We’re sort of used to it…

By Katherine Nettles, Kendra Walker and Mark Reaman 

It’s been cold in the valley for the last couple weeks. Like, really cold with regular overnight low temperatures in both Crested Butte and Gunnison well below zero and the highs struggling to get out of the teens, or even the single digits. Some of the low temperatures have been extreme, but we do live high up in the mountains where winter can be harsh so while there have been a few inconveniences, no major issues have resulted as a result of the cold. That could of course change as things begin to warm up and pipes fracture.

RTA executive director Scott Truex reported that bus ridership has been slightly down, which is probably related to the cold temperatures discouraging people from traveling around the valley. 

“Our ridership is down about 7% for the first half of January and I would think that it had to do with the weather,” he said.

Truex said there were some difficulties with RTA vehicles over the past several days, though it isn’t clear whether that was related to the temps. 

The compressed natural gas (CNG) systems on which RTA buses and many of the county fleet vehicles run can be sensitive to extreme cold.

“We did have an issue last week with the fueling, but we aren’t 100% sure if it was related to the cold.  

The cold weather is hard on the vehicles, and we did miss about 3% of our trips last week,” he said.

Assistant county manager for public works Martin Schmidt said, “We are aware of some people who have had frozen water lines but not in the public lines, and same with sewer lines. We’ve also had trouble with some of our diesel engines gelling up and just stop working, but that hasn’t affected our ability to plow or anything. We are doing our best to keep some of our plow equipment inside. We’re excited to see the temperatures start to come back up to ‘normal winter,’” he said. He added that they haven’t been able to patch potholes but that consistent freezing is better on the roads than the melt/freeze cycle. “You’ll be seeing more work done as the temps start to come back up,” he said. “But big variables in general are bad for roads, so the cold hasn’t been a problem there at all.” 

Gunnison County Electric Association member relations supervisor Alliy Sahagun said the electric co-op is going through a lot of energy during the cold spell, but hasn’t experienced equipment failures. She said the cause of last week’s Mt. Crested Butte power outage is being investigated to see if it was weather related.

Crested Butte Public Works director Shea Earley said town has been dealing with various HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) issues from the cold given its variety of facilities. He said he is also hearing there have been issues with some EV charging inefficiency which is probably not unexpected when -35 degrees was reported at the wastewater plant Tuesday morning. Staff is in the process of analyzing the data. 

The town of Mt. Crested Butte said the cold temperatures haven’t affected town operations and town staff has not heard any reports of freezing pipe issues. 

The Crested Butte Fire Protection District hasn’t seen much action as a result of the cold. “We have not had any incidents directly related to this arctic blast that we have experienced,” said CBFPD EMS and fire chief Rob Weisbaum. “Luckily no burst pipes, gas leaks from broken meters or medical related emergencies have occurred. Which, in this case, no news is good news.” 

But Weisbaum emphasized that as this arctic cold weather passes and begins to warm up, this is when the department typically see pipes fracture causing leaks. For commercial properties, the fire station gets notified via 911 however on residential properties, Weisbaum said they don’t know unless it’s on an alarm system with a sprinkler system. “In the event there is a broken pipe causing a leak in a residence, we encourage that people shut off their main water supply as soon as possible to minimize damage,” he said. ”Never hesitate to call 911 if additional help is needed.”

Crested Butte Mountain Resort communications manager Katie Lyons said this cold snap hasn’t impacted the mountain or lift operations. “Though it’s been a chilly few days in the valley, we’re used to operating in winter conditions and cold weather and the low temps did not impact operations at CBMR,” she said, noting that both Spellbound and Phoenix Bowls opened over the weekend. “Guest and employee safety is always our top priority, and uniquely cold temps like these merit some additional messaging and precaution. We’ve taken measures during this cold spell to share information about how to stay warm on the slopes, and encouraged wearing extra layers, taking frequent breaks and staying hydrated. We also handed out handwarmers and over 900 buffs to guests and employees over the weekend to help them stay warm!” 

But it sure is cold!

Gunnison Valley Health marketing and communications director Joelle Ashley credited the hospital and EMS system’s lack of cold related injury patients to “the exceptional situational awareness of our community members, who are well-versed in the realities of our region’s harsh winters.”

We asked longtime weather watcher Bruce Bartleson, a retired geology professor from Western Colorado University, for his perspective on this cold spell. We assume that most people who have been here more than a few decades think this is a normal January stretch from before the 1990s.

In the short-term, Bartleson agreed but in the big picture, he said things are definitely getting warmer. “Yes, this is “normal” Gunnison weather, although this icy polar vortex coming in is a bit of a freak,” he wrote in an email. “However, overall, we are warming as shown by various parameters — especially the marked increase in the growing season based upon the number of frost-free days.” 

According to Bartleson, until the 1970s, Gunnison consistently averaged a little over 50 frost-free days every year. It has rapidly changed and is now averaging about 75 frost-free days. He said Crested Butte has been much more inconsistent with frost-free days averaging in the 20s until the 1930s, but then CB roughly averaged about 40 frost-free days until the 1970s and it is now at about 60 days every year.

The arctic blast forecast predicted Gunnison and Crested Butte would hit 40 below on Tuesday morning. It didn’t at the official weather stations but came close in various pockets around the valley. The official GCEA weather station recorded negative 31 degrees Tuesday morning. No matter, Bartleson made clear that it is realllly cold — and unusual even for here. 

“Despite popular folklore, 40 below is rather rare in Gunnison having been recorded 16 or 17 times in about 130 years,” Bartleson continued, explaining a shift in the place for the official temperature recordings ended up resulting a few gap years.”

He said the average maximum temps in Gunnison this month are running 10 degrees colder than average, and the temperature minimum is running eight degrees below normal for January. “We just can’t seem to warm the place up with all the snow covering up the ground – as I discussed in the paper last week,” he said.

Brrr.

•Drawing, Sculpture, and Form Group Show runs at the Center for the Arts through February 1. 

THURSDAY 16

•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.

•6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•6:30 p.m. The Backcountry Film Festival hosted by HCCA plays at the Western Colorado University Theater.

FRIDAY 17

•noon Open AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•noon-2 p.m. Oh Be Joyful hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 625 Maroon Avenue. Contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071 for info.

•5 p.m. Live music by Beer Hunter at the Talk of the Town. 

•6:30 p.m. Dig A Little Deeper plays for free at the Majestic.

•6-9 p.m. Live music by Highlife at Zuni Street Brewing.

•7 p.m. Live music by Easy Jim at Kochevar’s.

•7-8:15 p.m. Open AA Speaker Meeting in the Parish Hall at Queen of All Saints, 970-349-5711.

SATURDAY 18

•7:30 a.m. Open AA Big Book Study UCC Church 4th and Maroon 970.349.5711

•8 a.m.-noon Join the Pinnacle Orthopedics Community Race Series at the Eastside Trails (start and finish at Town Ranch).

•10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.

•7 p.m. The Golden Marmot Awards Gala at the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre.

•8 p.m. Live music by Late Night Radio at Public House. 

SUNDAY 19

•4-7 p.m. Live music by Dad Grass at Zuni Street Brewing.

•5-9 p.m. Mt. Crested Butte Historic Pub Crawl at 500 Gothic Rd.

•6 p.m. Open AA Discussion Meeting  UCC Church 4th and Maroon  970.349.5711

MONDAY 20

•10 a.m.-11 a.m. Mondays at the Museum, a gathering for caregivers, babies and kids five and under. Join us at the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum to play and enjoy the train before regular business hours. (every Monday through March)

•1:30-3:30 p.m. Gunnison Valley Hospital hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 513 Main Street. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.

•6:30-8:30 p.m. Open table tennis in Jerry’s Gym at the Crested Butte Town Hall.

•7-8 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 3rd Monday)

•7-8 p.m. Conscious Caregivers Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Monday)

•7-8 p.m. Navigating Grief & Loss Bereavement Support Group, www.livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 2nd Monday)

•7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

TUESDAY 21

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•9 a.m. Socrates Café, a philosophical discussion group, at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535. (1st and 3rd Tuesdays)

•10 a.m. Storytime at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535.

•noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.

•6 p.m. Free yoga at the Crested Butte Library.

•6:30 p.m. Women’s AA Open Meeting QAS Parish Hall DOWNSTAIRS 401 Sopris Ave  970.349.5711

WEDNESDAY 22

•7:30 a.m. Crested Butte Rotary’s weekly speaker series in the Matchstick Lounge at the Elevation Hotel, Mt. Crested Butte. (2nd and 4th Wednesdays)

•noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting in the Young Life building next to Ace.

•6:30-7:30 p.m. Al-Anon Meeting for families and friends of alcoholics in the back room of the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-6482.

•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at CBCS High School gym.

By Dawne Belloise 

You’ve probably never known that Shelley’s real name is Alex and even if you don’t know him, you’d recognize this big, burly, bearded biker type dude cruising around town on his pink Vespa with a unicorn head gracing the handlebars and the pinwheel spinning on the aft seat. Oftentimes, he’ll don a matching pink tutu. He has been the benevolent protector doorman bouncer of Kochevar’s for years and now helps manage CB’s oldest saloon. 

The origin of his moniker, “Shellen Keller,” evolves from a drunken nickname given to him by one of his West Virginia college professors. “He was a drinking buddy of mine at the local watering hole,” Shelley reminiscences. “It was the day before a big exam and he asked if I was ready. I had no idea there was an exam and he caught me by surprise. I stuttered for a while,” to which his professor joked that he was deaf, dumb and blind, “so he called me Shellen Keller and it kinda stuck.” 

Originally hailing from Medford, New Jersey, about a half-hour southwest of Philly, Shelley grew up the fifth of six siblings in an area he says is dubbed, “The Swamps of New Jersey, where the Mafia dumped the bodies.” As a child on the edge of suburbia, his playground was the vast woods out his backdoor. “Nothing but woods as far as the eye can see,” he says. “Growing up there, organized sports weren’t my thing. Getting lost in the woods was,” with dirt bikes, BB guns and paint ball. Going into high school, Shelley already had a lot of friends since his siblings had cut the path for him, and he hung out with them as well. His summer interests turned to surfing on the Jersey Shore but winters still found him in the woods. “The winters weren’t too bad out there,” he says. Shelley graduated in 2007 with no idea of what he wanted to do. 

“I still don’t know what I want,” he laughs. “I hadn’t really considered a life path.” But he enrolled at West Virginia University, initially as a history major. “There were thoughts of maybe teaching or possibly law school with a history undergrad degree,” he tells. However, he decided to switch to geology. “History was fine and dandy but just memorizing things became boring and science always came really easy for me. I love to know how and why things work and if you know that you can always figure out the what.” Exams were easy for Shelley, “I was awful at doing homework. I didn’t like just busy work and besides, I just wanted to play. I partied too much, hence the nickname,” he laughs.  

He was leaning toward taking that geology degree more in the direction of environmental geology, hoping to work with ground water mitigation and do EPA-oriented work. Instead, he went into petroleum geology and attended computer classes for doing well log analysis. “It’s all about reading data coming in from drill heads, then taking all that data to determine where you are in the sedimentary layers.” However, this career path never materialized for him but if he were to change horses in mid-stream, so to speak, and change his major again, it would have added another two years to his college time. He graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.

After careful thought, Shelley determined that the only logical thing to do after graduation was to hit the beaches on the Jersey Shore, taking about a year and a half hiatus from the working world. He worked various restaurant jobs until one of his friends, who had a friend who went to Western State College (now Western Colorado University) decided to move to Gunnison. Shelley flipped a coin: heads, he spends the winter in Crested Butte, or tails, he pursues surfing in St. Augustine, Florida, where his sister lived. Heads it was, so he loaded up his Toyota Corolla and headed out west the next day. He arrived September 22, while the town was deeply into the chanting of “Burn the Grump” on Vinotok night. He also noted that it was a couple of weeks after Budweiser’s Whatever USA campaign had painted the town blue. “I had no idea what I was gonna do,” he says of his sudden arrival. His buddy lived in CB South and as he was driving up-valley to a place he’d never been before, he came around that bend at Round Mountain. “I remember the awe. I took a shower, had dinner and walked into the Vinotok Grump trial. I thought I was on a different planet. It was so foreign to me and I was full of wonder of everything going on around me, the masks, the costumes, the concepts and when they lit the fire, I felt just sheer happiness. It was a hell of an introduction.”

The very next day, Shelley was introduced to Jason Vernon, who was running Kochevar’s at the time, and had a job opening. “I remember Jason saying, you’re an asshole, you want a job?” Shelley took over as doorman and bouncer, later working the kitchen at Karolina’s and then as a bartender at Kochevar’s. A decade later, he’s still there, now as the manager. “I’ve met some of the most amazing people. There are so many locals and return tourists I’ve befriended,” he says, and adds that oftentimes the return tourists and second homeowners will check in on him to see how he’s doing and catch up.

He speaks of his beloved Vespa, “ Best $200 I’ve ever spent in my life,” he grins. His little motorino also sports a giant speaker and he loves to ride through town blasting Celine Dion, the 2 water pistol holsters strapped one on each side. “The scooter was happenchance. Somebody in Gunnison was leaving and had a fire sale.All of the accouterments just started showing up. I came out one morning and there were stickers that people were putting on it.” He says he’ll see people taking photos with their kids on it. Someone noticed that his seat was scrappy and torn up, “One day there was a cow hide someone left for me on the seat. It’s become an icon around town. The Vespa has been so much continuous fun.”

Shelley fits right in with CB culture, and Crested Butte of course embraces a big guy in a tutu riding a unicorn Vespa, “I can’t see another place where I can exist as me and CB not only allows me to be the goofy me that I am, it promotes it. I’m in and out of the toy store, Pooh’s Corner, more than most kids are,” he confesses proudly. “Between water guns and pinwheels and unicorn heads, Crested Butte allows me to thrive as a fully grown child and I’ve always said this town is just a giant playground for adults.”

“I’m really excited to see where everyone is”

By Than Acuff 

While young, the Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) has a lot going for it as they head into their first Junior National Qualifier race of the year this weekend in Steamboat.

For starters, their new head coach Gordon Gianniny is no stranger to the program or the area. After growing up in Durango and racing for the Durango Nordic Team, Gianniny went on to attend and race for Western Colorado University. Upon graduating from Western, Gianniny was the assistant coach for the CBNT when Molly Susla was head coach 2020-2021 and returned for the head coaching job starting in October along with returning assistant coach Vince Rogers.

“He knows the team and the kids really well, so we were able to have good continuity through the summer with training,” says Gianniny.

The team officially kicked into gear with training on November 5 and after one day of dryland workouts, they were able to get on snow and have been skiing as well as doing two days of weight training every week.

“We’ve been on snow for a month and a half which is great going into this first race weekend,” says Gianniny. “I think all of the kids are skiing really well for mid-December.”

There are seven athletes committed to the full CBNT race schedule, two additional athletes that are focused on training and 38 kids in the younger DEVO program under coach Eleanor Skinner. 

“We’re hoping to have them step up into racing the next couple of years,” says Gianniny.

Of the seven racing, Gianniny has two experienced racers in senior Finn Veit and junior Sophia Bender competing in the u18 class. The remaining five skiers are either freshmen or eighth graders who will be racing u16.

“We’re a fairly young team but we got a lot of strong young skiers,” says Gianniny. “A lot of them are stepping up into longer distance races with older kids and there’s a lot of learning opportunities.”

Veit and Bender are on a different track. Both have competed at Junior Nationals and Veit got a taste of racing at Senior Nationals last year. Furthermore, Veit has already been accepted to attend and race for Middlebury College next year. So, Gianniny has them both on course for a full JNQ schedule in addition to Senior Nationals in Anchorage, Alaska the first week in January and, ideally, a return to Junior Nationals at the end of this season.

“Senior Nationals is a big focus for Finn and it’s a great opportunity for Sophia to race with the fastest skiers in the country,” says Gianniny.

The CBNT starts it all off with a JNQ in Steamboat Friday and Saturday, December 20-21 putting their training to the test for the first time.

“I’m really excited to see where everyone is,” says Gianniny.

They have two more JNQ races before a JNQ right here in Crested Butte February 15-16.

• Mother Rock exhibition runs at the Center for the Arts from December 5-January 2

• Jolly Jamboree at the Trailhead Children’s Museum from December 6-8

THURSDAY 5

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Crack of Dawn Group topic discussion at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.

•6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•7-9 p.m. Western Colorado University holiday concert at the Center for the Arts.

FRIDAY 6

•noon Open AA meetig: Readings from Living Sober at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•noon-2 p.m. Oh Be Joyful hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 625 Maroon Avenue. Contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071 for info.

•7-8:15 p.m. Open AA Speaker Meeting in the Parish Hall at Queen of All Saints, 970-349-5711.

• 6 p.m. Wigs and Onesies dance party at Bonez, a PTA fundraiser.

• 8 p.m. Live music by Vincent Antone + Phyphr at the Public House.

SATURDAY 7

•8:30 a.m. The Gunnison County Republican Central Committee meets at the Palisades Restaurant for their monthly Action Saturday discussion.  All community members are welcome.

•10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org. 

• 4-6 p.m. Santa at the CB Museum.

• 6 p.m. Avalanche Awareness Night at the CB Center for the Arts.

• 6 p.m. Winterglow CB Tree Lighting at 326 Elk Avenue.

•6:30 p.m. The CB Film Fest presents Warren Miller’s latest film, 75 at the Majestic Theater in Crested Butte.

• 7 p.m. Trivia at Zuni West Brewing 235 Elcho Avenue, CB South.

SUNDAY 8

• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Beacon Brush Up at CBCS.

•1:30 p.m. Santa Storytime at the Crested Butte Library.

•4 & 7:30 p.m. Inaugural Ron Earl Memorial Christmas at Blackstock Bistro.

•5 p.m. Quiet service, All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church, 403 Maroon Ave. (UCC), Crested Butte

MONDAY 9

•1:30-3:30 p.m. Gunnison Valley Hospital hosts a Mountain Mamas meeting at 513 Main Street. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.

•6:30-8:30 p.m. Open table tennis in Jerry’s Gym at the Crested Butte Town Hall.

•7-8 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 3rd Monday)

•7-8 p.m. Conscious Caregivers Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Monday)

•7-8 p.m. Navigating Grief & Loss Bereavement Support Group, www.livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 2nd Monday)

•7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

TUESDAY 10

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•9 a.m. Socrates Café, a philosophical discussion group, at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535. (1st and 3rd Tuesdays)

•9 a.m. Free T’ai Chi, lower level of Town Hall. All levels welcome. (every Tuesday)

•10 a.m. Storytime at the Crested Butte Library, 970-349-6535.

•noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage is open for shopping and donations. 421A Sopris Avenue, stmarysgaragecb.org.

• 8 p.m. Free community volleyball at the CBCS gym. All levels welcome.. 

WEDNESDAY 11

•7:30 a.m. Crested Butte Rotary’s weekly speaker series in the Matchstick Lounge at the Elevation Hotel, Mt. Crested Butte. (2nd and 4th Wednesdays)

•noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting in the Young Life building next to Ace.

•6:30 p.m. The Gunnison County Republican Central Committee meets at the W Cafe for their monthly meeting.  All community members are welcome.

•6:30 p.m. Holiday event at Townie Books.

•6:30-7:30 p.m. Al-Anon Meeting for families and friends of alcoholics in the back room of the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-6482.

•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at CBCS High School gym.

“It’s a win-win-win”

By Seth Mensing, WCU

A warm fall breeze pushed the smell of freshly turned earth out over the rows of wilted peas and cabbage in the garden beside Gunnison Community School. Kyra Kidd stooped over a thick patch of thistles and pulled. “Ah!” she yelled. “It pokes you.” 

Kidd, a Western Colorado University sophomore and middle blocker on the Mountaineer volleyball team, was just one of the 50 or so student-athletes, coaches and staff who came out to Mountain Roots’ Living Classroom at Gunnison Community School on Thursday, October 24 to prepare the community garden for the growing season to come. For her, it was an opportunity to get off campus and dig her hands in the dirt. But it was also an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on her adopted hometown. 

This year, Mountaineer Athletics partnered with Gunnison-based Mountain Roots Food Project to lend a helping hand as the organization prepares for winter. For the last 14 years, Mountain Roots has grown fresh produce on small plots throughout the Gunnison Valley for delivery to people in need. Last year, volunteers worked 414 hours in the gardens to produce 1,500 pounds of food for more than 300 households. 

As essential and satisfying as the work is, it’s equally labor-intensive. Mountain Roots has eight outdoor gardens (plus four shipping containers outfitted for hydroponic gardening) throughout the Gunnison Valley that all need to be planted, watered, weeded, pruned, harvested, and winterized in the fall to ensure the soil is ready for seeds in the spring.

When Mountain Roots development director Rudy Germany learned that his colleague, director of youth education Kristen Aaltonen, is married to Western’s women’s soccer head coach Joshua Alcala, he saw an opportunity to create Athletes-4-Agriculture. 

“This is an opportunity to connect the ‘non-ag’ student-athletes to the land and to their community,” Germany said. “The Western coaches were looking for things for the kids to do as team building exercises and double as community engagement. We were very happy to have the help in the garden. This has been just an incredible opportunity for everyone. Just look around, we have 50 kids here. It’s actually starting to resonate.”

All around him, students laughed and worked together to coil irrigation hoses, pull weeds, supplement the soil, and build new paths between garden beds. It was the second time this year student-athletes had turned out to help Mountain Roots close a garden, and another event was planned for the following Monday. 

But before students ever stepped foot in the garden, Germany had to pass the idea by Que Semien, compliance coordinator for Western Athletics. She could have said no, that the work was outside the scope of what a coach could ask a player to do. Instead, she thought it was a great opportunity to get involved with the community and contribute to an organization that provided so much food to families in need. 

“This allows everyone to get out of their heads and their sports. It gets intense, it gets serious. But we’re also a community over here, laughing and pulling weeds,” Semien said. “It helps them get involved with the community and feel like they’re doing something. It’s not just practice, and it’s not just games. You live here, so you’re a part of this.”

In addition to being a source of food for families across the Gunnison Valley, the gardens are also a “living classroom” where Mountain Roots, with the help of AmeriCorps members, invites kindergarten through fifth-grade students to dig in and learn how to prepare the ground and cultivate food, how to make compost, about nutrients and microbes, and how much better food tastes when they grow it themselves.  

“It’s really cool to see the turnout of the student-athletes. For them, the value is knowing that they’re giving back,” said Mountain Roots executive director Holly Conn. “I also think people are getting really disconnected from the land and the sources of our food. So for them to come out and see what it takes to grow food helps us all value our food more deeply… and it’s a win-win-win.”

Overcome weather, injuries and a tough opponent

By Than Acuff

After a week of snowing, shoveling and shuffling inside and outside and up and down the Gunnison Valley, the Crested Butte Titans boy’s soccer team edged out a 2-1 win on a late game goal over Middle Park on Sunday, November 10 to advance to the 2A state semifinals.

It’s nothing new for high school athletics in the Gunnison Valley as fall sports often dodge storms in the latter stages of their seasons to prepare for contests. But this year was remarkable in that the weather mayhem wasn’t just confined to the Gunnison Valley as high school programs across the state were scrambling to find places to practice and play games. Here at home, the game was meant to be played at the CBCS field to start, then moved to the Gunnison High School field, then moved to Salida, ultimately landing back at the Katy O. Rady Field at Western Colorado University (WCU) on Sunday.

In the end, the Titans got exactly one hour of practice on an outdoor surface clear of snow as WCU cleared their turf field Saturday morning and opened it for the Titans to train.

“The week was extremely difficult to navigate because of the weather and the fact that we never knew where we were going to practice, but the boys didn’t seem phased at all,” says coach Matt Wilson. “They showed up to every practice eager to listen and ready to compete, even in blizzard-like conditions at times, and that really set the tone for the week.” 

Still, the lack of outdoor training showed as both the Titans and Middle Park muddled their way through an erratic opening 10 minutes of the game. The Titans were hit with another blow three minutes in when senior captain and striker Sawyer Barney went down with an injury. Nevertheless, the Titans did seize on an opportunity as Shawn Moran drove a corner kick into the six-yard box and the ball glanced off a Middle Park player and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

“We worked on corner kicks and set pieces a lot in our build-up to Middle Park,” says Wilson. “We were confident we could inflict some serious damage in those types of situations, and that’s exactly what the boys did with the opening goal.”  

As the game continued, Middle Park started to find their run and gun game relying on their midfield three to create chances for their three strikers but the Titans back four proved impenetrable and keeper Jakob Klemme denied the one chance Middle Park had up the middle.

Crested Butte was hit with yet another blow when starting outside defender Cy Buckel went down with an injury in the final five minutes of the first half and the coaches shifted personnel to get through to halftime and managed to hold onto their one-goal lead.

Crested Butte’s team shape was much improved in the second half as they looked to pick off passes into the midfield. Their adjustment played out well, but the Titans were unable to connect anything in the attacking third against Middle Park’s equally stout defense.

With pressure mounting on the Titans, they did their best to hold off Middle Park but with pressure comes opportunities and with opportunities comes goals. Middle Park set up for another corner kick with five minutes left in the game and this time connected as a frenzy ensued in front of the Titans’ goal and a Middle Park player punched it through to tie the game 1-1.

“Even though we conceded a soft goal in the second half, it still felt a lot more composed and controlled than the first half,” says Wilson. “There definitely were some nerves in the first 40 minutes, but we threw out a lot of tactical changes in the week leading up so that was totally expected.” 

While a seemingly soul-crushing event, the Titans gathered for a quick team meeting and finally found their groove. With three minutes left in regulation, Will Harpel battled for the ball to find a pass back to Rocco Billingsley who then played it wide to Eli Hulm. Hulm slipped the ball through Middle Park’s back four and Max Naughton chased it down to find Marin Gardner open at the top of the six-yard box with a pass and Gardner smashed it in for the eventual game winner.

“The response from the boys after Middle Park tied it up was first class,” says Wilson. “Their goal lit a fire in the boys and galvanized the team so much that our go-ahead goal happened only two minutes afterward. Losing two starters to injury was a very hard pill to swallow, but our bench is extremely deep and came up huge against Middle Park. The coaching staff and I have always felt our bench can compete against most varsity squads, so we knew that depth would pay dividends for us in the playoffs, and that’s exactly what happened against Middle Park.”

The Titans face the second-seeded Forge Christian Fury in the semifinal match of the 2A state tournament. A win there will send Crested Butte to the state finals at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Friday, November 15 at 4 p.m.

Funding visitor’s centers, STOR, childcare, housing?

By Katherine Nettles

Lodging tax funds are getting spread thin across Gunnison County, and while commissioners have indicated they are willing to dip into reserves for 2025 due to some timely opportunities, they are not comfortable depleting reserves into the future. Commissioners held a work session this week to discuss their budget from the Local Marketing District (LMD) that collects lodging taxes to fund marketing, tourism and more recently, up to 40% of the funds on affordable housing and early childhood resources within the county. As the number of uses for the LMD funds has expanded, commissioners decided they are not ready to grant funding increases to some other tourism entities like the local chambers of commerce across the county despite some promising innovations among them. 

The county’s Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) budget comes directly from the LMD, and TAPP presented its budget proposal for 2025 earlier this fall. TAPP leaders sat in on the work session on Tuesday, November 12 to discuss the various allocations of LMD funds.

Commissioners reviewed TAPP’s $3.3 million budget request, which was unchanged from a work session in September. TAPP’s budget includes marketing, economic development (primarily through TAPP’s ICELab and Western Colorado University collaborations) and $75,000 for environmental stewardship (primarily through the county’s Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation [STOR] committee).

They also reviewed several asks from four different visitor’s centers across the county.

The Gunnison Country Chamber of Commerce has requested that commissioners repeat their 2024 contribution of $25,000 to the organization in 2025, while the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce has asked for double the annual LMD contributions of $25,000 plus adding a two-year grant of $35,000 annually to expand a student internship program. The Marble Crystal River Chamber of Commerce has also asked for $30,000 in 2025 and anticipates that the Marble area will generate that lodging revenue itself. The county has historically awarded LMD funds back to Marble in that manner and in 2024 started issuing payments quarterly as revenue comes in rather than a lump sum at the end of the year.

The county-wide LMD funds are expected to total $3.5 million in 2024, and county manager Matthew Birnie projected that 2025 LMD funds might take a slight dip to $3.4 million since other resort areas have reported slight downturns and Vail Resorts recently reported their skier numbers had been down in 2024. TAPP has indicated that Gunnison County didn’t lose revenue in 2024 because lodging rate increases compensated for fewer visitors. But that is not a sustainable trend, as Birnie and TAPP executive director John Norton have both acknowledged. 

The county has pledged $500,000 of its LMD revenue in 2025 toward the Whetstone Community Housing project it is building in the North Valley. It may do so again in 2026, which will further squeeze the LMD budget, but it is not expected to be a recurring expense beyond Whetstone’s construction. Therefore, commissioners discussed a plan of dipping into reserves for the shortfall of $300,000 but not going further.

“There’s a timing issue in this,” commented commissioner chair Jonathan Houck about spending money as it comes in. “We’ve been able to do this with good leverage over the years and been able to build good programs without dipping too much into the reserve. Now we’re dipping into the reserve.”

 Birnie concurred. “I’m comfortable with what we’re doing, I just want to be very upfront that that is not sustainable over the long term. We can’t take a half million for housing and $3.3 million for other activities year after year.”

Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels noted that if the STOR and Whetstone funds were lumped together as “other uses” beyond the original LMD statute for marketing and tourism, she said, this represented 16% of the revenue. 

“We’re talking about going into reserves already to fund some of these things. I think the question for this board is partly about are the percentages allocated in alignment with our community’s priorities,” she stated. She suggested that since voters in 2022 approved using up to 40% of the LMD revenue for affordable housing and childcare, those should be a larger factor. 

“I would encourage you not to look at percentages,” countered Birnie, describing that it can be more about what results the funds bring to each effort.

“What I want us to do is utilize LMD monies toward supporting the workforce and also toward recreation infrastructure when we have leverage opportunities,” said Houck. He argued for maintaining chambers of commerce funds at 2024 amounts to “leave some powder dry” for other things, and noted that the visitor’s center model still needed to modernize to stay relevant in a digital era.

“I don’t want to be dismissive about seeing creativity and change coming to the visitor’s centers and I’m willing to look at the opportunity to put more money there for transformative change,” he said. He suggested that a valley-wide chamber be a conversation, as should incorporating Western and Crested Butte Mountain Resort as key players.

Puckett Daniels asked if the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber, which staffs two locations and receives the majority of visitors, warranted an increase. She said she didn’t want to “gut marketing,” but would be comfortable putting more money into the other things that support the community and its tourism.

Commissioner Liz Smith recommended they get more clarity on the various desired outcomes of programs that can be funded by the LMD before awarding more money. She said she would like to see more invested in early childhood care as well down the road. “What are the outcomes we are looking for?” she asked.  “I just want to be thoughtful about how we end up changing those dynamics.”

Houck said they are continually reducing marketing money, while still getting better performance than comparable resort towns, and that might reach a tipping point. 

“I’m worried that we are down to just under half of what is spent is spent on marketing…I want to make sure that we can continue to put money toward housing, early childhood, sustainable tourism, all those things. And that mechanism at the end of the day is the marketing piece.”

Commissioners agreed to stick to their current $25,000 per visitor’s center in 2025 while looking into more “transformative change” funding for them in the future.

WCU associate professor Kanae Haneishi’s mission of inclusion and wellness

Sports and athletics have always been an important part of Kanae Haneishi’s identity. As a girl growing up in Japan, like any adolescent searching for a sense of self-worth and identity, Kanae gravitated toward what she was good at. Athletics was the place she felt most comfortable and valued.

Her particular talents were most apparent on the soccer field, where Kanae excelled and earned coveted spots on competitive teams. Eventually, she battled through the ranks to earn a place in the top women’s soccer league in Japan. But through it all, she never had a female coach or physical education teacher to look up to. 

It wasn’t until she was 21, when she got a scholarship to play soccer at a college in the United States, that she was able to see what her future could be. “When I came to the U.S., I had many great female leaders in sports,” she said. “So that’s when I realized I could be a leader in physical education and sports and advance to create a more equitable and just environment for all people.”

Now, the Western Colorado University associate professor of exercise and sport science and K-12 physical education has done just that. In just a short time, she’s created diverse physical education and athletic spaces across the Gunnison Valley that are welcoming to everyone. 

So far this year, her work has been recognized with two awards. In July, Haneishi learned that the Society of Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) Colorado had chosen her from a statewide pool of candidates for the University Teacher of the Year Award for 2024. Then, in August, she was selected to receive the 2025 National Association of Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) Distinguished Teaching Award over candidates from across the country. 

“The NAKHE award is extremely prestigious,” professor and exercise and sport science department chair Gary Van Guilder said. “It’s only given to people who have really dedicated their professional lives to the disciplines of kinesiology and physical education and have a proven record of success in the classroom.”

At Western, she’s an inspiration to her students, many of whom wrote letters to support her nomination for both awards and celebrated when she won. In the classroom, she’s helped build a culture of inclusion, which recognizes that not everyone knows how to or even enjoys throwing a ball or running a race. But everyone can benefit from and enjoy some form of physical activity. “If my students can help their students find even one physical activity that they love, that’s incredibly valuable,” she said. “But I also teach my students that they can’t just become P.E. teachers. They need to be physical activity and wellness experts in the community as well.”

Kanae has made a huge impact on the Gunnison community. She and her students provide physical education programs for local homeschooled groups every semester, teaching them about nutrition and how to move their bodies. She also works with Gunnison Parks and Recreation, coaching three youth soccer teams alongside students who are recruited to work as assistants. 

While those kids, and many local people, live active lives, she sees that many young people, especially those from immigrant families, aren’t getting enough access to physical activities for a variety of reasons. “They’re not signing kids up for rec sports,” Kanae said. “There’s a huge gap. Particularly the female minority students.”

When she arrived in the Gunnison community, there was no soccer team for girls. If girls wanted to play soccer, they either had to play with boys against an all-boys team or travel to Crested Butte. After seeing the lack of access to soccer for girls, she took the initiative to start the first-ever Gunnison girls soccer team. Today, there are three girls teams that compete each season.

Making physical education accessible and inclusive to everyone is the core of Kanae’s mission, but she knows that P.E. is about more than physical activity. It’s a place where students can learn to share space in ways they don’t in other classes, learn to work on a team, and develop interpersonal skills, leadership skills and conflict resolution. “P.E. teachers are not only expected to know pedagogy, skills and tactics,” she said, “but they now are also expected to teach social and personal skills.”

The way Kanae sees it, physical education isn’t intended to find talent or develop athletes who will become professional players. It’s the place for children to learn to be better people, and part of that is knowing the value of a physically active lifestyle and the benefits that can have for their wellbeing.

“We want the future of our society to be mentally, spiritually and physically healthy,” she said. “Kids are faced with so much complexity these days that they need quality education at school beyond the subject they’re learning. Mental health is a serious concern, and we know being physically active leads to better mental health. And if our kids are healthier, then they’ll be better prepared to learn.”

Considering costs, health and environmental impacts 

By Kendra Walker

As the Gunnison Watershed School District bond construction project continues, one piece of the facility improvements and expansion is still to be determined: the athletic fields. The school board, the bond executive committee and the district’s owner’s representative, Artaic Group, are weighing the pros and cons of installing synthetic turf versus natural grass for fields on the Crested Butte Community School and Gunnison Community School.

Artaic has been in the process of conducting research and community engagement surrounding synthetic turf and natural grass and which to use for the three fields included in the scope of the project, one at CBCS and two behind GCS. Artaic has engaged the bond project’s user groups, school athletic directors and coaches, stakeholders from Western Colorado University and other community members. Artaic provided an update during the school board’s October 7 meeting and will come back to the school board in November with additional information and input from the executive committee to have the board weigh in on a final decision around the fields.

“We wanted to provide a snapshot of where things are currently before you make that decision,” said Ryan Smelker of Artaic. “We really tried to weigh as many factors as possible as we contemplate synthetic vs. natural,” he said, citing water quality, environmental impacts, health concerns, the project’s budget and the cost to put in and maintain the fields. “We want to dig in as deep as we possibly can because we know that’s a big decision for this school and the community.”

Artaic has engaged senior water resources consultant Jeff Writer with engineering firm SGM to conduct a water quality study to address concerns when considering natural grass vs. turf. Writer has a Ph.D. in environmental engineering and was also a science teacher at CBCS. 

Natural grass

Writer explained that natural grass is generally less expensive to install than artificial turf. However, natural grass requires more maintenance, watering and use of fertilizers and herbicides that can impact groundwater and runoff. Weather also degrades natural fields which impacts their use and length of the playing season. 

Writer said the water quality impacts are relatively low for natural grass. “I think the storm water runoff from our streets is much higher than anything coming off of the field,” he said. He said there are also some natural, biodegradable fertilizers and herbicides that can be used. 

Currently, all Gunnison Watershed School District fields are natural grass. Western has an artificial turf field at its Mountaineer Bowl. 

Artificial turf

“There’s certainly some advantages and disadvantages of artificial turf,” said Writer. Synthetic turf requires higher upfront installation costs but is much more durable than natural grass. “The big advantage is they are designed to last and have a consistent playing surface with relatively less maintenance. Our facilities can be used much more heavily.” Writer noted that feedback from Western representatives has been positive regarding the ability to use the field more.

Writer explained that the synthetic turf consists of perforated carpet backing, infill made from recycled tires and plastic fiber blades that simulate natural grass. When looking at water quality concerns from stormwater runoff, Writer noted there are various chemicals of concern associated with artificial fields.

The plastic fiber blades are usually made of polyethylene used in common products including food and beverage packages. “That is pretty standard and pretty robust, it’s not going to break down,” he said. 

Writer said one of the main concerns surrounding artificial turf is runoff of zinc and polycarbonate, common compounds associated with tires. However, he said that the runoff is minimal. 

“Bear in mind that when they look at the runoff from the field, it’s less so than what you’ll see from parking lots and asphalt,” he explained of studies done on school turf fields. “I also do a lot of work with the Coal Creek watershed, and the zinc concentrations into Coal Creek are higher than what they’re seeing [with turf].”

Writer said there are wood and cork alternatives to the tire infill that are more environmentally friendly and would eliminate those concerns. Should the district choose the artificial turf route, “I would definitely recommend not using that rubber material,” he said. 

Writer also said that concerns have been raised about the use of PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the artificial turf manufacturing process. PFAS are often referred to as forever chemicals because they don’t degrade, such as Teflon cookware. “There’s been no study that has found those PFAS in artificial turf,” he said. “There have been environmental advocacy groups that recommend not using artificial turf for playing fields, but there really is no science out there that this is a human health concern. It’s mostly, this might be bad, so maybe they would caution against using those. I do feel pretty confident in saying you’re not going to put something in front of the school that you’re going to caution your kids from sitting on. They’re going to have as much exposure to these chemicals from their GORE-TEX jackets, their carpet, etc.”

He noted turf manufacturers must provide information about their materials, and the district could require that they do not use PFAS in their manufacturing process. 

Board member Mandy Roberts has advocated against the district installing artificial turf. “I’m hearing from a lot of soccer players that the synthetic surface is hot,” said Roberts. “Tell me what happens when the sun is shining down on the plastic, what chemical is released?”

“It’s mostly associated with the rubber infill because that’s what releases these semi-volatile organic compounds,” said Writer. “They found that in indoor settings that was really an issue, but they did not find any air quality concerns in outdoor settings from that. These compounds are also coming off your pavement. If you’re playing teams in Texas, yes, those fields are hot. The wood infill is maybe not as hot.”

Artificial turf lasts 10 to 15 years; however, Writer said there is currently no way to recycle the material once it needs to be replaced. “One of the concerns is that it’s a manufactured product and what do you do with it 12 years down the road. Generally, this stuff will probably end up in a landfill. My biggest concern on this product is putting a giant piece of plastic on these schools that’s going to have to be thrown away and replaced. That’s when you get into the philosophical question of is this a sustainable practice.”

He summarized, “From a human health standpoint it is in my opinion not a big issue, to me the big issue is what are we going to do with this product.”

“We have to make the decision of what’s in the best interest for our kids. As a parent my kids are going to be playing on it,” said Roberts. “I want them to be in the healthiest environment, all of our kids, and natural [grass] seems to be the more normal thought process. For convenience, the [turf] fields might be ready sooner, but my concern is that later on we might have health issues with our kids because of the convenience.”

“It’s convenience, it’s great use, but there are the unknown concerns that you will have to weigh in on and think about,” said Writer. 

Artaic will present more information and feedback in November for the school board’s consideration and to weigh in on the natural grass vs. artificial turf field decision. That decision will then help allocate the project’s $4 million in unassigned funds and determine funding for other alternate line items in the overall $120 million budget.

“While we frame that decision from the board primarily rooted in health and safety concerns, there are obviously financial decisions as well,” said superintendent Leslie Nichols. “Should the board approve using synthetic, the executive committee will be tasked with determining what funds are going to be put toward that material.”