Resort re-opening fun activity for winter in April

“It’s fun to do the unexpected once in a while…”

It wasn’t the biggest weekend of the ski season but it was the most unexpected, and about 1,600 people took advantage of Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s surprise re-opening last weekend. The resort ran the Silver Queen both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CBMR communications and marketing director Erica Mueller said the response was good even with blustery winter conditions.

“Overall, it went awesome,” Mueller said. “The operations aspect went really smooth and we got good feedback personally and on social media. We all received a lot of thank yous.”
Mueller, who spent some time scanning lift tickets, said most of the skiers were local season pass holders but she also talked to riders from places like Pueblo, Telluride and Durango. “The majority of people on the hill were definitely locals but we sold some tickets as well,” she said. “We probably broke even from a money standpoint but that wasn’t the goal of the weekend.
“We didn’t really have any hiccups,” Mueller continued. “We were worried about the wind on Saturday and at some points we thought that we might have to shut down the Queen, which would have been pretty bad. But fortunately the wind was coming down the line and not across the line so we were able to keep it going all day.”
Mueller said while it would have likely been more crowded on a warm spring bluebird day, the blast of Saturday and Sunday cold and snow wasn’t all bad. “As bad as the weather looked, the snow was decent. At one point I looked up and it was puking. I thought that it was a good thing to at least have skiing as an option for people. It was winter last weekend and we helped provide something to do that was appropriate for the weather.”
The 1,600 people were all pretty safe and respectful. Mueller said she was not aware of any major injuries on the hill. “The staff all did great and embraced the idea,” Mueller said. “It was well received in the community. Everyone up there was smiling. I think people were just psyched to be skiing.
“It’s fun to do the unexpected once in a while,” she concluded. “This was a fun one.”