The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
T Bars and Extremes will take some time
By Alissa Johnson
Terrain openings keep coming at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR), made possible by the steady accumulation of snow and the hard work of CBMR crews.
According to CBMR’s senior marketing manager Erica Rasmussen, the West Wall Lift opens Thursday with access to Buckley and the bottom of Lower International off of T Bar Road. The big openings, however, come this weekend.
The East River Lift starts spinning Saturday with Daisy, Black Eagle, Double Top, Resurrection, and Middle and Lower Gallowich runs all open. Gunsight Pass, coming over from the top of Painter Boy to the bottom of the Teocalli Lift, will open as well.
And the Teo Lift, which has been running intermittently, will stay open for the season starting Saturday. The Gold Link Lift will start running as well, with Panion’s, North Pass and the skier’s right side of Cascade (not the terrain park side) ready for skiing and riding.
“Stay tuned for additional terrain openings, with snow on the way for Friday,” Rasmussen said.
While last week’s storms didn’t produce quite what the valley was hoping for, Rasmussen pointed out that as of Tuesday, the resort has received 23 inches of snow in the past seven days and 49 inches year-to-date.
“Every snowfall we get is helpful,” she said. “The consistent snowfall pattern we’ve been seeing lately has been awesome to help get the mountain where it’s at right now… Hopefully the trend keeps up and we’ll be able to get more of the mountain open as quickly as possible as conditions permit.”
The resort hopes to open the Prospect Lift by next week or weekend. The T Bars will take more time, according to Rasmussen, and as always, the more snow that falls, the better for opening those Extremes.
Meanwhile, holiday fun continues. Coal Breaker Coffee is hosting holiday crafts from 3-4 p.m. December 19-23 and the Umbrella Bar is hosting a Winter Solstice party December 21 from 4-7 p.m. for $20.
“We’re just excited that winter is here,” Rasmussen said. With terrain opening and holiday cheer, “It’s definitely an exiting place to be right now.”
