Crested Butte, Colorado, Ski Trip ~ February 4th - 11th, 2023

Following club trips to Crested Butte in 2007 and 2015, we reached the 8-year mark to head back to this wonderful mountain resort with a great historic town. And you know it is going to be a great ski trip when see snow piled up at the airport. Our group of 22 arrived in 2 waves, the second of which had a little delay due to airplane engine issues in Denver. But everyone made it safe and sound for a late lunch or early dinner. The short scenic drive from the Gunnison airport to Crested Butte was a picture-perfect winter wonderland foretelling of a great week to come.

On Sunday, our first ski day, we got most of the group together to do our own tour since the mountain had not resumed mountain tours since suspending them because of COVID. It was a warm sunny day making for a good day for many of us to find our ski legs and start exploring the mountain.

Overnight the snow gods dumped some fresh snow and Monday we woke up to blue bird day, blue skies and perfect conditions. The groomers where super soft and there were plenty of power stashes to make fresh tracks.  That night we had our group dinner at Bonez in the historic town of Crested Butte. Great food and drinks, and super friendly service, lots of fun.

Tuesday past club member Don Swem joined us for another great day of skiing. Then a group of us invited Don to join us for dinner. We headed to town to find a place for dinner ending up at Secret Stash Pizza where most of us ordered various pasta bowls, delicious! For a resort with few lift lines, dinner restaurants always seem to be packed with lots of people having a great time. This made for a fun atmosphere to enjoy the evenings. All the locals are very welcoming and friendly.

After another beautiful sunny day of skiing on Wednesday, most of group headed back to Secret Stash Pizza for another great meal. This time they made space for us in their east India themed den in the basement. And we had the same waiter, Hans, who again added to the entertainment of the night.

Wednesday night the snow gods got to work again. And again we woke to sunny skies. In fact every day was sunny and clear so we could enjoy the spectacular mountain views in all directions on all the ski runs. The Crested Butte Mountain Resort is situated on a standalone mountain butte surrounded by snow covered valleys surrounded by high Colorado Rocky Mountains, some of which are the backside of Aspen Snowmass where some of our group are going next week. So close you can see the Aspen Mountain yet so far given the drive is about 4+ hours.

Thursday was the coldest day (high about 12 degrees) so many enjoyed other activities before finishing up our skiing on Friday, which was the only day we had any sort of lift line wait, which still was a short wait. We finished off with an apre’ ski happy hour at our condo’s bar, Iron Horse Tap. All in all, it was a great trip and an enjoyable return to Crested Butte.

Brice Crossley, Trip Leader