We can compete against each other or with each other…

One mayor says even talking about it is a bit absurd. Not wrong there. The other mayor sees it as a new annual event for the mountain. Not wrong there. You bought it, now you own it.
Of course I’m talking about fireworks and where to light the fuse. The problem is that a fuse seems to have been lit between the two towns already and that is the deeper issue and deeper concern.
Mt. Crested Butte Mayor William Buck swears he is open to finding a cooperative nexus with his counterparts in Crested Butte. There are a few things in the works that both towns will hopefully be cooperating on in the future. Crested Butte Mayor Leah Williams is “disappointed” in how the fireworks situation has turned out but swears she wants to find common ground with Mt. Crested Butte.

The fireworks discussion in and of itself is certainly absurd. It’s not a big deal. But underlying that “absurd” discussion is the fact that the two towns should probably take an evening to sit down, air some dirty laundry and figure some stuff out.
Before the fireworks blew up between the two towns, Snodgrass exploded. I just get the feeling sometimes that the Mt. Crested Butte reps feel the Crested Butte council helped put a big dent in their economy when they didn’t oppose the Forest Service decision to prohibit ski lift expansion onto Snodgrass. So now the attitude from the hill is one of “We’ll go our own way, do what we must and take care of our own business.” The Snodgrass issue is a hard bridge to cross… but cross it they must.
Whether it boils down to ski expansion or not, the underlying tension in the fireworks discussion shows that leaders in the two communities don’t really 100 percent trust each other. And therein lies the long-term problem.

There is some heavy stuff happening in the valley right now. The economy continues to wane while other resort communities are seeing signs of a turn-around, and families are having a difficult time making ends meet. So, instead of competing with each other about fireworks, the two towns might stop and consider joining forces to compete against the real competition… the competition outside of this valley. Places like Steamboat or Park City are working to grab some of the tourists who like this valley and if we spend even a little time fighting over fireworks, they have a better chance to chip away at our customer base.
Crested Butte is a little different from Mt. Crested Butte. We all get it. But together, those differences can actually be attractive to people who want to visit a resort with mining town roots. Figuring out how to work together means a better chance at overall success whether for the people living in Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte South or Gunnison.
Most people I spoke with said they feel the show works better from downtown. Mt. Crested Butte could have just taken the high road and let it happen over Rainbow Park this year and worked out a deal for the future. That would have been in the spirit of what I saw discussed last year. It didn’t happen. Now, Crested Butte has the chance to take the higher road and save some cash at the same time.
If Mt. Crested Butte wants to take ownership of that part of the Fourth of July, Crested Butte can take the money they would have spent on pyrotechnics and put it to something else that will make that weekend (or another weekend) even better. So, that can be a good thing. And we all know an ex-mayor or two who can put on a decent fireworks show with or without official town support.
The fireworks issue comes down to the two towns working together this Fourth of July by not really working together. Great.

But in the big picture, the important issue is to get past the animosity that appears to be brewing. Like two siblings who are getting into an ugly practice of giving each other the stink eye, it might be time to sit down and figure out how to stop competing against each other and figure out how to compete with each other… differences and all… against real rivals. Join forces to take on the real competitors that are looking to cut into our market.
Someone has to take the high road so we can start to find our way back to a successful path.