Spring Break

Our time in the Butte was winding down quickly.  It was little tough to think about leaving.  There was still so much undiscovered adventure waiting in this valley.  The spring touring was just getting started.  The local mountain bike trails were starting to melt out.  And the fishing was getting good.

Laurel finding some spring pow

 I got out as much as I could in our last couple of weeks usually doubling down on activities just to maximize exploration time.  The MTB trails at Hartman Rocks are a ton of fun.  Afterwards I could still get in a couple hours of fishing on the Gunnison or Taylor where the big browns were starting to rise to little tiny flies.  I also skied a few more days during the transition from pow to corn.  It wasn't the best time to ski but the terrain was worth putting up with sub-optimal snow.

Amazing line, not so amazing snow

Beautiful Brown

Our break was also timed perfectly with a major mid-west event.  Grandma Armella was turning 90 and Laurel made plans to go visit her family in the mid-West.  Her mom was also able to come out so it was a good time to fly back for a reunion.

The travel logistics for getting out of CB are a bit challenging since the closest major airport is Denver (5 hrs) and shuttles there are infrequent this time of year.  Instead Laurel was able to find reasonable flights from Grand Junction, only 3 hours away.  I would drop her at the airport and stay in Moab for the week to avoid driving back and forth to CB.

While Laurel visited her family in Iowa I met Charlie and his family in Moab.  We did the normal Moab things; visited the parks (Canyonlands & Dead Horse), rode bikes and camped in the desert.  The weather was a little volatile but afternoon storms were a good show and except for a little wind and some rain spits we had a good time.  It was fun to show Charlie's girls the desert and ride a few more trails. Charlie & I rode part of Mag 7 and I squeaked a ride in at the challenging Amasa back zone.  Elizabeth even got on a bike for the first time in years and I guided her through the Dead Horse trails.

After they headed home I had a few more days to kill before Laurel's return.  I opted for departure and new territory.  In hindsight I think the weather would have been better had I stayed in Moab but I had a good time exploring some more of the areas around Grand Junction despite the stormy conditions.

Morning fog, preceded by rain

A misty day in Colorado National Monument, a day on the GJ Lunch Loop trails (not my favorite), and a day fishing in the Gunnison gorge.  Then a late airport pick-up and we were headed home for final packing and departure of Crested Butte.

Colorado National Monument

The Great Colorado Hut Tour

Our decision was firm that we would move back to Hood River.  We had a month and half left on our lease so the plan was to make the best of our remaining time in Colorado.  We'd visit with the friends that remained, make a few more along the way, explore this part of the state and perhaps beyond.

I hadn't been off snow for more than a day all season.  I'd logged well over 100 days and expected a few more but it was time to break out of the cycle for a bit.  For the first time all season we suited up with bike gear instead of skis and headed to the desert near Grand Junction.  The area known as Fruita is well known among locals for good biking and in a few short hours we went from skiing rugged alpine peaks to flowing over slick rock spines.  The contrast was a little surreal but lounging in the warm dry desert was a welcome change.

Fruita trails under storm clouds

After our mini-vacation in the desert it was time to ski one last time.  And by "one last time" I mean 2 more weeks.  My good friend, the same friend who sold us on CB, had arranged two hut trips in Colorado.  Between these trips we'd take advantage of our location and hit up a few of the resorts along the way.

The first hut is called Opus.  It's east of the town of Ophir but we accessed it from Colorado's Million Dollar Highway.  It's position near treeline makes it a little hard to get to (3 miles & ~ 2,000 feet) but the access to terrain is spectacular.  Finding great lines was just a matter of walking out the front door.  With warming conditions we stayed on north facing terrain for three days and found mostly great snow amidst a stunning backdrop.

The hut itself was also very impressive.  Built from the timbers of an old Wisconsin barn it had a very rustic feel to it, like a European hut.  All systems were entirely off the grid but we had ample electricity from solar, hot water and baseboard heating from a custom wood stove that was also used for cooking, composting toilets that had absolutely no smell and a wood fired sauna to help relax muscles after a full day.  Full compliments to hut owner Bob for job well done.

 

The common room of a hut makes for a great social atmosphere.  Along with old friends from CB we were fortunate enough to meet several more good people on these trips.   Dave's friends from Germany, Gabor & Maria, made great ski partners.  Mark from CB charges hard on tele and in the backcountry.  I wish I'd met him earlier as another touring partner.  Chris & Mari from Vail who let us crash at their house and several others made for fun times on and off the snow.

Between huts we opted not to follow Dave on his whirlwind tour of Colorado.  (He had to show the German his whole state.)  Instead we took the directish route with a short stop in Telluride for a burger and place to sleep then to Carbondale to visit Charlie & Elizabeth.  We arrived along with a spring storms which are common in April.  The storms brought some new snow to Aspen so we skied warm pow at the legendary resort with Charlie.

One of Aspens older chairs

Hut number 2, the Eiseman, is located directly north of Vail.  The distance into the hut was a little intimidating (7 miles & 3,000 feet) but once again the hut's position put us in the heart of perfect touring terrain.  The storm that hit Aspen also brought snow to the Vail area.  We were happy to have a fresh coat of snow and very fortunate that a layer of clouds protected this new snow for several days.  We skied great pow for three more days and finished the final morning under full sun on a high route that accessed a beautiful couloir.  Perfect snow in an aesthetic line made for a happy ending on this trip.

We were joined on the Eiseman hut by the one and only Dr. Friese.  He shuttled from Denver to meet us and we would drop him back in Denver after a few more resort days along the way.  A-basin was a likely spot so we made a few more turns, probably our last for the season, skiing spring bumps and a few of A-basins steeper lines.

Bootpack to "Booger Ramp"

 The great tour wrapped up with a stop in Denver to visit Zweibel, and airport drop for the doctor, a visit to Wellington & Ft. Collins, where we stayed with Gavin & Sheila, that included a brewery tour of New Belgium and finally one more stay in Carbondale to return equipment before heading back to this wonderful little valley.

New Belgium Bike

Closing Time

You'll often hear reference to the ancient spring celebrations of the pagans.  As the snow melted and things began to grow it was a time to celebrate because the harshness of winter was over.  I'm not sure that the motivations are exactly the same but in the ski towns of Colorado spring celebrations are alive and well.  Costumes and drinking seem to be the primary mechanisms of celebratory expression.  Of course there are many sanctioned events that help promote silliness and consumption.

Closing weekend ski attire

In CB things seem to kick off with the AJ or the Al Johnson.  In honor of Al, who used to carry the mail from CB to Aspen via the mountain passes, this race is now a reason to put on costumes, get drunk and telemark down one of the steeper runs at the resort.  Gaper day (April Fools Day) is when the locals come out dressed like their favorite tourist.  The locals do such a good job it can be hard to tell them apart sometimes.  Several colleges visit for closing weekend and are fully clad in costume and given their 11 am (or later) arrival at the lifts they are no doubt hung over or on their way to being drunk again.  Flauschink, the celebration to flush out winter, crowns a king and queen who are regularly seen in town or on the mountain in their robes.  There is a pond skim and park competition, yes costumes are encouraged.  A keg party on the peak.  And even though one of the more famous celebrations, naked ski day, is officially banned there were several groups on closing day attempting to burn places which rarely if ever see the sun.

Gaper or Local?

Kegs on the Peak

For us the celebrations were more background noise.  Do get me wrong, we did participate, but we were finishing up work and trying to get in the last morsels of skiing before the lifts were closed for the season.

A week before the season ended we skipped out of town and headed down to Taos.  It's one of the resorts I've wanted to ski for a very long time.  It happened that Jenn & Alex could meet us there with the kids and we'd have our own spring break with family.  Our timing with the weather didn't quite line up with our ski expectations.  The resort had seen too much sun and too little snow in many weeks and the night before our arrival everything got very cold.  Instead of soft spring bumps we had refrozen conditions to contend with.  It was so bad the ski patrol didn't open any of the steep terrain for fear that people would slide to the bottom if they fell.  But that's how it goes.  We went down to see family and had a great time with all of them.  It was also a time for laying groundwork for the next chapter.

Looking for soft snow

We had a decision to make.  Stay in CB or move to Hood River.  HR was the original plan but CB is an amazing place and locals all say it only gets better in the summer.  We are building a network of friends here and leaving just as we are getting settled seemed a bit premature.  The other side of the coin is that Hood River is also an amazing place in the summer and we already have good friends and family there.  After spending time with Jenn & Alex we made the call to stick with our original plan and head for Oregon.

When we returned to CB for the closing week I was a little surprised by the level of emotion.  Every day someone would disappear.  Everyone has their next gig lined up and most were not staying in the valley.  We'd spent all winter making good friends and now we were losing them left and right.  It was a transition I didn't expect to happen so quickly and wasn't fully prepared for.  It's the nature of a seasonal workforce and soon we would be gone too.  We said our farewells as best we could over a beer or dinner or sometimes just in the locker room.  As the Germans say, not good-bye but auf wiedersehen (until we see you again)!

We finished the season at CB with style.  The last day was sunny and a small storm had refreshed the hill.  The skiing was as good as it had been all season.  I skied in the morning with some friends then met up with Laurel.  She hadn't skied the peak yet so with perfect snow we hiked the peak on the last day of the season.  The rest of the day was spent going back to favorite runs and exploring still undiscovered spots.  Ironically I was booked in a private lesson all day but they never showed up so I not only had an amazing day skiing with my wife, I got paid for it!

All smiles after bagging the Peak

Last Chair

Mid-Winter

As we settled into the winter routine the weather mellowed a bit and we found a happy rhythm.  The ski school was a good fit for me.  With my prior experience I was assigned to the adult section of the school. I got work when I wanted it and was teaching all levels including the coveted NFL tours.  These "lessons" are when and advanced skier just wants a tour of CB's expert terrain.  It's basically getting paid to ski fun terrain all day.  And regardless of lesson levels I almost always got an hour of free ski time in the mornings which was plenty to get several laps in some of Colorado's best terrain.

The Peak

Laurel discovered that the benefits of being a first time instructor don't include much pay.  You get a free pass, lots of training opportunities (free lessons), plenty of friends to ski with but teaching little kids is hard despite how cute they are.  In the end the monetary compensation doesn't seem to match the effort the new instructors put forth (some watchdog group really should investigate the resorts.....).  The bright side of the financial equation is that Laurel was able to keep some of her hours from the UW nursing school and work remotely.

During my free ski time one goal was to capture (via photo) the "Extreme Limits" (EX) terrain of CB.  The Butte is famous for the chutes and bowls accessible from the High Lift and North Face T-bars.  The terrain makes up about 1/3 of total ski area acreage and even though I wouldn't consider it "extreme" it is an amazing playground of steeps including cliffs, chutes, bowls, funnels, rocks, drops, trees and other features.  It's one of the big reasons we chose this resort.  I knew that I would want good terrain to explore when the snow wasn't fantastic and CB has everything that I'd hoped for.  It turns out that trying to photographically capture this terrain is very difficult.  It's just too three dimensional.  The photos only could grab little pieces so until Google makes a virtual 3D CB explorer you'll just have to trust me that there's a ton of good stuff out here!

Headwall

The snow was another element that drew us to CB.  The seasonal forecast based on the strong El Nino cycle was that southern Colorado should do very well.  It turns out that forecasting the Butte isn't very accurate.  Mt. CB stands alone in the center of a ring mountain ranges.  To the west is a divide which catches the majority of the weather.  Mt. CB is technically in a rain shadow and the best snow falls only when the storms blow in perfectly from the WSW.   Our total number of big pow days was very few.  The reported base never broke 60 inches.  But despite the low numbers the mountain skied incredibly well.  I can't recall a bad day.  Days when we only picked up a few inches it would blow in and refresh the surface making everything creamy.  Even after weeks without snow the surface stayed cold and chalky.  In the end it was the terrain that makes this mountain great and when the storm does come it's icing on the cake.

EX Terrain

Rare Pow

On the other side of the snowfall spectrum are the West Elks.  Near the divide they catch the weather and it dumps.  Lake Irwin regularly reports 600+ inches of snow annually where CB this season received ~170 inches.  That's why anyone who likes to ski pow in this town owns a sled.  5-10 miles up Kebler Pass and you can be in a much snowier place.  I'll be looking for one if we come back.

As winter moved along we happily skied the chalky resort snow, explored new terrain when we had the opportunity and made some forays into the backcountry in search of softer pow.  We didn't get many visitors even though the invitation was out there.  Getting here is actually one reason why the whole CB valley is still so pristine.  It's a five hour drive from Denver where you can get cheap flights or a really expensive flight into Gunnison.  Ryan bit the bullet and drove from Denver for a tour of they valley.  It's hard coming from sea level to 10,000 feet but he pushed his cardio limit and knocked out several long ski tours and some resort days.  I expect payback when we are on bikes together again.

Similar to getting into CB was getting out.  We had everything we needed right here and there was no reason to leave.  In fact there was barely a reason to drive a car.  We could walk to work in the mornings, all of 5 minutes.  If we wanted to go into town there was a free bus that ran every 15 minutes.  The only time we drove was on a weekly trip to Gunnison for groceries otherwise the car just rested.  My records show that between December and March we only bought a tank of gas once a month.  After living a car-centric life for so many years this was very enjoyable change of pace.

The one foray I did make out of the valley was to Monarch, a smaller ski hill just out of Gunnison.  They seemed to be in a stronger weather pattern this winter and an 18 inch storm coincided with days off so I headed over to ski the deep.  The hill was tiny, only 4 slow double chairs but with 18 inches of new and not a lot of people it made for a great break from CB.  This was the only time I left the valley all season.

Untouched lines at Monarch

Ryan rips the Colorado pow

Gothic

Top of the Elks

Deep Winter

Our time in the Northwest was split between family, that we most likely wouldn't see for several months, and packing.  We were making a shift from nomadic van life to having an established home base.  And our home base required more equipment.  The condo was furnished but we'd need dishes, cookware, more clothes and of course all the ski gear we could carry.  Since CB has very limited parking we elected to stuff everything into one winter car.  (For an extra challenge we also opted to throw in bikes so we'd have spring entertainment.)    After a final visit to the park we said our good-byes and rolled out.

Hood River Good-Byes

Loaded & Ready for Winter

When we arrived in early December it was clear that the Gunnison Valley was in transition.  The mountain was only partially open and attempts at riding bikes nearby proved to be cold and snowy.  We passed the time exploring what we could on the ski hill, looking for warmer bike trails and maybe even fishing a little.

Attempting to ride bikes in the fall

In mid-December reality snuck  up on us.  We'd been living the carefree life of a gypsy since August but now it was time to return to the world of responsibility.  Yes, we had to go to work.  We'd both locked up positions at the local ski school and our training began, followed by the "busy season". 

The busy season at the resort coincides with Christmas break for those with real jobs or school.  One definition of Ski Bum I picked up this year is, "one who takes a low paying job at a ski resort so he can watch those with high paying jobs ski while he is working."   So for 2 weeks we entertained the wealthy and their children.  Our turn would come when they had to leave the valley and head back to the cities.

Ski Bum Shenanigans

As we passed the Christmas season working, making new friends and even skiing a bit the transition to deep winter became very clear.  Mornings were dark, the thermometer regularly measured -10F or below.  The snow was layering in.  The Christmas storm brought us a healthy amount and we managed to sneak around the tourists for a few good turns.  When it wasn't snowing, which was most of the time, it was cold, clear and sunny.  This Colorado weather pattern helps to keep the snow pristine even weeks after the storm.  It makes for amazing skiing on any given day as long as you can stomach the cold.

Merry Christmas

After the New Year the tourists when home we had the mountain to ourselves.  As more snow came the terrain that Crested Butte is known for slowly began to open.  Headwall, Teo Bowl, Glades, Spellbound & Phoenix.  There was lots of exploring to be done.  Both in the resort and in the backcountry.

Access to the Goods

Consolidated Pano from our new ski hill

A good friend who is also a local guides brought me along on several tours that highlighted the major backcountry ski zones of CB.  The terrain and views of the Elk range are amazing.  The skiing was also fantastic.  There is no doubt a lifetime of ski exploration to be done here.

Pow turns with a view

During one of our storms I was lucky enough to catch a ride on a snowmobile to a zone in the Anthracite range.  Because this range is closer to the divide it regularly receives more snow than the resort.  On this day it was measuring 50cm and still snowing heavily.  We only had time for 3 laps but the feeling goggle deep turns would last much longer.

Stupid Deep

Elk Range from Mt. CB