Secret

“You’re going skiing at Crusty Boot? Where’s that?” asked a skiing buddy of mine.

“Not crusty boot, Crested Butte,” I corrected. “It’s in Colorado. Near Gunnison.”

“Gunnison?” he mimicked with a blank stare. “How close is that to Denver, or Aspen?”

Not very. Crested Butte sits by itself in west-central Colorado, far from the rest of the state’s more celebrated ski areas. Skiers come to Crested Butte and stay a few days. Mileage prohibits anything less.

Denver is 230 miles northeast, Grand Junction 160 miles northwest. Aspen is the closest major resort, as the crow flies, a scant 200 miles north over the mountains.

But unless you can get the crow to carry your skis, poles, boots and other paraphernalia, Aspen is a long 280 miles as the skier drives. The closest major resort is Telluride, 160 miles and a three-hour drive away.

Many Texans

This isolation has kept Crested Butte known primarily only to Coloradans and Texans, the latter of whom comprise most of the out-of-state visitors. And yet with 10 lifts, 420 groomed acres and a 2,150-foot vertical drop, “The Great Unknown,” as Crested Butte bills itself, ranks in the top half in size among Colorado’s 32 ski areas.

Expansion plans for 1986-87, which include seven new lifts and about 330 new acres, will put the area into the Top 10 in Colorado.

Reaching Crested Butte used to be a major undertaking for West Coast skiers. Gunnison, 30 miles south, has an airport served by commuter flights. But to reach it from Southern California, skiers had to catch an early morning flight to Denver, then wait for an afternoon flight to Gunnison. With good connections, the travel time was about five hours. By the time skiers reached the slopes, daylight had vanished, and with it, an entire ski day.

Hoping to attract the growing Southern California ski market, Crested Butte approached American Airlines about offering a direct flight. The result is a weekly Saturday non-stop from Los Angeles International Airport to Gunnison and back.

California skiers can make connections through Dallas/Fort Worth if they can’t stay an entire week, said Gay Porter Byerly, manager of public relations and special events at Crested Butte. “So far, a very small percentage of our skiers have been from California, but we know there’s a big market there,” she said.

Among the qualities that skiers tend to praise is the friendliness of resort personnel and townspeople. Here’s an example:

Two Californians had breakfast one morning in Crested Butte about three miles from the ski area. The Forest Queen restaurant that the visitors chose is across the street from the stop for the free shuttle bus that runs between the town and the ski area. After breakfast they walked around town for a couple of hours, then had a cup of coffee in the same restaurant while waiting for the bus.

As the bus pulled up, one of the visitors reached into his pocket to pay for the coffee. The waitress smiled and said, “No charge. You’ve paid for it once already this morning.”

Other Pluses

What else will skiers find at Crested Butte besides smiling faces? Its slopes have a good mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced runs among 51 maintained trails.

Experts should head for the Silver Queen chair, an enclosed double lift that will take them to the top at 11,250 feet. From there they can choose steep maintained trails or the 405 acres of ungroomed terrain called the Outer Limits, an area peppered with double-black diamond trails.

About 53% of the maintained terrain is intermediate. Skiers in this category can take the Silver Queen or Keystone lifts from the base area, then cut over to the runs under the Paradise or Teocalli chairs. The area’s longest run, 1.9-mile Treasury, is off the Paradise lift. Two other lifts, East River and Gold Link, serve areas that have only intermediate runs.

Beginners have their own area. The Peachtree lift is slow-moving and away from the rest of the ski area, so first-time skiers don’t have to worry about more proficient skiers whizzing past at top speed. Another good area for beginners is the Keystone lift, where several long, gentle runs are perfect for building confidence.

Crested Butte has a lift capacity of 12,870 skiers an hour, but only 6,500 beds in the town and ski area. This translates into very short lift lines. Even during peak holiday periods, lines rarely are longer than 15 minutes, Byerly said. During non-peak times you can ski right onto the chair.

Lift tickets this winter are $22, with multiday discounts available. Further discounts are available by reserving lift tickets before you get to the resort.

Site of Championships

For Nordic fans, Crested Butte has 13 kilometers of maintained trails. Telemarking is also big. For three years Crested Butte has hosted the North American Telemark Championships.

Crested Butte is really two towns: Mt. Crested Butte, at the ski area, and Crested Butte, the town. Both are incorporated cities, with Mt. Crested Butte having about 350 permanent residents and Crested Butte about 1,000.

A mining town that dates to the 1800s, Crested Butte has been a National Historic District since 1974. Its Victorian-style homes and businesses have been lovingly restored. Many artists live in the town and sell their pottery, jewelry, paintings and other creations in local shops.

Both areas have a variety of accommodations, ranging from $31 a night for a room without private bath in a historic miner’s hotel to $339 a night for a three-bedroom condo with many amenities, including an on-slope location.

The free shuttle bus makes it convenient to stay in Crested Butte, where you’ll find generally lower-priced lodging.

Although not as glittery as Aspen or Vail, Crested Butte has a good night life with many excellent restaurants. In a recent survey, Ski magazine rated Crested Butte in the Top 10 nationally in the “Best for Non-Weight Watchers” category.

The Soupcon serves fine French cuisine in a tiny log cabin in town. Seating is limited to about 40, so reservations for one of the two dinner servings are a must. Donita’s Cantina is renowned for its Mexican specialties and margaritas, while the Artichoke at the ski area has a magnificent salad bar to go with its beef and seafood entrees. For live-band dancing, the Rafters is the place to go.

Crested Butte Central Reservations can arrange accommodations and reserve lift tickets and equipment: phone (800) 525-4220.