[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

If you find yourself traveling up the meandering dirt road leading to Gothic and decide to stop in that tiny camp town full of research scientists and marmots, you might be greeted by Rick Horn, the manager at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (RMBL aka “Rumble”) Visitor Center. Rick, who was once titled information technician, is now the center’s manager and has spent nine summers at the base of the spired mountain. As info tech, he’d give talks about RMBL’s history and research. After his first summer there in 2014, he was asked to be manager. “I love the organization for so many reasons,” he says and notes that the tourist traffic into the visitor center has increased exponentially since he first started. “We’ve gone from about 10,000 visitors during the summer season to about 20,000. There’s certainly more people coming from other parts of the country who have found their way to Gothic,” he explains.

Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, Rick touts that’s he’s a real Midwestern kid but quickly adds, “We love having grown up there, we just don’t want to live there as adults.” He also had the ideal American family life. “My father was a World War II vet and mom was a part-time librarian. We grew up in an Ozzie and Harriet household. I was a hardcore baby boomer.” 

Even though he was in a big city, Rick was very outdoors oriented. He’d often spend time with his grandparents who lived in small towns in Iowa and got him outdoors. “One grandfather was a farmer, the other hunted and fished every day and I was influenced by both.”

In his Midwestern school, Rick recalls that team sports ranked as most important for everyone. “I was too small, so I wasn’t going to make any of the teams, but I had a talent for writing and journalism.” He became editor for his school paper. “I really liked journalism and if you were the editor, you could have your own column on the front page.” Rick was part of the generation who was profoundly affected by the assassinations of President JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the latter who died on his commencement day. There were 800 graduates in his class of 1968.

Rick was a good student but laughs that he wasn’t the greatest. However, he knew he was going to college because the Vietnam War was raging and the draft was in full effect and boys could get a student deferment. “My sophomore year in high school was when they had the first draft and my number was 80, and up to number 150 were going to Vietnam.” 

Rick enrolled at the University of Iowa, where there was a small ski club of about 30 people and as a freshman in 1969, took his first trip out to Colorado, spending five days at five different resorts. “I took a half-day lesson from a college-aged girl with a great tan and I loved everything about the experience – the fresh air, the beauty of the mountains, the snow, that beautiful blue sky. It was before the Eisenhower Tunnel was built so you drove over Berthoud Pass. It was just a life changing experience for me.” After that, during spring or Christmas break, “Whoever had a car that would run, we’d road trip to Colorado, usually Steamboat, Aspen and Vail where a lift ticket was only $6.50. So, for a couple hundred dollars, a college kid could go skiing in Colorado.” 

On May 4, 1970, four Kent State University students were shot dead and nine others injured by the Ohio National Guard for protesting the war. All hell broke loose across the country, and it was yet another life changing event for Rick and his generation. “Every campus exploded with riots and demonstrations. The school was shut down right after and they wanted us to leave campus and go home. It became really personal because now there were college students being murdered on their campus and it radicalized all of us. It was very personal,” he says of the shootings, “because a lot of us were going to be drafted.” 

Rick received his degree in business in 1972. It was a mere two weeks after graduation when Uncle Sam called up his number for the draft and Rick received his papers. He was determined not to get drafted and fortunately, he was rejected because he had grown up with asthma. “I was ready to go to Canada. I was not going to be the last person killed in Vietnam,” he affirms, as the war was declared over in 1974. “I put my dog, skis and road bike in my car, and I moved to Steamboat in the fall of ‘72.” 

With no affordable housing, Rick moved into a trailer park 11 miles west of Steamboat, essentially living in a closet and working as a diver at the Holiday Inn. He didn’t even make it to ski season there because of his housing situation. 

After a trip up north to see if there were any other desirable small town ski resorts in Montana or Wyoming, he headed to the newly opened Snowbird and moved to Salt Lake City where he felt confident that he could find work and housing, and eventually wound up in Sandy, Utah. “I spent four years waiting on tables at night and had a ski pass at Alta and Snowbird. It was an exciting time. I didn’t know how to ski that well, but I met a few friends who helped me learn. I just sort of followed them around,” he laughs. “We had over 600 inches the first two years I was there.”

Living the dream ski bum life was fine but Rick decided to return to the Midwest to seek a real career in 1976. “I thought I’d have better luck finding a job back in Iowa than in Salt Lake City, because of the Mormon influence, since you might not be hired if you weren’t a Mormon.” 

After a short, unfinished stint at Drake University in Des Moines, Rick had an opportunity to help open a restaurant in Minneapolis, which moved him into the Twin Cities. “I liked it because there was snow, better skiing and bike riding, it was better in a lot of ways.” He spent the next 22 years there entirely in the restaurant industry.

In 1984, after managing various restaurants, he was hired by a small company of restaurants called Applebee’s, he grins, and tells that there were only nine restaurants in the newly started franchise. Over the 15 years he was with them, he built out about 20 Applebee’s in various locations, including Washington state, and saw the company grow from nine restaurants to over 1,000. He eventually moved from the franchise side to the company side of business as VP of operations as well as VP of concept development.

With his background and now years of experience, Rick was snatched up by an Italian restaurant company in 1999. “They were expanding to Naples and Fort Myers, Florida, and they needed a guy who had grown a restaurant company before.” He traveled for work from Minnesota to Florida to open those new restaurants but after spending way too much time on planes, phones and in hotels for two years, he and his wife felt a change was needed. “My wife was tired of being a lawyer,” he tells of his spouse, Susan Holappa, who he met through Applebee’s where she was a lawyer. They married in 1989. 

 The couple had been spending their vacations in the West and one night after dinner and wine in Grand Junction they decided to make the leap. “We were returning from a Lake Powell trip, and we decided to sell the house and move to Grand Junction. We weren’t sure we wanted to live year-round in the snow and Moab is an hour and a half from GJ. I thought GJ looked like an undiscovered gem.” They bought a home there in 2001. Rick did some restaurant consulting but three years later, anxious to hit the slopes with a pass, he applied to be a CBMR ski instructor. To his utter surprise, they hired him. Rick and Susan bought a tiny studio condo at Skyland Lodge, splitting their time between CB and GJ since his wife still had her law practice on the Western Slope.

With his management skills, CBMR moved Rick into ski school supervisor his second year there. The following year, he was promoted to Adult Ski School manager. Unfortunately, two years later, CBMR hired a new ski school director who fired everyone and Rick returned to being an instructor with no salary or health benefits. But he continued to teach skiing in the winter until 2014 when he went to work as an information specialist up at Gothic. “I love being part of the RMBL team. I felt so fortunate to find a home like I’ve found at RMBL. I’m older than billy barr by one week,” he laughs, “so I’m the eldest there. I have a wonderful staff who come back to work every year at the visitor’s center. We keep growing each year and I’m thrilled that I’m making a contribution there.”

As with most Buttians, what he’s enamored with the most about this valley is, “The people who live here, the environment, the beauty. Just like the first time I ever went skiing, the beauty is overwhelming. I love the size of the town, going to the post office, grocery or having a beer on Elk Avenue and seeing people I know. There’s no place I feel better and no place else I’d rather be.” 

Gunnison Arts Center:
• Main Gallery: “Life in the West” by Cheri Isgreen.
• Cafe Gallery: “Acceptance” by Jennifer Lynn Butler.
CB Arts Festival:
• Art demos, auction, family activities, live music, food and more. August 5-7 at the CB Community School. Tickets at crestedbutteartsfestival.com.

THURSDAY 4
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Crack of Dawn Group topic discussion, Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. CB Rotary Club weekly presentation featuring () at the CB Center for the Arts.
• noon Cultivating Hope Cancer Support Group online & in-person, free, livingjourneys.org/calendar.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 4-6 p.m. CB South Farmer’s Market at Red Mountain Park (thru 9/29).
• 5-6 p.m. Oh Be Joyful/Gunnison Food Pantry Food Bank at 625 Maroon Ave. 970-349-6237. (1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month)
• 6 p.m. Old Rock Library Wine Tasting Fundraiser at Queen of All Saints.
• 6-8 p.m. Artist meet and greet with Dolan Geiman at Favor the Kind.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Live music featuring The Bellamy Brothers at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison.

FRIDAY 5
• 10-11:30 a.m. Historic Elk Avenue Walking Tours with the Crested Butte Museum, meet in front of museum at 4th and Elk, 970-349-1880.
• 11 a.m. Chamber Music with the Land Trust and the Crested Butte Music Festival at the Peanut Lake Wedding Site, crestedbuttemusicfestival.org.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 6:30 p.m. Live music featuring House of Cards at Talk of the Town.
• 7:30 p.m. Live music featuring the Kitchen Dwellers at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison.
• 5-8 p.m. First Friday ArtWalk with the Gunnison Arts Center at participating locations in Gunnison.

SATURDAY 6
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 9:30-10:30 a.m. Free Yoga in the Park with CB Power Yoga at Rainbow Park (donations accepted to benefit Mountain Roots).
• 10:30 a.m. Bluegrass Camp Performance with the Crested Butte Music Festival at the CB Center for the Arts, crestedbuttemusicfestival.org.
• 11:15 a.m. Singer-Songwriter Camp Performance with the Crested Butte Music Festival at the CB Center for the Arts, crestedbuttemusicfestival.org.
• 5:30 p.m. Trey Wellington Band and Jessica Lynn with the Crested Butte Music Festival at the CB Mountain Resort, crestedbuttemusicfestival.org.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Literature at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

SUNDAY 7
33rd Annual CB Rotary Duck Race (tickets at cbrotaryduckrace.square.site)
• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. CB Farmer’s Market on Elk Avenue.
• 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Artists of CB Art Market at the parking lot at the top of Elk Avenue.
• 5 p.m. All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church service at UCC, 403 Maroon Ave.
• 6 p.m. Sundays @ 6 at Legion Park in Gunnison featuring Two Faces West.
• 6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 9 p.m. Live music featuring George Porter Jr & Runnin Pardners at Public House.
• 8 p.m. Michael Franti & Spearhead – Follow Your Heart Tour at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison.

MONDAY 8
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. Alpenglow! Outdoor Concert Series featuring Dragondeer at the CB Center for the Arts.
• 6 p.m. Navigating Grief & Loss Support Group online & in-person, free, livingjourneys.org/calendar.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

TUESDAY 9
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Duane Vandenbusche’s History Van Tour with the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum, crestedbuttemuseum.com, 349-1880. (Tuesdays thru August 9)
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 5:30-9 p.m. Tin Cup Whiskey Presents: at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison.
• 7-8:30 p.m. Public Policy Forum featuring General James L. Jones: “America In Decline? Not so Fast!” at the CB Center for the Arts, crestedbuttearts.org.

WEDNESDAY 10
• 8:30 a.m. Hike with HCCA. Sign up at hccacb.org.
• 8:30 a.m. Free T’ai Chi sessions at Three Ladies Park, all levels welcome.
• 10-11:30 a.m. Elk Avenue Walking Tours with the Crested Butte Museum, meet in front of museum at Fourth and Elk, 970-349-1880.
• noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Yoga in the garden in Mt. Crested Butte wedding garden pavillion (Wednesdays through 9/28).
• 5:30 p.m. Music on the Mountain featuring Paper Idol at the CBMR base area.
• 5:30-7 p.m. Mid-Week on Main Street live music at IOOF Park in Gunnison.
• 8 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at the CBCS high school gym. Enter through the doors by Tommy V Field.

[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[  By Katherine Nettles  ]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[  by Dawne Belloise  ] 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is not really that surprising that surprises pop up everywhere. A Russian figure skater is allowed to compete at the Olympics this week even after testing positive for a banned performance enhancing drug. Huh? Republican party officials think rioting in the U.S. Capitol is “legitimate political course.” Okie dokie. The New York Post discovered Snoop Dogg smoked weed right before performing at the Super Bowl half time show! Shocking! All are surprises but are they really?

Locally, a bit of a surprise was announced this week as the Gunnison-Crested Butte airport is heading toward modern record numbers of people using the facility in a winter season. The remaining flights continue to fill up and air travel out of Gunnison is once again becoming a real thing.

It seemed to me that when Vail Resorts first took over CBMR, the drive market suddenly exploded as people who had heard of Crested Butte but never skied it came in droves for the weekends. That Front Range push seems to have pulled back a bit perhaps because many of them probably got stuck in the Highway 285 traffic jams on Sunday afternoons as they headed back home. The weekend spike in our lift lines don’t seem as dramatic this year as they have in the past.

Now it is the air traveler who is coming here to ski. According to recent reports presented at the RTA board meeting last week, the local airport will see more people pass through its under-construction terminal than at any point in recent history. Flights out of Dallas and Denver are averaging more than 80% full and Houston is at almost 75% full. Flights are so full this winter the RTA may not have to pony up the financial guarantees it has as part of the contracts with United and American airlines. Private jets dot the runway daily. Focused marketing efforts seem to be successfully attracting adventure loving millennials who bike, ski and enjoy experiences over things. That visitor draw is sure to get the attention of the Broomfield execs. 

Unlike some living here, I truly enjoy most of the tourist town elements of CB. Surprise! The challenge is to manage the impacts that come with it. Having more people fly here fits into the old CB equation that the valley can handle increased numbers if the tourists use the right infrastructure. In winter, visitors can fly in on metal tubes from all over the country, board the metal tube of a bus or van, get dropped off at an existing hotel, walk over to ride the ski lift, take the bus downtown for meals before heading back to the hotel to sleep and do it all again the next day. While certainly not carbon neutral, the tourists can be contained so they have an efficient and enjoyable visit without overstressing things like roads and parking. 

Those that fly apparently spend more money than those that drive to a vacation. That should help the local shops and restaurants. Of course, the problem right now is the limited restaurant scene, which is part of the private infrastructure. I’ve said before and will again, that compared to just a few years ago, the local dining scene is basically a foodie desert with some really fine oases to visit. It just takes some planning and luck to find them.

A longer-term question becomes whether those that visit will return when facing a less than optimal experience if they can’t find an easy place to grab a good dinner. That’s part of who we are. That slice of the tourism infrastructure is lacking right now. Given employee shortages with the tight housing situation — which is in part a private business infrastructure responsibility by the way — who knows when that will catch up. It’s part of the challenge.

Despite a splash of snow on Wednesday, the lack of new snow after a really good early season snowstorm is a bit of surprise. In the old days, you could count on regular storm cycles all winter and February was a sweet snow month. Not so much now. After a huge 99-incher of a snowstorm it has been weeks since we’ve recorded any significant new snow. We can hope the 1-2 inches forecast for Wednesday and Thursday increases to 6 or 7.

Bluebird days have led to some precarious conditions up on the hill so consider this an alert to be aware and pull it back a notch. The snow is “firm” pretty much everywhere. I spoke with a visitor from upstate New York a week ago and she said conditions were still better than most East Coast resorts but she was finding a lot of similarity to her home ski hills. 

What is termed “slide for life” conditions are in effect. That’s where you might catch an edge on a steep slope, fall and become a slave to gravity. There are times you can accelerate so fast that it is impossible to stop. And as was evidenced more than once last weekend, the worst-case scenario is when you are stopped by a tree or big rock. It’s not pretty but it is real right now and anyone who has skied much has experienced a slide for life surprise.

Look, attaching two planks to stiff plastic boots and choosing to point them down a mountain covered in snow is not inherently safe. But it sure is a lot of fun. So have fun and avoid a hospital bill. The forgiveness window is narrow. The local tolerance level for overconfident Front Rangers is slim. The entrances to the Extremes Limits are challenging and if you can’t ride a T-bar, there is no way you’ll easily navigate the traverse into the Face. Just sayin’. Give our patrollers a break and ski within your skill set. And pray for more snow.

Try not to be surprised. Don’t go to Sock It To Me Ridge unless you are honestly ready for steep, bony and slick. Expect to wait a while for dinner on Elk Ave. Know that you’ll be sharing the construction zone of the airport with more than a few people. If you see Snoop Dogg, don’t be surprised if he smells like weed. And don’t for a minute believe January 6 was “legitimate political discourse.”

—Mark Reaman

Will Crested Butte’s Community Compass long-term planning project actually guide the future of this community or will it be just another document for the dusty shelf? It feels that some on council are waiting for the document to provide easy answers to every hard question ever faced in town, but I’ll bet a dime to a dollar that won’t be the case. I’ll be happy if it can simply make clear the community vibe in 2022 and help point the way toward the path of a cool and interesting future that keeps this a different and vibrant community where all sorts of people can live, work and play until the end of their days.

The Compass undertaking is finishing up the first phase where town planners spent months reaching out and gathering input from hundreds of locals and visitors about what they see as important now and into the future of the North Valley. Chatting with people about their ideals is the fun part. CB’s Compass Couple Troy Russ and Mel Yemma sincerely want to hear from everyone so if you haven’t participated, give a ring at Town Hall. Preliminarily, Mel and Troy along with some planning consultants came up with six “emerging core values” identified by the community. 

As you would expect, those basically included a community that cares for its people, an appreciation for recreation and the great outdoors, the desire to keep Crested Butte a small livable town that has an authentic feel, a commitment to environmental stewardship and climate action, a desire for a town that is pedestrian and bicycle friendly that promotes social connection and an economy healthy enough for people of all economic stripes to be able to live here. 

Few will disagree with those stated values as we evolve every day into a more expensive resort community at the end of the road. 

It is easy to put idealism on paper. The hard part comes in the details amongst continual evolution. Those involved in this Compass process admit that drilling down will result in tensions. Are people willing to build affordable housing on or near wetlands that shrink open space and views and impact wildlife? Do you max out the density of local housing projects to get another couple units on the property to the detriment of quality of life for those that will end up living in a crowded project? I hear some people say they love the ranches and what they bring to the valley while later grousing about cows on the trails or the inability to access amenities on working ranchland conserved in part with public dollars. Many embrace the dream of Crested Butte being an idealized Zermatt in the Rocky Mountains with a ban on all vehicles but as CB community development director Troy Russ pointed out Monday, traffic is us — and when push comes to shove how do you ban your neighbor from having a vehicle when they use it all the time?

When people say they want to “keep the rough edges” of Crested Butte what does that mean? One rough edge back in the day was that there wasn’t a high school in town and teens were bused to Gunnison. No one I know with kids wants to go back there and I’d argue the school has brought more change to CB than just about anything. Living in a drafty old mining shack where the dog’s water bowl would be a bowl of ice every January morning was a rough edge but is not something I want to experience again. Not plowing until there’s six inches is great on day one of a snowstorm but as I watch people fall on the icy snowpack all over town because plowing couldn’t keep up last month, is that a rough edge worth keeping?

Despite some believing this is the first long-term planning exercise ever conducted in the valley, there have been plenty. Turn to the 20 Years Ago Today section this week for an example. The tricky part comes when decision makers confront the reality that their vote to change things will anger their neighbors…so it’s just easier to call the plan a success and put it on the shelf. I hope the Compass provides more.

Troy and Mel have put in the most time and effort I’ve seen to reach out to a broad swath of the community and they are only at the end of phase one. Kudos. I think they understand that phase was probably the fun part of the process and they admitted Monday there is some real work coming up. Hard decisions, regional partnerships that aren’t automatic given differing priorities, defining what individuals mean when they say something as simple as ‘pedestrian friendly’ all bring up issues.

I must say that Monday’s council discussion was an interesting brainstorming session. I heard the council conclude more than once that keeping a lot of the unique Crested Butte flavor depends on basically staying a small, intimate community. I absolutely agree but even that simple conclusion brings up tension points. Do you build enough local housing in the North Valley to fill every empty job in every business or do you build just enough to keep the place vibrant with local residents? Is that the same thing? That’s a density conundrum. Do you go way out there and purposefully make decisions, like mayor Ian Billick brainstormed, that declares this a place where people are not penalized for chatting with neighbors on the street that results in them being late for a meeting or work? Are we ready to go all Mediterranean or Costa Rican? Sounds great unless I’m the one waiting for the dude to take over my shift so I can pick up the kid from school. What will “Crested Butte time” mean in the future? I do like Mona Merrill’s dictum to keep the community a place where we can all “be present.”

While I remain a tad skeptical over the proclaimed panacea of what this project will do, I am impressed with the real effort being put into this Community Compass. It gives me some hope. It is obvious as I wrote last week that the old-school Crested Butte is at a tipping point. I personally miss those days but honestly, elements like the old-school CB with frozen dog dishes and no high school is not a place we need to go back to. It’s not about replicating the good ‘ol days, it’s about keeping the flame alive. 

Practically, it might be having the town council (and county?) require that any new accessory building like a garage include a deed restricted, rentable accessory dwelling unit and tweaking the codes to make that possible. It might be giving up a few rental units in the big proposals so the eventual residents have room to breathe and park and store their toys comfortably. Think quality over quantity in the long run. It might be the county putting a hard cap on home sizes and charging a substantial workforce housing fee with a building permit based on valuation (instead of square footage?). 

The challenge at this juncture is to maintain the spirit of old school CB while moving forward. The Compass is providing a chance to set and publicly state the new path or at least point the way toward that path. This place is always evolving, and not always for the better but I give credit to this team for trying to determine what we, as the current caretakers of community, can do to guide the inevitable change. 

Now it’s on to the hard work.

—Mark Reaman

Developer in default of contract, Mt. CB has hired an attorney

[  By Kendra Walker  ]

The long-awaited Homestead affordable housing project in Mt. Crested Butte has hit multiple snags in the past couple years, from COVID to construction delays, the latest snag being that the developer has not renewed the contract with each of the contract holders who had expected being moved in to their respective units by now. With little to no communication from the developer, the rest of the involved parties – including the contract holders, the transaction broker serving as the liaison and the Town of Mt. Crested Butte – have been left frustrated and uncertain on where the project stands. 

In November, each of the Homestead contract owners of the 22 units were notified that the developer, Lance Windell of Homestead Housing, LLC, had not signed the contract extension, putting him in default of the contract. According to Homestead’s transaction broker Gary Huresky of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, Windell said he wanted to consult his attorney before signing the contract again, due to issues with the supply chain, material delivery and lack of contractor availability.

However, Huresky explained that even though the developer is in breach of the contract, the contract holders still have a contract. “Everyone’s frustrated and I can understand that,” he said, explaining that it has been challenging to get in touch with Windell. “The communication has been weak because I don’t have anything. I call and I get nothing from him, no callbacks.” The News has also attempted to contact Windell multiple times with no response. 

After finally receiving a very brief update from Windell last week, Hureskey shared that “the developer’s attorney is talking to the Town of Mt. Crested Butte’s attorney to try to figure out a way to move forward.”

This week, the Town of Mt. Crested Butte also shared an update. “The town is in a unique situation because we are not a party on the contract between the buyer and developer,” said town manager Isa Reeb. “The town has hired an attorney to help us better understand what our options are and how we can best proceed. At this time, we do not have additional information or context we can provide regarding the situation and what our role is going to be moving forward as we are in the beginning stages of receiving guidance from our attorney.”   

Earlier in the fall, the town had stated that they were working with the builder to focus energies on three of the eight total buildings. Huresky explained that of the 22 units, seven units are dried in for the winter and there are foundations on two other buildings but the rest of the units haven’t even scraped the ground yet. 

“When COVID hit it just brought everything to a halt with material delays, contractor delays, etc. I couldn’t think of a worse-case scenario with a pandemic, construction costs and delivery delays,” Huresky said.

Hureskey noted that four contract holders have backed out of the process and received their money back. 

“I can’t imagine the scenario that some of these folks are going through, there is no housing, there are no rentals,” he said. “If a rental does come up it’s exorbitant in cost and we have a project that’s not making any progress.”

During the December 21 town council meeting, one of the families who had expected to be moved into their Homestead unit by now spoke during public comment to express their frustrations with the project.

“On June 6, 2019 we entered into an agreement to Homestead LLC to purchase a home with a projected move-in of March 2020. We should have been spending our second holiday season in our forever home,” said LaDonna Garcia. “Why is it that we have moved three times and my daughter still doesn’t have a room to call her own? Why is it we have no idea when or if we’ll be able to spend our next holiday in our home?

“In June of 2019 we could have purchased a home, maybe one we could barely afford but we could have been financed for a home on the private market. Instead we put our faith in the town to follow through with its commitment of the Homestead project. Two years later we have no home, no options to purchase a home on the private market, and we can’t even get financed for a home on the private market. Our income is derived 100-percent from the valley and yet we cannot afford to live here and we are homeless. I am currently 48 years old and I am living with my parents. Thankfully I have that option but there are so many more that don’t. This was not the life I chose when I chose to raise my child here. I’m not just speaking on my behalf, I’m speaking on behalf of at least four other families who are facing the same challenges.”

She continued, “We want a commitment from the town to add the Homestead housing project to each agenda until this matter is resolved. We want the town to commit to communicate directly with each family impacted with an update even if there is little to update. We want the town to commit to ensuring alternative housing options if the Homestead housing development is no longer an option.”

“I’ve lived in the valley since 1997 and was on the Housing Authority at least 10 years ago,” said Neil Windsor, LaDonna’s father. “I’ve watched and seen how difficult it is to provide housing for the people that need it. I’ve also watched the situation go from critical to absurd, really, how deep the need for housing is just to maintain the services we need in the community. I think you’re all aware of it and I think you all are committed to affordable housing.

“I’m just shocked, I’ve watched this project from the beginning, and never was convinced that it looked like it was going to be developed in a timely matter or with very much quality,” said Windsor. “But COVID happened, a lot of things happened, and we assumed things were going to get better and we waited and waited and extended things…I’m putting it to the Town of Mt. Crested Butte that once you sold this property or even acquired it for affordable housing that you made a commitment to roughly 50 people, they were expecting to have a reasonable place to live within a reasonable period of time.”

He concluded, “I think you need to go repeatedly public letting people know that you’re committed to make this project work. To let these people just leave and say, well you’ll get your deposits back and just leave the valley is not only wrong for them to do but it’s also wrong for you as a council to permit that…At least communicate that you’re behind this project one way or the other and you want to see it through.”

Andre Garcia, LaDonna’s husband, also spoke. “I work for Vail [Resorts] in lift maintenance and like to think that I have a very important job on this mountain. My wife is an HR manager for the Town of Crested Butte and both of us hold jobs that if we had to move out of this valley it would really impact the community. We want to stay and raise our family. Affordable housing is essential to keep families like us here.”

He continued, “I know nobody could see COVID coming and the changes it would make on all of our lives… the problem with all of this is there is no communication with us. We literally found out from the newspaper like every one of you that our house was not going to be completed on time.”

After the meeting, Reeb sent an update email to the homebuyers as requested. Reeb said she had spoken with the Garcias previous to them attending the town council meeting and has spoken to everyone under contract that has reached out to the town with questions. 

“Additionally, buyers have received updates from their realtor and the Housing Authority,” said Reeb. “While we wish we had more information to provide, we have just as much information as the broker and Housing Authority.”

The town also shared with the News what they sent to the homeowners whose contact information they have:

“The Town has hired an attorney to understand the Town’s options regarding Homestead. To clarify the Town’s role on the Homestead project, we are the regulatory agency for the project, which means we monitor the builder to confirm compliance with the Prospect Design Guidelines, Town Code, Building Code, and on-site safety. Currently the town cannot intervene in a contract between a builder and buyer, as we are not a party to those agreements; nor can we offer any legal advice. We will provide additional information when we have more to share, however, that information could take some time. I echo previous sentiments that the entire situation is disheartening, and we are doing our best to understand if there are any ways the Town can assist.”

Reeb also noted during the January 4 town council meeting that she plans to provide Homestead updates on her manager’s reports for each council meeting. When there is a decision to be made, it will become an agenda item.

[  by Dawne Belloise  ]

Elle Truax grew up surrounded by the lush orchards and vineyards nestled along the banks of the Columbia River in Hood River, Oregon, where breweries and watersports are fostered. Despite being quite a distance from the coast, the area is known for its windsurfing and Elle proclaims kitesurfing the Columbia Gorge was her passion. “You rig up on the Oregon side and surf into Washington,” she says. Both Elle’s parents were environmental engineers – her mother focused on air quality and her father on water quality. Her dad grew up skiing the icy East Coast resorts, but her mom hit the slopes around the Seattle area and Elle laughs, “She kicks his ass skiing.”

As a kid, when it was time to stash away the board and kite for the winter, Elle dove into her other passion, ski racing. She joined the local Mt. Hood team when she was 7. “I was the kid who would throw a fit when I had to go in to eat lunch because I just wanted to keep skiing. I’m pretty competitive, so I grasped the sport early on,” she says. As a freshman in high school, she was successfully competing.

Elle recalls the regimen of hard core ski racing discipline. “In the summers you’re in the gym working out and during the winters you’re training all the time,” she explains.

Her dream was to be an Olympic ski racer so when she won an academic scholarship her high school sophomore year to attend the prestigious Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, it made it affordable for her family to find a way to fund the rest of the expenses. “I was ecstatic. It was a big deal, especially financially,” she tells. “My family has worked hard for everything we have.”

She arrived in Salt Lake City in August of 2013, living with a host family. “School was so hard and I was training with the ski team every day after school. We’d do a lot of outdoor training, like road biking and running.” It was October, just before the team’s scheduled trip to train on Colorado resort slopes, when Elle’s dreams were literally shattered.

“We were road biking up Emigration Canyon. I was doing warm up laps, crossing the road to group up to start the ride,” when a speeding car T-boned her at 40 mph. Her bike went under the car and Elle flew up on top. “I remember being in the air thinking, I’m going to die if I don’t land right. I landed on hands and knees and my left patella took most of the force.” Elle’s kneecap shattered. “I had so much adrenaline that I got up and walked to the side of the road.” She describes a traumatic scene where her teammates were crying and her coaches came running. “I remember, being on the ground, looking at my kneecap. It’s about a week before we go to Colorado to start on-snow training. I was totally in denial saying, I’m going skiing, I’m fine. I wasn’t paying attention to the pain, I was just pissed.”

Her team had to take off without her. After multiple surgeries, wires and screws, a massive brace and in a wheelchair for a month, Elle was determined to still get out on the slopes. She began upper body workouts, building her strength, along with intense physical therapy. “I’m frustrated and in disbelief. I’m nagging the doctors about when can I ski.”

Incredibly, she was able to strap on her skis in February but she says, “I couldn’t do anything. I was just sliding around. My knee wasn’t strong. I couldn’t ski a race course with my team.” She was cleared to ski for real in March. Her goal was to qualify for Junior Olympics at the end of March in Alaska. However, she missed the qualifier by one spot. “I wasn’t ready to compete at that level yet. But it was still quite an accomplishment,” she says, rightfully proud.

With mounting hospital and medical bills, Elle was maxed out financially and emotionally and didn’t return to the academy for her junior year. She finished out high school at Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation in Bend, Oregon, where she graduated a semester early in 2015 and took the opportunity to simply ski through her final semester of high school. “I’d go up every day. I started to freeski a lot, skiing with people who were better than me, going off cliffs, doing 360s. I became a really solid, all-round skier. It wasn’t about ski racing anymore, it was more about having fun.”

Taking a gap semester before college, Elle traveled to Chile for two months to freeski at Portillo and, “to find my passion again.” She stayed with a Chilean friend in Los Andes. Fluent in Spanish, she was able to work in her friend’s family bed and breakfast in exchange for housing. While in Chile, she decided to attend Western Colorado University in Gunnison because she had several friends from Hood River at WCU. “I heard they had a Big Mountain Freeride ski team.” Elle was accepted into WCU with a scholarship as a Borick Scholar, arriving on campus in January of 2016.

She joined the freeride team for Big Mountain competitions on the freeride world qualifier tour. She hadn’t even seen Crested Butte yet. “The first time I ever skied CB was on Headwall as a forerunner for the competition. I couldn’t believe all that was so close to Gunnison. I instantly fell in love and everyone was there because they wanted to be,” she says. Elle had her revelation, “I decided it’s what I really wanted to do. My passion shifted away from the U.S. Ski Team and the Olympics to freeride and big mountain skiing.”

Elle began competing that first semester. “Ed Dujardin was my coach, and I was stoked. Our trainings were serious. We’d push ourselves. Ed would be at the bottom of Body Bag screaming at me to huck myself off of whatever was in front of me. Things like that are such a good feeling after you do it,” she laughs. “That’s my whole experience in freeride, you’re really so scared but it’s so rewarding.”

Every summer Elle returned to Hood River to kiteboard and work, becoming certified as a wildland firefighter, fighting fires in California. “But it was traumatizing for me, it was a wake up call. I was a little 18-year-old girl fighting fires with all these creepy guys. I felt uncomfortable. Someone broke into my truck and stole all my gear. It made me decide to go back to WCU and get my degree and have a different job to support myself.” She graduated in 2019 with a business major in marketing and a minor in communication.

“I wasn’t sold on CB yet and I was a broke college kid. I wanted to live the life I wanted to live,” Elle says and moved back to Hood River, getting a job in the marketing department of Naish Kiteboarding Company. “It was a full-on nine-to-five behind a desk all day. But it was a dumpster fire for me. I couldn’t ski.” And she admits, “It was back to the Pacific Northwest cement snow.” Then COVID hit that spring of 2020. She missed skiing in the Butte, so she moved back that September, working at the Dogwood and remote part-time marketing with Smak Strategies.

Another realization recently led Elle to her new business endeavor, “I’ve always worn wide brim hats and there weren’t any hat shops in Crested Butte like there are at most ski towns,” she noticed. She took off for Denver to gather info and instruction on becoming a milliner. “I wanted to learn to make hats and get insight as how to make them. I always admired the work of hatter Nick Fouquet,” she says, researching his hats and videos online. “His hats are extremely expensive,” she describes some of the famous milliner’s methods of steam shaping, taking sandpaper to hats, and using fire to give smoothness and shine to his felted creations. “I thought that was so cool.”

Serendipitously, Elle met a hat toolmaker who gave her a hat block and some felts and a Tennessee milliner’s phone number who also tutors. She was on the plane the following week for an intensive workshop with the master, after which she began to drain her savings to set up her Elk Avenue shop, Bjorkstam Hat Company (Bjorkstamhatco.com, also on Instagram and Facebook). “Bjorkstam” is Icelandic for birch tree and as a child, Elle had an enormous one with a treehouse. But more importantly to her, it’s a dedication to her mom, whose surname is Bjorkstam.

“It was a turning point to risk everything to get the mandatory machinery. The CB Center for the Arts came through with a temporary winter workspace,” in which she cranked out hats all off-season to prepare for her June 4 opening. Elle partnered with Caitlyn Ward of Lonewolf Collective who makes hatbands for her creations. “Everyone in town was so supportive. I realized through this process that CB is my home. Making hats here in Crested Butte made it feel like home and I felt like I had a purpose. Everyday is a new challenge that I love. I’m so thankful for this community and friendships that I’ve grown.”