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, Growth, News

An army of teen employees is helping fight a Colorado tourist town’s worker shortage

CRESTED BUTTE — Crested Butte is jammed with visitors during this former mining town’s busiest time of year. Impatient drivers fume on the clogged 15-mile-per-hour streets. Lines string out of restaurant doors. Espresso machines belch incessant steam as baristas race to fill cups. And the bins at ice cream shops are scooped to the bottom. […]

Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News, Outdoors

The fastest kids in America are running hills and chilling in creeks around Crested Butte

CRESTED BUTTE — Katelynne Hart, the country’s fastest high school distance runner, is giddily shivering in icy Coal Creek in the middle of this mountain community’s historic downtown. Hart, along with her best-in-the-U.S. teammates, has just finished a morning run at 8,900 feet and a complicated series of stretches and exercises at Team Prep USA’s […]

Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors

Crested Butte may be the gem in Vail Resorts’ portfolio, but its lifts must be fixed before it can shine

MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE — The wind is blowing snow across the mountaintop. Temps are well below zero. Visibility is bad. “This is an adventure,” said Chris Jarnot, sidestepping in his K2 skis up a narrow ridge, heading toward Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s precipitous, powdery Teocalli Bowl. The executive vice president of Vail Resorts’ mountain division […]

Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News, Outdoors

From “This is not Vail” to Vail Resorts ownership: Crested Butte owners bid farewell after 20-year rollercoaster ride with Colorado

MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE — They dreamed big in Colorado, the Mueller clan. Hoping to mirror their dizzying success at Vermont’s Okemo ski area, Tim and Diane Mueller pursued plans for a major resort outside Steamboat, bid to operate Denver’s Winter Park, came within an hour of owning Steamboat ski area and labored through the Great Recession […]