The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Employee Dig Day this Friday
By Aimee Eaton
After a snowy winter and variable spring, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is prepping to open for the summer season on June 10.
“Right now, we’re ramping up the mountain as much as we can,” said CBMR senior marketing manager Erica Rasmussen. “Snowfall was excellent this year and there’s a lot of it still sticking around, especially in the trees where many of our bike trails are located.”
To speed up the melt process, and hopefully have more bike trails ready for opening days, a group of CBMR employees will spend this Friday afternoon digging out some of the resort’s favorite trails.
“We will be opening the Evolution Bike Park and Adventure Park, as planned,” said Rasmussen. “We hope Friday’s Dig Day will allow us to add to the number of ride-ready trails while also making sure we’re being responsible stewards of the mountain and ensuring a good experience for all our visitors.”
Rasmussen said that while the resort is open to exploring trail development, the bike park will focus this year on trail maintenance and upkeep.
“We want someone who has ridden our trails numerous times in the past to come up this year, jump on the same trails, and feel like they’re brand new,” Rasmussen said.
In addition to the bike and adventure park, CBMR will be focusing energy on its disc golf course, with a tournament to be held July 15, and its Thursday Farmers Markets that will run during July and August.
“The Farmers Market is going to be very exciting,” said Rasmussen. “We have a great group of farmers and local vendors and we’re excited to share fresh vegetables from around the valley with our visitors.”
According to CBMR booking agents, the resort is currently set to have a busy summer season.
“Lodging reservations are coming in strong, and we expect many weekends to be at full occupancy,” said Rasmussen. “Lift scans were up five percent last summer compared to the year prior and we expect that trend to continue.”
The June 10 opening will see both the Red Lady and Silver Queen lifts spinning, with uphill service offered for downhill and cross country mountain biking, hiking and sight-seeing. However, the Peak Trail is still buried in snow and will not open on June 10.
