The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It is what it is and it’s one of the sweet times of the year in a place with a lot of sweet times of the year. These weeks, however, are among the best. The beauty, the pace, the people. Autumn provides the time and opportunity to take a breath between busy times. Sunday ended the last big weekend of the “summer season” with weddings, the CB Film Fest and a little fall festival called Vinotok. There will of course still be leaf peepers (be careful driving Kebler!), retirees taking a final road trip to the mountains and the early wave of ski bums who have never been to Crested Butte but read how good the skiing is and arrive to begin the search for a job (easy) and a place to live (hard) in the ski season.
Yes, even fall in CB comes with busyness to pay attention to. There was an open house for the new and high-end Academy Place this week where relaxed locals took in the exquisite new rentals. I’d guess there is a planning meeting somewhere you can go to. The CB council has decided to allow cars to park near bus stops on Sixth Street this winter as long you register your car, so you don’t have to worry about that. Whew! Oh, and a chance to question candidates running for county commissioner will take place the evening of October 10 at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts.
Globally, the Middle East is middle easting close to the edge of big war. The US election has blood pressures rising as most people up here hope for Harris but also prepare for a potential apocalyptic return to Donald. The other side prays for Donald while fearing for freedom under Kamala. Everyone is anxious…I mean Black Nazis and Haitian puppy eaters are lurking out there next to a nail stylist’s cousin who says Kamala is paying randos $700 a week to protest Donald, for goodness sakes!
Locally, the biggest public workforce housing project ever proposed in the county gets a big review on October 8. There is no reason to not expect a thumbs up, likely with some conditions. November 5 brings a county and Mt. CB election that has potential to change faces at the leadership table. Even with all this on the horizon, now is the time to be here now.
Take a deep breath of the carpets of yellow on the trails. Breathe in the low angle sun and the opportunity to sit on a downtown bench. Appreciate the lingering first sight of fresh snow that caps the high mountains against the brilliant gold aspens. Embrace the cool mornings and the warm afternoons. Listen to the elk that are bugling and the geese that are honking. Don’t let it pass as just another day or week in the Butte. It’s not.
Speaking of the last big weekend. My favorite part of the great CB fall fest, Vinotok, has become the altars. The community feast, the culminating fire, the mumming and liar traditions all matter but I really love the altars. I’ll ride my bike to the temporary CB stupas and read the various meditations. As hard as it is wonderful, the “legends” altar is one that digs deep as it honors those of the community who have passed. It is a reminder of the continuity of community and the circle of life. Some left way too early, others in the perfect spot, but the photos all touch reasons we stay here.
For well over a decade, the Crested Butte Film Festival has brought images, ideas and discussions not normally part of the daily CB life. It is a treat. Seeing Champions of the Golden Valley on the last day again showed the unique spirit bond between mountains and the people that live there. Ultimately a refugee documentary, the film focuses on how rudimentary skiing impacted the people of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan.
Afghanis discovering skiing is a bond we in Crested Butte can relate to. The joy gained through skiing and how it can change lives is a theme of the movie that stays with Afghanis even as they flee their home for a new and frightening life in Europe. Skiing brought smiles in the face of things more challenging than we will likely ever experience. It is the knowledge that skiing will remain in their hearts and souls that bonds us to those we have never met. They understand the test of getting up the hill, the respect for the earth that provides that uphill challenge and downhill bliss. It is something to which most mountain people can relate. While the skiing ability between the kids who craft their own makeshift skis in the Bamiyan and the littlest shredders here that have $250 season rentals of the newest gear and ride the Red Lady lift is wide, the love for the sport and the appreciation for the fun and inner peace it provides is mutual.
And finally, on page 17 we have the review of the summer backcountry from the Crested Butte Conservation Corps. That team deserves a fall break after a sometimes (literally) crappy summer…100 pounds of human crap! Reading about their work and the amount of business they handled in a busy backcountry again emphasizes how fortunate we are to have this group. There is no doubt this once remote valley is being discovered and people are flooding the backyard. The CBCC lays out the logic of the need for rules and regulations and law enforcement helping to reduce the chaos. I wish it weren’t so, but it is what it is.
It is what it is. And it is the time to breathe in the glorious days and exhale the coming busyness, politics and uncertainty in the world. Be where you are — which is in one of the best places in the world during some of its best weeks of the year.
Happy fall, everyone.
—Mark Reaman
