One more ski season on the books

Pond Skimming, Spring Creek Bluegrass highlight closing weekend

It’s almost over… but not quite. Closing weekend at the ski area is always a blast, and this April 3-4 will be no different. The festivities will begin with wet-and-wild Pond Skimming on Saturday.

Laci Wright, Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s marketing coordinator, says registration for Pond Skimming is from 2 to 2:45 p.m. at the base of the Red Lady Express Lift. The cost is $20 for as many runs as you can hang, as the field gets increasingly narrowed. The “skimming” begins at 3 p.m. A team of judges and announcers will be looking first and foremost for competitors who clear the pond upright, with bonus points given for style and costume. The grand prize is a 10-day lift ticket for the 2010-2011 ski season.
After the pond-skimming competitors emerge from the icy depths, local band Buntron Smith takes the stage around 4 p.m. at Butte 66.
Closing day, there will be multiple music acts to catch. Colorado’s own Spring Creek Bluegrass Band is playing on mountain at Uley’s Cabin from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and local musicians Steve Snyder and Jim Sandy play at Butte 66 from 3 to 5 p.m. with Coors specials and giveaways from Snowboard Magazine, including a Never Summer snowboard.
The Avalanche Bar and Grill is open through closing weekend until Monday, April 5, when they’ll be blowing out “whatever they have left,” according to owner Todd Barnes. “We could be down to pickles and pepperoncinis,” Barnes joked. “Maybe we’ll still have some olives served on toothpicks.” The Avy deck is mostly clear and prime for après.
The slopeside Brown Lab Pub and Bakery will be open through the weekend as well, anticipating a good crowd. The Brown Lab deck will undoubtedly be standing-room-only with sun and warm temps slated for Sunday.
What lifts are running this weekend? Red Lady, Silver Queen, Paradise, East River, Painterboy, WestWall, Gold Link, NFL, Twister, and the High Lift will all close at the end of the day on Sunday, April 4. Teocalli, Prospect, and Peachtree lifts are already closed for the season, as is the Tubing Park.
 CBMR wants snow-bikers to know that uphill or downhill bike traffic will not be permitted on Warming House Hill or other areas of the resort boundaries this weekend. The Mt. Crested Butte police will enforce this policy.
Speaking of biking, the lifts will start running again for the summer in June. Tentatively, the Silver Queen will open Saturday, June 19 and run every day (weather permitting) through the afternoon of Monday, September 6. Red Lady will also open Saturday, June 19. It will run every day (weather permitting) through Sunday, August 22. It will then run the weekend of August 28 and 29, and four days over Labor Day weekend (September 3-6). Both lifts will open every day at 9:30 a.m., with the last rides up at 2:30 p.m.