The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It won’t just be the ribbon of death”
It’s not déjà vu; it’s just warm weather. Despite a recent string of 50-degree days, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is ready to open on Wednesday, November 26.
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And thanks to an extra week to get the resort open and a solid effort from the snowmaking team, CBMR communications director Todd Walton says skiers will have a surprising amount of terrain to explore when the resort opens.
“I just spoke with Chris [Corliss, mountain manager] this morning,” Walton said on Monday, November 17. “Things are looking good. I know there’s going to be more snow and the conditions will be excellent. Red Lady is going to be open and it won’t just be the ribbon of death,” Walton says. He says CBMR will have Peanut, part of Roller Coaster, Houston and a few connecting runs ready for Wednesday.
CBMR chief executive officer Ken Stone agrees. “We’re actually in much better shape than last year at the same time with snowmaking. We’re going to open with better conditions than we had, whether it snows between now and Wednesday or not,” Stone says.
Walton says if there are a couple of cold nights before Wednesday, CBMR may be able to open the Teocalli Lift as well.
Aside from snowmaking, Walton says all other preparations on the mountain and around the base area have been done and the resort is ready to open. Among other projects this summer, Walton says, CBMR replaced the cable on the Silver Queen chairlift, and more recently they replaced the cable on the High Lift.
While working on the High Lift, Walton says, crews noticed a problem with the lift transmission and had to order a new part, but everything is on the way and the lift will be ready to go in a few weeks—although there may not be any snow yet on the Headwall.
