Are you ready?

There was a time, back in the day as they say, when Fat Tire Bike Week (FTBW) had a famed cross-country race that sent competitors out on a massive tour of some of the world-class single track that surrounds the north end of the Gunnison Valley.

Read More »

CBMR’s new Luge trail caters to hand cycles

Imagine blasting along on a mountain bike as flowers and aspen trees whiz by, when suddenly you encounter a football-sized rock that threatens to knock you off balance…

Read More »

“We’re definitely doing pretty good.”

Large herds of two-wheeled travelers helped provide some much-needed traffic at businesses here this past week. Now local stores and restaurants are just hoping that business continues through the Fourth of July and the rest of summer. Read More »

New event adds to classic festival

The Fat Tire 40 bike race will inject the spirit of Fat Tire Bike Weeks of old into the 29th Annual Fat Tire Bike Week this year June 24-28. There was a time when Fat Tire Bike Week included a classic cross-country race utilizing some of the premier single-track bike trails that the north end of the valley has to offer. Read More »

Nuttleman completes 17 laps

Numerous Crested Butte riders had strong showings in the sixth annual 24 Hours in the Sage, starting at high noon on Saturday, August 16 and finishing 24 hours later. Read More »

No danger, just a “cool experience”

For two local mountain bikers, the biggest thrill of the ride came when they weren’t even moving down a trail south of Crested Butte on Wednesday, July 2. While taking a break, one of them looked up and saw a mountain lion slinking through the grass. Read More »

Town News
Crested Butte pleased with Ride the Rockies event
By all accounts, the Ride the Rockies event and Fat Tire Bike Week were great successes. According to Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce director Christi Matthews, the riders were appreciative of Crested Butte. “We heard great feedback about the town and the preparation we had,” she said. “The town staff, the marshals, the school were all great. There were a lot of riders who had never been to Crested Butte, and hopefully they’ll be back with their families when they have more time. Read More »

Kebler was really busy last season—no reason to think it will be different this year

By Mark Reaman

The Kebler Pass and Snodgrass trailheads continue to be the busiest North Valley trailheads in the winter months with Kebler seeing about 75 users a day and Snodgrass having an average of 57. That is according to the 2022-23 Winter Data Collection Initiative that has been tracking winter trailhead use since 2017-18 season. Based on the data trends, there is no reason to expect the 2023-24 season will vary much.

Western Colorado University graduate student Paul Rivera gave a report to the Crested Butte town council at the end of last winter and said monitoring at the six major drainages in the North Valley continues to be done via remote cameras that capture backcountry access from December to April. Rivera indicated a glitch with the camera at the Cement Creek trailhead did not provide an accurate seasonal count last year.

According to the report, at least 28,378 recreational visits took place on winter trails in the North Valley. Kebler Pass was the most visited with 8,656 tallied and most of those were motorized users with snowmobiles. 

Snodgrass received the second most visitors totaling 6,061 visits “with almost 99% of those being non-motorized users, the highest count of non-motorized users at any trailhead. The Gothic trailhead saw the highest number of mechanized users, totaling 112 fat bikers throughout the season,” the report stated. Aside from Cement Creek with the camera malfunction, Brush Creek totaled only 910 recreational visits and was the least busy winter trailhead. Washington Gulch and Slate River trailheads each saw about 28 daily visits.

Overall, last season’s analysis indicates consistent numbers in winter recreation for the North Valley. The hope is that different land managers including the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management can use the data for future planning initiatives. 

Rivera recommended that it might be time to replace all the monitoring cameras but especially the one at Cement Creek. The study is an ongoing collaborative between WCU’s Master of Environmental Management program, the Center for Public Lands, Silent Tracks and the town of Crested Butte.

Buses are popular

During the Gunnison County Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) meeting in August, RTA executive director Scott Truex reported that throughout the Gunnison Valley, bus ridership continued its record ridership increases this summer. “Bus ridership was up 25% in June over last year and July was up 38%,” he said. “So, people are riding the bus.”

Fat bike racks?

Truex said the RTA has been getting requests to get bike racks for the buses that hold bigger bike tires, so the RTA is looking at a couple of models with wider bike rack trays.  Truex said they are fairly expensive so it won’t happen this year, but may be considered in the future. The downside, he noted, is that they wouldn’t hold kids’ bikes. “It’s a tradeoff,” he said.  

Whetstone bus storage almost ready

The new bus storage facility in Whetstone Industrial Park is almost finished, and is just waiting on some electric work. Truex said they are hoping to have a certificate of occupancy in the next couple weeks. 

Airport helps stage wildfire fighting operations

Gunnison Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) manager Rick Lamport said the airport has been helpful for wildland fire response helicopters running operations to fight the Lowline Fire, an approximately 1,800 acre wildfire burning northwest of Gunnison over the past two months. “They had anywhere from six to eight helicopters running through there,” he said, at the fire’s early stages. “It highlights the strategic benefit of having an airport close by that was able to support that.” He said they are still operating two helicopters for the effort as the wildfire continues burning in a relatively contained area.

Heckle Deck, collegiate racers, American Birkebeiner qualifier and fat biking

Wax your skis, move your cars, do whatever you need to do because the 37th Annual Alley Loop Nordic Marathon presented by Fischer skis, Crested Butte Nordic and Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties is taking over on Saturday, February 4.

I’m pretty sure there’s no event that mixes athleticism and partying quite like the Alley Loop Nordic Marathon. The event has something for everyone from a 42-kilometer distance that is an American Birkebeiner qualifier all the way down to a one-kilometer race that’s fun for everyone from age three to age 83.

The course incorporates a couple of the alleys, per the name, in town before taking skiers just outside of town to enjoy the incredible scenery and phenomenal track laid out by the Crested Butte Nordic cat crew.

And now, fat biking is making a triumphant return to the slate of events offered. After joining in on the Alley Loop fun 2013-2015, fat biking took a break, but the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association (CBMBA) and Crested Butte Nordic are joining forces again this year for the Alley Loop Fat Bike race presented by CBMBA and the Eldo. The race is open to solo riders or teams of two or four riders and opens the weekend on Friday, February 3.

“It’s super cool to have a down home backyard fat bike race again, alongside the Nordic Center and the town of Crested Butte,” says CBMBA director Dave Ochs. “We are really grateful to partner with the Nordic Center again on this race. It’s very cool to ride fat bikes in a unique place, and it’s always fun to ride bikes and have a party on Elk Avenue. You’ll wind up going home with more than you put in.”

Ochs wants to make sure all fat bikers know that they may not pre-ride the course; the course is only open to bikers for the race. For info and to register for the Alley Loop Fat Bike race go to cbmba.org.

But that’s just the opening band as the headliner takes center stage in downtown Crested Butte starting bright and early on Saturday. And it’s a pretty big band as Crested Butte Nordic has 783 skiers registered as of Tuesday.

“We had 400 registered this time last year,” says Crested Butte Nordic events director Becky Nation. “I’m expecting to have over 1,000 by Friday.”

Thanks to a grant from the Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) there is $14,700 in cash prizes to be doled out in the 42-kilometer classic and skate races, the 21-kilometer classic and skate races as well as to top five Club Clash finishers. Club Clash is a team event where teams have racers in six of the events, each team must have at least two women racing, with lowest combined times determining results.

And while people are out there on skis sweating, huffing and puffing, or just shuffling nice and easy, they can expect to be harangued by folks up on the Eldo “Heckle Deck” starting at 10 a.m.

Nation has also secured the Mallardi Theater for folks to stay warm prior to their race and change after their race this year.

This is literally just the tip of the Alley Loop iceberg so for all information and/or to register go to cbnordic.org. And, as always, volunteers are needed. All volunteers will get either a free entry into the race or a trail pass to use the remainder of the season. To help, email Shay at shay@cbnordic.org.