[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

Jay Prentiss was born into an adventurous family and from a young age his parents would take them skiing in Quebec in an old step van his father converted into a camper. If it got too cold, they’d stay at a cheap motel. The family loved to travel and would take road trips across the country. Eventually, his dad bought a little cabin at the base of Mount Saint Anne, a ski area in Quebec. 

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Jay’s family moved to the Pennsylvania Poconos when he was 15, where he could throw a rock across the Delaware and hit the New Jersey shore. The Delaware was relatively calm and deep where it flowed by their property. “We were into swimming and eventually we got boats and jet skis. It’s wilderness, a really beautiful area,” Jay recalls. 

Although Jay enjoyed high school, life in the Poconos was quite a bit different than in New York where he had moved from. “It was very rural. I was always very much into sports in New York – soccer, wrestling and lacrosse – but I got more into individual sports in Pennsylvania, like skiing, motorcycling, rock climbing and mountain biking. I bought the first mountain bike that came into our town in 1986. I hadn’t been to Colorado since I was 4 years old and I always wanted to go because of skiing and mountain biking. I was a NASTAR ski racer when I was a kid then I got into club racing on a ski team when I moved to Pennsylvania,” which he did all through high school. Jay graduated in 1988.

Jay dreamt of attending college in Colorado. “I got a brochure of Western State, it had a photo of the ski resort and then the campus and I pictured a campus at the base of the ski area,” he says. 

He was accepted at WSC with a scholarship and ski raced all through college. “I had heard that Gunnison is the coldest place in the nation. I had a down jacket with me on the plane… in August. It’s 90 degrees in Newark and when I get off the plane in Gunnison it’s like 85 degrees, I don’t see any big mountains and I’m thinking I landed in the wrong place because it’s like desert and hot and I thought I was going to be skiing tomorrow. I realized that it wasn’t the coldest place in the country every day of the year,” he laughs and adds, “I fell in love with it, with everything, and I had four amazing years.”

Jay remembers the first dusting of snow in 1988, which was only an inch but enough to stoke his snow frenzy. He and a friend drove up to CB determined to ski and ruin their skis if necessary. “When it really dumped for the first time and they opened the resort, I had never seen anything like that before. The first year I got to Western I think was the first year the North Face opened. We skied everything. We’d hike up Kebler, no skins, no beacons, and boot-pack up.” 

Jay returned to Pennsylvania to work in the summers and come back to the valley the rest of the year for mountain adventures. “We’d ride bikes, climb mountains, rock climb and I learned how to kayak.” He graduated in 1992 with a BA in business administration and a minor in psychology but he really didn’t know what he wanted to do with that, except run a business. ”I had an obligation to be successful, so I moved to New Jersey, bought my own house, and started a small wholesale car business in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I’d buy cars, boats and motorcycles for resale.” Two years later, he merged with his dad’s business. Even though things were going just swell, he missed Colorado. 

So he bought a van, fixed it up into a cheap mini camper, sold his house, broke up with his girlfriend and hit the road in early January heading south for a hard-earned two-month party in Cocoa Beach before making his way back west to Boulder and Bozeman for some rock climbing, skiing and mountaineering. “I was living the life for a year but I really missed the Gunnison Valley. I ended up back in CB the fall of ‘96.”

Jay recalls that there was actually a serious housing shortage that year. “I was living in my van but it was starting to get cold and I couldn’t find a place. My friend Jody and I convinced Fritz of Mountain Express to let us share a room in his house, we weren’t dating but we both needed a place to live. I stayed for six years and I wound up having all kinds of roommates even after Fritz moved out to the Front Range.” 

Jay was painting in the summers and, he smiles, “Winters, I wanted to be a ski bum so I got a job working at the Twister Warming House at The Fondue. I also became a DJ at KBUT. My show was The Road Trip, my roommate Jody and I did it together. I got a part-time job working for the CBMR race department. That year we put on the X Games and all the ski races.” Through a friend, he got a gig doing extreme skiing photoshoots for one day and it turned into more work and a trip to Europe.

“Eventually, I started my own painting business, Altitude Painting, and now we have 17 employees,” he says. In-between work, Jay continued adventuring, motorcycling, climbing tall mountains in Peru and Denali and skiing. “But I really wanted to focus on making my business successful. I bought 10 lots in Gunnison out of foreclosure in the early 2000s. Because of the housing crisis at the time, I was really interested in creating affordable housing, so I put 10 modular homes on those lots.”

 Jay had fallen in love with a Mexican town he had visited, Huatulco, and was able to purchase a beach home there. “I’m a big surfer. I was fortunate to get into a home in CB back when it wasn’t expensive, but I worked my ass off to do it. I was never greedy and always took care of my employees.” 

Jay met his wife, Krista Seier in CB, she started working for him. In 2015 their son Ryder was born.

In early March of 2020, Jay contracted COVID and to everyone’s astoundment, it slammed him hard. “At the time, it was mostly older or compromised people who were affected and dying, not people like me. I have changed a lot of people’s behavior because of my COVID. A lot of people may not have taken the virus seriously if they hadn’t known me. It was two of the most hellish years you could imagine,” he relays and says that he was in and out of the hospital for over a year. They had to leave their home because he couldn’t breathe at elevation. They moved to Grand Junction but ended up at the Mayo clinic in Arizona, then bought a camper van and lived in it in New York for doctor appointments. When they were able to return home, Jay felt he was finally starting to live again. “But I’m the poster boy for long-haulers. I’m still seeing the doctor regularly for COVID,” he says.

 Back in CB, “We’re living the dream and I feel that life is really, really good. Crested Butte is the most beautiful place in the country. I have my business here, and an amazing group of people working for me. I want them to live a good life here in the valley. Having a son and my wife and family really kept me going when I was sick. She was a saint for what she had to put up with. This is the best place to raise a child, it’s like winning the lottery.”

Clean Livin’

[  by Dawne Belloise  ]

Sarah Hume likes to keep it simple. Simply, she enjoys life. A Colorado-born girl who arrived in Gunnison at the ripe age of three months, she rightly considers herself a native of the valley, she says and smiles, “Plus it gives me credibility. I went to Lake, O’Leary, and Blackstock School in Gunnison. I was one of those who got to attend all three schools. My maternal grandmother was a teacher at Blackstock.” 

As a child, Sarah did all the usual things that kids in the Gunnison Valley did. “We’d go sledding and I loved to ice skate,” and she’d play in snow and frigid cold. During the summers she recalls, “Growing up in Antelope Hills there wasn’t any light pollution, so I saw a lot of gorgeous meteor showers. We’d camp out in the front yard and watch the stars fall. I also took dance lessons from kindergarten through sixth grade.”  

Through her high school years, Sarah confesses she didn’t go to class much. “I was one of those people who could be lost in a crowd easily. I could go to class for attendance and then leave.” However, she reiterates, “My aspirations were really just to have a good time. I spent a lot of time at Hartman Rocks having bonfires and drinking. We didn’t drink and drive, we always camped out.” She did excel in learning German though and was able to save enough to go to Germany for two weeks in her junior year, in the spring of 1996. 

Sarah graduated in 1997 and, like many setting out on their life’s path, had no idea what she wanted to do. “I’ve always wanted to just survive and experience life.” When her best friend moved to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Sarah decided to try life outside of her hometown and live with her friend’s family. “It was my first attempt to leave the Gunnison Valley. And I missed home,” she smiles. She lasted two months before returning to Gunnison and began working as a housekeeper for Bill Babbitt and Jeff Shipley at their High Country Resorts. 

In 2000, Sarah moved to Crested Butte where she enjoyed employee housing in Mountain Sunrise for two years. “I was given the title of Village Center Queen by Virginia Roarke because I could clean three to four condos a day and do the additional condo services like towels and trash for the Snowcrest, Axtel and Emmons buildings. That was the late ‘90s. I was averaging $22 an hour,“ she tells, which was quite a decent pay for the times, so she stayed on for six years. 

Once again Sarah decided to try life outside the valley and moved to Denver in 2002. “But Denver ate me and spit me out,” she laughs about her short one-month stint. She returned home to start her own cleaning business. Based on her reputation and word of mouth referrals, her business flourished and her accounts were mostly large mountain homes. She also wound up working as cleaning management for a few small companies. 

In 2007, Sarah took a launderist position, working for two years at the Gunnison Nursing Home. “Pretty interesting job, just to get to know the residents and listen to their stories. I got to meet new people and sometimes I got to meet the same people every day as their new friend,” because of their dementia, she says. 

For some reason she still can’t figure out, Sarah decided to attend Western State College (now Western Colorado University) for English, “I have no idea why,” she shrugs. “At the time, I was working at Joe Dixon’s video rental store. We were one of the last video stores,” she tells. “You wouldn’t believe how many out-of-town visitors came in looking for porn because those were the only video stores left. They’d come in looking around at all these Disney videos and then they’d walk out. Every once in a while, one would come up and ask for the adult section and I’d point them to the R section.” She was there four years, through 2011. 

She was quite done with both school and customer service, so she went back to what she enjoyed most for work, housekeeping, this time at the Grand Lodge. “It was the worst paying, hardest job I’ve ever had,” but she had taken the job because working for herself was like working seven days a week and essentially having 20 individual bosses, but at the Grand Lodge, it was too little pay for too much work, she thought. The upside was that she ended up with her own cart and floor because they recognized her work ethic. “I’m a damn good cleaner. I was taken care of in a way my managers could. The solitude of working by myself made the day ok.” Despite the tediousness of the job, Sarah stuck with it for six years. 

While riding the bus from Gunnison to her job in CB, she was approached by Dale Hoots, a maintenance worker at the Elevation Hotel and later for the Town of CB, who said to Sarah, “I’ve been riding this bus for a week looking for you.” Dale wanted to tell her about the janitorial position opening with the town of Crested Butte. She applied, got the job and is still happily employed there. “I love it,” she says. “I do not have to make beds and I have very few stairs to climb. There are 24 public restrooms in this town, counting men’s and women’s and I clean 22 of them (the Chamber contracts theirs out) and I take care of Town Hall and the Marshal’s Office. Recently, the town has hired someone to clean on weekends, so I don’t have to work weekends anymore. It’s the first time in my life I don’t have to work weekends,” she exclaims gleefully. “It’s incredible! I go fishing. If there’s water, I’ll put a fishing pole in it. I love both fly and cast fishing. I like to fly on the river and cast on reservoirs.” 

Right before everything shut down for COVID in 2020, Sarah became a KBUT DJ known as The Hypochondriac and appropriately named her show, “I Got This,” which airs Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. “I play everything and anything, there is no limit, but I always play at least one Dolly Parton song every show. I only went to one of her shows and it’s the most amazing thing. It’s a lot like this valley, just a huge diversity of people getting along – Republican, Dems, bikers, hippies, everyone. It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen and of course, she’s fantastic. She had a different outfit for every song.”

Sarah says she has learned her lesson about leaving the valley. “I tried to live other places, but I boomerang back within two months. I’ve never lived anywhere else for longer than two months. Even though this town has changed dramatically, this is my home, it’s all I’ve known. It’s a comfort to me. Sure, I’ll visit someplace for a while but to go visit somewhere else and then come home to see the mountains is one of the best feelings I get.” 

Two-day outdoor industry leadership summit well attended in Mt. CB

[  By Katherine Nettles  ]

Outdoor industry leaders and professionals from across Colorado and beyond came together in Mt. Crested Butte last week to talk shop on outdoor recreation, conservation, inclusion and economics. Despite unruly weather, the sold-out summit was well attended both locally and by people state-wide. A common theme was the rapid changes impacting rural communities through things like the influx of remote workers. 

The annual Colorado Outdoor Industry Leadership Summit (COILS) took place on May 19 and 20 at the Elevation Hotel with more than 180 people in attendance for networking, idea sharing, panel discussions and more. 

Among the discussions were topics like rural economic diversification, entrepreneurship, equitable pathways to the outdoor economy and balancing recreation and conservation. Industry experts, government officials, students, business owners, nonprofit representatives and others brought together their challenges and common ground, including acknowledgement that a new era of remote workers and wealth transfer from urban to rural areas is changing mountain towns and resort living in some ways.  

Local representatives discussed “Balancing Outdoor Recreation and Conservation Values in the Gunnison Valley.” Panelists Jake Jones of the Crested Butte Land Trust, Jonathan Houck of the Gunnison County board of commissioners and wildlife manager Brandon Diamond of Colorado Parks and Wildlife spoke at length about the success of the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (STOR) Committee in Gunnison County, on which they all serve. 

Jones described the need to pivot to more focus on managing the growth of summer in the Gunnison Valley. “We put a lot of effort into being a ski resort,” he said of the past. “For decades, summer was an afterthought…that is not the case anymore. 

“In winter, recreation is really contained. It’s a durable model,” continued Jones. “In summer, people are in every nook and cranny.” 

Jones, Houck, Diamond and Gunnison County assistant county manager for community and economic development Cathie Pagano discussed the STOR Committee’s work with other entities like the National Forest Foundation and grant funding from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to create a more sustainable model for summer recreation. Each reviewed various ways conservation projects are being funded into the future, including 1% For Open Space and the Gunnison Valley Stewardship fund. 

“You never want a committee of 24 people—but that’s what we have,” quipped Houck of the strong local network. 

Jones emphasized the importance of people willing to “roll up our sleeves, look our neighbors in the eye,” and engage in different opinions to find common ground. “These are the good old days, right now,” he concluded. “Our trails, access, infrastructure, wayfinding has never been better.”

Let me suggest… that you not choose this week to burn out the ditch before water starts flowing given consistent winds day and night with some gusts hitting 70 mph. Don’t burn the construction scraps or decide now is a good time to celebrate the Fourth of July early. One ember could spread darn quickly with the current spring conditions that seem to have deposited half of the St. George, Utah desert on the surrounding peaks. In that vein I would suggest not camping beneath really old, hollowed-out cottonwoods either.

Let me suggest… that the reason Mark Walter is ignoring my requests for a phone call to see what plans he might have for all the real estate he is buying up in Crested Butte and the valley is because he has been busy buying one of the world’s premier sports teams. Fair. He and some other billionaire type partners are on the verge of owning England’s Chelsea Football Club for more than $3 billion. He’s obviously a busy guy and has more important things to do than set aside 20 minutes to talk to me about what might go in The Brick. Still, it seems the right thing to do. My number is 349-0500 ext. 109 or he has people with my cell.

Let me suggest… that speaking of the Brick — whoever is in charge of the Mark Walter Crested Butte real estate dynasty might think about opening the shutters of the tiki bar on the patio and offering a couple cocktail hours at a minimum as we move into late spring. It already feels desolate and I’m not hearing about any real movement. Heck, let me sublease the tiki bar/patio and while I probably couldn’t make enough to join the Chelsea partnership group, I’d bet with a couple beer choices and a grill for hamburgers, that I could pocket some good money during these warming spring afternoons and provide a good amenity for the town. 

Let me suggest… that as a guy who has used the Late Night Taxi and also watched as some tourists started slogging up Gothic Road in the snow after midnight that the two town councils should not hesitate to help fund the service that always seems to have to struggle for dollars. The RTA board has committed $30,000 in what is expected to be a $150,000 need. During last week’s RTA meeting, Mt. Crested Butte RTA representative Janet Farmer gave Mountain Express managing director Jeremy Herzog an off-the-cuff warning that the RTA contribution would probably be a lot simpler than getting contributions from the two towns. I don’t understand why. If you invite people here and take their money, it is bad manners and even worse form to purposely not provide services that are needed by those visitors. Providing a safe way to get back to bed after enjoying a late night in a resort is a needed service.

Look, a ton of sales tax collected by both towns is meant to fund transportation. Bars and restaurants generate a bunch of sales tax in a resort community. For example, that sector contributed more than a half million dollars in sales tax to Crested Butte in the first three months of 2022, $205,832 in March alone. If 80% of the Late Night Taxi service is run basically between Elk Avenue and Mt. CB, both towns should happily pick up 80% of the expected subsidy. It’s cheaper than running the buses to 2 a.m. and Lord knows it’s safer than letting late night revelers hop in their cars after a few beers and a shot in the wee hours.

Let me suggest…you take the time this Sunday evening to watch the total lunar eclipse. It should start about 8 o’clock, peak about 10 and finish after midnight. It sounds pretty cool.

Let me suggest…that when it comes to workforce housing, having all deed restrictions tied to Area Median Income (AMI) is not ideal. While that provides an avenue to some federal funding (through LIHTEC tax credits), makes it profitable for developers to do such projects, and probably works well in bigger cities —small resort communities are a different story. 

I would say that no one depending on a paycheck can afford a free market house in Crested Butte at the moment. Small business owners are squeezed as well but likely can’t qualify for affordable housing. If a well-paid executive type or restaurant owner makes $150 or $200K, the numbers still don’t work out to afford a $2.4 million fixer upper. So, I would suggest the priority consideration for deed restricted housing in the North Valley should perhaps shift from what someone makes to what they do. Do they plow the streets when it snows a foot or teach the kids who attend CBCS? Both are a need. Do they work as a busser at say, Elk Avenue Prime? Given AMI qualifications, the busser would probably qualify for a deed restriction based on income while the plow driver who might be married to a teacher would likely be out of the pool and out of luck. Building housing for the busser instead of the plow drivers and teachers gets a community worker in the unit, and that’s important, but doesn’t it really just subsidize a billionaire? How do billionaires, millionaires and companies in the valley worth billions (Vail Resorts anyone?), and second homeowners who promised to help financially, get motivated to pony up for housing? Private businesses with the means should not wait just for public projects.

I keep asking if the standard affordable housing template has worked someplace else and if another resort community has built their way out of the housing problem, and no one has shown me an example of that sort of success. Let me suggest shaking up the thinking to come up with something entirely new and creative that prioritizes “essential” community workers first no matter their income, might be a worthwhile shift. Is a tiered system of priority really not workable to help maintain broad community?

Let me suggest… that we humans give a little breathing space to the heron rookery on the Upper Slate River while it’s used as a nursery. As the river is rising and more and more people are coming to the valley, the paddleboards will be proliferating. It seems fair to let our wildlife neighbors like the great blue herons have some space to raise their chicks in the spring. Having them here is something special and we should respect that they still choose to come here.

And finally, in that ‘special’ vein, let me suggest… you don’t lose your appreciation of this place. While my cynicism meter is more frequently hitting the red line these days, the valley remains pretty darn good. My kid has taken to river life and Monday in the wind he was paddling the lower Slate. He posted an Instagram video of floating through the gold reflection as the sun was setting behind Red Lady. ‘C’mon’ was all he said. Indeed. May I suggest that you don’t close yourself off to the incredible magic that surrounds us and we sometimes take for granted. 

—Mark Reaman 

How are core values defined?

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

Crested Butte is moving into the third phase of the Community Compass process and on Monday, May 2 the town council held a retreat to listen to progress from town staff and provide feedback on the initiative. Phase three is centered on developing the decision-making framework and action plan that will help guide the council with decisions that might involve conflict of community values.

Several in-depth discussions took place in the almost two-hour Compass retreat and while council appreciated the emergence of draft community values that would be the foundation of the Compass, most wanted to trim those down to ensure a useable document emerges from the Compass process. The hope from staff is to refine the data gathered to this point and come up with a draft plan that can be presented to the council and community in early June.

“The Compass is meant to be a framework of how to address challenges,” community development director Troy Russ explained. “The values are aspirational statements of how we address the challenges.”

Basically, the seven values presented at the retreat included: being a welcoming culture; having a genuine connection to the outdoors; maintaining a great quality of life; maintaining a livable and functional town; having streets designed for people; maintaining the pursuit of a lifestyle that prefers presence over apathy; and having a community where everyone has a voice and a place in the town’s future. 

Mayor Ian Billick’s “quick feedback” was that he was concerned there was too much in the presented draft values, noting the seven identified values included detail of about 30 themes. “I would suggest a shorter list,” he said. “Bring it down since a value is something you are willing to sacrifice something else for. What are they?”

“We are hesitant to voice trade-offs now,” said Russ.

“Ideally the trade-offs are not included in the core values,” stated Billick. “But they could be part of the core document. For example, if we say we value working lands (like ranches), to what extent? Are we willing to give up trails? Are we willing to understand the inconvenience of cattle sharing the land we might use? If the values are just ‘wants’ we won’t have informed decision making.”

“I agree. There is probably no community in the world that doesn’t want to be a ‘welcoming community’ so I think these should be more Crested Butte-specific,” said councilmember Mallika Magner.

“I would say also that ‘streets designed for people’ is not a core value,” said Billick. “They could be designed that way but it isn’t a core value. I would say the core values list is missing the idea of the community being authentic and bold. It feels those are both core values.”

“We do pride ourselves on being innovative in many areas,” said Magner.

“I would suggest getting rid of statements that don’t immediately convey what they mean,” said Billick. “For example, what does it mean that everyone has a voice? That doesn’t seem a core value. For me, core value is community, and designing streets for people is a mechanism of helping community.”

“What is the right number of core values?” asked Compass consultant Myles Graham. “I’m hearing the core values have more to do with things like connectiveness, lifestyle, stewardship, authenticity and the courage to be bold?”

“Being a real town is important,” said councilmember Chris Haver. “It’s important to be a functioning town for the locals who live here.”

“Being able to come here to get things, holding events for locals, having relationships beyond those based in your occupation is the heart of it,” added councilmember Beth Goldstone. “The resort is up the hill.”

“Each value will have a series of success measures and those success measures will help explain the core pieces,” said Russ.

“I’d like something stating that we want to be able to afford to live here,” said Magner. “That we value a middle-class lifestyle. I’m not sure how to put that in a value but locals should live here.”

“I would expand that so that locals can stay here and grow with jobs and housing,” said Billick. “Being able to retain community is important.”

“Growing and thriving is important,” added councilmember Jason MacMillan.

Council had a long discussion on whether being welcoming was a true Crested Butte value. 

“The welcoming value sounded more like a tourist thing than a worker thing,” said councilmember Anna Fenerty. 

Billick said Crested Butte has always been a place that weeded out those who could not embrace some of the hardships and he reminded everyone that one part of the feedback being received was not to get rid of the “edginess” of the community. 

The council’s initial impression was that the draft values described a place they want to live but in the context of the Community Compass those values should probably be trimmed. The staff will attempt that exercise this month and actively engage the community at things like softball games and Alpenglow concerts to get more citizen feedback. From there, the finished Compass is expected to be released by the end of the summer. 

“We need to keep the community support and momentum going,” said Russ.

For the current information on the Compass initiative visit: www.crestedbuttecompass.com.

I briefly entertained the idea of just putting a couple of the ‘moon bus’ photos on page 2 and calling it good. The iconic Crested Butte last day of the ski season tradition sort of sums up much of the CB attitude: irreverent, a little raw, insulting to some, funny to others. While I would no longer be shocked if some Tucker Carlson-type newcomer tried to file a police report over the incident or have the town ban such pornographic displays, the late afternoon Sunday moon bus lived on this past weekend. That is one sign of hope that not everything has transitioned to gentrified high-end resort blandness. The moon bus is a local’s sign of transition that the ski season is over and it is time to move to spring, the quiet off-season and eventually biking and hiking.

Last fall and into the early 2021-22 ski season we had a good ‘flip the switch’ transition. We were able to ride bikes into November and then just a few days later move to riding boards on the ski area. The same light switch transition is happening now and that is one of the blessings of our valley.

CBMR ended the ski season last weekend with costumes and pond skims and still good snow on the steeps. There was Flauschink, the GT, historical pub crawls, snowblades taming Rambo, sunshine, soft snow and DeadHead Ed’s birthday party. There was some tiredness enhanced by low pressure and obvious feelings of big picture changes happening too quickly to CB, but it was a good finale. 

And then Gunnison Trails announced on Monday that many Hartman Rocks bike trails were opening. Thank you. For those that prefer the links to the rocks, Dos Rios opened Saturday.

For a place that embraces the outdoors, such a transition is gold. I’ve always said that Hartman’s is the off-season secret treasure. My friends that like golf say the same about Dos. When it is cold and wet in the North Valley (and Tuesday’s windy rain-snow mix was one to test the soul) the west side of Gunni can be dry and warm. The Hartman trails in the spring offer early season flow that will remain buried beneath snow and mud for many more weeks around Crested Butte. 

The 30-mile trek from the Four-way is easy and represents a primary valley artery linking the two communities. While getting a tad more expensive given current gas prices, it is still worth the trip. Of course, there is a responsibility that comes with using the place. There is still some snow and mud on some of the trails and bikers and hikers should follow the protocols that protect the early season trails. Gunnison Trails basically recommends you be cool, respect others, slow down and go through muddy spots instead of around them. That is good advice any time of the year in most any situation.

Some of the trails will stay closed into the middle of May no matter how dry they are in order to protect the Gunnison Sage Grouse. Let them mate in peace! That too is a responsibility that comes with using those public lands. We have an obligation to protect all our neighbors including the wildlife.

Business transitions this time of year are not unusual. Some move locations, others close, new ideas prepare to come to fruition and open for the first time. That can be an exciting period and while there is more uncertainty than usual this year, which has led to some general community fatigue, such shifts in the spring are somewhat normal. The one transition to spring I’m not a fan of is the Little Blue Canyon Highway 50 road closures between here and Montrose. That too is a much-used artery and the work seems expensive, thoughtless and a stereotypical waste of government money. Straightening that road will encourage faster drivers and save less than a minute of travel time. But right now, for those of us wanting to head west, it is a big pain in the ass — which in some minds touches a similar theme, but is the opposite of the annual moon bus. Get it?

Look, the spring transitions are part of our cycle here. Off-season snow for example, is meant to weed out the posers. Despite some transitions I’d rather not see, so far just a few days after the ski lifts stopped spinning it appears we are blessed with the switch being flipped. There is still backcountry skiing to be had but for many, the attitude has flipped from skinning slush to pedaling dirt. It seems the right move. 

See you on the trails…

—Mark Reaman

Pond skim and live music

[  By Kendra Walker  ]

Another winter season comes to a close this weekend as Crested Butte Mountain Resort celebrates its 60^th anniversary with some favorite activities, including the pond skim, live local music, and of course, costumes. 

The annual CBMR Pond Skim is back after a two-year hiatus, taking place on Saturday, April 2 from 1-3 p.m. Prizes will be given out for best costume, best style and best splash. Following the pond skim, the Ski Town Breakdown after-party will take place at the Butte 66 deck with DJ Triple L from 3-5 p.m.

For Closing Day on Sunday, April 3, more live music will ensue at Butte 66 with Coal Creek Connection from 3-6 p.m. “We look forward to the community coming out to celebrate another great season and the spirit that makes Crested Butte so special,” said CBMR vice president and general manager Tara Schoedinger.

Shoedinger reflected on this winter season’s successes. “This season marked CBMR’s 60th anniversary, giving us the opportunity to celebrate the resort’s rich history. We were excited to welcome back several of our legendary events this season, including the Al Johnson Memorial Telemark Race, Donation Day, Ski Town Break Down, and the Pond Skim coming up on April 2. After having to cancel events the last two seasons due to COVID, it’s been great to see the mountain coming back to life and bringing the community together.”

She continued, “We were thrilled to launch the new Peachtree Lift and learning terrain this season, and it has definitely been a big highlight for our guests and employees, especially our SRS instructors. Personally, it has been a privilege to lead the resort in my first season here as general manager of Crested Butte Mountain Resort. I want to thank our entire team and this community for welcoming me. I’m grateful to be a part of this community and to get to work with so many passionate and supportive neighbors.”

She added, “We’re grateful to everyone who helped us navigate our second full winter season with COVID-19. Our county public health leaders have done an incredible job encouraging vaccinations and keeping our community safe, which has allowed us and our guests to enjoy skiing and riding all season. And we’ve been able to pull back many of our COVID-19 safety protocols this season, giving us the opportunity to return to a more normal mountain experience.”

Season challenges

Shoedinger also noted the challenges the resort faced this year, especially due to COVID-19 and short-staffing. “This was a very unique season, impacted by the challenges of the pandemic – including the global labor shortage. Short-staffing was a real challenge at CBMR this season. I take full responsibility for the impact this had on our guest experience, and I’m confident we are addressing the challenges with investments in our employees. Our goal is a fully staffed team next season, which is one of the reasons we are making such a large investment in our employees’ wages.” 

In March, Vail Resorts announced a new $20 per hour minimum wage, a $5 per hour increase at CBMR, effective for the 2022-23 ski and ride season. Entry-level ski patrollers and maintenance team members will start at $21 per hour.

“As we look to summer and to next winter season, we will continue to find ways to invest in our employees and the employee experience so that CBMR is an amazing place to work,” Shoedinger concluded. “This includes continuing our efforts to pursue affordable housing options for our employees in the valley.”

The mountain will open for summer operations on Saturday, June 11, and CBMR representatives said they will announce more details and activity offerings soon. To participate in the pond skim this weekend, register at https://www.skicb.com/explore-the-resort/activities-and-events/crested-butte-events.aspx.

Plan to attract more money, I mean skiers.
No, actually, money.

[  by Sade Verde  ]

Crested Butte Mountain Resort had its biggest season in terms of visitation in the past decade but Vail CEO Kristen Pinch says that isn’t enough. “We’re not in business to make the locals happy. We’re in business to make Wall Street happy. Be Mild!”  

Pinch said in a press release from behind the Magic Curtain in Broomfield, “We have to change that perception. People know CB as a hardcore skiers’ mountain. But we’re so much more than that! We have two places to eat at the base area, oversold restaurants in town, a few t-shirt shops that are sometimes open, and a grocery store with shelves half-full. Plus, as long as you’re a multi-millionaire or billionaire, it’s still a lucrative real estate market that isn’t completely blown out just yet. But we’re getting there, and with just a little more work, we’ll be there in no time.”

Apparently historic ski run names that truly stress the difficulty — and consequences of — Crested Butte’s legendary terrain are next on the chopping block.  

“Frankly, run names like “Body Bag” and “Dead End Chutes” are not attracting the type of skier or rider we want to bring to Crested Butte,” states Pinch’s press release. “Double-black terrain doesn’t encourage locals to turn their homes into short-term rentals and multi-millionaire accountants from suburbs don’t like to ski difficult terrain. So we are making a few mild updates and difficulty ratings to encourage our visitors to really BE MILD!”  

Starting next year, “Body Bag” will be known as ‘Rob’s Happy Time Run.’ 

“We’ve decided to make an update that pays homage to our rich history as a corporation and our former dear leader Rob Krutz and the capitalist ethos he blessed upon the industry of skiing. Through his imprint of making VR  the first true homogenization nation, Rob revolutionized ski executive compensation.” Pinch’s press release states. 

Next year, Dead End Chutes will be known as “Whee Fun Trees.”

“We feel that the word dead gives the wrong impression about our terrain here at Crested Butte. We want people to come here and BE MILD!,” says Pinch. “Don’t even talk to me about what was formerly known as Dead Bob’s…I mean Puppy’s Paradise.”

Pinch also says music acts for next year’s Ski Town Breakdown, now called Ski Town Brokedown, will truly embody the BE MILD! slogan as they have already booked John Tesh and Air Supply to headline in 2023. “I hope he plays ‘Give Me Forever.’  I just love that song.”

The only naming changes will be to runs on the map, which means Priapism likely won’t be renamed to Erectile Dysfunction and downgraded to double-green anytime soon. But signs warning anyone of Slide for Life conditions in ski patrol chicken scratch will likely read Closed Indefinitely for Grooming. 

The term “legacy project” is being used around here a lot lately. The proposed new fire station campus, the Sixth and Butte affordable housing project, an expansion of the Crested Butte School, the potential Whetstone affordable housing project, the North Village. All are large building projects expected to be around for more than a few seasons. Each provides individual and collective legacies. Each will have big impacts on the Upper Valley.

The fact each is an indicator of current growth is obvious. We need more housing for workers near North Valley jobs, more classrooms to handle more students, more appropriate density in municipalities with the infrastructure to handle growth instead of more sprawl. Each project will not only address the impact we are currently seeing today as the place changes, each will also have its own major impact on the place. Each will leave its mark in the valley through size and scope. The north end of the new Crested Butte town boundary for example will be very different as very large buildings will eventually mark the town boundary in the Gothic corridor. 

I’ve always argued that change is inevitable and not all bad and advocated that the least we can do is actively participate in shaping the change. That is all happening and happening fast. The Crested Butte council is making it obvious that active climate change mitigation is a top priority with how it will guide change. That was made extremely clear with its reaction to the fire station proposal and the Sixth and Butte development proposals, some of which didn’t make the cut given the lack of attention to sustainability. The Mt. Crested Butte council is pivoting to refocus on its priorities instead of the town staff priorities. It appears that likely means focusing on things such as affordable housing instead of a base area master plan that was tilting at windmills. The county is methodically setting up its goal to clear the way for 200 or so workforce housing units on the Whetstone parcel that isn’t tangled up with other government entity partners.

For me, the constant refrain is that any project, legacy-sized or not, needs to take into account the various impacts the project will have on all of us. That’s not to say that every impact of every project needs to be mitigated 100% at the outset but it is foolish to blindly plow ahead and not consider consequences of what developers (including the local governments) consider “progress.” And frankly, the worst-case scenario is to become so tripped up in the weeds that nothing is ever started. But, no matter how well intentioned a project, it should be done honestly and with respect to those that will feel the effects after it is done. We should all engage in shaping the inevitable change and a big guiding light should be to maintain small town values and not become more of a citified resort at 9,000 feet. 

Anyway…walking the dog this morning, I see the geese are back in the valley along with the Great Blue Herons. The Slate River is beginning its early spring pop. Soon the deer will meander into the wetlands and life as it is now will change into its warm, summer coat. That led me to a quick thought: It is in our common moral interests to also be sure we respect our natural neighbors as we decide on “progress” no matter how well intentioned. It sounds a small thing, but it isn’t for if we screw that up, the legacy we leave will not be one in which we can have pride. 

As I always advocate — we need to do things differently from other places. If we don’t want to be like Breckenridge, don’t make the same choices Breckenridge did.

Change will come. We can help guide it. But we must do so with thought and respect and consider not just what is best for our businesses and friends but for our broader community…and that includes the herons and geese and deer.

—Mark Reaman

[  by Dawne Belloise  ] 

Snow adventures in the winters and lake adventures in the summers is how Maddie Thomas describes growing up in Crested Butte. Skiing, snowmobiling, ice skating and sledding, and as the snows melted, flying out over the water on the swing at Long Lake before splashing down, swimming in Nicholson Lake across from her childhood home and riding bikes out from the Slate through Wildbird, arriving at Peanut Lake to continue pedaling into town. Her family had horses, too. Of course, there were summer chores to prepare for the always approaching winter, where the whole family split and stacked firewood together in an assembly line fashion. There was always something to do as a kid in the north end of the valley. 

After biking to town, Maddie recalls, “We’d run around and be Crested Butte kids. Go to the park. Everybody knew everyone and someone would always be looking out for us because it’s such a small town. We were really lucky to grow up here in a small environment where it’s safe. We had freedom but we always had security in that freedom because we were being raised by the whole community.”

Maddie was born on her older sister Katie’s birthday, but is two years younger. Both girls were raised entirely in Crested Butte by their parents Beach (Jim) and Jane Thomas, who arrived in town in the mid 1970s. Beach is a locally renowned roofer with his own construction company since 1974 and Jane worked in the ski industry before becoming the long-time librarian at the Old Rock Library.

Growing up in a winter resort community, Maddie remembers middle school days when local kids under the age of 16 only had to pay their age to ski. Skiing was also part of the school’s weekly P.E. curriculum.

High school classes were tiny back in the day and there were only 16 graduating seniors in Maddie’s 2007 class. She recalls the challenge of dating in a small town where everyone grew up together. “It can be tough. I didn’t really date until I was out of high school. You’re all so close. I had so many close friends and meaningful relationships that I still have.” That year after she graduated, her parents decided to sell the home on Nicholson Lake that Beach had built when Maddie was only two years old and move to Gunnison. 

Although she was initially hesitant about college, Maddie found that she was missing that education piece in her life, so she enrolled at Western Colorado University. “I thought it was a good opportunity to try college while staying close to home,” she says, and feels that it turned out to be a good choice. “I made friends and was able to stay close to home and my community but it also allowed me to branch out to find educational growth that led to professional growth.”

She started out on a medical nursing track, but she laughs, “Math and science… I couldn’t succeed as much as I wanted to in those disciplines.” After an awakening through an encounter with law enforcement, Maddie decided to change her major to sociology with a criminal justice emphasis. “I got really into it. It was fascinating learning about law enforcement and that world.” She graduated in 2013 with a degree in sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice and a minor in politics and government.

Maddie felt her move to Gunnison reflected the changes currently happening in the north end of the valley. “I felt I could afford to live in Gunnison. I was closer to my parents and college but I always maintained a job in CB.” Her first job at the age of 18 was in food and beverages at the Club at Crested Butte. All through her five years of college, she worked at the Avalanche on the mountain in both winter and summer.

After college graduation, Maddie had an internship with the Gunnison police department, doing record retention and case follow up on petty offenses. “I really enjoyed it and it opened my eyes. I thought it was really cool to be applying my college education,” she says. “I was waiting for an opportunity to open up while working in the beverage world and for my dad.” 

When that opportunity presented itself in 2016, Maddie took it. “I was hired to work as a legal assistant at the Seventh Judicial District Attorney’s office,” where she was initially in charge of discovery and restitution, which deals with all the materials and records involved in a criminal case file, and getting files to a defense attorney or a party to the case. “It was a great learning experience. I enjoyed seeing the process and getting the perspective from the prosecution side of things,” she says of her two years there. Afterwards, she became a court clerk, a position where she was responsible for accepting and processing all court filings in Gunnison. “It was different because it also includes the civil side of things,” she says.

But then COVID happened and she felt it best to part with the court position and seek professional growth elsewhere. “It was the very beginning of COVID and we were on lockdown. There were a couple months where I just worked for my dad and that August I started working for Eleven as part of their lodge staff.” Maddie hung in, she says, hopeful that a position in her field would come up locally. 

Then last year, the Mt. CB police department advertised a position for an administrative assistant and she took the job. “I feel like this job is more aligned with my college education and I’ve come full circle. I started out with the internship in law enforcement and this is more along those lines, going back to where I began. One of the things I really like about being in law enforcement, judicial, and working in government in a rural community is that you get to wear a lot of hats. You get to touch on all things, you’re not pigeonholed to just records,” she notes and says that in a small department in a small town you essentially learn to do every aspect of the job, “And it makes the job more interesting for sure. The commute can be tough,” she says of driving from Gunnison up to the mountain, “but it’s definitely worth it. It’s having the best of both worlds – being able to work in Crested Butte but living in Gunnison.”

Getting the job with the Mt. CB police department has worked well for Maddie in so many ways, and this year she was able to ski more. “I got my pass again and now I can do lunch laps,” she says enthusiastically. “I’ve got a yellow lab who is a big part of my life. She’s my fishing and hunting buddy,” she says of her pooch named Paloma. She’s also got a 16 pounder black cat named Poncho, “He’s more of a dog,” she laughs. “Animals are pretty important to me. If I could have a dozen dogs, I would, but I’m grateful for the one I have.”

These days after the winter snows retreat, and when she’s not working, Maddie loves to head out and go flyfishing, something she grew to love as a youngster with her dad. “I found it a really rewarding passion. I’m a big advocate for the health of our fish and rivers, all of that is important to me.” She’s a hunter as well, which she also attributes to her dad. “Dad would do a lot of bird hunting when I was growing up. We are so lucky to live in Gunnison County where we can hunt big game. I got my first buck this year,” she proudly tells. She harvested her first elk in 2016. 

Maddie acknowledges the changes she sees in the valley, especially in Crested Butte. ”l’ve been here so long I’ve been somewhat desensitized to the changes,” she says of having seen other major changes in Crested Butte throughout her lifetime here and she explains, “because the solutions are beyond me and worrying about things that I can’t control is going to take a toll on me. There’s more volume of people and although it’s frustrating, they come here for the same reasons we’re here. I think it’s a combination of both Vail and COVID that exacerbated the situation that was already upon us. As many friends as I’ve seen return to CB, I’ve seen just as many leaving because they can’t afford to build a life here.

“I still feel like CB is my home,” she continues. “Working up here and with the community again, I feel a sense of loyalty to the community that basically raised me. It’s rewarding to be able to serve that community now as an adult in a profession here. I love it here. All sorts of things can happen in life and I don’t want to say I’ll never leave, but this place will always be here.”