Voters in mountain towns could soon redirect lodging taxes traditionally collected to lure visitors toward housing and recreational infrastructure. Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1117, the bipartisan legislation allowing that option, into law Thursday in Edwards. Since 2002, voters in 29 Colorado counties have approved a lodging tax for tourism marketing. The new legislation […]
John Norton
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
“It changed everything”: How Crested Butte’s first-ever extreme skiing contests 30 years ago birthed the freeskiing movement
MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE — “This place brings back some memories,” says Wendy Fisher, gazing up at the near vertical walls of snow and rock she just skied. “Doesn’t it though,” says Rex Wehrman, pointing to rocky patches of snow with names like Body Bag Glades, Dead Bob’s Chute, Disgusting Trees and Sock It To Me. […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Jeff Hermanson, developer of Denver’s Larimer Square and Union Station, is investing big in Crested Butte
There’s a new heavyweight investor buying up properties on Crested Butte’s historic Elk Avenue. But this time it’s not a reclusive billionaire from afar. Jeff Hermanson, who transformed Denver’s Larimer Square and Union Station, has lived in Crested Butte for 48 years. And he’s buying commercial properties on what he calls “one of the greatest […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Economy, Education, Housing, News, Outdoors
Crested Butte lured an outdoor publication to town as a tourism bid. Now overrun by visitors, the partnership must evolve.
CRESTED BUTTE — The headquarters for Blister, an online publication known for longform outdoor gear reviews, occupies a converted conference room in the Elevation Hotel and Spa at the base of Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Built-in racks ringing the room store dozens of skis for reviewers to take out. The slope-side location allows Blister’s editor […]
Posted inBusiness, Housing, News, Newsletters, Outsider
Colorado mountain towns say they can’t handle any more tourists amid labor, housing crises
Crested Butte has pulled its summer ads as businesses struggle to accommodate crowds. A Telluride councilwoman wants to redirect tourism funding toward housing. The Colorado Tourism Office is without a leader. Chaffee County commissioners rejected a 20,000-person annual music festival. Angst over tourism is growing as mountain communities emerge from crowd-restricting pandemic closures. Overlapping waves […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Crested Butte ending free-for-all camping bacchanal with designated sites, plans for reservations
Dave Ochs spent some long days last summer working on a new bike trail up the Slate River above Crested Butte. The executive director of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association was driving down to town one July evening when he counted a train of 20 cars a minute heading up the drainage. “All the […]