March stays busy at airport and ski resort

Numbers up over last year

Recent pictures of the Silver Queen lift line showed it extending all the way past the ski school and toward the Peach Tree lift. While long-awaited snow and the opening of new terrain in Teo 2 certainly played a role, the numbers indicate that it’s been a busy year for Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR).

Director of innovations and relations Erica Mueller said room nights are up 14.2 percent over last year for the season, and March room nights are up 12 percent. Add to that several days this season in which skier visits topped 5,000 and 6,000, and it’s been a banner year.
“It’s been an awesome year. This can be attributed to early snowfall, new products, promotions and marketing. We seemed to really have a good mix this year that people wanted. Some of the direct skier visits can be attributed to the Rocky Mountain Super Pass+; however, our paid ticket sales are ahead as well,” Mueller said.
And the season isn’t over yet. Mueller said the current week (March 7-13) is slightly less busy than last year but the following week looks like it will top the same week in 2014.
There was a time when local marketing experts and the resort had their eyes on March numbers. Airline seats on flights into the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport were selling slowly, and the resort partnered with the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association to promote visits during that time period.
According to Laurel Runcie, interactive marketing manager for the Tourism Association, a $99 Companion Fare sold a total of 328 airline tickets—a number that exceeds original projections in part because the program cap was increased. The Lift Ticket to Fly promotion, which gave free lift tickets to flight purchasers has “38 free lift tickets left from the original budget, but will likely extend it through the season to keep our momentum going.”
And according to Scott Truex, executive director for the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority, March airline sales did catch up to last year. As of Monday, March 9, inbound seats were 2,242 seats ahead of last year overall, and March was ahead of last year by 378 inbound seats.
“We have actually exceeded last year’s load factor in March by one point. I would say we are ending strong,” Truex said.
All in all, that makes for a much better picture than originally anticipated. And Mueller says there are plenty of celebrations on deck for locals and visitors alike.
This weekend, the two-day Backcountry Basecamp benefits the Ski Patrol Dogs and the Crested Butte Avalanche Center while giving skiers and riders a chance to demo $15,000 in backcountry gear. There’s also a free concert at Butte 66 featuring C.J. Conway at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14.
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, all the resort’s culinary outlets will serve Irish dish and drink specials, and the spring concert Ski Town Breakdown arrives on March 21. Switchfoot headlines, and Brad Corrigan from Dispatch and Just How will be opening the show.
And of course, the season won’t be complete without annual favorites like the Slush Huck and Pond Skim on closing weekend. There’s still plenty of time to make the most of this year’s ski season.