The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
New tri-chair to replace Peachtree Lift for 2021/22 season
[ By Kendra Walker ]
Thanks to recent storms, Crested Butte Mountain Resort continues to open more terrain and prep for the holiday ski crowds. Currently, no dates are fully booked up, and the West Wall lift opened on Tuesday and East River is slated to open later this week.
“Currently, we have nine lifts operating with access to 42 trails,” said CBMR senior communications specialist Will Shoemaker. “The Mountain Operations team is working hard toward opening East River Express lift and accompanying terrain later this week/weekend. We’re working to open as many lifts and as much terrain as soon as possible, weather and conditions permitting, to allow for the experience our guests expect. We encourage guests to download and check the EpicMix app for the most up-to-date terrain info, an interactive trail map, to make reservations and lots of other features.”
As we approach the holidays, Shoemaker said CBMR continues to do everything it can to prioritize the safety of employees, guests and the community, and reminds guests to keep physically distanced and wear face coverings.
“Face coverings are required in every part of our operation, including while loading and riding on chairlifts, inside all buildings and during all ski and snowboard lessons,” said Shoemaker. “Face coverings should follow CDC guidelines, with two or more layers of fabric that completely cover your nose and mouth and they should not have vents, valves or holes. A single-layer Buff should be folded to create multiple layers. We are asking guests to follow not only our resort’s policies, but also the safety measures set forth by Gunnison County so we can have a safe and successful season from start to finish. We cannot do it alone; everyone needs to take action.”
Overall, the new protocols are working well. “We’ve had a great beginning to the season! Operations have been largely successful since Crested Butte Mountain Resort opened on November 25 and the vast majority of our guests are following our safety protocols,” said Shoemaker.
“That said, it takes continued cooperation, awareness and vigilance from everyone, every day,” said Shoemaker. “We’re very excited to welcome our guests back to winter and appreciate everyone’s support of our new policies so we can be safe together.”
Reservations update
Pass holders can now book week-of reservations daily for the following seven days, now that we are in the core season. A new day will be available for week-of reservations each night at midnight MST. “If we’re able to release more inventory based on terrain availability that release will happen on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.,” said Shoemaker. “But reservations spots may open at any time in the event that guests have cancelled their days.”
Lift tickets are now available, and must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the ticket windows on the mountain.
“Currently, not one day for the remainder of the 2020-21 winter season at Crested Butte is booked up,” said Shoemaker as of this paper’s publishing deadline. Guests can check availability by visiting https://www.epicpass.com/plan-your-trip/lift-access/check-availability.
Goodbye Peachtree
Vail Resorts recently announced several investments planned for the 2021/22 winter season, which were previously deferred from 2020 plans as a result of COVID-19. Among these updates is the replacement of CBMR’s two-person fixed-grip Peachtree chairlift with a new three-person fixed-grip lift. The new lift will service the beginner terrain at the base of the mountain and is designed to improve uplift capacity.
“Additionally, we plan to improve the grading of the terrain serviced by the Peachtree lift to create a more consistent experience for our beginner and ski school guests,” said Shoemaker. “We’ll have additional details about this project in the months ahead.”
