Free Skiing – No need to worry about having enough money to rent equipment, buy lunch or enjoy an après ski cocktail when the lift ticket for skiing and boarding is absolutely free, no strings attached, for Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s opening day on Nov. 26. Live music is planned at the slopeside Butte 66 throughout the day, providing a festive start to season.
All season long, Crested Butte Nordic will offer free skiing and ski gear for youth ages 17 and under, making cross-country skiing and snowshoeing attractive and affordable ways for families to enjoy mountain trails.
Power Up Ski Skills – Pig out on turkey and all the fixings, work off the calories and learn something new at Crested Butte Nordic’s annual Thanksgiving Training Camp on Nov. 27 – 29. All levels of cross-country skiers can attend with groups divided by experience and into classic and skate skiing disciplines. The camp kicks off with a refresher round robin clinic for classic skiers on Thanksgiving morning and continues with half- and full-day clinics on Nov. 28 and 29. Clinic instructors include Olympians Rebecca Dussault and Ingrid Butts.
Those who love the outdoors will appreciate “Summits of My Life – A Fine Line,” presented by Crested Butte Film Festival on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. to benefit Crested Butte Nordic. On Nov. 29, the Thanksgiving Training Camp Party and Silent Auction at the Red Room features delicious fare, libations, music and dancing at 6 p.m.
Ski mountaineering continues to gain traction but how does one go about learning this unique sport? Crested Butte’s gOCB Professional Skimo Team is presenting a solution by offering the first-ever gO Skimo Camp on Dec. 13 – 14 at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Local world-class, professional athletes and coaches Bryan Wickenhauser, Brian Smith, Jari Kirkland, Jon Brown, Sari Anderson and Stevie Kremer will work with participants on uphill, downhill and transition skills on alpine touring (AT) gear, and two forums will focus on nutrition and performance, ski-specific core workout lessons, product development, beginner and advanced racing techniques and injury prevention tips. A skimo gear swap, yoga session, winter run, skimo race and social gatherings also are part of the weekend.
Get Your Race Face On - Of the three International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) sanctioned races in the United States this season, Crested Butte is thrilled to host two events. The first is the fifth annual Irwin Guides/Griggs Orthopedics ISMF Race on Dec. 6 in nearby Irwin, a former mining town near Crested Butte. Competitors in the race division should plan on 5,000 feet of elevation gain/loss over a 10-mile, three-loop race course while the recreation division features 3,500 feet of elevation gain/loss over 6.5 miles, which includes the first two loops of the race division course. An awards party is planned for 5 p.m. at Mountaineer Square Ballroom in Mt. Crested Butte, held in conjunction with the Crested Butte Avalanche Center Awareness Party.
The Mountain Store Citizens Race Series is competitive and fun for all ages and abilities with classic and skate ski races held on Saturday mornings at scenic locations within Crested Butte Nordic’s groomed trail network. Beginning with 5 and 10 kilometer lengths in early December, race distances increase up to 20 km leading up to the 29th annual Alley Loop Nordic Marathon on Feb. 7. Citizens Race dates are Dec. 13 and 20 and Jan. 10, 17 and 24.
The Gunnison-Crested Butte valley has the unique distinction of being one of the birthplaces of mountain biking and continues to push the envelope with a fat bike race series this winter that kicks off on Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. in Crested Butte’s Magic Meadows area near Peanut Lake. The series continues with a Jan. 3 race in Gunnison at Hartman Rocks Recreation Area and Feb. 6 in Crested Butte in conjunction with Alley Loop. Check Facebook for more details.
