By Dawne Belloise

The bath fixtures in her CB South duplex are “piss yellow,” Virginia Roark laughs, who figures some local must have had a say in the color choices because, “the drugs were really good back then in 1980.” But she happily calls it home and through her many years here, she has worked as a favorite cook at local eateries and as a housekeeper.

Virginia was born and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires, spending as much of her time in the woods as summer would allow. One summer evening, her brother presented Virginia with the epitome of cool—a bike he built especially for her. “It was two-tone green with coaster brakes, a banana seat and monkey handlebars,” she grins of that 1973 memory. “I rode that thing in the woods. I was mountain biking on this thing when mountain biking was being born in Crested Butte.” 

A Catholic schoolgirl from third grade through high school, Virginia was studious with good grades. In high school, she lived on Twizzlers and milk because there wasn’t a food cafeteria in her small school, just an eating area with tables. Her main high school interest was acting and theater. She signed up for every play and was even doing Shakespeare, all of which she says, “changed my life.” She graduated in 1982.

Moving out of high school, she wavered between a career in computer science and becoming a chef. Virginia enrolled in SUNY Cobleskill in upstate New York and received an Associate of Science degree as a professional chef. “Cobleskill was so beautiful. We’d get in the car and cruise the back roads of Schoharie County,” the relatively untraveled countryside where the Catskill mountains meet the Adirondacks. Afterwards, she moved to Schenectady, New York, for a couple years, working in little restaurants before deciding that she needed to get out of the city. “I started thinking, why am I in Schenectady when I could be skiing for free?” Virginia learned to ski when she was 13, in a small Massachusetts resort where there was night skiing. 

She took a job at Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont as a line chef at the Stratton Mountain Inn. In 1986, it was just as difficult to find housing in a ski resort town as it is today, but she finally landed a cozy little one-bedroom cottage right across the street from the West River. She worked and skied for the year-and-a-half she was there and recalls, “It was one of the best jobs in my entire life.” 

Virginia’s then-boyfriend convinced her to move to Cape Cod, but she confesses, “I hate the beach. I hate salt water. If you give me an option of where I want to vacation, it’s not going to be the beach.” But she spent three summers there, longing for the slopes and dreaming about skiing the west for the winters. Virginia sent out resumes to Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Sun Valley and the Grand Butte Hotel in Mt. CB. The latter hired her, and she also got housing for $100 per month. “Okay, it was four of us sharing a two-bedroom.” 

She had never been west of Pennsylvania, but she loaded up her car and drove to Colorado in 1989. She arrived in CB on Halloween. “Driving up the valley, I was still in shock I had made it over Monarch alive. I immediately saw Mt. CB and I was in awe. I remember going in to get a PO Box and my first impression of CB was, these women don’t wear makeup, they dress for function not fashion. I had found my people. My second thought was, shit, this is a small town and everyone will know what you do,” she laughs.

When the job at the Grand Butte just wasn’t paying the bills, Virginia responded to a help wanted sign in the window of the Paradise Café. “Patsy Lucci handed me a napkin and told me to fill out my name and phone number. It was a naplication,” she laughs. She was hired. “And that’s how I met most people in CB. I learned you don’t burn Mac’s cinnamon raisin toast because he could see it through the kitchen and he’ll tell you about it.” 

When her old boyfriend showed back up in town, Virginia married him and they moved to Big Sky, Montana. “My marriage sucked, but my job and the skiing were fantastic. It was an amazing place to be.” After the winter, they returned to Cape Cod, then followed the winter snows to Summit County in 1991 where Virginia got a job at the Outpost restaurant at Keystone at the top of the North Peak. She was working the graveyard shift as a baker. “If you missed the 11 p.m. gondola, you weren’t making it to work. I had to take three busses and two gondolas to work, and we weren’t allowed to ski down.” It was 18-hour days for her but Virginia loved the job, which came with a ski pass to Keystone, Copper and A-Basin. “One of my favorite jobs ever was making these itty-bitty desserts, like cakes and crème brûlée, at 11,000 feet. My favorite dessert to make was a sacher tort,” which she explains was a chocolate bomb. “The ganache had to be perfect, like glass.” 

Virginia stayed on for two winters, and when she discovered she was pregnant that second winter in 1993, she decided to move back to CB. After stopping in at the Paradise for lunch, Leisure Lee asked her when she was coming back to work. “I said as soon as you find me a place to live.” Two hours later, she had a job and a place to live. Dakota Douglas Roark was born November 19 that year on opening day of ski season. 

Virginia had to leave the Paradise after Dakota was born and she began her housekeeping career where the hours worked better for daycare. She later took a job with High Country Resorts which she said was “one of the best jobs I’ve ever had as housekeeper.” She stayed with them for nine-and-a-half years, becoming their head housekeeper. Feeling the time was right, Virginia started her own housekeeping business in 2003, cleverly naming it Virgin Cleaning. “My motto was, clean like the first time.” 

Throughout her 20 years in CB, Virginia had been working for Susan Gardiner. “Going to see her and cleaning her home was the highlight of my week. It was always a pleasurable experience chatting with her.” The work for Susan became full time when Susan became ill and Virginia was there for Susan up until a couple of months before she passed away, “when she needed nursing care.”

Virginia closed Virgin Cleaning at the end of 2019 and went to work as a cook at Tully’s in CB South. “Then COVID hit and once it hit, that was the end of that job.” In 2020, Virginia was severely hit with COVID that continued for eight months and left her disabled. She wound up at National Jewish Health in Denver as they had a long COVID department. “It was August 2021 and COVID had fried my brain. I’m now dyslexic and I had never been before.” Although she has setback days she’s feeling physically better, but she’s unable to work.

Virginia’s deck in CB South is knee deep in white as she looks out her window. Her days are spent playing with her dog. These days, she takes the bus around for shopping, to the post office, and she’s still an avid Pokémon Go player in town. “This is home. I’ve lived here more than half my life. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. I don’t care what happens in town, it’s never gonna be Houston no matter how hard they try,” she grins. 

•Once When I was You gallery show at the Center for the Arts through March 28.

THURSDAY 14

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

•noon-1 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Thursday)

•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.

FRIDAY 15

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

•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. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.

•5 p.m. Royal Ruckus with live music by Beer Hunter and Sam Eberle at Kochevar’s.

•5:30 p.m. Live music by ThreeFour9 at the Talk of the Town.

•6:30-10 p.m. Winter Songwriter Shuffle concert: Wood Box Heroes at the Center for the Arts.

•7 p.m. Al Johnson movie tributes at the Majestic Theatre.

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

•7:30 p.m. Firebird Theatre’s All in the Timing at Almont Resort, 10209 State HWY 135, Almont. $20. firebirdcb.com/timing/

•8 p.m. Live music by Just How and Walter Balltell at the Public House.

SATURDAY 16

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

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

•11 a.m. Storyweaver Games grand opening at 901 W Tomichi Gunnison.

•3:30 p.m. The Trailhead Children’s Museum and the Majestic Theatre host a Crafts and Cinema with a showing of Surf’s Up.

•5-8 p.m. Monthly Artwalk at participating galleries of downtown Crested Butte.

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

•6:30 p.m. The Crested Butte Film Festival presents a “Best Of” short film program at The Majestic Theatre.

•6:30-10 p.m. Winter Songwriter Shuffle concert: Ward Davis at the Center for the Arts.

•7:30 p.m. Firebird Theatre’s All in the Timing at Queen of All Saints’ Parish Hall, 403 Sopris Ave., Crested Butte. $20. firebirdcb.com/timing/

•8 p.m. Live music by Funk You at the Public House.

SUNDAY 17

•1 p.m. 50th anniversary of the Uphill/Downhill Memorial Al Johnson Race, starts at the bottom of the North Face Lift.

•4 p.m. Live music by Highlifters at Butte 66.

•5 p.m. St. Paddy’s Day celebration with live music by FIG at Kochevar’s.

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

•6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•7 p.m. Firebird Theatre’s St. Patrick’s Day Improv Show at Almont Resort, 10209 State HWY 135, Almont. $10. firebirdcb.com/improv/

•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball in the CBCS high school gym, enter through the doors by Tommy V Field.

MONDAY 18

•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 p.m. Mindful Meditation with Jenny Ward at the Crested Butte Library.

•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 19

•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.

•5:30-7 p.m. Trivia at the Crested Butte Museum. (every Tuesday)

•6 p.m. Free yoga at the Crested Butte Library. (every 3rd Tuesday)

 WEDNESDAY 20

•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.

•noon Free T’ai Chi Lower Level Town Hall, all are welcome. 

•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting. Young Life building next to Ace. (every Wednesday)

•2-3:30 p.m. Walking tours with the Crested Butte Museum. (every Wednesday)

•4 p.m. Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies, a support group, meets at the Adaptive Sports Center in the Mt. Crested Butte base area. (every 3rd Wednesday)

•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.

By Dawne Belloise

“There’s always been a lot of transfer between Crested Butte and my Smugs,” Lo Storer says of her childhood home, Smugglers Notch, Vermont, a ski resort just on the other side of the mountain from Stowe. She notes that Backcountry Skier magazine is based in her hometown, so she already knew about CB when she moved here in 2009 and laughs, “Honestly, I was looking for a cowboy.” 

She was raised in a little chalet on the side of Smugglers Mountain by parents who were working at the resort, so she began skiing as soon as she could walk and grew up in ski school daycare. Lo spent a good deal of her time doing equestrian activities, horseback riding and showing horses English style, and in competitions across the state until she was 17. Riding was an impetus for her to come to Colorado, she says, “I wanted to ride Western. I hated English. It was too proper.” 

Growing up in a ski town, Lo liked that the mountains were the center of everything in her close-knit community and how, in a small town, when someone is lost everyone feels it, but when Lo lost her best friend in a car accident in 10th grade, it changed the course of her life. “When you deal with death that young, it shifts your priorities. I was on track to achieving more and going to a very good college. I played Olympic Development soccer, that was my thing, and I went all around the country doing that. When Emily died, it made me question what I actually wanted.” Lo made it through high school, graduating in 2006. 

Lo attended Johnson State College in Vermont, studying photography and environmental politics. In part, it’s what led her to go West. “Basically, I dropped the ball on everything and started raging. Nothing made sense anymore.” In 2009, Lo came to CB to work for her friend’s business, Escape Body Works. She also began volunteering for Adaptive Sports, helping with lessons. She enrolled at the Mountain Heart massage school and graduated from there in the fall of the 2009. 

By the spring of 2010, Lo had returned to Vermont to work at Riverberry Farms, one of the biggest organic farms in the state, planting, picking and packing. She utilized her massage experience, working as a massage therapist at Stowe Mountain Lodge, and riding her snowmobile over the mountain from Jeffersonville and back. “Jeffersonville is on the other side of the mountain and the road closes in the winter. It takes only 20 minutes by sled as opposed to driving one-and-a-half hours.” In the summers, she was back on the farm. Lo started her own landscaping business while working on the farm and doing massage. Three years later, she moved to Telluride.

In Telluride, Lo taught for Adaptive Sports while still doing massage and also working at a ski shop. “I lived up Lizard Head Pass close to Ophir. It was sketchy living up there because some nights the gate would come down when the avalanche danger was high so I couldn’t get home.” Luckily, she had a friend with a house in town. After the winter, Lo moved on to Moab in 2012, where she got a job at a bike shop and learned to mountain bike. “I loved it there but it got too hot and that’s when I moved back to CB.”

She was hired as a horseback riding guide for Fantasy Ranch and also worked in their office. She did the Crested Butte thing and got a dog, Cyrus. Pursuing photography, the following year Lo returned to Vermont to start her own business. “I finally found the bravery to move forward with my art,” making that leap of faith after she had previously broken her shoulder during a training with sit-ski and couldn’t farm or do massage therapy anymore. “So I went into photography professionally,” she says of her business, Lo Storer Photography. Her photography project, called “Beings of Yoga,” came about after Lo became a yoga teacher, completing 500 hours in Vermont, “I’ve been teaching seven years now.”

Lo decided to move to Montana to attend Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula in 2021, for a six-month intensive study. From there, she spent the autumn on a ranch on the Flathead Reservation. Lo had planned to return to Vermont, but she stopped in Crested Butte to see a couple friends on the way home in November of 2021. She wound up staying. “And here I am,” she laughs, “living in CB South and I think I’ve moved a total of 12 times since I got back. I was homeless and had stints where I had to stay with friends between places. But I’ve been primarily doing photography and I’ve done pretty well.” 

She returns to Vermont for her photography shoots every two or three months. “I do a lot of headshots and branding—small women-owned business branding. I did a lot of yoga photography in Vermont,” for which she became very well known, shooting brands like yoga clothing line Lululemon and Ladies AllRide, which holds mountain bike clinics all over the world out of Bend, Oregon.  

“I would like to stay and make it work here,” she says of CB. “I think the secret to that, for me, is continuing to take brand work that’s out of the valley. My passion is photographing outdoor adventure sports and outdoor lifestyle and that involves travel. I’m working on making that happen. I’ve always had a hard time making CB work. I partied too much and I’m always trying to piece it all together. I went back to Vermont and got sober. The valley is becoming way more supportive of sobriety, the sober community here is really phenomenal. It’s a big part of what keeps me here. It’s beautiful and magical and anytime I’ve moved away all I wanted was to get back,” she says and notes, “but it’s also like a vortex, a place where you come head to head with your shit. The good is amplified and the bad is amplified. Everything is so extreme and it’s challenging to find that balance point.”

Recently, Lo lost another dear friend. “Kelli Lightfoot passed this past November and I was part of her hospice team. Kelli was my best friend and she followed me out here from Vermont,” and Lo felt all those emotions from the death of her high school friend resurface. “What’s healing for me is nature at night.” Lo clicks into her Nordic skis to hit the Peanut Lake trail after dark, or she skins up the mountain. “I’m a big backcountry skier and that’s so healing. It’s calm and peaceful at night.”

Lo says she’s tried on a lot of hats since returning—running the CB Farmers Market last summer, teaching yoga at Thrive and she’s still an instructor at Adaptive Sports. However, photography is her mainstay. “I’m also a certified life coach and trying to make my life work here. I’m trying to put together a wilderness therapy program for kids and adults. Backcountry skiing and mountain biking are the things that have kept me sane and supported my mental health and taught me skills to manage life. There’s some crossover between photography and therapy and there’s therapeutic benefits to photography. I’m just trying to put it all together and see what comes out of it.”

•Once When I was You gallery show at the Center for the Arts through March 28.

THURSDAY 7

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

•noon-1 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Thursday)

•3:30-6:30 p.m. Potluck and Poetry at the Gunnison County Library. 

•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.

•9 p.m. Public House presents: Big Something with The Ries Brothers.

FRIDAY 8

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

•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. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.

•2-4 p.m. The League of Women Voters of the Gunnison Valley and Rumors Coffee and Tea House host a petition signing event in support of Initiative 89 Coloradans for Reproductive Freedom.

•5-7 p.m. Once When I Was You opening gallery reception at the Kinder Padon Gallery. 

•7:30 p.m. Firebird Theatre’s All in the Timing at Public House, 202 Elk Ave., Crested Butte. $20. firebirdcb.com/timing/.

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

•8 p.m. Live music by Leftover Salmon at the Center for the Arts.

SATURDAY 9

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•8:30 a.m. The Gunnison County Republicans caucus meets at Fred Field. Only registered republicans can attend.

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

•3 p.m. The Firebird Theatre presents Peter Pan at the Queen of All Saints’ Parish Hall, 403 Sopris, Crested Butte. All ages. $10-Adults, $5-Children, firebirdcb.com/peter-pan.

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

•7:30 p.m. Firebird Theatre’s All in the Timing at Almont Resort, 10209 State HWY 135, Almont. $20. firebirdcb.com/timing/.

•8 p.m. Live music by Leftover Salmon at the Center for the Arts.

SUNDAY 10

•3 p.m. The Firebird Theatre presents Peter Pan at the Queen of All Saints’ Parish Hall, 403 Sopris, Crested Butte. All ages. $10-Adults, $5-Children, firebirdcb.com/peter-pan.

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

•6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball in the CBCS high school gym, enter through the doors by Tommy V Field.

MONDAY 11

•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 12

•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.

WEDNESDAY 13

•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.

•noon Free T’ai Chi Lower Level Town Hall, all are welcome. 

•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting. Young Life building next to Ace. (every Wednesday)

•4 p.m. Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies, a support group, meets at the Adaptive Sports Center in the Mt. Crested Butte base area. (every 3rd Wednesday)

•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.

• 9 p.m. Public House presents: Doom Flamingo.

•February 29–March 3 at 9 p.m. 4 Night run with Spafford at the Public House in Crested Butte, CO.

•March 2-9 at 3 p.m. The Firebird Theatre presents four days of Peter Pan at the Queen of All Saints’ Parish Hall, 403 Sopris, Crested Butte. All ages. $10-Adults, $5-Children, firebirdcb.com/peter-pan.

THURSDAY 29

Last day of the Dumb Logic gallery show at the Center for the Arts.

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

•noon-1 p.m. Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group, livingjourneys.org/calendar, free. (every 1st Thursday)

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

•5 p.m. Meet and Greet with GCEA’s CEO Duane Highley at 37250 W Hwy 50, Gunnison CO 81230.

•6-8 p.m. Histories of CB Open Mic Night presented by the Crested Butte Historic Preservation Plan at the Eldo on Elk Avenue.

•6:30 p.m. The Holly plays at the Majestic Theatre followed by a Q&A with the films director Julien Rubenstein.

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

•7 p.m.-12 a.m. Vyktorya’s (Dickie Brown) quincera birthday celebration at the Talk of the Town with live music by DJ Hanaman.

FRIDAY 1

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

•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. For more information contact Kelsey Weaver at kweaver@gvh-colorado.org or 970-648-7071.

•5-7 p.m. Live music by Strand Hill at billy barr at the Elevation.

•6:30 p.m. Live music by Easy Jim at the Almont Resort.

•7 p.m. Subject to Change Improv Troupe comes the Mallardi Cabaret Theatre.

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

SATURDAY 2

•7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

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

•4 p.m. Kissidugu Liberté performance at the Center for the Arts.

•4:30 p.m. Subject to Change Improv Troupe comes to the Mallardi Cabaret Theatre.

•5:30-8:30 p.m. Live music by the Shed at the Talk of the Town.

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

•7 p.m. Subject to Change Improv Troupe comes to the Mallardi Cabaret Theatre.

•7 p.m. Kissidugu Liberté performance at the Center for the Arts.

SUNDAY 3

•11 a.m. Partnership Service at All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church, with music, 403 Maroon Ave.(UCC), Crested Butte.

•5 p.m. Family African Arts event at the Crested Butte Library.

•6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at the Union Congregational Church, 970-349-5711.

•6 p.m. American climber and recent winner of the Piolets d’Or, George Lowe gives a presentation at the Mallardi Cabaret Theatre. Hosted by the Crested Butte Avalanche Center.

•7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball in the CBCS high school gym, enter through the doors by Tommy V Field.

MONDAY 4

•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.

•5:15-6:30 p.m. Western Colorado University offers Spanish classes for beginners in Gunnison, western.edu/academics/center-learning-innovation/ or call 970-943-2885. (every Monday and Wednesday until March 6)

•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 5

•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.

•5:15-6:30 p.m. Western Colorado University offers Spanish for beginners classes in Crested Butte, western.edu/academics/center-learning-innovation/ or call 970-943-2885. (every Tuesday until March 5)

WEDNESDAY 6

•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.

•noon Free T’ai Chi Lower Level Town Hall, all are welcome. 

•2-3 p.m. Nicotine Anonymous for Young People meeting. Young Life building next to Ace. (every Wednesday)

•4 p.m. Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies, a support group, meets at the Adaptive Sports Center in the Mt. Crested Butte base area. (every 3rd Wednesday)

•5:15-6:30 p.m. Western Colorado University offers Spanish classes for beginners in Gunnison, western.edu/academics/center-learning-innovation/ or call 970-943-2885. (every Monday and Wednesday until March 6)

•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.

•7-10 p.m. Live music with Floyd and Jackie at the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre.

The town of Mt. Crested Butte is holding a special election to recall councilor Roman Kolodziej from the town council. The election takes place until Tuesday, February 13 and all registered voters in Mt. CB should have received their ballots in the mail by now. 

There will be two questions on the ballot: the first asks whether to recall Kolodziej from the town council. If the majority votes are in favor of Kolodziej’s recall, then the second ballot question will ask for the selection of his replacement. Four candidates are running for the seat if Kolodziej is recalled. 

This is the final week of a question-and-answer series we are running to provide information to Mt. CB voters on the positions of Kolodziej and the four candidates. Here’s what they had to say:

Roman Kolodziej

What are your ideas for getting more affordable housing in Mt. CB? 

Here is an idea I’ve already promoted. 

Across Emmons Road from the soon-to-be-renamed “rasta lot” is a town-owned parcel of land at the northwest corner of the paid parking lot where snow is currently stored. Over a year ago, I proposed the idea of building affordable housing on it. Here’s how it might have, and still might, work. The town would donate the lot for development. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA), of which I sit on the board, could freely spend some of the millions of dollars it has on design, horizontal infrastructure and/or other project expenses. I approached other potential partners about them making cash or in-kind contributions to bring the project to reality.

Here are the issues the project ran into. 

The town’s main sewer line not only runs under the development site, but drops 50 feet or so from Emmons Road to the site itself. Moving the line wouldn’t be cheap, but it is possible. 

Access. The project could be accessed from Gothic Road directly, though a more effective access point would be through an adjacent parcel owned by the Muellers. 

Perhaps the most significant issue is the fact that the town’s parcel, and every parcel from there to the Grand Lodge, are all tied to one Planned Unit Development (PUD). Our project most likely needs to be a PUD as well to accomplish certain things (altering setbacks, height restrictions, etc.) but you can’t have two PUDs on top of one another. This would require “decoupling” the existing PUD, which is cumbersome but not impossible. 

Fun stuff, right?! Due to the challenges this idea posed, town staff felt time and energy would be best spent on other parcels. I still hold out hope for the project. 

What would be your approach to balancing goals that might conflict — such as promoting tourism and limiting environmental impacts, or balancing STRs with housing opportunities for locals?

One thing I’ve been asking for from the Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) is their explanation of marketing “doneness.” In other words, what is the success metric they use for marketing that indicates they should turn it off or tone it down? They are very good at taking the “more = good” perspective, but being able to understand when to temper marketing efforts might help us better gauge tourism capacity in our valley.

How can the town help bring back more vibrancy to the Base Area?

Helping the three largest base area property owners decouple the PUD that restricts individual property development there. It would allow us and them to approach individual projects as we do elsewhere in Mt. CB.

If you are not chosen, would you run in the next regularly scheduled council election?

I’m not sure. During my time on town council, I’ve dedicated myself to thoughtfully fulfilling my role while advocating for my community and have contributed to some positive and impactful decisions. If enough voters believe, or are led to believe, otherwise and vote me out of public service, it will force me to reconsider where I choose to put my energy.

One person, dead or alive, you would choose to ride up with on the Silver Queen, and why?

I’d like to ride up the Queen with Winnie the Pooh. 

Chair lift rides offer me opportunities to be contemplative and reflective and I’ve found it satisfying to lean into both while riding to the top. Pooh demonstrates an idyllic approach to life that is kind and simple and sometimes when I get off the lift, I am able to see myself navigating life in a similar way, albeit for a brief moment. 

It would be great to talk with Pooh about his perspective and understand how I might carry those brief moments of clarity with me once I leave the lift. 

You wouldn’t expect a boring answer from me about the founding fathers or something, would you?

Bobbie Sferra

What are your ideas for getting more affordable housing in Mt. CB? 

Affordable housing is not only a huge challenge for Mt. CB, but this issue has been front center since I have been coming to Crested Butte over 15 years ago. I have just begun to educate myself on how new projects are financed using grant monies, low interest loans and tax credits. New developments require a number of units designed for affordable housing. The cost of building continues to rise and the north valley cost is one of the highest in the nation at $750–$1000 per square foot. Even a small house or duplex is close to a million dollars or higher to build. How is this affordable for towns, developers and qualified buyers? The question really becomes who is responsible for providing housing for employees. Mt. CB has done a wonderful job of providing affordable housing to town employees; however, I don’t believe that the town of Mt. CB should be using tax dollars to provide housing for the business communities. So the question becomes, how do we continue to have a vibrant workforce for the many businesses, and partner with these businesses to begin to solve these issues. The town should encourage developers to consider building rental units that may better meet the needs of low income and seasonal employees. In addition, the town should encourage the hotels and businesses that rely on seasonal employees to repurpose hotel rooms for affordable housing, as well as provide incentives to private individuals to rent to local workers. 

What would be your approach to balancing goals that might conflict — such as promoting tourism and limiting environmental impacts, or balancing STRs with housing opportunities for locals? 

Before any decision is made on a controversial issue, the community needs to be informed and have an opportunity for input. It is the responsibility of each town council member to be thoroughly knowledgeable about alternatives, be informed of pros and cons, and based on the data, make the best decision for the town. 

How can the town help bring back more vibrancy to the Base Area? 

The base area is the main hub of Mt. Crested Butte. By providing more restaurants, shops and entertainment, visitors would be encouraged to stay on the mountain. The town and resort should work in partnership to ensure essential businesses exist in the base area year-round and provide more opportunities for activities beyond skiing.

If you are not chosen, would you run in the next regularly scheduled council election?

Absolutely! I am retired and would like the opportunity to serve in the community where I live.

One person, dead or alive, you would choose to ride up with on the Silver Queen, and why?

I would choose my friend, Doctor Pete Harrelson. Pete is a long-time friend in Telluride who was the first person in 2024 to be killed in an avalanche a week ago. Pete was fun and lived life to the fullest. His death was a reminder on how fragile life is and the importance of friendship and staying in touch with those we love.

TOM ROLLECZEK

What are your ideas for getting more affordable housing in Mt. CB? 

Currently, there are provisions in place for new developments that allocate units to affordable housing as part of the building requirements. I suggest we work with each developer’s unique situation and always provide agreement for units, even if they are existing. The alternative is a monetary sum and inadequate to build in our high price environment. The goal should be guiding policy for beds locally, even if they are older units. I also believe there are many existing opportunities in the commercial sector of Mt. CB that are underutilized. Negotiating incentives with landowners for undeveloped lots, could offer viable options for future housing.

What would be your approach to balancing goals that might conflict — such as promoting tourism and limiting environmental impacts, or balancing STRs with housing opportunities for locals?

In any good negotiation, both parties walk away with less than they expected. If this is not the case, the resulting deal will fail as a result of the inequities. As the great Mick Jagger put it, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you just might find. You get what you need.” In respect to the two examples you provided, or many others, it’s beneficial to approach with an open mind that is ready to accept compromise.  

How can the town help bring back more vibrancy to the Base Area?

As mentioned, an intentional meeting between the base area stakeholders, landowners and town is overdue; let’s outline potential opportunities and set timelines for projects. Financial investment is a crucial part of a successful outcome and should be prioritized in these negotiations. Any resulting actions should encourage investment from local businesses such as retail, food and beverage, hotels and guest services. By focusing on economic vibrancy, we will create a landscape of locally owned businesses, exciting community recreation projects and a thriving base area resort.  

If you are not chosen, would you run in the next regularly scheduled council election?

Indeed, my original intention was to run in the general election 2024. I would likely re-apply.  

One person, dead or alive, you would choose to ride up with on the Silver Queen, and why?

Chuck Norris; I would like to see the North Face tremble under his skis.  

PETER ESSELSTYN

What are your ideas for getting more affordable housing in Mt. CB? 

In my five years in Mt. CB, I have heard countless “opinions” on how to solve affordable housing but none of them include quantifying the problem. In my experience, you are unlikely to solve a problem if you don’t characterize it first. To that end, I believe the town (including Crested Butte and Gunnison County) needs to determine what the current and future affordable housing needs are and set a road map with quantifiable goals and schedule to meet these needs. What are the types of housing needed? Dormitory style? Miniature housing style? Family style housing? If this type of analysis has been done, I have yet to hear about it. 

This affordable housing issue has been a long running problem. This past year, the Crested Butte News ran a story about the need for affordable housing in the “20 Years Ago Today” section. I felt I was reading an article that was written today! Perhaps with forward thinking planning and a clear roadmap, we won’t still be talking about this issue 20 years from now. 

Of course, this is not solely a Mt. CB issue. The town of Crested Butte and Gunnison County also are stakeholders in this quandary. Other resort towns that I have visited offer incentives to property owners to house locals. They may include property tax incentives, resort/business incentives for housing local employees, etc. I also question what the town’s responsibility is versus what the private employer’s responsibility is. I don’t believe the town(s) have the sole responsibility to solve this, but can provide a variety of incentives to support the needs of the local businesses.

What would be your approach to balancing goals that might conflict — such as promoting tourism and limiting environmental impacts, or balancing STRs with housing opportunities for locals?

At first glance, I would say that each of these items need to be weighed on their own merits and I don’t think there is necessarily a balance between each of these topics exclusively. We are largely a tourist-based economy in the north valley and to that end, if tourism takes a downturn, then many of the businesses and investments in the area will also drop. I certainly support limiting environmental impacts when done in a measurable and practical approach that makes a real impact. The environment and natural beauty here in the north valley are one of the biggest reasons we have a tourism-based economy.   

I don’t claim to have all the answers regarding STRs vs. housing opportunities for locals, but I struggle to connect STRs with solving local housing issues. The way I see it, there are many STRs currently available, but are market priced, making them out of financial reach for many of the seasonal and/or local workers. Also, STRs by definition are limited to 30 days making long-term living situations unrealistic. I am curious to know how Mt. CB allocates STR fees they collect to address opportunities for local’s living concerns and is this allocation sufficient.

How can the town help bring back more vibrancy to the Base Area?

When my wife and I purchased land in Mt. CB in 2016, we heard the rumors that Vail may purchase CBMR. We were excited for that possibility as historically Vail has invested heavily in their resorts and the base area at CBMR certainly was ripe for an injection of vibrancy. However, the property owners at the base area are diverse and not limited to a single property owner. I am of the belief that the town needs to provide a pathway for investment in the base area in terms of removing approval roadblocks and providing incentives. Vibrancy at the base area would be good for all involved. For right or wrong, when people think of Mt. Crested Butte, the first thought is the resort and base area. We already have excellent choices in lodging and transportation, and several very well-run restaurants at the base area, but after the lifts stop running in the late afternoon, the base area attendance quickly drops. An inviting and walkable base area is what people desire when they come to a ski resort complete with a variety of shops, day and night restaurants, bars that are open in the evening, perhaps a brewery, and attractions common in more developed ski towns, are all vital to the base area. Expanding on the existing great venues will attract more people to spend their off-slopes time in Mt. CB.

If you are not chosen, would you run in the next regularly scheduled council election?

Yes. I see that Mt. CB is at somewhat of a crossroads. We have not had a choice in town council members for many, many years! Suddenly we have four very qualified people vying for one potential seat. This tells me that the residents of Mt. CB are looking for a change in town leadership and are willing to step up to the challenge. I know a couple of the other people who are running in this election, and I believe Mt. CB will benefit from the contributions of any of these candidates. I and the current slate of candidates jumped into this race for a variety of reasons. I would continue with the same intentions I have now for the fall. I voted against Mt. CB’s last fall’s ballot question on term limits, as extending term limits doesn’t address the issue of why residents have not been running for town council. It is positive to see that this concern is past us given the number of contenders in this town council election.

One person, dead or alive, you would choose to ride up with on the Silver Queen, and why?

Hmmm, the Queen ride isn’t much time to talk with historical inventers or scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla or Albert Einstein, but since we’d be on a chairlift for only 7 minutes, I’d like to talk with James Curran. James was a railroad engineer from Omaha, Nebraska and he invented the ski chairlift in 1936. I would be interested to know if he considered the fact that one of the best ways to cool an object (a person) is to hang it from a wire and blow cold air at it… !!!

BRUCE NATION

What are your ideas for getting more affordable housing in Mt. CB? 

There is currently a bill in the state legislature that is looking to tax STRs as commercial property if they are rented for more that 90 days a year. While I don’t think that bill is perfect, if enacted it would provide a lot of additional funds for affordable housing and reduce housing being bought up by speculators while still allowing for locals to rent their property for some extra income when they desire.

I would also want to promote more density where it makes sense. I think the Pitchfork development is a great model. It has a good mix of affordable housing and unrestricted housing, all in a relatively small footprint.  

What would be your approach to balancing goals that might conflict — such as promoting tourism and limiting environmental impacts, or balancing STRs with housing opportunities for locals?

I have two philosophies on balancing goals like these. The first is we need to make the easy way, the right way. The easier we make it for everyone to use public transport or walk or stay in a hotel the better. The second is to use tax policy to encourage the results we want to see rather than simply banning something we may not like. For instance, using STR taxes to pay for or incentivize affordable housing.

How can the town help bring back more vibrancy to the Base Area?

I would talk to the local business owners in the base area to try and find what support they need to stay open later. Many of the restaurants and shops are closing at 5 p.m. and not leaving much for people to do while there. I’m very encouraged by A Bar Above being open late seven nights a week with live music. How can we replicate their success with the rest of the mountain?

I’d also like to see some kind of food truck\cart access at the base area. We used to have a waffle cart, what happened to it?

If you are not chosen, would you run in the next regularly scheduled council election?

Absolutely. My original plan was always to run in November.

One person, dead or alive, you would choose to ride up with on the Silver Queen, and why?

Jesus. I’m not a religious man, but I still have a lot of questions. If he can walk on water, he probably shreds on snow.

It all began with the ski area and an elevator…

By Kendra Walker

The new year marks a momentous milestone for the town of Mt. Crested Butte: its 50th anniversary of incorporation. From its humble beginnings as an unknown ski resort surrounded by nothing but ranchland and national forest, this town at 9,375 feet has evolved and grown over the past five decades. Even so, Mt. Crested Butte continues to draw a tight-knit community with the same spirit and resilience that first shaped its beginnings at the base of Crested Butte Mountain. 

This year, the town of Mt. Crested Butte will host several anniversary celebrations to commemorate 50 years as a town, including a series of history talks at the Elevation Hotel. The next anniversary talk takes place this Monday, January 8.

History of incorporation

Just 89 residents lived within the proposed boundary of Mt. Crested Butte in 1973 before incorporation. The ski area was established back in 1961 when Dick Eflin and Fred Rice purchased 600 acres on Crested Butte Mountain and obtained forest service permits for ski trails. Over the next 12 years, the ski area added lodges, ski lifts, condos and homes.

“The ski area opened the same year I was born. We were both born the summer of ’61,” says Andy Eflin. “My dad used to show the original photos of the base area and tell people, ‘Here’s the valley before I screwed it all up.’” 

Jokes aside, Andy feels the ski area opened the doors for people who probably wouldn’t have found this place otherwise. “Crested Butte was not really on the map back in those days. There wasn’t a whole lot going on in Crested Butte and there wasn’t a very viable means to support yourself, so I feel the resort brought an industry to the valley that was a little more sustainable and certainly a fun industry that gets people outdoors.”

Andy remembers the early years of the ski area—the original warming house building, the T-bar lift and rope tow, the old Italian gondola, the skating pond and his grandmother’s gift shop at the base area. 

Then in 1970, Howard “Bo” Callaway and his brother-in-law Ralph Walton acquired the ski area. “I was 6 years old when my father and uncle bought the ski area and we moved here,” says Scout Walton, who remembers living in the Whetstone building and getting let out of school early on Fridays to go ski. “My life was ski racing and climbing mountains and doing those things with friends.”

To continue building out the base area, Ralph and Callaway formed the Crested Butte Development Company. “You couldn’t really bring a lot of people here because there weren’t a lot of places to stay,” says Scout. 

“One of the first keys was real estate sales,” says Scout. We had to earn our capital every year, which is why real estate has always been important. There were a lot of people working together with that shared interest. Back then it was all swashbuckling entrepreneurs, and it was very collegial amongst everybody. The ski area was so important to the community.”

Crested Butte Development Company brought new development projects that included the Whetstone, Axtel, Emmons and Gothic buildings, named after the peaks they face.

The seed for town incorporation was first planted with a proposed elevator for the three-story Gothic building. “People found that every time they wanted to build, they had to go all the way to Gunnison for permits and permissions,” explains Sandra Cortner, who started the Crested Butte Pilot newspaper and covered the town’s journey to incorporation in 1973 and 1974. “You had to drive to Gunnison for everything: laundry, grocery, doctor, bank, clothing. And law enforcement was tough because the police were 30 miles away.”

The proposed Gothic elevator would be the first in the area and the Gunnison County commissioners had never been asked to consider a building with an elevator before. “There was all this hullabaloo about the elevator and getting it approved,” says Cortner. ​​“Walton and the ski area general manager Gus Larkin knew there must be a better way to get their building plans approved. And so the ski area began petitioning for incorporation and getting people behind the idea. Walton was the one who suggested Mt. Crested Butte for the name.”

The majority of the residents saw the benefits of incorporation. It would help people living and building there to have control over zoning decisions and have a say in how the community was governed. It would also ensure that tax revenue from the ski area was collected strictly for town use instead of being dispersed throughout the county. “They wanted to control their own destiny,” says Cortner.

Although residents considered annexation into the town of Crested Butte, state law required that an annexed area be contiguous with the town annexing it. Two miles of privately owned land separates Crested Butte and the ski area, so annexation was not an option.

In September 1973, 40 qualified electors signed the petition proposing town incorporation. The petition was presented to the District Court judge, who then nominated five commissioners to set up an election regarding town incorporation. 

Then on November 6, 1973, electors voted 50 to 12 to incorporate. “Mt. CB was the first municipal incorporation in the state since 1920 and one of the first ski resorts to incorporate,” says Cortner. Other ski areas like Snowmass and Vail have since followed Mt. Crested Butte’s lead. Just last spring, Keystone became Colorado’s newest town when residents voted for incorporation.

The beginning of 1974 marked Mt. Crested Butte’s official incorporation when “they had to figure out how to be a fully functioning town,” says Cortner. “They had to do all these things you don’t think about: elect a council and a mayor and then hire a marshal, figure out how to tax people, set a budget, figure out snowplowing and road maintenance, name streets, set zoning and building inspections, create ordinances and codes. The people who owned the lodges and businesses really worked together after incorporation to try to make it go smoothly.”

On January 8, 1974, citizens established the first town council and elected Gus Larkin as the first Mt. Crested Butte mayor. The council approved a 4% sales tax in April 1974, passed the town’s first budget of $17,800 in August and hired town manager Jim Dean in 1975. The town held its first town picnic in the summer of 1975.

Celebrating 50 years

Today, the town’s original population of 89 residents has grown to nearly 1,000 people. People visit Mt. Crested Butte year-round to ski, mountain bike, hike, search for wildflowers, peep at the changing aspen colors and enjoy the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.

“I think it’s really amazing that this town and the ski resort were formed by just a few individuals with an idea. It was their passion to make sure this town was able to grow,” says Mt. Crested Butte events coordinator Rebecca Gagne. “And it’s only been 50 years, it wasn’t that long ago. It’s cool to know these things are still happening.”

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the town is hosting a history talk on January 8 at 6 p.m. at the Elevation Hotel to commemorate the original date of the first mayor and council election. Andy will present a slideshow of historic photos compiled by his father and ski resort founder Dick Eflin. Additionally, Scout will discuss the movement of Mt. Crested Butte’s incorporation and his father’s involvement, and Ethan Mueller will share the Mueller family’s movement to purchase Crested Butte Mountain Resort in 2004. The Crested Butte Museum will also host a pop-up museum featuring pre-1974 Mt. Crested Butte artifacts and photos.

A final history talk will take place on February 12 at the Elevation, featuring a panel of current and former mayors, council members and managers of Mt. Crested Butte. Gagne said the town is working on finalizing additional anniversary celebrations for the rest of the year.

“I’m hoping these celebrations bring a new awareness that we are our town,” says Gagne. “There’s often a misconception that we’re one town with Crested Butte down the hill, and Mt. Crested Butte is not defined as its own town well enough. This is an exciting way to get out to the community itself and also the general public that visits.”

Back in November, the town held a kick-off anniversary talk to commemorate the vote for town incorporation, and Gagne says she was impressed with the community turnout. “I polled the audience how long they’ve lived here. I asked them to raise their hands if they’d lived in the town 10+ years, then 20 or more, then 30 or more,” says Gagne. “When I hit 50, there were still eight hands in the air. People find this is their home and stay. And they were so proud.”

Current mayor, Nicholas Kempin, has lived in Mt. Crested Butte for 23 years.

He says there are so many things that make this place special, “but something I’m in touch with every day is the natural beauty of this place. It is the common thread for our community and a primary reason for being here,” he says. “The place, the people, and the Mt. CB lifestyle have had a profound positive effect on me. It is an honor and pleasure to work on behalf of a place I love.”

Scout acknowledges that a lot has changed in Mt. Crested Butte over the years, but “I like to focus on the things that are not different. I see all the things that drew my mom and dad here to saddle up on a new venture. That’s why my family has moved back to the valley, and it’s hard to imagine anything different.”

“Although we have seen a lot of growth and development here, we still can get away from it all really quickly,” reflects Andy. “This is a desired place because it’s so beautiful. It’s a wonderful way of life.”

Kempin too hopes the celebrations this year help residents and visitors learn the value of the community and gain the motivation to keep it going. As for what he hopes for Mt. CB in another 50 years? “Frequent powder days.”

Special thanks to Sandra Cortner for sharing her knowledge of the town of Mt. Crested Butte’s incorporation. The historical facts gathered for this article came from Cortner’s copyright writings in the Crested Butte Pilot, Crested Butte Magazine, Crested Butte…Love at First Sight and Crested Butte Stories…Through My Lens.

For most people in America, this week is a holiday. It is a time to continue holiday revelry and connect with friends and family until after the new year begins next Monday. Here in Crested Butte, it is one of the busiest work weeks of the winter. We all work really hard right now while trying to maintain connections with friends and family. It isn’t always easy, but it will pay off as we stockpile currency for the slower times. Still, moving toward a new year provides a benchmark to reflect, even if some of the reflection is what you should have said to the kid at table six when she asked for a fourth specialty side order along with separate checks for the party of 18.
In the busyness of a busy week, try to take a breath between shifts and remember why you chose to be here. Yeah, I know we were the hole in the donut during this last storm and that was rough, but it is still good for the soul to get out in the backcountry (be careful), on the Nordic tracks (it’s fast!) or on the Silver Queen (just jump into Monument!). Last year we were swimming in an “atmospheric river” while this year the desert sands swirl around us.

A longtime local back for the holidays expressed their optimism that Crested Butte is moving forward given the work being done on the old Brick and Forest Queen buildings. Over in Aspen, there are people buying buildings and letting them sit empty to just take the appreciation of a future sale. At least our “uberwealthies” want to provide business activity in their business properties along our prime business street, and fortunately they have the means to actually fix up properties like the Forest Queen that could easily have just crumbled into Coal Creek. That is something good to reflect upon.

A quick weekend trip to Park City a few weeks ago again reminded me how different it is here. It’s different there too but oh, so much bigger. The thought of Crested Butte even remotely trying to compete on the purely ski tourism metrics is beyond insane. The intermediate terrain on the CBMR hill is not what will ever get people to come here over going there. Our valley offers a ton of wonderful amenities, but an abundance of intermediate skiing is not one of them.
We are the small-town, friendly, artistic, challenging resort – and community. People drawn to live or visit here are of unique character. We’re a little more weird, a little more crusty, a little more open to it all. We seem to prefer the small and intimate over unlimited choice. We prefer deep over wide. That’s not to say we couldn’t use an upgrade here or there — heck, a simple base area lodge/cafeteria would be appreciated by everyone along with more fun, après ski energy at the base area — but we are what we are.

One of the most obvious physical differences here compared to most other mountain resort communities is the space. There is room to breathe and appreciate the splendor of nature. Let’s reflect that a huge part of that is due to the active ranching community in our valley. Giant swaths of land are home to cattle instead of condos. Driving up valley is a visual throwback to western Colorado valleys instead of Beverly Hills with mountain views. There are a few pockets of high mountain mansions but nothing like other places. The fact that the Allens, the Spanns, Trampes, Lacys, Veltris and other ranching families all have a love for the land and for the ranching business is extremely unique for a valley that also holds a ski area. That is a special blessing.
I have always tried to voice support for the local ranching community even over the recreation community — and Lord knows I am more comfortable riding a bike than herding cows — but I will fight for the ranchers to be able to continue in their business over the encroaching recreationists (like me). Without those working ranches here, the valley between Gunnison and Crested Butte could be filled with condos and McMansions and strip malls. Think about that, and even if you don’t eat beef, reflect on the value of having active ranches on our valley floor.

As we move into 2024, reflect on how special it still is here. It’s not what it was but it is what it is. Let’s not get tangled up in implementing a thousand new rules like they have in Breckenridge so that we don’t become the next Breckenridge. Appreciate that most of the time the people in this place try to work together for the best common solutions. It doesn’t always happen, and it doesn’t always work, but the effort is there 90% of the time. As a community, let’s focus on things that help and enhance the lives of the people living here. Make things easier for people living here in the valley, not harder. Take care of the locals and success will follow by attracting like-minded spirits that will visit to experience something unique not found in many places. Focus on keeping the population hubs places where the working people can live and enjoy a life (not just sleep between jobs) and that will separate us from most other mountain communities. Keeping our village vibrant and fun and filled with people active in their community will spread the good joy.

It is a busy week in the valley. It is a time to make bank so that those working here can survive the middle of January, most of April and all of May. It is a hectic time. But we are blessed. Reflect about what makes this place different and keep the spirit as we enter a new year.
Happy 2024 everyone.

—Mark Reaman

First, congratulations to the Crested Butte Titans soccer team. Battling adversity and fighting an uphill battle in the playoffs, this team came out as the 2-A state champions in what was expected to be a “rebuilding year!” Okay then. In its post-season run, there was a double overtime victory, a shootout win on penalty kicks and a 1-0 win last Saturday. This is a young team and while we can look to the future with some confidence, take the time now to enjoy what was a magical run.

Speaking of magic…Driving home from Denver on Sunday after a quick trip to Minneapolis (it was warm there too), the highlight might have been a grazing herd of more than 100 elk in a field near the Dvorak rafting complex. Three dozen cars were pulled over on the side of 285 to watch them. It was a reminder that here in the valley we are exposed to that type of magic on a regular basis. The majestic bugling elk in the wetlands by the school or on the hillside by CB South is something to truly appreciate.

Then there’s the annual autumn cattle drive through town. That remains one of the best things that separates Crested Butte from its peers in the ski industry and took place last week. Watching the Allen cattle come through town dropping pies on the kids’ soccer field and ignoring the 25 mph signs is perhaps one of the highlights of every fall. It’s one of those things that parents and friends visiting Crested Butte remember forever if they are lucky enough to witness it. 

For me it is a tangible reminder of the depth and importance of ranching in this valley. It is an incredibly valuable asset that separates us from most of our peer resort communities. I truly believe that our active working ranches top the list of things that separate us as a resort community and we need to do what we can to help them maintain that business, the lifestyle and culture. Embrace the cow pies on the hiking trails, accept the perceived favoritism of the Forest Service toward the ranchers over recreationists on public lands, appreciate the control longtime ranching families have over big swaths of land along the highways. Without that stewardship, and more importantly, their control over the water rights in the area, we could easily look like a poor man’s valley near Keystone with condos on brown hillsides instead of cattle on verdant fields. Don’t take that for granted.

Another thing not to take for granted is how we are surrounded by millions of acres of wilderness and forests at the end of the road while having the amenities of a resort community. So, the current draft of the regional GMUG Forest Plan is a bit baffling as the powers that be seem to see the forest more as an extractive opportunity for logging than a golden asset unto itself. I understand the need and the logic for some logging and mining, but the draw of nature is powerful in both a spiritual and economic sense and it is one of the primary amenities in our amenity-based community.

Being fortunate enough to talk to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and county commissioner Jonathan Houck on a joint call about a month ago, they obviously get it. Both have been longtime passionate participants in the Gunnison Public Land Initiative (GPLI). Bennet literally spent years working on the project and crafted it into draft legislation called the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act. They had expected that recommendations from the GPLI would be a core part of the proposed forest plan. Alas, that wasn’t the case, which is a travesty. When you have a grassroots initiative that brings together diverse interests of a community that reach practical compromises, there is little reason not to embrace that opportunity in an increasingly polarized world. The fact that the Forest Service has ignored it is one more thing that makes people believe the bureaucrats have no sense of what the people want and instead impose their views because they know what’s best. Wrong.

The proposed draft plan actually goes against the grain of what it is that makes this place special. So, I appreciate the elected officials at both the local and the federal level, in this case Houck and Bennet, in advocating and understanding what is part of our uniqueness. We are fortunate to have elected representatives like Senator Bennet and commissioner Houck that put in the time and hard work to understand what it is we are about and try to turn that understanding into practical, on the ground direction. Bennet and Houck are continuing to do the good work and for that we should be grateful. The Forest Service, on the other hand, should reevaluate its draft plan to more clearly reflect the priorities of the community.

The recent CB town council discussion over the direction of its climate mitigation measures was interesting. I appreciated the viewpoint that if you are dealing with an emergency and going to focus on a goal, then focus on a goal. I am afraid too many people living up here at 9,000 feet in a resort valley that depends on jets, and cars, and trucking in everything, and using energy to suck water from the rivers to make snow, believe they can save the world by making everyone ride a bus. There is moral and practical value in doing what you can to chip away at the climate problem but be careful on how far you go to make people do what you think is right unless you are walking the straight walk. The council discussion touched on those issues and while no definitive conclusion was reached, I appreciated the back-and-forth about being real.

Mitch Hoffman’s wife Carolyn sent a note reminding us that November 19 is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Cheers to her and to the memory of a good man lost in a still horrible situation for all involved. And while it may not be directly related, we should all remember to pay attention to the road while in a vehicle and not look at a text that came in while driving.  

Congratulations to Jeff Hermanson and Kyleena Falzone for getting the old Last Steep open this coming weekend. It is great to see tangible progress in our lacking Elk Ave restaurant scene and I know people are looking forward to experiencing The Hideout that they have worked so hard on the last year. 

Meanwhile, someone mentioned to me recently that I was being too hard on Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of several other Elk Avenue business locations. I don’t think I’ve mentioned him in months, which made me think perhaps he lost my phone number. 

While I believe mutual acquaintances that say he’s a good guy, and I do appreciate that he is saving iconic CB buildings like the Forest Queen, I also think it would be beneficial to everyone in this small-town community to understand what he’s trying to do over the long term. So, as a reminder, if he feels the desire as a major player in Crested Butte to share his goals with the community, we at the News are all ears and offer a conduit to the community in general. My phone number is 970–349–0500, extension 109. And I know many of “his people” have my cell phone and email if that is more convenient. 

When the CB planning department makes plans to push for reroutes of the Mountain Express bus system based on a statistic that says most people in the country won’t ride a bus unless it’s within 500 feet of their door, they seem to be missing a foundational point that people in Crested Butte think differently. People here don’t feel old. They understand walking is part of the transportation system. I ride the bus in the winter regularly with people both young and old who grab the bus and live blocks from a bus stop. Applying those kinds of textbook standards to shape decisions on Crested Butte, seems a form of gentrification — something we all say we don’t want. 

We are closer than we think to the start of the next on-season. In fact it begins this coming Wednesday. It may feel like spring, but winter is looming. Enjoy the remaining few days of a quiet, community-centric off-season. The slower pace, the empty streets, the opportunity to reconnect with friends and neighbors while not hurrying off to another job is fleeting. But it is here now and so we should all embrace it. Believe it or not, the lifts start spinning in less than a week and there will indeed be natural and manmade snow on which to slide… and that too is a good thing in a different way. 

—Mark Reaman

“Do you know who I am?!” 

So asked our congressional representative when she was booted from a Denver theatre for inappropriate behavior last week. Yes Lauren, we do. You appear a horny vaper seeking attention at any cost who seems to have little interest in the seriousness of your job but bathes in entitlement while showering division throughout our congressional district that includes this valley.

A more thoughtful question might be, “Do I know who I am?” That might be a bit too introspective for Ms. Boebert who, until she realized her obnoxiously entitled behavior was caught on camera, simply lied about her actions.

Do I know who I am? For me personally this past week, I was a guy who went to a lot of meetings and events. All those gatherings could be seen as centered on asking the community question — Do we know who we are — or who we want to be?

As the seasons change, fall is perhaps a good time to reflect on who you are individually—or who we are as a community. The days cool down and become shorter. The pace of life slows down. The opportunity to be in nature before the snow flies is paramount. It is a good time to breathe and reflect.

Local people are working to determine who “we” want to be with the proposed Whetstone workforce housing project. Initial discussions at two citizen meetings last week indicated we want to be a community that provides security for the people who have chosen this place to live and work. We want to be a community that honors not just the ability to have a roof and bed close to a job but also honors the desire to participate in the outdoor lifestyle. We want to be a place that provides a potential path for an individual to arrive as a ski bum and then transition to having a family and eventually become a community elder. Details (and of course costs) are what the current meetings are focused on. Good stuff.

The Crested Butte Transportation and Mobility Plan generated a long council discussion last week. There’s no shortage of trying to determine who we want to be in that evolving draft plan. Overall, it currently reads to me that the town wants to use more rules and regulations to push CB toward a place where a car is not convenient but there are alternatives to vehicles. The plan wants to regulate more things so that hopefully people here connect more with one another. Sounds ideal, aside from the increase in regulations.

If not careful, the plan could go off the rails (if only we had rails!) and turn us into another Breckenridge experience that is harder to get to. It’s easy to fall for big city solutions to our small-town issues. Of the six “success measures” evaluated in the latest document, four were noted that “keeping our rough edges and polish only when necessary” as neither accomplishing nor not accomplishing that goal but labelled as “it depends.” Red flag alert! To me, just the phrasing, “keeping our rough edges and polish only when necessary” seems tritely polished in a calculated way. Crested Butte funkiness is organic, and I doubt planning for funkiness results in funky.

Using that “rough edges” metric to make decisions is a change from what the community used in the past to determine future direction. The guiding questions used to be, “will this work for us?” or “does this action make the town/valley good for the people living here now?” If so, we’d move forward, the community members benefitted, and we attracted kindred spirit tourists that liked what we liked. Of all the success measures and guiding metrics in this plan, doing “what is best for the people living here now” should perhaps be 1A.

Frankly, adding more regulations to a community of people that came here in part to get away from regulations should be done judiciously. They are sometimes necessary but how does adding stricter regulations over alleys, prohibiting snowmelt to keep sidewalks free of ice in the winter, expanding rules for parking permits, eliminating parking spaces at Third and Elk, make our lives better? Start there. I have opinions on all those issues, and I know others do too. But whether it is this plan or the budget or housing workers, I would suggest the town leaders consider shifting from asking “how do we keep our rough edges” to asking how a decision will “benefit the people here now.” Of course, the priority would be the residents of town followed by the rest of us in the North Valley and beyond.

While in reflective mode, let’s understand it’s not all rainbows and unicorns here and we can’t ignore the hard questions. I attended the Project Hope luncheon last week. An impressive event centered on supporting local women (and men) dealing with domestic violence, sexual assault and other tragic situations, Project Hope is a normally under-the-radar organization doing the good work in a dark place. With help from the local health community, law enforcement and other citizens, Project Hope is stepping up to help those who need it in the most desperate of times. Can women experience tragedy here in the postcard of a resort community? Unfortunately, the answer is yes and thank goodness there is a dedicated group of people ready with resources to help those struggling with the unthinkable.

Watching the RTA board having to discuss how to ensure that public buses are safe for the entire public is another chink in the blue sky of our postcard community. 

Should it even be a question that people can expect to ride a bus and not feel emotionally threatened? Yes, but that’s not always the case. The RTA board is working to figure out how to make that happen. Policy discussions over what a driver can “broadcast” on the bus are taking place, as is the 2023 discussion over what pronouns to use in their documents. 

Do you know who I am? Do we know who we are? Where do we want to go? How will this help my neighbors? The question used to consider our future should focus on what makes this place better for the people living here now — and not the future lift op who is still in high school in Arkansas or the frat boy in Boulder looking to experience a bonfire on mushrooms. 

I for one appreciate how Vinotokians asked the hard questions and seriously changed in part what the festival is these days. Embracing and expanding the more public family-oriented and introspective elements is inspiring. The autumn equinox officially arrives this Saturday at 12:50 a.m. Take a tour of the various Vinotok altars that are sprinkled around CB before then and think about who you are. Think about who “we” want to be.

Like the seasons, we as people and a community are always changing. I like that this place changes in some respects and have played a part in making some previous changes (even through new regulation). Change is going to happen, but there is nothing wrong with checking in this time of year to ponder the right questions to guide the right change. 

—Mark Reaman