Finding work in the Gunnison Valley isn’t always easy, but find someone with one job and you’re likely to find someone with two. As economist Paul Holden points out in a 2009 report on The Economy of Gunnison County, low wages and a high cost of living often make multiple sources of income necessary. This week we’ll look at a few people who have managed to make it here by dividing their time without losing sight of what’s important. Read More »

Last week we looked at people who divide their time between home, here in the Valley, and work somewhere else. This week we’re staying closer to town with people who are finding ways to adapt in a unique mountain economy. Read More »

Biking in January?…sure, why not?

The short-term forecast looks like more of the same: sun, blue skies, and temps hovering around 30 degrees. With 12 lifts open, Crested Butte Mountain Resort really is doing a phenomenal job of keeping Crested Butte on its skis. But if you’re looking for things to do après-ski, or find yourself with extra down time, consider the following, affordable ways to stay entertained:

Trade your sticks for blades
A new book, New York Diaries, edited by Teresa Carpenter, says that New Yorkers used to ice skate on the canal that is now Canal Street. New Yorkers too poor to buy their own skates would polish a rib of beef and “fasten it on their shoes to skate on.” Luckily, Crested Butte ice skate rentals are available at the Crested Butte Nordic Center for $9 for adults and $7 for kids. Extra time has been set aside for public skating at the Big Mine Ice Arena over Martin Luther King Weekend (check the Parks and Rec page on the Town of Crested Butte web site for specific times)—somehow, the atmosphere of the new roof makes skating feel like a much bigger deal. But there’s also skating available under the wide-open skies of Crested Butte South, and the word on the street is that ice skating on Blue Mesa is better than it’s been in 20 years.

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Collaboration keeps coming up

Trying to figure out how to bring together individual pieces of a potential economic jigsaw puzzle was the topic of discussion last week at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. Some of the valley’s most influential non-political leaders gathered Friday, December 16 at the request of former Crested Butte Academy headmaster David Rothman to discuss how to build on the area’s art and education infrastructure.

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Too far, too fast or not fast enough?

The Crested Butte Town Council gave direction to the town staff at a work session Monday evening to take the next year to “phase in” maximum affordable housing fees. The direction will essentially lower the current affordable housing fee from $83 a square foot to $38 a square foot. Read More »

Twenty-five years in
the industry

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) announced the appointment of Scott Clarkson as its vice president of marketing and sales. Clarkson comes to Crested Butte with more than 25 years of experience in ski industry marketing; he spent 15 of those years at Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, a sister resort of CBMR. Read More »

Economic Sustainability
This is a broad concept, with many different components.  The overriding theme of initiatives supporting economic sustainability is to feed the economic engines of Crested Butte and the upper valley:  tourism, recreation, the arts and education, and agriculture.  Initiatives within this area are as follows: Read More »

Elk Avenue was more vibrant this summer

An initial town review of the summer landscape that is Elk Avenue brought out questions of fairness and crowding with the Crested Butte Town Council at a recent meeting. In the end, the council appears headed toward raising fees on restaurants that elect to have outdoor seating on the sidewalks in the summer. Read More »

July sales tax sets record
Mt. Crested Butte continues to see increases in monthly sales tax revenues over last year, with July collections coming in 8.7 percent above what they were 12 months ago. “We’re still not anywhere near winter collections, but for a summer month that’s pretty good,” Town Manager Joe Fitzpatrick told the council on Tuesday, September 20. “Last year was a good year and we ended up $10,944 above that.” Read More »

Take a second to breathe in these days. The blue, the gold, the perfect temperatures are money.
Hold that breath for a day in January when it might be -30 with little snow, super windy and dark. That is the time to recall this week. These days are sanity in the bank. I would venture there has not been a better day anywhere on the planet than what we’ve experienced this week.
Take a moment (or more) to appreciate it. But life doesn’t stop in these gorgeous off-season days and there are few things that make me need to breathe.

* During a council work session this week, an idea was discussed about including a tiered pricing system to rent public property in Crested Butte. The idea, which has been discussed before, is to charge more for those that aren’t locals. The issue turns on what defines a local. In Councilman John Wirsing’s quick opinion, anyone not residing within the town boundary of Crested Butte wouldn’t qualify for the cheapest rent. It appeared Councilmen Escalante and Schmidt wanted to expand it to those who live in the valley. That seems reasonable.
The bulk of Crested Butte funding comes through sales tax as opposed to property tax. While I live a quick bike ride away from Elk Avenue but not in town, I contributed to the Crested Butte sales tax this week. Buying a beer counts, right? Hundreds of us living in Riverbend or Crested Butte South or Meridian Lake do the same. When we’re out of the valley and people ask us where we live, I’d venture to guess that 95 percent of us say Crested Butte. This is a positive for the broader community. To try to separate those who moved south of Red Lady Avenue is foolish and detrimental to a community of broader kinship and unity.
To be so parochial hurts the big picture for Crested Butte. The “us vs. them” attitude makes the hairs on my neck stand up. To look askance at a 10- or 20- or 30-year resident who has put in time living, working and volunteering here while rewarding the nubie ski bum who arrived on Whiterock yesterday and has a dream to spend a few winters here is shortsighted. Step it up, brother.
It can only help the community as a whole if you begin looking at the whole community.

* The Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project is teaming up with the ski resort to give local kids a chance to obtain discounted season passes if they stay “drug-free.” This is a good partnership and a nice outreach from CBMR to give a boost to some local families that want to purchase ski passes for the season. The program is set up to be a dynamic multi-faceted program that involves the participating kids in events, discussion groups and roundtables. It is a good chance for local kids to thoughtfully discuss a very serious issue that impacts their current and future lives. That in itself would seem a great step forward for many kids and families.
But there is a big but. The 14-year-olds will be subject to drug testing to get their discounted pass. The children must pee in a cup and their urine will be tested to make sure they are drug-free. If not, the pass is taken away and counseling offered. That seems to set up the program in a foundation of mistrust and punitive thinking as opposed to positivity. I love the opportunity for group discussion and honest debate that is a cornerstone of the proposed program. I think throwing in the demand to make kids pee in a cup produces a significant crack in the trust that could be nurtured. It also, in my opinion, teaches a poor lesson about Big Brother and citizens acquiescing to The Man to get something. Getting our next generation used to the idea that it is okay for those in charge to make them do something that is, frankly, demeaning and invasive is not a great life lesson.
Let me make it clear… it is a choice for individual families. No one has to do it. My kids won’t be doing it. And even being faced with the initial choice to participate in the program or not could start a useful discussion between a kid and his parents and that is a really good first step and a positive ramification of what otherwise looks like a pretty decent collaborative program.

Quickies
* Starting a transparent discussion to rebrand or at least rename Western State College with a university tag is an interesting idea. To vet the idea thoroughly now is good start in a long process.
* Vinotok was its wild self and brought a lot of people in to see a wild side of Crested Butte. No wonder it is Crested Butte’s favorite festival.
* CBMR’s college appreciation day was a good idea. College kids had a chance to use the base area facilities for free last Sunday and 150 others in the community used the stuff for ten bucks. The best part is that the ten bucks went to local charities. Nice touch.
* Have you taken the time yet to look outside and appreciate the colors? Don’t let it pass by without holding on to it. Enjoy the rest of this fantastic autumn at 9,000 feet. Breathe it in.