The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It’s really all of our product”
Members of Mt. Crested Butte’s business community turned out before a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, December 3 to discuss what’s working for the town’s businesses, and some things that need work.
Last year, a post-holiday season debriefing by the Town Council showed businesses want to contribute and coordinate during the holidays, to create, in town parlance, “vibrancy” around the resort base area and to give people a more compelling reason to stay in the upper valley.
And while the meeting, held annually as the Business work session, is confirmation that Mt. Crested Butte is a resort town, it was also a reminder that the town supports a vibrant and engaged business community around and in the midst of Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
“Yes, the resort is here and yes, it’s a ski product but it’s really all of our product,” Mayor William Buck said. “I think it’s a group conversation.”
Since the commitment was made last year to ramp up the festivities for the holiday season, the Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce led the way with a 44-foot blue spruce strung with 1,400 LED lights, a couple of chances to sit on Santa’s lap and back-to-back tree-lightings in Mt. Crested Butte on Friday, December 13 and in Crested Butte on Saturday, December 14.
But as Crested Butte Mountain Resort is central to the winter and holiday scene in Mt. Crested Butte, CBMR general manager and vice-president Ethan Mueller started off the Business work session by acknowledging the ongoing concern over “demand for the product,” saying his company is trying to do its part.
“Demand is something we’re focused on. Largely, we’re trying to drive demand regionally because the air program is in decline—we’re basically trying to maintain the number of passengers flying in through that program,” Mueller said. “I don’t think it’s a secret at this point, but the Peak Pass Program was clearly a project that was driven by the idea of driving more demand and we’re seeing some successes, but the jury’s still out on that.”
Mueller said there are also plans to continue upgrading the resort, adding or improving facilities and adding three to five bike trails for the next three to five years. “Summer is showing a really good ROI [return on investment],” he said, adding that the resort is about half-way to having the envisioned 50 or so miles of bike trails on the mountain.
Speaking to the resort’s proposed Teo Two expansion on the backside of Crested Butte Mountain, Mueller said, “Teocalli is on the radar screen. It’s not as cut and dried as I would say a ski project like that would normally be … But we need to be cognizant of some of our other realities, the large one being access. From our standpoint looking at that project, I think we have to see an improvement in [road and air] access. And there needs to be some improvement in the economy, on both a local and a national level. With those two factors in mind, I think if we can see some positive movement on those fronts, we’d be much more incentivized to go there … But the quick answer on that is that we hope to be moving on that in the next two to three years.”
Mueller, like Buck had before him, also encouraged people to engage their public officials more often, especially at the county level. “With that engagement, I’d encourage people to just be more vocal with their feelings,” Mueller said. “We make a deliberate point of having these conversations beyond just Crested Butte South and up.”
Up first for the holidays…
And highlighting the Chamber of Commerce’s contribution to vibrancy at the base area, executive director Dan Marshall let everyone know it’s time for the tree lightings.
“We were contacted by Camp Gunnison, the Way Camp, just out of the blue and they have a 44-foot blue spruce they need removed … so hopefully we’ll have that planted in Mountaineer Plaza,” Marshall said. “Either the bell choir or the choir will be in place for that night. We’ve ordered S’mores stations so there are going to be little fire pans that we’ll place through mountaineer square courtyard and we’ll have tables with S’mores stuff and volunteers to help kids with those. The focus of that weekend is going to be family and community.”
With financial support from the towns of Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte, Marshall said the chamber of commerce would be able to reimburse businesses that wanted to put in the time to bring more involvement in the new effort at making more festive Upper Valley holidays.
“We’ve solidified the holiday calendar for the 12 Days of Holiday Cheer,” Marshall said. “That’s anywhere from gingerbread-making with our friends at the Trailhead and Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Santa will be out there lighting the tree, we hope from a fire department cherry picker. We had a special chair made for Santa by the guys at Red Mountain Logworks and they were really excited about that.”
To lure people within driving distance for the events, Marshall said the chamber of commerce started marketing in Grand Junction, the Denver area, Salida and Montrose.
Town resident Paula Steuer said she was happy to see the increased effort at making the base area more festive this year and felt it would add a lot to the guest experience. “I think there’s something really special about going to a resort and having the feel of Christmas, to have lights and everything, even after Christmas. So I would really encourage the businesses to participate.”
In pointing out improvements he’s seen recently in the base area, Buck mentioned the menu at the Avalanche. “That’s quite an enhancement to the base area experience,” he said.
Avalanche owner Todd Barnes said, “I appreciate it. I know that for some people not being able to get their breakfast or their burrito probably is a little bit of a downer, but numbers don’t lie … It wasn’t personal. Just business. We’re not fancy. It’s just comfort food. The menu, because I’m the person running the front and the back, it has to be easy. It has to be tasty and come out quickly. That’s just who our guest is.”
Barnes also said there was always a concern about staffing those early morning shifts.
“We’re extremely parasitic and make no bones about it, to Ethan and his business, and as they go, so do we. That’s why I’m so seasonal. But the immediate snowfall should make a difference.”
Adaptive Sports Center director Chris Hensley said his organization is already just about full for the season, with just a few days available for clients in March. “Our individual business is dependent on snow, how busy CBMR is and flights … Overall we’re looking at a good, successful season with a little bit of growth. We’re kind of getting to capacity at this point as far as what our facilities, equipment and staff can handle.”
Concerns about air access came up repeatedly during the meeting and Mueller expanded on his reference to the broader access problem Gunnison County has. He said he would have liked to see a more concerted effort to pave Cottonwood Pass and Kebler Pass. “That would open us up to more of the Western Slope, which is a big growth area right now with all of the oil and gas,” he said. Broadband access was another area of concern raised.
But the issue of access is beyond the scope of the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council and people were encouraged to engage elected officials at all levels to raise awareness of what they want. Also beyond the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council’s scope were the wishes for the snow to continue.
“For everyone’s sake,” Mueller said.
Until then, there’s been plenty to get the season started. This Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14, trees will be lit and there will be holiday festivities to fill the evening in Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte. Those events will get going around 5 p.m.
