The
Gunnison-Crested Butte Valley in southwest Colorado is a hot spot for
world-class professional athletes and locals who embrace the area’s
enormous outdoor playground for recreational pursuits. With hundreds of
miles of trails, mountain ranges galore, numerous waterways and a ski
area with the most lift-served extreme terrain in North America, the
options are nearly limitless for visitors to also get a taste of extreme
adventure.
Here are eight ideas for those who want to get a little out
of their comfort zone.
1. Get inspired with Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s legendary extreme skiing and snowboarding.
CBMR is known for its 542 acres of Extreme Limits terrain and has been recognized as a top five place to ski steeps in 2014 by Freeskier
magazine. By introducing the first extreme freeskiing event in the
United States 23 years ago and holding the U.S. Extreme Freeskiing
Championships ever since, CBMR has established themselves as one of the
leading resorts in big mountain skiing. This year, the freeskiing event
was one of three qualifiers on the Subaru Freeride Series, which serves
as the U.S. qualifier for the Swatch Freeride World Tour presented by
The North Face and included both skiing and snowboarding. The legendary
terrain also is a proving grounds for junior competitors as the venue
for the upcoming IFSA Junior Freeskiing National Championships on March 7
– 9.
There
is no need to be a hardcore competitor to access this expert terrain
and there’s still plenty of time to get in on this year’s winter season.
Hire a guide to learn the lay of the land and pick up a few tips along
the way with the resort’s North Face Guides program, or take a private
lesson with local Olympian and freeskiing legend Wendy Fisher. Visitors
can also take part in a Wednesdays with Wendy group lesson for
intermediate to expert skiers. For more information, go to www.skicb.com/lessons.
2. Experience snowcat skiing and snowboarding like never before.
For
the ultimate in snowcat skiing and snowboarding, Irwin Guides transport
guests from Crested Butte to the former mining town of Irwin in a
luxury snowcat for a day of powder turns. With an average annual
snowfall of more than 600 inches, there is a good chance for fresh
tracks and typically 10,000 to 15,000 vertical feet during a day out. A
gourmet lunch is served in the restored Movie Cabin, used for the
filming of “Mountain Family Robinson.” For details, visit www.irwincolorado.com.
3. Take part in hard-core snow sports.
The opportunities are numerous throughout snow season, with some of the best yet to come.
- For some skiers, doing one run down Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s notorious Banana, a double-black-diamond run, is enough. However, the point of 7 Hours of the Banana on March 2 is to ski as many laps as possible nonstop to raise money for Adaptive Sports Center and Crested Butte Snowsports Foundation. In past years, top racers completed 50 laps. www.adaptivesports.org.
- The seventh annual Gothic Mountain Tour on March 8 is an epic backcountry randonee ski race featuring two options: 16 miles with more than 2,000 vertical gain and 20 miles with more than 4,200 feet of vertical gain. Shovels, probes, beacons, full skins and a COSAR card are required. www.cbnordic.org.
- As one of the most sought-after and rugged backcountry ski races on the planet, the 17th annual GORE-TEX® Grand Traverse kicks off at the stroke of midnight on March 28, follows historic mail routes that connected Crested Butte and Aspen in the 1880s (a 40-mile course over two mountain passes) and finishes at the base of Aspen Mountain ski area on March 29. There are many activities for racers and the general public on March 27 and 28. www.elkmountainstraverse.com.
- The Ultimate Snowmobile Event launches for the first time ever at Crested Butte Mountain Resort on April 10 – 13. The eight-event snowmobile contest will crown the Ultimate Snowmobiler and draw contestants and spectators to the ski area base the weekend after CBMR closes for ski season. Visit www.skicb.com/events.
- Crested Butte Pole Pedal Paddle is a multi-sport endurance race on April 27 that spans the length of the Gunnison Valley, starting in Mt. Crested Butte and finishing 31 miles away in Gunnison. Competitors start at Crested Butte Mountain Resort with an uphill/downhill ski race, biking south on Highway 135 and kayaking on the Gunnison River from the North Bridge put-in to the Gunnison Whitewater Park. Competitors can race as individuals doing each of the three race legs on their own or as teams of three relay-style. Go to www.crestedbutte3p.com.
4. Ascend to Guides Ridge for a European-style alpine adventure.
Experience
the thrill, exposure, challenge and beauty of this technically easy,
yet rarely travelled, alpine climb to the top of Crested Butte’s most
iconic peak: Crested Butte Mountain. Ride the Silver Queen Chairlift at
Crested Butte Mountain Resort and make a short traverse across alpine
boulder fields to the base of the long and jagged 800-foot arête known
as Guides Ridge. After a roped ascent of a few hours, arrive on the
12,162-foot summit then choose to either rappel down or walk down the
hiker’s trails back to the chair lift. This guided outing is available
in winter, summer and fall. Crested Butte Mountain Guides also offers
avalanche and introduction to backcountry courses, backcountry
skiing/split boarding for day or hut trips, backcountry powder camps,
and ski mountaineering courses. To find out more, visit Crested Butte
Mountain Guides’ website at www.crestedbutteguides.com.
5. Challenge yourself in the backcountry with amazing outings and expert guides.
There
is no reason to go it alone when local guides can take care of the
planning headaches and reduce the risk of an extreme adventure going
bad. During fair weather, adventurers embrace alpine skills clinics,
mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, and rock climbing in areas such as
the Taylor Canyon, Cement Creek, Hartman Rocks and Black Canyon of the
Gunnison. Visit www.crestedbutteguides.com. Colorado Backcountry offers custom hikes and mountain bike rides and route planning and consulting, go to www.coloradobc.com. (check URLs please)
6. Get a taste of the ultra-unique Hartman Rocks Recreation Area.
The
trails at Gunnison’s Hartman Rocks are among the first in the valley to
dry out for spring riding, running and hiking. The 8,000-acre area is
dominated by the Ring Dike, a spectacular monzogranite rock formation
about six miles in diameter, and features excellent mountain biking,
hiking rock climbing, bouldering, cross-country skiing and dirt biking.
There are 45 miles of open roads and 44 miles of singletrack that makes
the following events possible.
- The seventh annual Sage Burner on May 17 features 25 kilometer and 50 kilometer trail running races that wind through the Hartman Rocks landscape. There is a cap of 350 runners. www.sageburnertrailrun.com.
- The 32-mile Half-Growler (one lap) officially kicks off the local mountain bike racing season on May 24 followed by the 64-mile Full-Growler on May 25. Both races are for experienced mountain bikers only and are capped at 350 riders, who start and finish in downtown Gunnison. www.gunnisontrails.com.
- Hartman Rocks also is the backdrop for 24 Hours in the Sage, a 24-hour relay bike race where individual entrants and teams ride a 13-mile loop continuously from noon Saturday, Aug. 23 to noon Sunday, Aug. 24. The person/team in each category with the most laps wins. The World Townie Championships and a12-hour race that starts at noon on Aug. 23 and finishes and finishes at midnight also are offered. www.24hoursinthesage.com.
7. Consider these epic fair-weather biking and running events.
Here is just a sampling of the many fair-weather options to get taste extreme adventure while on two wheels or two feet.
- Crested Butte Bike Week – This is the original Fat Tire Bike Week that now includes all sorts of biking fun. The Chainless World Championships is not for the faint of heart, starting at the top of Kebler Pass and cruising down 7 miles of dirt and pavement to the heart of town on June 28. Fat Tire 40 returns on June 29 with the same epic 40-plus mile course on legendary Crested Butte singletrack, beginning and ending at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. www.cbbikeweek.com.
- Western State Colorado University’s Mountain Sports Team is sponsoring the third annual Dave Wiens West Elk Bicycle Classic on Aug. 31. The challenging 130-mile gran fondo ride climbs nearly 9,000 feet from Gunnison to Crested Butte, circumnavigating the West Elk Mountains. From Gunnison, the route proceeds along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Crawford and Paonia before beginning a 5,000-foot climb up Kebler Pass to Crested Butte. www.westelkbicycleclassic.com.
- Pearl Pass Mountain Bike Tour is the oldest mountain bike event in the world, traveling from Crested Butte to Aspen via Pearl Pass on Sept. 13 – 14. In 1976, the first group of 15 or 20 cyclists from Crested Butte rode one-speed town bikes over the 12,705-foot Pearl Pass to Aspen. By the early 1980s, the expert ride had grown and become a weeklong event known as Fat Tire Bike Week (now Crested Butte Bike Week). For information, call (970) 349-6817.
8. Plunge into local waterways and swollen rivers.
The
Gunnison Valley offers a wide variety of kayaking adventures from Class
II runs on the Gunnison and Taylor Rivers and Class V creeking on the
Upper East River and Oh-Be-Joyful Creek. Head out with the certified
experts at Scenic River Tours, www.scenicrivertours.com and Three Rivers Resort & Outfitting, www.3riversresort.com.
If rodeo moves are your style, try them out at the Gunnison Whitewater
Park and compete during the Gunnison River Festival on June 20 – 22, www.gunnisonriverfestival.com.
