Opening week spirit…

It is less than a week until the lifts start spinning at CBMR and here’s a shout out to spirit. The spirit of light, the spirit of a new season, the spirit of being blessed, and cursed, to be living in interesting times.

It is Tuesday and the winter spirit is plentiful as we unload a beautiful Winter Visitor’s Guide that is now in the valley. Thanks to all those who are part of it. The cold winds were howling and snow blowing as we moved several pallets of guides from a semi to storage spaces so those magazines can hit the streets through the ski season. They will make the visitors happy.

That winter spirit might get a break according to the phone forecast. My weather icons have big yellow suns beneath temperatures expected in the mid to high 40s between Thursday and Sunday. I mean 48 and sunny on November 22? That’s not exactly a normal or good spirit for where we are. 

Luckily the snowflake icons return in a big way starting Sunday and the spirit of pow might sweep in just before CBMR’s opening day on Wednesday! Forecasts of 1 to 3, and 3 to 5 inches of accumulation abound day and night for a few straight days and nights. Could we have one of those openings? Maybe. 

Monarch always counts on natural snow to open and they are taking tickets starting this weekend, on Friday the 22nd. Monarch doesn’t always get open in November…that’s the spirit!

A huge shout out to the local businesses and local Chamber of Commerce that have stepped up loudly and effectively to advocate for holiday lights in CB. I mean it’s not even Thanksgiving and the twinkling of holiday decorations is already huge. That’s the spirit – and that’s more than okay as we slide into the darkest days of the year. 

That independent, let’s just do it, Crested Butte spirit (holiday or otherwise) surfaced a couple weeks ago after some indifference was expressed by CB town council members about supporting more lights in town between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. But the energy blew up like a big wave that started to crash when it hit the reef of the initial town council shrug and lack of enthusiasm to making Elk Avenue a bit more festive in the future. 

Some on council just don’t seem to understand that they weren’t being asked to break the bank and light up Elk Ave. like a Clark Griswold Christmas house sequel on steroids. They were being asked to be a partner of a community movement to provide some light to a postcard-like street in a sometimes difficult time of year as the winter tourism season starts. It was more about spirit than spreadsheets. 

Businesses have taken the reins and are bringing the holiday spirit to town. More lights, more decorations, an expanded WinterGlow party on December 7 are all evolving. I will say the CB Parks and Rec department has done a nice job with the lights at the Four-Way! They look great. The local businesses were just asking council to plan to do a little more of that next year and beyond, and maybe take care of the town light poles so a local non-profit didn’t have to. They wanted the town to collaborate and be at least a symbolic partner in bringing people together in the light, the spirit.

 It’s all good as it is getting done in grand spirit. And that tree by the Post Office? Spectacular! Again…thanks to the private business community for making it happen.

We could get into things like the Gaetz of Hell (that’s where the curse of living in interesting times might come in) or something called a “bomb cyclone” that is supposed to hit the west coast, but we don’t want that dark spirit right now. We are heading into ski season that looks to start with fresh pow, along with a community effort to light up the town during the shortest days of winter. Let’s embrace that positive spirit instead, and focus on the blessing of living in interesting times. 

—Mark Reaman