Alley Loop hits the streets

Thin snow takes out most of Elk Avenue; start at the Nordic Center this year

The lean snow season is shifting the start and finish of a Crested Butte winter classic this year but it won’t deter the enthusiasm of the Alley Loop. Clangers, pot beaters and screamers are who you’ll find supporting and cheering on the throngs of Alley Loopers this year, as the majority of them glide the local streets and alleys costumed up in an array of colored plumage, crinoline, spandex, wigs, hats and contraptions that dangle and rattle.

The race will start at the Nordic Center instead of Elk Avenue. See page 21 for start times. This year marks the 29th anniversary of the much-loved landmark event. Buttians need no incentive to put on the wacky threads, but there are prizes and fame for the honor of best costume in various categories.
As for the costumed Loopers, everyone seems to have the best costume, which they usually keep secret until the moment they glide up to the start line. Some have been composing their masterpieces for weeks, others throw on whatever’s in the old costume trunk the morning of the race, but be assured that all of it will come together in a collective collage of theatrics.
It’s far too easy to get lured off the track with all the ritual alley parties that tempt the racers with brews, brats and libations, but for many townies, it’s not about how fast they can cruise to the finish line. It’s if they make it there at all to collect on the swag of free beer and noshing. It’s a communal gathering of the clan, another reason to celebrate the splendor we call home.
As part of the weekend festivities, on Friday, February 6, there are the Fat Bike Races and the Pub-Ski crawl.
The Fat Bike races start at 2 p.m. at the Brick Oven Pizzeria with solo lap races and team relays throughout the afternoon. It’s not too late to reserve a fat bike rental from Big Al’s Bicycle Heaven.
Then, get in shape for the Alley Loop that night at the Pub-Ski (now a crawl because of lack of snow) and take advantage of Elk Avenue. Revelers can walk between the participating Elk Avenue bars to get a head start on Saturday’s race shenanigans beginning at 5 p.m. at Montanya Distillery. The pub route will be on Elk between Second and Third and will be pre-assigned.
Grab your group of four because the more, the merrier and since you’ll be asked to play a game, answer trivia or partake in something perhaps a bit more crazy, it’s good to have friends to support you. However, you can go it solo as well.
The person or group with the highest points will win a special prize at the end of the crawl. Costume up to get more points. Event space is limited to 200 and online registration is highly suggested.
As much of a party as it is, there’s a serious side to the Alley Loop, as it’s the qualifier for its prestigious cousin, the American Birkebeiner, as well as the Colorado Cup Series Race.
Starting in front of the Nordic Center under the big WSCU arch, the course meanders through town streets and alleys and over footbridges to the Nordic Center’s groomed trails on the outskirts of town. As of Monday, February 2, 322 participants had registered online for the races. Although the race has been averaging 500 Loopers, Crested Butte Nordic Center’s race director Andrew Arell says much of the count is dependent on conditions and people often make a game day decision the day before. He feels there’ll be a strong turn-out this year.
New for the more serious racers is an added 21K classic category and Arell says, “We had requests for that so we’ll be awarding separately for both 21K classic and skate.”
Arell also notes officials want to see an increase of costumes, so they’ve got additional awards this year to help motivate people to get even more creative and push those boundaries.
“We’d love to see even more schematic things,” Arell says, and points out that the awards and race are sponsored in part by Boomerang in Gunnison, Montanya Distillers, and the Last Steep.
“We’ll have a really good raffle happening at 4 p.m. at Bonez, where the awards ceremonies are. The business community has been and continues to be very supportive of this event. We’re on the cusp of three decades and this spring we want to hold a poster contest for the design of that auspicious 30 years,” he says of next year’s 2016 celebration and Alley Loop.
The poster design contest will be open to all artists of all walks so be aware while you’re out there and capture some of those mental images to transfer to posters.
Twenty-nine years of taking over the town and transforming it into a groomed Nordic track is pretty impressive and the town itself is instrumental in partnering with the Nordic Center to make the yearly event happen by moving snow and closing alleys and streets. But the event and all the ensuing photos of the wildly costumed Loopers convey the free-spirited fun of Crested Butte’s community as a tourist destination.
The Alley Loop started, according to its creator Gary Sprung, aka Gnurps, “Because skiing the street was a cool idea. I got the idea when I saw a couple of photos in a cross country ski magazine of Europeans skiing in streets and I realized we could do that here. It’s one of the only towns with enough snow in the streets… not many others would have enough to ski in the streets.”
And Crested Butte’s alleys are spectacular, reflecting the old town. Gary relates, “I love the alleys in Crested Butte. They’ve got such great architecture, especially the old shacks.”
As for the Buttian knack for dressing up with flair, Gnurps says, “Costuming naturally evolved. It’s the community… it’s a costume kind of place.”
Gnurps created the event with the idea of making it a fully accessible community race. “I envisioned it as a community event. Unlike most ski races where the skiers disappear in to the woods, in the Alley Loop they’re right there at the homes and businesses. It made cross country ski racing a much better spectator sport.”
The first Alley Loop, almost three decades ago, started at First Street and Elk Avenue and used more of the alleys. “A bunch of locals, guys and gals, competed,” Gnurps remembers. “It didn’t bring anyone from afar although there were WSC ski racers and skiers from Gunnison and Crested Butte.”
There were only about 30 or 40 racers for that inaugural Loop. Gnurps’ intent was to involve the whole town. “We got kids involved early. The kids’ thing was important to me, to make it a thing for them too. It was very important to me that it was a citizens’ race, essentially that it’s not just for elite athletes,” he emphasizes. “It was always intended to be fun for everyone and the 1k and 3k were from the beginning for kids. There were costumes from the very start.”
Buttian spectators dragged couches out into the streets and alleys for those early races. “The idea of having parties alongside the race is integral,” Gnurps laughs. “I always thought the fact that you could watch the race from your home is a pretty good excuse to party. Not to belittle the serious competitive side, either. It was also always intended as a real race with categories, prizes and high-level athletic achievement. What made me really proud was when it became a qualifier for the Birkebeiner.”
Gnurps speaks fondly of past parties—pre- and post-race and spaghetti feeds. “We made more of a weekend out of it.” And he recalls the year it fell on Valentine’s Day. “That year we had a couples’ race—as a team they had to cross finish line together… one couple against another.”
Although it helps if your costume is flexible so you can actually ski, one of the best designs from the past few years was Kate Seeley’s Garden Wall Gnomes, whose photos made the AP international news, furthering Crested Butte’s reputation as a great place to get yer ya-ya’s out. Basically dressed as improbable blocks of stone garden walls, the skiers used their actual heads embedded into small-bodied gnome outfits that sat on the wall. Not exactly easy to ski in but then the goal was to hit as many of the alley bars and BBQs as possible before finishing dead last, proving that if you don’t care about how you do in the race then it’s a free for all and anything goes.
It’s traditional Crested Butte fun so costume up and strap those sticks to your feet because that’s the essence of this entirely Crested Butte party we call the Alley Loop.