The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Spring break holding steady with last year
Crested Butte Mountain Resort made a difficult decision last week to cancel the Freeskiing World Tour’s annual stop in Mt. Crested Butte, originally scheduled for March 7-11. Ski patrol and event organizers made the call due to low snowpack in the extreme terrain.
“Due to an unfortunate weather pattern this year, we cannot provide the venue that truly showcases the athletes and what they have come to expect here in Crested Butte,” said Crested Butte snow safety director Frank Coffey in the official announcement.
Public relations and communications manager Erica Reiter said the decision also came down to safety. She also said CBMR opted not to relocate the event to a run like the Headwall because it would not provide the type of terrain expected by freeskiing athletes. It would displace other skiers on the mountain, and given how late the Headwall opened, that wasn’t a viable choice.
“We have to look out for our passholders, too, and say we’re here for you guys,” Reiter said.
In the end, it was a difficult decision but Reiter said the resort is not worried about the long-term impacts on the event itself.
“[Event organizer] MSI can’t wait to come back,” Reiter said. “They’re definitely bummed not to come to Crested Butte—it’s a favorite stop on the tour, but this is by no means jeopardizing the future of the event.”
The unfortunate side effect of canceling the event is the message it sends to the general public—that Crested Butte has poor snow. Yet 100 percent of beginner, intermediate and advanced terrain is open, and CBMR has received 25 inches of snow in the last week. It’s the extreme terrain that isn’t up to par.
“We do have great snow for the general guest, but for what these guys are doing, it’s above and beyond and more taxing on the terrain,” Reiter said.
She says that spring break visitors, projected to be on par with last year’s numbers, will still find quality snow. So far, the resort is up 1 percent over last year in room nights during the two-week period of March 10 –25.
According to Reiter, visitors will be more spread out this year because Oklahoma spring breaks are a week later than Texas breaks. Compared to last year, when bookings for the first week were much heavier than the second, this year room nights are down 35 percent for the first week and up 46 percent for the second.
According to the CBMR Flash Report, which projects daily skier visits, the resort expects to see between 3,000 and 4,350 skiers per day between March 10 and March 16. Numbers are not yet available for the second week of spring break, but with FestEvol bringing headliners Barenaked Ladies, Guster and Big Head Todd and the Monsters on March 17-18, the lift in numbers should continue.
