Crested Butte FAM Trip March 29

Crested Butte FAM Trip
March 29 - April 2, 2008

Late this winter, Bud Shaw and Tom Burt travelled to Crested Butte, CO (or Crusted Butt, as we now call it) for a FAM (familiarization) trip. Crested Butte is a relatively small (for Western standards--it's about the size of Killington), intense mountain which stands alone in southwest Colorado. We caught them on the downside of their best winter ever (hence all the photos of snow banks). There were some great powder days and some beautifully sunny days. The town of Crested Butte is small, but well equipped and definitely able to handle a club trip. However, the mountain is a little thin on intermediate terrain. Blue-trail skiers should be able to hit everything in a couple of days while black and double-black skiers will never get bored. I really mean that. The tree skiing is phenomenal and Crested Butte features some of the steepest terrain around. I tried Rambo--the steepest in CO and 4th steepest in North America. At 56 degrees, it's a bit of a rush. Fall here and you're sure to tumble all the way to the bottom, unless a rock or tree stops you first. The locals are some of the friendliest I've ever seen at a ski resort. In fact, on day 1, we had an ambassador show us around the mountain (pretty typical). The tour ended at noon, so he skied down, changed out of his resort jacket and came back up to ski with us the rest of the day. And the next day. And the next. He was not the exception, either. Everyone was friendly and helpful. That is, if you could find anyone to speak with. Crowds were non-existent and we were, more often that not, the sole skiers in any particular area. This was my type of skiing and I would go back any day. I highly recommend Crested Butte if you're looking for a small(er), slightly challenging resort with a big mountain feel. --TB

note: Sorry for the lack of on-mountain shots. We were far too busy skiing to slow down and take pictures.