Crested Butte, Colorado

Crested Butte is a world class ski resort in a league of its own. Far removed from the more crowded interstate highway resorts of Colorado's I-70, the charming western town and resort are situated in the southwestern part of the state, tucked away in the Elk Mountain Range. Perfectly positioned to catch Colorado's best winter weather fronts, storms that sweep down from Canada generally hit Crested Butte head-on dumping exceptional amounts of snow. We found the lift lines short and slopes uncrowded. It doesn't get any better than that!

The ski resort, owned by the Callaway and Walton families, was sold in 2004 to a well known family ski, golf resort owner and builder, Tim and Diane Mueller. The Muellers have a track record of success, turning a troubled Okemo ski area in Ludlow, Vt., into the second-busiest resort in New England. They also own Mount Sunapee, located in New Hampshire. New hopes in the area also are being driven by a voter-approved tax to subsidize airline flights into the nearby Gunnison airport, which is expanding. Another tax is helping to market the area as a tourist destination. Having never been here, I can't tell you what changed, but I do see a world class resort and a bunch of helpful, friendly resort people. The town folks appear happy too. I think Crested Butte is what Steamboat (recently bought by the corporate giant Fortress/Intrawest) use to be.

One sign of change, though not totally unique to Crested Butte, is Crested Butte’s commitment to being a “Green” ski resort and an EPA Green Power Partner. All three of the Mueller's ski resorts offset 100% of the resort electricity use with the purchase of “Green-E” wind power credit. There is a resort wide recycling program and other “Green” initiatives.

Off the slopes, we found the old mining supply town of Crested Butte to be authentic and unpretentious, but not lacking the frills and extras of a world class ski resort. The town's main street, the famed Elk Avenue, offered an abundance of exceptional dining and entertainment opportunities. We returned home feeling like we've just had a "real ski vacation".

This web photo album is a collection of photos from several photographers on the trip. Each photographer experienced the trip in different ways, due in part to the people they skied with, and the different dining and party outings they participates in. And of course, each photographer has a different “eye” and sees and appreciates their reality in different ways. Therefore view each web photo album and see the trip from each photographer’s perspective. BTW, the Lobar pole dancing shots are near the end of Capt' Ken's web album. Enjoy.