Warm weather makes for quiet end to the 2011-12 ski season

T-Bars opening late

Crested Butte Mountain Resort is taking things day by day, as an unseasonably warm end to the ski season approaches. In spite of the warm weather, CBMR public relations and communications director Erica Reiter said groomed runs are still skiing well, and the resort expects to keep them open through the final day of skiing on April 8.

It’s the less groomed and extreme terrain where things might be left to chance and the whims of Mother Nature. Runs like Sylvanite and Crystal might not hold up if the weather holds, Reiter said, and the T bars will be running at 11 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. to let snow soften up on the extremes. She expects that plan to carry the resort through the weekend, at which point ski patrol will reevaluate.
“Chances are Thursday morning [March 29], the Peak Trail will not be opening back up,” Reiter said. “Day by day, things are tapering off to the end of the season.”
But one thing Mother Nature won’t get in the way of is the end of season revelry. Buttians can party like no one else no matter the weather, and CBMR has added a new event to this year’s Slush Huck that only Buttians would be daring enough to try: the resort’s first-ever Winter Chainless Downhill Bike Race.
If getting from the top of Red Lady lift to the base area on two wheels instead of two skis sounds like an adventure, grab your townie, winter mountain bike, studded tires or downhill bike and head for the hill this Saturday, March 31. Riders can register for the first-ever event on the Butte 66 deck from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and load the Red Lady lift between 4:30 and 5 p.m. to make it to the top in time for a 5:15 le Mans start. (Registration is free, but helmets and waivers are required.)
The following Saturday—after a full week of recovery—the annual Pond Skim contest will provide a more traditional way to cap the season on April 7. Skiers and snowboarders can once again test their prowess at crossing the pond in the base area. Registration begins at 2 p.m. for $10 per person, and pond skimming begins at 3 p.m.
It’ll likely be a true locals’ party as one of the warmest, least snowy winters in recent years comes to a close.
“We’ll get a little bump this weekend, and a bump on the final weekend,” Reiter said. But with the Front Range seeing spring and summer-like temps, it’ll be up to the locals to take this unforgettable season out in style.