MR. WANDERING’S GUEST BLOG: A REVIEW OF CRESTED BUTTE

Hello everyone! My name is Gregg and I am the husband of your normal blogger, Jessica. I recently had the opportunity to visit and ski Mount Crested Butte, CO, with my brother-in-law, Josh, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to share it all with you.

Firstly, let me say that I have not skied in at least 15 years before I took my trip in early February. And as such, Crested Butte is probably not the best destination to get back into skiing due to its difficulty. One rider told me that 40% of the mountain trails are black or double-black diamonds. Luckily, skiing truly is like riding a bike and you can get right back into it.

I wanted to share a few tips to help prepare you for your visit as well as a couple of great spots to visit down in the town of Crested Butte.

1. Rent your equipment: If you are planning to go on a ski/snowboard trip, make it easy on yourself and rent your equipment. Equipment changes constantly and ski and snowboard equipment can be very expensive. Josh and I stayed at the Elevation Hotel and Spa in Mount Crested Butte. Butte & Co. has a rental location in the hotel so making reservations for equipment, trying it on, and hitting the slopes was incredibly easy. It is also convenient if you need to change out any equipment. Josh and I both decided to try different boots and it was one of the smartest decisions we made during our trip.

2. Transportation: I chose to fly into Gunnison/Crested Butte airport which is about 35-40 minutes from Mount Crested Butte. It is important to book a shuttle service to pick you up and drop you off. Uber or Lyft isn’t really an option. You could rent a car as well, which depending on how many people you have in your party might not be a bad idea. Josh was supposed to fly into Gunnison but apparently a high percentage of flights to Gunnison get canceled. This would have been good to know beforehand, but we live and learn.

His daytime flight from Denver was canceled, but luckily he was able to get onto a flight that same evening and landed in Montrose. Montrose Regional Airport is about 100 miles from Mount Crested Butte. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to rent a car and drive to the hotel at night, in the snow, with another fellow “stranded” passenger who got onto the same Montrose flight via standby. Be sure to have a backup plan as the weather is hit or miss. At least Josh made it, and we enjoyed a whole day of skiing Friday with fresh snow falling for most of the day.

3. Visit Crested Butte: The town has free bus transportation which takes you down to the town. The buses pick you up right at the base of the mountain and drop you off at a couple of different stops in town. It is a great way to get around and visit the many bars and restaurants the town has to offer. Josh and I tend to be creatures of habit though, and we stick to what we like. We visited the local hangout The Wooden Nickle for before-dinner drinks, then went over to the best pizza in town, The Secret Stash. We liked these establishments so much that we did the same thing both Friday and Saturday, although I think we drank a little more Saturday.

These are just a few quick tips for visiting. I will say that I would definitely go back. The mountain was amazing, the hotel very convenient, clean and spacious, and the town and scenery was gorgeous. Also, one thing to note is that nearly every person we came into contact with or talked with was incredibly friendly. The whole trip, vibe and experience was really enjoyable, and I highly recommend Mount Crested Butte for your individual or family-friendly ski/snowboard trip. Thank you for wandering along with me!