Odd season ends with weird last day

Queen impacted by ice most of the day

By Mark Reaman

The last day of the 2017/18 lift-assisted ski season was sort of like the season itself: Weird.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort closed up shop on Sunday, April 8 and received perhaps the biggest dump of snow it garnered all season up high—nine inches of wet, heavy snow was visible on the PowCam in the morning. Meanwhile the streets of Mt. Crested Butte at the Base Area were relatively snow-free after a day of rain most of Saturday. That sort of indicates the caliber of season it was.

Adding to the weirdness, the resort was suddenly faced with winter weather after a series of unusually warm spring days, and the April snow threw a wrench into last-day operations. “We wanted wintry weather all winter and finally got what we asked for this weekend,” explained CBMR senior marketing manager Erica Rasmussen. “Unfortunately, that weather impacted operations, particularly on Sunday.

“Safety is our top priority and dangerous snow conditions prevented openings with the North Face Lift, the High Lift and the East River Lift on Sunday,” Rasmussen continued. “We also experienced late openings due to control work. Unfortunately, ice got the better part of the Silver Queen Lift and mechanics worked on it all day. It was able to open near the end of the day.”

Meanwhile, those who got up early for the powder reported “variable” skiing and riding conditions. And the weather itself was “variable” all day, ranging from warm and sunny to sudden blizzard conditions. It was weird. The traditional end-of-the-season party on Flauschink Hill was more subdued than in sunny and warm years past, but the diehards were not deterred. Some might say that too was weird. If nothing else, it was wet. And we need the moisture.

On to the next season!