The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It hit me Monday morning about 8:45. I was in the middle of the biggest lift line of the year, waiting for the Silver Queen to load literally hundreds of people who wanted to be magically transported to the White Room. And they were. It was indeed magic.
It was a lift line full of smiles stretching to the kid’s ski school. There wasn’t much work being done Monday morning in the north end of the valley. Parents had dropped their kids off at school early and caught the bus. It appeared that WSCU teachers had ordered a field trip day. Mountain Express buses were bursting at the seams. The ski bum was coming out in the local lawyers, architects, business owners and visitors. A foot of fresh will do that to people—especially when it’s been a rare sight this season.
And Saturday was not any less joyous. It was just different. Sunny, warm and full of energy, the resort ski day was pretty much close to perfect. The snow was soft, the energy contagious. The Paradise Warming House deck was packed, the music was fun and sunscreen was a necessity. There were events going on all over the hill. Junior free-skiers were killing it in Big Chute. The skier-cross course was running hot. There was music at the Base Area and everything just had that sweet spring vibe. It was nice to have the energy of people on the mountain during the day and later in the establishments of both Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. The music was turned up.
That’s it—the energy. It’s not about the vistas or the giant air bag or the lack of a stoplight in town. Those things may all contribute to the energy but the bottom line is that this place has the opportunity to put smiles on people’s faces. It’s about the sport. About being in the mountains with the help of modern conveniences.
It’s the activity and being around people and nature at 9,000 feet. It’s the magic that whisks an accountant or architect into the White Room on a snowy Monday morning with hundreds of his neighbors. Or it’s the joy of a quick conversation with people not regularly encountered while taking a water break on the deck before heading back to The Glades for another run beneath sunny skies.
When it is working, the energy is contagious. People have been riding that wave of smiling mountain energy these last few days. And that is a good thing for the community. In that vein, one idea to keep the music playing…Daylight Savings Time kicks in this weekend. That means hard snow in the mornings and warm sunny skies until early evening. So I’ll suggest again that the ski area keep a lift or two open until 5 or even 6 o’clock. That will keep the music going this spring…and that’s what we need to keep the people smiling. Turn up the music.
