Event equality …

There are a few obvious signs of busyness in the upper valley. When cars are lined up to park on the streets of Mt. Crested Butte, that means there are people in town. When there is a lift line out the maze of Paradise, there are people on the hill. When there is a two-hour wait for dinner at every restaurant on Elk Avenue, there are people in Crested Butte. People have been in town the last two weekends.
While I am inclined to selfishly enjoy a lack of lift lines on the mountain, no wait for a beer and easy parking in Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte, I understand I couldn’t live here long without the signs of busyness. The second homeowners and visitors are one gateway to our year-round life. FYI—I believe there will be lots of lines during the Spring Break weeks in March.
Which brings me to another sign of busyness: events. It seems that the end of the ski season and the entire summer is a time for events in the valley. For me, the best ones are the homegrown kind.

Last week’s Prater Cup was the 34th year of the event. Started by locals involved in ski racing to honor a friend, the Prater Cup brings some good, fun energy to the mountain. It also brings a boatload of people to town. They come in on a Wednesday and leave the next Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, they rent condos, buy coffee, purchase lift tickets and go out to dinner. It is a homegrown boon to the area.
Big Air on Elk is another winter event that started with some locals trying to raise money for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center. It seems to be growing every year. The Crested Butte Town Council this year spent $4,000 on the event to improve safety issues. Current Big Air organizer Gabe Martin has volunteered his time and energy to put on a unique event. I’d say having snowmobiles pull skiers and boarders to a big jump on the town’s main street is homegrown and somewhat “unique.”
Speaking of unique … Vinotok anyone? A giant bonfire with drum circles and faux trials of Grumps is something not exactly common in Kansas. It too has become a destination event for Crested Butte. Throw in the more refined homegrown Arts Festival and Music Festivals that draw more and more people every year, a Wildflower Festival that brings in lovers of color from all over the world, a skinny ski celebration with the Alley Loop and a good ‘ol fashioned Flauschink that calls in the old timers—and the upper valley has a plethora of original homegrown events run primarily by volunteers doing it out of passion and love for the community. And there are others, of course.

Now, the towns certainly show support for all these celebrations but the one regular event that gets the most public dough is the least homegrown of the events that take place in the valley. The USA Pro Challenge is a fun, interesting day in August, especially if you love road bikes, and it is by far the most heavily funded of all “our” events. The race has sped through Crested Butte and ended in Mt. Crested Butte two of the last three summers. Each town writes a check for at least $25,000 in cash and contributes another $10,000 or more in staff time and extras. In 2012, Mt. Crested Butte spent $49,000 for the event but some of that went to equipment that could be used for similar occasions. Throw in the county and city of Gunnison’s contributions to the Pro Challenge, and a lot of money comes out of public coffers for a quick race.
Next Tuesday, the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council will discuss how much to contribute from its admission tax fund to next summer’s Pro Challenge.
It’s not like the month of August depends on that Tuesday bike race. Looking at sales taxes, the record August was last year in Crested Butte, when the bike race didn’t come through town. Crested Butte collected $298,802 in August 2012 sales tax. Last year saw a 6 percent increase, to $316,971. In Mt. Crested Butte, the jump was big as well. In August 2012, the town collected $120,539 when the Pro Challenge whizzed up to the mountain. In 2013, Mt. Crested Butte collected $131,723, a 9 percent increase.

Don’t get me wrong—I like the bike race. It’s a fun one-day event for the community. But as the town leaders start to gear up for how to handle the single-day race I thought it fair to mention that it is getting more than its share of resources, in terms of both cash and time from the two local governments. The Local Organizing Committee does a great job of keeping costs far below what other communities spend on the Pro Challenge and they pull off a really fun day. In the case of this biking event, there are marketing benefits that come with international television coverage. The recollection of Nathan Lacy galloping his horse next to the professional bike racers is an iconic memory from the first Pro Challenge in 2011. But such a top-heavy focus and contribution seems an example of the sometimes haphazard way things are funded in the valley. I’m not saying don’t bring it back, but our fearless leaders might want to start considering a more big-picture equitable way to divvy up resources for all of our events. Is the Pro Challenge the absolute best place for $80,000 in public cash and services to be spent on an event? Maybe. For me personally, I’d prefer more support for the homegrown events.