Heaven Forbid…A quick trip to Vail to watch Crested Butte local John Norton get inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame was, believe it or not, too quick. I was actually liking my time in the big city and would have enjoyed another day in what could have been a Disney Euro ride.

First Norton…congrats to a guy who was recognized by his peers for having a significant influence on the entire Colorado ski industry. His unique, sometimes crazy, ideas matched the lifestyle that comes with skiing…he focused on fun and getting people into the mountains to enjoy what the mountains offer. Norton is a marketer, and his idea of a successful ski area might be different than mine, but his heart and mind are wrapped in these mountains and his home is here. Originally drawn to the mountains by fishing, he grew to love skiing and all things mountain and like it or not, helped make this place what it is. Frankly, without some of his effort, who knows if there would still even be an active ski area in the valley today or not. There was a time that CB was on the same financial path as a Cuchara, but thank goodness he was able to help steer us off that road.

Norton comes of course with the legendary stories such as lighting his Hot Finger gloves on fire in front of a ballroom of ski influencers with “Do Not Try This at Home” scrawled on his chest. When other ski areas were expanding terrain and installing high speed quads, he caught the attention of the ski press by touting the new cheese slicer purchased for the Paradise Warming house because that was about the biggest capital improvement the resort was able to afford that year. 

One of his most famous ad campaigns for CB was built around the taglines, “Heaven Forbid we should ever be like Aspen or Vail” or “This is not Vail.” Former CBMR ski president Edward Callaway told the story of how, with the already crazy idea of offering free lift tickets in CB (because people will pay a lot of money to get something for free!), Norton pushed to hire a plane that would drop tens of thousands of free lift tickets over Mile High stadium during a Monday Night Broncos football game. “Let’s drop enough to stop the game and get the national broadcasters talking about it,” he suggested to Callaway and Ralph Walton, who headed up the resort at the time. While intrigued, they consulted the company lawyer and were told that not only would Norton probably end up in jail, but Callaway and Walton likely would as well. That idea was nixed. But it showed where Norton’s marketing mind was not afraid to wander.

Norton helped put Crested Butte on the ski map. We wouldn’t be fretting about a “restaurant disaster emergency” today if the lifts were shuttered, so don’t think it was always face shots and sunshine. And if you like those T-bars that get you to the Headwall or Staircase, thank Norton for seeing the immense value in that terrain and the return on investment to get there on cheap ground lifts. 

As I have said many times, it is a privilege and joy to live in a ski town. Colorado towns without the amenities that come with a resort, like Pitkin or Cuchara, are probably cheaper than CB. Our amenities, along with our location, keep Crested Butte small but interesting. Having been to both Park City and Vail in the last couple months, we are nowhere near that level‚ thank goodness. But Crested Butte is more attractive, exciting and fun in part because of Norton. For that I am grateful. We remain a real small town in the big mountains. Congrats to him that his peers in the ski world recognized his contributions to a business that anyone living in this valley ultimately depends on.

Now Vail…20 hours in Vail actually didn’t feel like enough. Heaven forbid! Founded about the same time as CBMR in the early 1960s, Vail went on to become the commercial success some in CB salivate about. Despite the changes we are seeing in this valley, CB is not even close and still has more rough soul than its big sister that straddles I-70.

Arriving Sunday afternoon and leaving Monday morning was too fast. The place has a Bavarian patina that comes from a focus on the manicured, with perfect flowers on the balconies and open pedestrian spaces leading past not a single vacant business space. Cool outside art and water features are everywhere. Like here, it was not crowded. There was space to walk, and the flow worked great with free buses helping get people around the sprawling greater Vail area. The roundabouts worked. It was quite pleasant.

I didn’t see what looked like many locals in the main core. There were a lot of foreign languages spoken and people like me that were tourists but in nicer shirts. The path along Gore Creek was fantastic, the gardens and parks beautiful. There was activity going on after 8 p.m. The guy at the front desk said he paid $2,200 a month for a studio apartment outside of Vail proper and he’d been in the area 18 years. 

But I didn’t see a lot of people on bikes, moms walking their kids to school or big dogs wandering around. The trash cans were brown, and the buses could have come off the 16^th Street Mall. The Austrian motif set the Euro tone. A beer and a cocktail at the bar topped $30 with tip. Lodging was located over retail, office and restaurant spaces everywhere. The buildings were big (for us) but did have the feel of the Alps and looked great in a perfect picture sort of way.

While I couldn’t live there, it was a nice place to visit, and I actually left wanting more time there.

Coming back to CB reinforced the differences and the comfort of a small, real, western town. The comparisons were evident between the shiny perfections of a Vail and the rough, literally gravelly edges of a small former mining town. A big part of that has to be that so many people still live in and near Crested Butte. While declining, about 64% of the houses in CB are filled year round. In Vail proper, that number is flipped with less than 30% being occupied by full-timers.

The energy that comes with people living near where they work and play makes a big difference. In Vail, we drank our morning coffee on an AstroTurf open space as two little towheaded boys from California kicked a ball. There were cleaners everywhere and everything was spotless, but I didn’t see everyday living activity. Maybe I didn’t recognize it like I would here but more likely it was happening 10 or 20 miles away in Minturn, Avon or Leadville. 

In CB we returned to see the school playground at the entrance to town full of local kids. Construction workers were grabbing a screw or a hot dog at the hardware store. On Elk Ave. a little girl was walking her dog that was bigger than her. People riding townies were on every street. Three dudes that seemed to be taking a break from the new skatepark were lounging together on a bench at Third and Elk. People were picking up their mail and I recognized locals chatting outside the coffee shops. While I didn’t see it in the tourist zones of Vail, I am sure these mundane local activities take place somewhere in the Vail Valley where the real people live — but in Crested Butte real life still takes place in Crested Butte. That is special in a resort community.

Over his decades-long career in the ski business, Norton probably banged on Vail more than anyone. Now he has a display at the Colorado Snowsports Museum located in the heart of the Vail. He has always maintained that CB could never turn into a Vail given where we are located and the limited ski terrain we have. Despite CBMR now being owned by Vail Resorts he appears to be right. I honestly understand the appeal of Vail to the masses but as John once made clear in an ad campaign for Crested Butte — “This is not Vail.” 

Let’s keep it that way.

—Mark Reaman

by Dawne Belloise

Jeremy Johndrow figured out his life’s calling when he started guiding, which led him to start his jeep touring business, JJ’s Jeeps. He recalls his struggles after college to find his path in the world. He even tried moving to the city a couple of times and wound up in Denver doing construction for half a year and then Nashville where he only lasted three months before realizing, “I’m not a city person. I’m a mountain guy. I learned enough about the real world that I didn’t want any part of it.” So he moved to Crested Butte and started doing what his passion dictated with the hope of spreading the passion of the outdoors to others. And he is doing it through his business of providing jeep tours to people who might not otherwise truly experience the real Colorado outdoors. That, he hopes, will make those people passionate about the environment and the specialness of the backcountry.

This year’s touring season is still ongoing, he tells, and fall is one of his busiest seasons. This summer saw large numbers of tourists in town and Jeremy says, “People wanted to see wildflowers and we teamed up with the Wildflower Festival this year for tours. It was their first time offering jeep tours since 2017 and it was wildly popular. We sold out all the tour events.” He also teamed up with geologist Dr. Amy Ellwein to offer geology tours and says, “People loved it, and it was quite popular.”

And best of all, Jeremy feels he’s not only getting paid to do what he loves but, “There’s no better way to inspire someone to protect nature than to take them out in it to experience the splendor first-hand.” Jeremy considers himself a steward of the land and an environmentalist. “I care deeply about the health of nature, but it is also critical that we preserve our precious public lands, because that is why people visit the Gunnison valley and our economy depends on people doing so. Many would consider it hypocritical since I drive around a 4×4, burning fossil fuels all day in the mountains. While I certainly won’t look you in the eye and tell you it’s good for the environment, it’s not as bad as one would think and definitely has the least amount of negative impact of all the motorized activities one can do in the mountains. Street-legal vehicles have stricter emissions standards than OHVs, plus my Jeeps are virtually silent and travel much slower down the trails than dirt bikes or ATVs, causing less erosion. While I do my best to reduce JJ’s Jeeps’ impact on the environment, the most important thing we do is act as a platform for educating people. My clients learn about a variety of issues, both local and global.”

Jeremy grew up in Lebanon, New Hampshire on a beautiful, small horse farm with his mom. It’s where his love for nature and the outdoors blossomed, “We had 25 acres and apple orchards that backed up to a nature preserve with trails, so I grew up tromping around the woods. It was an enormous backyard for a kid,” but trails and bikes connected him with neighborhood friends. “That’s how I got into mountain biking.”

He started skiing when he was three years old on small, local slopes. “There was a poma lift to the three runs and it was about two miles from my house,” he says of the town-owned area that had snowmaking and night skiing. “It was affordable at $3 for night skiing and $6 for the entire day. I still ski and it’s literally why I moved to CB.”

In high school, Jeremy was very active in sports. “I was a nerdy jock,” he confesses. “I played football, Nordic ski raced, and did track and field in the spring.” He graduated in 2004 and was determined to move west and be a ski bum, having been inspired by a Warren Miller film in his youth. 

He looked into various liberal arts colleges in small towns, and discovered Western Colorado University (WCU) as a competitive Nordic skier. “I literally Googled it in 2002 and by the time I made it out here I was more into riding chairlifts and drinking beer than I was Nordic racing,” he laughs. Jeremy decided to take a gap year first and was hired as a liftie at Alta ski resort in Utah. It was his first time living and skiing out west and that year dumped 700 inches of glorious white snow.

Traveling back home to New Hampshire that spring, he came through Gunnison, which didn’t impress him much with its low sage covered hills. “But then I drove to Crested Butte and was absolutely awestruck. I thought, if this is 40 minutes down the road from Gunnison, I can go to WCU.” He arrived at the WCU dorms in August of 2005. The wilderness-based orientation, a 5-day backpacking trip before school started, took him up Cement Creek and Hunter Hill. “It was an awesome experience, and I met a great bunch of friends right off the bat who I’m still friends with to this day. I immediately fell in love with this valley. I felt this is the place.” Jeremy double majored in business and outdoor recreation with an emphasis in ski resort management and a minor in environmental science and graduated in 2010. 

 Throughout college, Jeremy worked at the popular Gunnison restaurant, The Trough, a job set up for him by a New Hampshire friend who had also attended WCU. He tells that there weren’t a lot of ski area management jobs available when he graduated because of the 2008 recession, so he went into property management and, eventually, construction. In 2013, he started his own handyman business called JJ’s Property Maintenance and Construction. For six winters starting in 2011, he also led snowmobile tours up Kebler Pass. ”I realized I was actually a good guide,” he says.

Jeremy had been introduced to four-wheeling in college, exploring all the vast public lands with his friends. “I bought my first jeep in June 2006, right after my freshman year. It was a great way to get out and explore and find out where all these roads go.” After chatting with the U.S. Forest Service he determined that local jeep guiding would be a good business. At the end of 2019, Jeremy did an incubator program with ICE LAB at WCU (a boot camp for entrepreneurs starting up new businesses), attended first aid and CPR classes and applied for his guiding permit in February of 2020. “There’s a lot to the application and quite a bit of paperwork involved. It’s not easy.”

And then COVID hit one month later. The Forest Service reached out to ask if he wanted to push the application until next year. “But I wanted to get started as soon as possible.” Jeremy got a temporary permit, which is required for the first few years before you can apply for the 10-year priority permit. “I wanted to get that going ASAP and figured COVID would only last through the summer. Well, that wasn’t the case… Even though CB was busy by the following Memorial Day and the public lands were busy because it’s what people could do at distance, not a lot of people wanted to ride in a jeep,” he recalls. He did take about two dozen people out that first season. While he didn’t make any money, Jeremy felt it was good practice to figure out his routes and timing. The business has grown consistently since then. By 2022, he reached the cap of permitted people at 200. This spring, he was granted the 10-year priority permit. Jeremy currently employs three guides.

In the fall, when the leaf peepers come to town to view the spectacular golden display, Jeremy’s business booms. “It’s a beautiful time to visit CB because it’s less crowded and the weather is really nice. I take people where the foliage is best and cater the tours to each client’s request. Some have certain sites they want to see, some want to get extreme and some don’t,” he says. However, he emphasizes, “I avoid Kebler during foliage season because anyone can go there in a car. I will escape the crowds and go to places that cars can’t go for the beautiful foliage. The places to go for the best foliage change every day with the climate due to elevation. Up high, the leaves are going  to change first and that determines when the leaves are peaking.”

Jeremy loves the sense of community he finds in Crested Butte and the access to the outdoors. “I get to share my passion for this valley. I love history, I love geology and I love jeeps. I’ve been a gearhead since I was a little kid and I’m a good mechanic. I’ve been wrenching on cars since I could drive them and when you’re driving mountain roads things can definitely break.” 

Jeremy’s tours are an opportunity for him to educate people on a variety of issues that are important to him, from climate change to beetle kill to the importance of the sage grouse, wolf reintroduction and even the local housing issues.

“When my clients see the mountains up close and personal, they fall in love with them and it’s easier to get them to care about the environment. Older, or less physically-able people can’t hike, bike or climb mountains and it’s a great way for them to get out and experience the backcountry again and see the beautiful sights of nature. The majority of my clients are older people who have the time and want to get out and do things, but their bodies aren’t what they were. I’m doing what I love and where I love and you’re showing people these sights and they’re just awestruck. It’s a nice reminder of how lucky we are to live in this beautiful place.”

For more info, visit his website at jjsjeeps.com 

By Dawne Belloise

Locals know, and visitors can easily see, that Crested Butte is a dog town that loves its furry family members. Growing up in town since the age of 13, Mikah Fontenot’s passion now is working with dogs. It was 2018 when Mikah started working for Oh-Be-Dogful Pet Ranch, a local dog day care center. “It made me realize that working with dogs in some capacity was what I wanted to do full time.” This led to moving to Oklahoma City to get the experience to further that career path and then returning home to Crested Butte.

Mikah’s family moved to CB from Oklahoma City after spending a couple of winter skiing vacations here. Please note that Mikah’s preferred pronouns are they/them. They began skiing at the age of three and switched to snowboarding at eight, “It was really cool to get my own gear when I was 13,” they said about moving here. “We needed a change of scenery and the schools in Oklahoma City were pretty bad. They don’t have a great level of education so my parents decided to make the move,” which they did in February 2009. They came from a class that was the same size of the entire CB high school, but Mikah recalls that, “Moving in the middle of the school year helped a lot. If we had moved in the summer, it would have been harder to meet people and everybody was pretty welcoming here. I definitely had more freedom moving here.” Mikah notes that in the city, kids had after school programs until parents got off work, but a childhood in CB was completely different. “There’s a more of an opportunity to run wild and free. Any teenaged kid is going to be happy that all of a sudden their town fosters freedom over more of a security that you have to have in the city.” 

Mikah graduated from CBCS in 2014 and by that time was pretty jaded about living in a small, isolated town. Attending the University of Oklahoma for a year, Mikah didn’t really have a plan as far as studies, but had been a big sports fan of the school and looked forward to its big state school culture where they could go to football games and sports events. However, they discovered, “It was too big and too easy to party and not focus on studying.” So they left, “I wanted to come back to CB. College wasn’t where I needed to be and I didn’t know exactly what the next step would be, but my family was here.” Mikah returned in the summer of 2015.

They were working at Bonez when winter arrived and Mikah became a full-time lift operator. That summer, and the following one, they worked up at the Adventure Park. They decided to go back to school at Western Colorado University (WCU) for the 2016/17 school year. “It was much more conducive to my personal learning style. The biggest class at WCU was just as big as the smallest classroom at Oklahoma University.” Mikah also loved that they were able to balance employment with club sports, playing rugby and baseball while working at the resort for that coveted ski pass.

“It was great to be back. I realized that I had taken for granted living in a small community when I left the first time.” But some classes were at 8 a.m. in the dark of those frigid Gunnison winters and Mikah decided, “I was over the cold. I was also in a long-distance relationship with a Texas girl so initially I was going to transfer to a Texas school but we ended our relationship.” However, Mikah decided the change would still be beneficial. “I did a short stint of culinary school because I decided that I liked cooking. I made it through the first semester and thought, why I am paying for something that I can get paid to learn?” They went full time into restaurant work for almost a year in Texas before winding up back in CB, and Mikah noted, ”It was the pull of the valley and my desire to be back here.” 

They worked at various restaurants in town as well as for Crested Butte Mountain Resort as a lift operator. “I actually liked working the T-bar because it was mostly locals.” Mikah was primarily working the High Lift and sometimes North Face Lift during the winter of 2018/19. “I was just hanging out, I was happy living the life.” In 2019, after enjoying the job working for Oh-Be-Dogful, Mikah headed to Oklahoma City where they felt there was more opportunity to expand that type of training. “The city was a place I was familiar with and it’s one of the more overpopulated states for overcrowded dog rescue and puppy mills. I knew I would be able to find employment in that area of work. I really liked working in the rescue side of things at Oh Be Dogful and there are so many homeless dogs in Oklahoma City, so it seemed like a good place to go.” 

Mikah did various jobs like dog walking, dog sitting and a day care similar to Oh Be Dogful. “I started working at a place that did aquatic therapy for dogs which was really awesome. We’d help dogs with tendon tears or hip problems or who needed to lose weight. We had heated pools and depending on the dog, I’d be in the water assisting them with the swim. Some dogs are self-sufficient enough to rehab themselves in the water, so we’d just be supervising. I’ve been face to face in the water with some pretty crazy dogs. Some dogs would be brought in not necessarily needing physical therapy but having had a traumatic experience with water, so they were afraid for whatever reason. I’d essentially be a swim coach to break that fear. It was the coolest job I’ve ever had. If I had an angel investor, I’d start something like that here. I think it would do so well in this valley since dogs are always getting hurt here because of the active lifestyle and limited therapy, in addition to the rehab options,” Mikah says. “Not all dogs like going outside in the winter but they still need exercise, and swimming for 30 minutes is equivalent to running three miles for a dog.” 

And if you’re wondering about all those dogs doing what dogs might do in a small, contained body of water, “The pool I worked with had an excellent high-tech, saltwater filtration system, because yeah, dogs.” 

Mikah still works at Oh Be Dogful as well as The Breadery a couple nights a week. They’ll also be at Bjorkstand Hats on Elk. “When I was in Dallas, I learned to shape hats and work on them. In the back of my mind, I thought it might be one of those odd jobs I can have in CB.”

Mikah was in Oklahoma when the pandemic started, in a relationship and due to COVID, “We moved in with each other earlier than we would have, before we really got to know each other.” When the relationship didn’t work out, Mikah moved back to CB in the fall of 2021, smack in the middle of COVID. “I felt safer here. Being part of the LGBTQIA2S community in America these days is difficult, if not downright terrifying.

“I’ve been saying for a while now, with the way the world and especially this country is devolving, it’s either Crested Butte or somewhere in Europe for me,” they say of their choice of residence. “I don’t see myself living somewhere else in the U.S. Parts of that relationship helped me to conclude that I am a trans woman. Coming to that realization while being in a place like Oklahoma was a wakeup call. CB is the safest place I could possibly be within the U.S.” 

Mikah explains, “There’s gender that’s on a spectrum and sexuality in its own separate spectrum, and then your romantic interest as well is on its own spectrum. So there’s gender, sexuality and romanticism, all on separate independent spectrums. You can have a romantic interest but not want a sexual relationship, that’s asexual. It’s all mutually exclusive. I figured it out in the fall of 2021 and came out in June and no horribly negative experiences came from it. There were good and bad but more good reactions than bad. It’s not easy being a trans person in the dating world in CB or anywhere,” Mikah adds. “Being in a small community makes it that much more difficult but overall, it’s been positive beyond expectations. This community has been very accepting. The biggest skepticism I’ve had is from people from Oklahoma and Texas. Most people assume I’m just a gay man based on the way I dress and the fact that I don’t wear makeup. A lot of trans women learned how to be really good at makeup to feel more like themselves but that’s just not me. I have no desire to delve into that.” 

Mikah feels it’s the people, environment, weather and activities that keep them here. “I would refer to it as a black hole because it always pulls you back in, and not in the best of ways. That’s what I used to say but now I really understand the more widely accepted metaphor of Neverland and Peter Pan. You drive into this valley and into a bubble and you stop aging,” they smile. “If there’s anything I’ve taken away with me from all the times I’ve left the valley, it’s that you shouldn’t take anywhere you go for granted because I gained valuable experience in those other places that allowed me to find jobs in the valley that are fulfilling to me.”

Good advice I’ve heeded through the years is to take things bird by bird to get good things done…or in my case this past weekend, stroke by stroke. But a big house project all came around to again seeing a great trait of our community through the fumes of 20 gallons of siding stain.

Spending four, eight-hour days on a ladder breathing oil-based stain fumes is not the best way to enjoy a sunny weekend at 9,000 feet, but it accomplished a needed house project that was put off for years. It also gave me a lot of time to think, but the fumes are lingering a day later, and I don’t remember most of what crossed my mind 23 feet above the ground.

Staining a house takes time. Just the idea can be overwhelming when looking at the size of a house and the size of a brush. It’s probably one reason it didn’t get done for so long.

In her book Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott focuses on writing and life. It is a good book. One lesson she imparts is that when facing a daunting task, take it one piece at a time. A worthy task can be full of challenge and frustration and also very rewarding. Just start and see what happens. 

The title Bird by Bird comes from advice that her dad gave her then 10-year old brother who had let a three-month school deadline slip to the very last minute and was faced with having to compose a big report on birds in a single night. He panicked and froze as he thought of the task ahead. “(My brother) was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

Good life advice. That’s how I did the house. One stroke at a time. I took it stroke by stroke. And four days later, 95% of the house is richer and darker than a week ago. Of course, I had help from family and it wasn’t easy, but it got done…and looks great by the way! In the haze of redwood stain fumes, it was also a reminder of how we accomplish real things in the valley—bird by bird.

In this world of screens and instant gratification where one expects easy answers to sometimes complicated issues, this community has taken the approach to get things done. Big problems are daunting, but the folks here understand they can be faced one step at a time. 

Yeah, there isn’t enough affordable housing for people who want to live near where they work. There probably never will be but it can be better. Since the 1990s, the town of CB has taken on the issue one stroke at a time. The town set aside land in the 1990s for mobile homes at the entrance to town. They used carrots and sticks to get more deed restrictions on homes in Crested Butte. The community found ways to incentivize homeowners to use small accessory dwelling units and alley houses for people. And when compared to most other mountain resort communities in the Rockies, Crested Butte today has one of the highest percentages of full-time residents actually living in town. About 65% of the homes in CB are occupied by residents year round. Other resort towns are closer to 30%.

As experience and money have expanded in the valley, there are two major workforce housing projects that will likely see dirt turned within a year or two. The Sixth and Butte Mineral Point project should begin this fall and includes 34 rentals for people not making a lot of money as well as deed-restricted home ownership opportunities in Paradise Park. The Whetstone project south of Crested Butte will, in theory, add about 230 units dedicated for workers. The hope is to begin that project in the fall of 2024. That likely means another 450-600 people living in the North Valley and being a lot closer to their jobs than the workers who live in Leadville and work in Aspen or Vail. Throw in the potential of the North Village, Homestead and projects in Gunnison, and the community is figuring out ways to keep a vibrant full-time community living in this magical place that could have easily turned into just another enclave for the super-rich. Bird by bird.

The RTA started out 20 years ago as an avenue to support airlines coming into the valley. It gradually added bus service up and down the valley. In 2008, its first year on the road, it provided 11 roundtrips in the winter, three roundtrips in the spring and fall and nine in the summer. Right now, there are 28 roundtrips going between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte every day this summer. This winter there could be up to 42 roundtrips every day. Bird by bird.

Other models of local success reached step-by-step through relationships, truth to place and honest commitment to compromise and respect include things like the Gunnison Basin Strategic Sage Grouse Committee, the myriad trail systems at both ends of the valley that weave in and out of public and private property. In that vein, there are the Crested Butte Conservation Corps, the Gunnison Trails trail crews and the STOR Corps backcountry crews. U.S. Senator Michael Bennett is working hard with local recreationists, ranchers, businesspeople, wildlife advocates and conservation groups to come up with the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act that could benefit our region. It has taken awhile but it keeps moving forward. Bird by bird.

I tuned in to a Gunnison County commissioner’s meeting last week. It was at that meeting that Western Colorado University representatives laid out the basics of their new strategic plan. 

Commissioners Jonathan Houck and Laura Puckett Daniels (LPD) praised the plan for its return to seeing its location as a positive, its commitment to a liberal arts education element and its acknowledgment that it too will have to address challenges like housing one step at a time. 

“Our community excels in problem solving and that is in part through the application of the skills that are the foundation of a liberal arts education,” said Houck. He said this community can see challenges and look at different ways to solve problems and then take the numerous, not always easy, steps needed to finish something. Bird by bird. 

Accomplishing real goals and not just coming up with more plans comes through creativity and resilience. It’s not thinking a magic wand is out there to suddenly fix everything. But it’s what we do as a community. Being able to communicate with friends, neighbors and adversaries is also important in any successful endeavor. LPD agreed a liberal arts education can help provide all those skills and emphasized the value of communication and lasting relationships. That too is part of our “brand” if you will. Add to it by not making the mistake of letting the perfect get in the way of the good (my staining job certainly was not perfect, but it was good) and it all adds up to success.

The fumes are still swirling in my brain, and I am sure there are a thousand of other examples of local accomplishments that came through creative ideas, hard work and resilience. The thing that frustrates too many here is that it actually takes time and work to accomplish real success. Frankly, I have little patience for those that just want what they want now and can’t see the practical steps it takes to get something done.

 If you want to get good things done— it’s done bird by bird, stroke by stroke. We are fortunate to live in such a place…and I am fortunate that the staining project is over.

—Mark Reaman

Lobby’s billy barr and Matchstick Lounge opening soon

By Kendra Walker

Since being taken under new ownership, the Elevation Hotel and Spa team has been hard at work over the last six months to reestablish the hotel as a local community gathering place. With renovations underway for both a lobby bar and a new restaurant lounge area, and more plans in the works, the Elevation team is hoping to bring some vibrancy back to the Crested Butte Mountain Resort base area. 

The 262-room Elevation Hotel was acquired by Dallas-based hospitality company WoodHouse from Boxer Property last August, and Elevation’s managing director Nick Klaus recently shared with the News some of the new hotel improvements in development. 

Klaus said that the process so far has been heavily driven by local collaborations and partners in order to make the updated property reflect the vibe of the local community and truly feel like Crested Butte. He stressed that the goal is for the Elevation to be a gathering place and community anchor for locals and visitors alike.

“It’s important to us that we’re bringing the community back here, but also that the guests experience Crested Butte history and what makes Crested Butte unique. Visitors want that local energy and vibe and want to feel like they are part of the community as well. We can create that ecosystem and give people a reason to stay up here.”

billy barr 

The hotel lobby has been renovated into a full-service bar, named the “billy barr” after the world-famous local Gothic resident and environmental researcher. “We want it to be the living room hub of activity,” said Klaus, noting the lobby bar offers a fresh take on the gathering area vibe of the old space now with food and beverage options. “We want to bring the community back in to have a comfortable place to hang.” The space is for guests, locals and anyone who wants to grab a coffee, bite to eat or cocktail. Coffee and breakfast service will be from 7 to 11 a.m., and food and cocktail service will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Klaus recounted the Elevation team’s recent Nordic ski adventure out to Gothic to meet with barr, get his blessing to use his namesake and gather inspiration for the hotel’s new concept. Elements of Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) history will be sprinkled throughout the space, and RMBL and the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum have donated old photos and memorabilia for the décor. 

“billy barr is part of what makes Crested Butte so special!” said RMBL executive director Ian Billick. “For 50 years he has been his own unique individual, doing ground-breaking science around snow. He has generated more international exposure for Crested Butte than any other person or institution, including RMBL. It is great to see the Elevation ensure local awareness around just how special he is.”

The new billy barr is slated to open this month. 

Matchstick Lounge

A new lounge is also in the works within the José restaurant, an award-winning Mexican cuisine and tequila pop-up concept that was introduced last fall as part of the Elevation’s 9380 Tavern food and beverage offering. The overflow space located near the restaurant’s restrooms is being revamped into a new lounge concept called the “Matchstick Lounge.” The space will be able to seat 60, host 100+ people for events and will be open to guests, locals, skiers, riders and athletes. Klaus said the goal is to have a place for brands, athletes and influencers to show their movies, visit and hold events. The Matchstick Lounge will include a pool table, dart board, games and state-of-the-art AV for sporting events, film screenings and world premieres. 

The name and design are inspired by local film production company Matchstick Productions, and the new lounge will include movie posters, Matchstick memorabilia, old cameras, skis and behind the scenes production photos. 

“For over 30 years the crew at Matchstick Productions has been proud to call Crested Butte home,” said Murray Wais, executive producer and director of Matchstick Productions. “We are excited to partner with the Elevation Hotel to open a space where we can celebrate the sports we love, while sharing in the passion of film. We hope everyone can come to have a drink, play some pool and watch some shred flicks or other events. It’s going to be a really cool place and I know our team will be hanging out there. It’s the perfect place to hang after skiing or biking.”

 The Matchstick Lounge is slated to open to the public in early March. Matchstick Productions and the Elevation plan to host events throughout the year for film screenings, athlete signings, industry parties, resort holidays and more.  

Bringing vibrancy to the base area and providing places for workers

Klaus said the Elevation’s new Matchstick Lounge and billy barr are among many projects aiming to create inspiring spaces at the base area to bring people together and celebrate the Crested Butte community and culture. Since WoodHouse took ownership of the Elevation, Klaus said the team has been engaged with the community’s goals and desires to bring vibrancy back to the base area. The town of Mt. Crested Butte recently adopted their new Master Plan, which has stressed the collaborative need to revitalize the base area and sparked stakeholder meetings with property owners at the base area. “People are looking for that vibrancy and to bring some life back to the base area,” said Klaus. “We want to help bring that energy here and contribute some spaces that people want to hang out in up here.” 

The Elevation is also making an effort to house locals, providing housing for hotel staff and CBMR employees. Currently, the hotel has 43 rooms being used for hotel staff housing, said Klaus. “We also have a master lease with Vail to house 40 of their employees here. That’s important for us. As a hotel we want our guests to have a great experience on the mountain, which means employees should be happy and are having a great living experience here.” 

Klaus said the team is still working on the Elevation’s long-term plan for rooms and other parts of the hotel, but he has received positive feedback on the changes since WoodHouse took over ownership. “Sales are up, people appreciate the quality of the food at Jose’s and the service, and everybody so far has been very positive,” he said. “And when it warms up, you can’t beat that patio location.”

In an ideal world, the property at the top of Elk Avenue would be operating as its traditional use as a working sawmill. All Crested Butte’s local workers would live within 500 yards of their part-time jobs that funded them the freedom to ski and ride and play. The 13-acre Whetstone parcel south of CB would be a scenic meadow filled with wildlife. 

Alas, that ideal is not based in current reality. The reality is money, waves of new people who appreciate resort amenities and gentrification of an old mining town are shifting the old uses to higher end roles like nice homes and affluent businesses. Money is now a major factor on what town will look like and the working class requires specific places and special effort to keep them living in the North Valley. 

That is where decisions made today to guide growth through smart direction and compromise come in.

At Monday’s appeal hearing over a proposed minor subdivision at the top of Elk Avenue, Crested Butte planning commissioner and councilmember Jason MacMillan said he couldn’t say in five years whether someone would have the money needed to build a house on top of the hill. 

He was referring to the weird parcel of land located looker’s right at the very top of Elk Avenue that used to be a quarry and sawmill. MacMillan was debating with some of his colleagues whether someone would have the means to build a house on what looks like an unbuildable hillside but that would have a prime perch overlooking town while being smack dab in town. Lord knows it would take some major engineering to accomplish and that takes deep pockets. But I think I can answer Jason’s question: No — it won’t be five years when someone with such capital comes to town. They got here yesterday. 

Whether a person with that much money wants to spend it for that site is another matter. But this isn’t the 1990s where the wealthiest of CBers might not have the bank account to pay for the engineering, lawyers and construction that would need to go into such a build, or when CB lovers would understand such a decision was not best for the place they wanted to be part of. Learning from our sister resorts ahead of our curve, the new reality is that there are plenty of people of such means here now and someone with an attitude of owning such a unique ‘look at me’ second (or fifth) home would not be surprising these days.

Not to go all softhearted on developers, but it was disappointing to see their appeal fail with CB elected officials when the proponents were suggesting two houses on six lots and a guarantee to keep the hillside site line clear of development in what could be a very visible spot overlooking the heart of CB. It seemed a reasonable compromise that provided some certainty in a highly visible spot and believe it or not Don Quixote, compromise is not always a bad word. You don’t have to tilt at every windmill if you can grab a win without a fight. The developers and town staff spent 20 months working to find a workable compromise solution and BOZAR and the elected planning commission (town council) were split over the proposed solution, so it was rejected.

Now, I went by the lot after the meeting was held and to say it would be a tricky place to build is an understatement. Nothing looks like it would be easy to do on that piece of property. I have no idea how someone could build a house and get in the front door if they built up on the hill. Maybe nothing happens there, ever. But as has been seen in other resort towns, anything is possible — with enough money. It is a matter of engineering, concrete, effective attorneys and creative architecture, all of which would cost bank. Thank goodness CB isn’t attracting people with money!

Which leads me back to the idea of Whetstone, compromise and certainty…

The proposed Whetstone affordable housing project had a public hearing last week and unlike the Corner at Brush Creek process, this one started with a lot of community outreach and dialogue by the county (kudos!) that resulted in goals for a livable neighborhood full of workers. Not a single person at the public hearing said the location was not suitable for workforce housing. To get to the proposed sketch plan design, various compromises were achieved over months of outreach and discussion. The number of apartments versus duplexes, the amount of green space, the parking allocation, the need for workable transit access, all came about through lots of discussion and basically compromise. 

More potential compromise could come as planners figure out how close to the highway the major apartment buildings should be to retain green space and make future residents comfortable without urbanizing the entrance to CB. How Crested Butte might provide utilities to Whetstone will include compromise with what conditions are included. How best to respect and coordinate with adjacent neighbors will be a result of compromise. But the bottom line at that public hearing was that even when someone brought up a point of concern, they all started by saying they supported the spirit of the project. 

Time too has softened opposition to large numbers of new full-time residents being situated a few miles from CB. Reality vs idealism. Compromise on how best to accommodate the future neighborhood has resulted in new ideas like a roundabout on the highway. Discussions over unavoidable impacts of hundreds of new full-timers will include more dialogue and compromise as the process continues. But the bottom line is that being willing to move a little to the left or move a little to the right to improve the overall community makeup will result in a better place for the future of the North Valley as it changes so fast. Guiding growth now and not just saying no will have the greatest impact.

Which brings me back to the Elk Avenue parcel. When developers can whittle down an agreement with town staff that protects an in-town viewshed while dropping the (normal) density on a piece of property, it seems reasonable to strike a deal. You can tilt at every windmill that appears in the North Valley or you can accomplish some reasonable protections that will matter to some future Crested Butte. 

Who is to say whether someone will be willing to spend seven or eight figures for an opulent house perched at the top of Elk Avenue in five years? I’m pretty sure the money part of the equation already exists here, so when a chance to stop that perch possibility came up but was rejected, that was a bit disappointing. 

Compromise is not always a bad word. That is how government officials can guide the direction of what is to come with some certainty. The Whetstone process is a good example of that. The decision for the top of Elk Avenue is not.

—Mark Reaman

About the time the CBMR T-bars started spinning last week giving access to the renowned Extreme Limits terrain, I took a COVID test in the office. And then another because I didn’t like the result of the first one. Donald might have been on to something back in 2020 when he said, “When you test, you create cases.” Had I not tested, would I still have had a case of the Vid? If there was no chance to see the two lines appear, would I have just had a cold like I thought since my throat was sore and my nose drippy? If the High Lift spins in the night, does Teo 2 really exist? If the red light is on in the morning but the hotline says uphill skiing is probably okay, does a Paradise lift op really care?

“Cases are up because we have the best testing in the world and we have the most testing,” said math genius Donald. The fact was that I did test, and I did get the dreaded double line (twice) to indicate I had tested positive for COVID.  

And it was dumping as the T-bars were spinning. 

My wife was fortunately out of town and had tested negative, so it was just me and the dog to imagine the soft pillows of powder getting the season’s first tracks down Headwall and Hawks Nest. If Mojo dreams of untracked pow does a PAWS cat get its wings?

As reported last week in the CB News, Gunnison County saw a spike in flu, RSV and COVID cases as we moved into high gear for the tourist season over the holiday period. While the hospital is doing fine, more people here have the crud and some of the cruds are probably COVID…we’d know if they tested but then, Lord knows how many more positives we’d tally to skew the numbers. Nationally, COVID is producing new variants that are spreading across the country. Get ready for XBB.1.5!

My COVID bout felt like a lingering cold, but I followed the CDC guidelines and isolated for five days. I did a lot of snow maintenance on the driveway. If I don’t drag the snow off my roof, is it really a snow problem since it changes to ice? Mojo and I took a lot of walks. The neighbors politely tried to not return to the neighborhood and rub in how good the skiing was but if a neighbor is grinning, is it because someone plowed the berm or because there were face shots on the Monument rope line?

Taking the Tao attitude that the situation was a test of patience…sort of like four years of Donald’s math and deduction skills, I accepted the situation. Deep breaths helped as I moved snow onto the growing snowbanks along the driveway instead of the growing moguls in The Glades. If a mogul appears on The Face does the CB Mountain Bike Association gain another storage space by Baxter’s Gulch or does a big Whetstone building get closer to the road?

Honestly, it was not a bad weekend as the days were beautiful and the life tempo more mellow than had I been caught up in the opening frenzy…which I find less and less desirable. Several times I looked to the sky and expressed gratitude to the Universe for being able to live in this beautiful high mountain valley amongst this wonderfully rich community. 

And speaking of, we lost another of those who truly appreciated living here. Annie Coburn “crossed the river” this week and to me she was one of those who particularly embraced what the place added to family. As a mid-timer, peers making the crossing is the inevitable time we are in, and in the Tao space, I am happy Annie was here and that I knew her just a little bit.

Over the weekend I was cleared under CDC guidelines and had tested negative for COVID. Does my positive still count if it is now negative? On Monday, I slipped out of the office about 2 o’clock and scooted up for the end of day High Lift to NFL T-bar lap. There were no lines. Heck, there were few skiers. If a ski run is empty have there been any turns? I actually saw morning groomer lines that were still there on at least one run, so maybe not. 

The thing about the late Monday ski was not that it was filled with fresh snow (although it was still soft) and not that there were any over-the-hood shots left — but that it was open. Having that terrain accessible, for me, borders on the spiritual. The nooks and crannies of the Extremes whisper to those who live here and ski the hill. That terrain being open is one of the things that makes this place special. Despite some previous marketing campaigns, it’s not family-friendly Roller Coaster that draws the tourists or keeps the locals here, it is the steeps. It is the traverses. If a local kid can ride Smoke-a-Bowl Point, should she get busted, or will another Mark Walter restaurant stop serving locals while not telling anyone?

As we head into the heart of the winter ski season, there are no doubt challenges in this growing resort community. But I am grateful for those who live and play here. I am grateful for the ski area and the people who work to get open the places that make this place magic. I am grateful the white snow is falling which will help make the summer green. I am grateful there was only one line on the last test and my symptoms were like a mild crud rather than a harsh beatdown. I am grateful progress is being made on workforce housing. If an electric bus carries a waiter to the Four-way does the school need another classroom?

Checking back in on the political world, the first order of business for House Republicans was to try and defund, disrupt and dismantle government. Their priority was to try and defund the IRS under the deceptive reasoning that the money already approved in the budget is going to fund 87,000 stormtroopers to come after your house. That is a lie. The money is actually meant to hold their wealthy donor tax cheats accountable and get the rightful money owed to the American people while improving agency technology. Is a House of cards built on lies any way to start serious work? No, but it is not surprising.

When is a negative a positive? When it’s on a COVID test! As the days consistently grow longer and the snow consistently gets deeper, it is shaping up to be a good season in a place the relies on seasons. We awoke to another surprise six inches Tuesday, and more is in the forecast. It is a time to be grateful. Happy winter everyone.

—Mark Reaman

Two local challenges were made clear this week and they are challenges that could impact the long-term community for a long time. One is literally a wolf and the other is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Let’s touch on the latter first…

The Gunnison County Library District has received another batch of requests to relocate books in its Young Adult collection that deal with gender issues. The formal notices claim the books are not appropriate for people under the age of 18 and should be moved from where they are to another shelf. The requests insinuate that it is for the benefit of the children. They come on top of another report filed with local law enforcement saying those same books should be removed from the library and “criminal charges filed” …presumably against the library administrators. 

The wolf in sheep’s clothing description is apt because that is how book banning and book burning, censorship and restrictions of art and literature begins. It seems so reasonable to keep a book that includes sexual language and uncomfortable gender illustrations out of the hands of the children. And that seems to be the case now. They are not on the children’s shelf by the Magic Treehouse series and there is no mandate to read This Book is Gay if you take out Green Eggs and Ham for your 5-year-old. I stopped by the Old Rock Library Tuesday morning and the books were on a shelf in a separate Young Adult section of the building and located above my line of sight. 

The teenage years are some of the most challenging for most everyone. Emerging emotions, spiking hormones, feelings not yet totally formed and mind and body changes that are real as a human develops and tries to figure out what it wants, can all make it hard. It is a time to talk to friends, to parents, to family and discuss the challenges – but that can be part of the challenge itself. Sometimes a teen does not want to talk about uncomfortable issues. For me, books in my local library were a deep pool of information I could access on my own without the struggle of having to explain what I was dealing with. I have heard more than once in the valley that that is the case with local teenagers as well. Those dealing with a variety of issues appreciate the availability of a book they can relate to and access. 

So, when people say they want to deny a book to certain people because it is for the good of the children, I raise an eyebrow. Maybe those making the request are the ones that are still uncomfortable. Maybe they are the ones who are having the issues and despite their claim of a benevolent reason for doing so – for the children – they are essentially attempting to bully those humans looking for information by denying them that access. 

And in Colorado they can do so anonymously, which is insult on top of injury. A district court judge has ruled that based on state statute, those asking to relocate or ban books do not have to share their names or where it is they live. They are cloaked behind a curtain of anonymity which to me seems the antithesis of how a robust democracy works. I support anyone to be able to stand up and make their requests that impact the community and are willing to publicly debate the merits of their argument. But to be able to push for changes that impact what I or my kids can access without having the courage to do so in the public square is a travesty. I don’t know if the latest requests for reconsideration of materials at the Old Rock Library came from someone living in CB or someone sitting in a cubicle in Missouri getting paid by the Koch brothers to make the same requests at libraries in Colorado, California and Illinois. The verbiage used here certainly reflects words used by people like the governor of Texas. 

While I would 100% support the idea of anonymity with what someone takes out from the library, I believe it is imperative to know who is attempting to tell you what books you are able to access in your public library. In fact, the CB News is in the midst of arguing just that in the Colorado court system (see page 17). In the meantime, be aware that there are people trying to ban or censor access to what is in the local library. And to say they are doing so for the children seems to me they are a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it will likely not end there if they get their way…

The other issue that has come up deals literally with wolves. The state has released its draft wolf reintroduction plan and the Gunnison area is one of two ground zeros – the other being the Glenwood Springs to the Roaring Fork Valley area just over the hill from Crested Butte. In other words, it won’t just be just coyotes we hear howling at the moon in the neighborhood. And while that sounds all old west romantic, it has the local ranchers taking a deep breath. 

As my recreation friends know, I tend to support the positions of the local ranchers first despite me being a recreationist. But I feel it is the active ranching community that separates us from other mountain resort communities, and I would advocate to give them a boost up instead of more problems. I want them here as an active part of our community.

And despite assurances by wolf advocates, the ranchers see the introduction of wolves in this area as a problem that makes their lives and their businesses harder. In the past, they have pointed out that while the wolf pack might first go after the local elk herds for sustenance — and they anticipate CBCS students will get a first-hand view of the circle of life as a wolf pack takes down an elk from the herd that makes the wetlands near the school their fall home — they eventually will stalk cattle. Cattle are the rancher’s livelihood. It is not just the taking of a cow or two but the stress it puts on the entire herd that results in pounds coming off the cattle and that is money out of their pocket. The local ranchers say wolf reintroduction will impact them, tourists, hunters and the community in general. They say despite good intentions, there is no going back to the early 1900s and they view this initiative as a way to put working ranches out of business. 

The state will be holding a series of public meetings this winter to gather more public input over the draft plan that puts our valley in the center of wolf habitat. One such hearing will be held in Gunnison in late January. That no doubt will be an interesting meeting. 

We are heading into the start of the ramped-up winter season. The nights are longer and the temperatures colder. The big jets begin this week to bring in loads of people to ski and enjoy our village and it marks the beginning of a busy time in a ski town. Enjoy the holiday season and get out to enjoy what it is we offer others…but be aware there are always challenges brewing in our valley.

—Mark Reaman

Many of the hippies that stumbled into a not yet gentrified Crested Butte in the ‘60s and ‘70s stayed in the valley and watched the “old-timers” move on – either to places like Pueblo or New Mexico, or to one of the most scenic cemeteries in North America located just north of town. That’s all part of the cycle, the circle of life. 

Now it appears it is their turn. A lot of the CB hippies that stayed at 9,000 feet for decades have either found their own warmer winter spots at lower altitude or have ended their journey (at least physically) below the west side of the pointed laccolith overseeing the North Valley. One of the most iconic of the early CB newcomers, a true legend, Eric Ross, was one. He sadly moved on from the physical journey last week from his home in Wildbird. He won’t be writing any more hilarious 10-minute plays or adding to his voluminous pile of funny KBUT radio sketches, but his spirit is probably making Mitch laugh pretty good about now.

One quick story Eric probably was never aware of: Several years ago, a friend of mine who was in a place of struggle was driving back to the valley from a road trip. He says he was in what would be considered a rough mental spot and was at the wheel wondering if it would be better to just swerve left into the path of a Mack truck. As he came through Almont the radio started playing Cool Stuff, Cool People — one of Eric’s many short but weird and zany vignettes he did for KBUT. My friend said hearing Eric’s voice going on about something crazy changed his perspective and he kept the steering wheel straight. Because of Cool Stuff, Cool People he was reminded of why he lived here and was jolted into remembering that he was comfortable and accepted in a valley full of different sorts of people…people like Eric Ross.

Maybe Eric didn’t save a life that day – but maybe he did. He certainly impacted a member of the community in a time of need, and my guess is that he has not been the only one to feel the positive vibe of Eric’s uninhibited and joyful mind. He sure made me smile a lot the last three decades. I’m sorry to see him move on…but it is part of the cycle…

Speaking of…it is difficult to believe the 2022-23 CBMR ski season begins in less than a week. For whatever reason, that is hard to get around my mind. It has certainly been cold enough the last few weeks to understand the inevitable move from fall to winter. It’s just for some reason this year has been a particularly hard transition. Instead of getting used to the single digit temperatures early in the morning, it just still feels cold.

I will say that CB Nordic has done an incredible job with Lily Lake and skiing up there is nothing but sweet winter. The grooming has been great, and it is fun to see a lot of people heading up there on both Nordic and AT gear. It sure is a pretty postcard type of place and a traditional transition to move into the winter wonderland that is Crested Butte. Kudos to the skinny skiers.

As with the start to any CBMR ski season, it is normally met with joy and hope. Skiing is a big reason most of us came here originally. Getting the lifts turning so we can again ride with joy the slopes that lay below the point of Crested Butte Mountain will start next Wednesday and run until April. The hope of course is that we have a big season in terms of snowfall. The thought of waking up regularly to a foot of fresh so we can experience a pleasure not everyone can enjoy is part of the anticipation of the new season.

And then there is the hope that we have the Goldilocks tourist season — not too many and not too few but juuuuust right. To me, tourists and part-timers add good energy to a ski resort and provide diversity and new perspective to our home. I really enjoy that and appreciate the amenities provided in a resort-based community. No one wants the lines at the chairlift to be pouring out beyond the maze and no one wants to not be able to go out to eat because the wait is two hours. That benefits no one — those working or those hoping to enjoy a meal. It just adds stress to what should be a good time. Who needs that? 

A legitimate concern is that because there are now so many restaurant spaces that used to be filled with dynamic local eateries but are now sitting empty, the ones that are operating will be overwhelmed. More stress. That leads to burnout on the employee side and bad experiences on the customer side.

As reported this week on page 1, aging commercial kitchen ventilation systems are contributing to the issue but so is the takeover of downtown business spaces by just a few people of means. Someone said to me that Crested Butte’s favorite billionaire property owner, Mark Walter, sees his spending here like dropping $20 at the bargain bin. That’s fine and I sort of get it. But his spending spree that has so far resulted in a lot of empty buildings has real impacts on us living in the bin and the vibe of a unique place that depends on visitors for much of the economy. It takes away from the dynamic spirit of our community and frankly will not encourage those that came here wanting to see Colorado’s last great ski town to come back — and like it or not, that matters. 

As I have offered more than once, if Mr. Walter wants to sit down for 10 minutes and communicate to the community through the community newspaper what it is he wants to do to add to the community, he is more than welcome. 

Heck, I’ll give him as much space as he wants to write an unedited letter so he can relay his thoughts about a place he apparently likes. So far, no word. While he has enough money to not care if the buildings he bought are full of revenue generating customers, I’m just curious to know if he understands the impacts on the rest of the community.

So here we are on the cusp of another ski season. Like the passing of the Crested Butte old-timers and the original CB hippies, the circle of life and of the changing of the seasons march on. No one knows for sure what will come next. That’s part of the charm of living in a small town at 9,000 feet in the mountains. We will no doubt miss some of the local legends this winter, but the seasons continue to come as will young people looking for the same thing Eric did in the hippie days. May they be fortunate enough to experience half the life and make half the impact he did here. 

The cycles continue….

—Mark Reaman

Are current regulations working for or hindering the town with affordable housing?

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

The first in a series of public meetings being held to gather feedback on what direction the town of Crested Butte should take regarding updated vacation rental regulations was held August 24 and it included viewpoints on all sides of the issue with a majority tilt toward pro-STR (short-term rental) positions. More than 30 citizens attended the meeting in person at the town council chambers with another two-dozen participating through Zoom. Staff used a technological tool called Menti to gather the thoughts of the participants. The more than two-hour discussion was at times heated, but the Crested Butte planning department said that while the issue was hard, the goal was to work together to come to some sort of consensus direction.

The town staff provided STR data as part of, but not before, the public meeting and this tweaked some participants. Probably the most relevant information posted by the town was what had happened to houses that gave up short-term rental licenses. That has been frequently requested information. Vacation rental licenses have been required since 2017 and were capped at 212 and designated to certain town zones. The 212 is about 17% of the town’s current overall housing stock of 1,243 units. At full build-out town is anticipated to have 1,379 units. Because of a moratorium implemented in 2021 on issuing any more vacation rental licenses, there are currently 192 so-called “unlimited” STR licenses and about ten limited licenses that max out with 60 rental nights. 

Town data showed that since 2018 55 homes have obtained and then relinquished their licenses. Approximately 30% of those properties became owner occupied homes, 18% have been long-term rented, and 52% became second homes. Seventeen of those 55 licenses were relinquished since the moratorium began and one became owner occupied, three became long-term rentals and 13 are now second homes. As for the new long-term rentals, the town does not have data on what the rents are for those units.

“That’s the data with no interpretation,” Crested Butte community development director Troy Russ told the crowd. “Most that gave up the licenses turned into second homes and there was a small increase in long-term rentals. We’re trying to build trust and represent the collective. We haven’t interpreted the data, just collected it.”

But some in the audience felt that was incomplete. “So the council agreed to a ‘North Star” problem statement without the data?” asked Karl Zachar. “That doesn’t make sense. The data should also include the price of what the houses that gave up their licenses through a sale sold for.”

Resident and realtor Mindy Sturm said the data should include who is long-term renting the former STRs. She postulated it wasn’t frontline worker types like waiters or teachers but more likely retirees or remote workers with high paying jobs outside the valley. She sees the local ski bums as an “endangered species” and said they deserve first crack at long-term rentals to have a chance at that lifestyle. She said with remote work decreasing she hopes there will be more rentals on the market for locals but said the current STR regulation seems to be working.

Crested Butte long-term planner Mel Yemma explained the vacation rental discussion was being conducted through the framework of the emerging Community Compass plan that is based on the four primary community values of being “authentic, bold, connected and accountable.” Developing a “problem statement” to define what problem is trying to be solved is the first step in the process. In this case, the statement drafted by the town staff says: The Town should regulate vacation rentals in a way that acknowledges their economic and fiscal impacts, confirms the licensed use meets the intent of existing zoning districts, supports the Town’s affordable housing goals, aligns the housing stock’s use with the needs of the community, and ensures neighborhood livability.

Yemma said the August 24 meeting was meant to focus on what success would like with updated vacation rental regulations. 

“There is some confusion here,” pressed Zachar. “What’s the goal? Do we all agree with the council’s problem statement? Is this where we all want to head? We all agree we want more local housing but is this the way to get there?”

“Shouldn’t we also be including and asking our tourists?” suggested Laurel Walker. “We are a unique tourist town after all.”

Quick online thoughts

The staff used Menti to solicit thoughts on a number of topics and so-called success measures. Thoughts were displayed on a screen in the council chambers, but no name was associated with individual ideas.

When asked what being connected meant in terms of vacation rentals, ideas included: Being sensitive to your neighbors, not saying nasty things about tourists and second homeowners at the Post Office and store, making lasting relationships, providing an authentic experience for visitors, welcoming all to town, knowing the people around you.

Being accountable meant: people understand and ensure they follow the ordinances, realizing that there are no hotels and tourists need places to stay, that there needs to be transparency and consequences of new regulations.

As for being bold it solicited thoughts of: supporting a vibrant STR environment, understanding that STRs are Crested Butte’s hotels, not giving into the vocal minority, following the data and not just special interests and coming up with unique solutions that fit Crested Butte’s style.

Property manager Steve Ryan was part of the original citizen’s task force that helped come up with the current STR regulations in 2017. “When I look at the data I see a trend that limits vacation rentals but provides a needed service. If the 2018 regulations are accomplishing the goals, what is the point of this if the regulations are working?” He also explained that the task force concluded STRs played a very small role in potential affordable housing since most people bought a place in CB so they could use it for themselves and their families and thus were not conducive to long-term renting the property.

“There have been short-term rentals in this town since the time the ski area opened,” added resident Bob Bernholtz.

“There have been such drastic changes in the housing situation between 2018 and now,” responded Russ. “We declared a housing emergency and the vacation rentals have exploded with things like VRBO and the Internet. But if this doesn’t make sense, we don’t have to make changes.”

Ryan expressed he felt a “vocal minority” was driving the housing emergency narrative and said all his employees have found housing with the biggest hurdle being for those with pets. “One employee said that if he didn’t have a dog, he had several choices of housing opportunities.” Ryan also noted that STRs generate a significant and stable amount of tax revenue earmarked for affordable housing. 

Do STRs prohibit full time occupancy goals?

Russ noted that the relationship between housing and jobs in town is out of whack as the number of jobs in town has grown faster than the number of houses being built and significantly faster than the growth in full-time occupied homes. 

“There’s been an increase in housing too, but they are now mostly in the multi-million dollar range,” said Walter Schoeller.

Russ asked what the impact of the STRs is on the town goal to have 75% fulltime residents living in Crested Butte. He said that currently the town was comprised of about 65% fulltime residents and that would be increasing somewhat once the Sixth and Butte/Paradise Park affordable housing project is completed. Having 65% full-time residents occupying the housing stock in town is considered to be quite high for a resort community and Crested Butte is top among ski towns. Russ noted that while Crested Butte’s percentage of full-time residents is number one for ski towns, it is down from Crested Butte’s 79% of full-time occupied homes in the year 2000.

One participant noted that if STRs are only 17% of town then there is opportunity for 83% of town to be filled with full-time residents.

“When it comes to a vibrant town, income doesn’t matter,” Russ said. “We want a rich, functioning community that includes members of the workforce, retirees, remote workers.”

“All these success measures are subjective,” concluded Yemma. “Everything is on the town website and this meeting was recorded and will be included. Focus group meetings start next week. We are working on this together. The issues are hard but we can do this together.”