Crested Butte

Sitting southwest of the Colorado Front Range, Crested Butte may come across as somewhat of an underdog compared to other destination resorts in the state. Misleadingly located in the town of Mount Crested Butte—the real town of Crested Butte is a few miles south of the resort—the mountain isn’t as large or snowy as its Colorado competitors, but its isolation and prominent peak make for a unique atmosphere. Not everyone will love Crested Butte, but the resort shouldn’t be instantly ruled out, especially by experienced skiers and riders.

Crested Butte’s footprint boasts perhaps the most striking peak of any Colorado resort. The top of the mountain stands out with its unique shape and is truly a sight to behold, and its surrounding land is much less developed than many competitors. However, the resort feels shorter than it really is due to its modest base-to-summit vertical (the mountain’s low point is in another pod far away from the base). At just 2,300’ from the main base to the top of the High Lift t-bar—and 2,600’ to the very top of Crested Butte Peak, the resort just doesn’t enjoy the eminence one might expect from a destination Rockies mountain.

Crested Butte is not the place for those prone to elevation sickness. Despite its lower base-to-summit vertical rise, Crested Butte tops out at a similar elevation to the Front Range mountains. This means the resort sits at a very high base elevation, so even those in lower-mountain areas may find the altitude overwhelming.

Crested Butte receives the same high-quality snow as other Colorado mountains, but it doesn’t see quite the same quantity of it. This means the resort’s terrain takes longer to fill in than that of a typical Rockies ski area. Add in the gnarly footprint, and you have a recipe for rock-skiing conditions every day.

Unlike most other Colorado resorts, some key mountain areas see quite variable openings. The iconic Crested Butte Peak and extremely isolated Third Bowl really only open a few weeks each winter, usually around late February or March. On the other hand, terrain for non-experts tends to stay reliably open throughout the season, and early-season snowmaking allows for a consistent opening date.

Perhaps moreso than any other Colorado resort, Crested Butte is an expert’s paradise. More than half the resort comprises double-black terrain. Some expert areas are much more remote than the rest of the resort, giving them a distinct character.

If you’ve skied only at other Colorado resorts, heed serious caution when exploring Crested Butte’s double blacks. These runs vary substantially in difficulty; some maintain expert pitches typical to other resorts, while others involve extremely high-consequence terrain with no room for error. In some areas, the only way down may involve mandatory air or straightlining. Resort staff often post signs at the entry gates with personal warnings of the danger.

While many of Crested Butte’s double-blacks can be directly accessed by lift, much of the resort’s outermost footprint requires some hiking to reach. It takes a short hike to get to both the Peak and the Spellbound Bowl, while it takes hiking (albeit up a groomed path) to exit the Teocalli Bowls. The Third Bowl warrants hiking to get both in and out. None of these hikes take more than 20-or-so minutes, but they really start to wear down one’s stamina after repeat treks—especially given the extremely high-altitude environment in which Crested Butte is located.

A few areas require hiking or catwalking even when it might not be expected. The Bakery Trees off East River require a short hike to reach, while getting out of the expert Banana area warrants some catwalking at the bottom and a ride up the short but slow West Wall chair to get back to the normal lifts.

For less experienced skiers and riders, Crested Butte may seem a bit also-ran compared to other Colorado destination resorts. The resort’s footprint is already about half the size of a typical high-end Front Range resort, and with so much of the acreage comprising expert terrain, there isn’t a considerable amount left over for lower abilities. That being said, various mountain pods for all difficulties do exist. Runs of similar challenge tend to be congregated in the same area, leading to natural insulation for skiers of different ability levels.

Beginners will most enjoy the Red Lady pod, which offers almost entirely green terrain and rarely attracts more aggressive traffic, as well as the Painter Boy lift, which features some shorter green trails as well as a beginner terrain park. True first-timers will likely find themselves learning on the Peachtree bunny hill lift, which has been upgraded from a double to a triple chair for the 2021-22 season.

Intermediates will be attracted to the Paradise and East River lifts, which both offer an array of groomed cruisers. Both areas are isolated from the main base and offer stunning views of the surrounding wilderness. Additionally, the Prospect and Gold Link chairs offer access to severely underrated intermediate groomer terrain. These lifts mainly function as avenues for real estate access, but the terrain they serve is incredibly isolated and beautiful—and surprisingly so for such a low-elevation area. These areas are out of the way, but they’re worth visiting at least once on a Crested Butte trip.

The Silver Queen and East River chairs service the only two pods that really contain advanced-but-not-quite-expert terrain. Silver Queen hosts steep groomers and some long, demanding mogul runs, while East River specializes in black-diamond glade terrain. A few single-black runs are accessible from both t-bars, but they’re essentially just for bailing out if the expert options scare you away.

Crested Butte’s lift network is generally modern, with high-speed lifts in key areas. While some areas maintain slow, fixed-grip lift service, the rides in these pods aren’t overly long. However, Crested Butte’s lift infrastructure does not lend itself well to repeat laps across expert lines. Direct access to the majority of double-black terrain comes from one of the two t-bars, and nearly every run ends far below its lift’s bottom terminus. Often, it takes one to two lifts plus another t-bar ride to end up back where you started.

Getting back to the North Face t-bar isn’t the worst thing in the world, with a few different lift options available to get there. But getting back to the High Lift can be a bit of an ordeal. The only way to access this upper-mountain t-bar is by first taking the Silver Queen lift, which is already one of the most popular chairs at the resort due to its location at the main base of the mountain. Frustratingly, this can often mean waiting in long lines at Silver Queen just to get back up to the t-bar, which typically sees few crowds. A helper double lift called Twister provided an uphill alternative until a couple years ago, but it was unfortunately removed.

Besides the packed crowds at Silver Queen, Crested Butte suffers from a few other lift network issues. The Gold Link area and lodge offer one of the few beginner-centric environments at the resort, but the only way to access them from other mountain areas is by taking the Painter Boy triple chair. During peak times, this lift does not offer sufficient capacity to handle demand; lines can get especially bad as groups try to reach the Umbrella Bar lodge during lunch hours.

That being said, it’s rare to wait in lines in most other situations at Crested Butte. The mountain attracts fewer crowds than the more convenient Front Range resorts, meaning less demand on the uphill infrastructure.

Crested Butte’s on-mountain facilities aren’t overly special but get the job done. Food options as well as both indoor and outdoor seating can be found at the main base and the key Paradise junction point. A restaurant called Uley’s Cabin also exists on the mountain off the Red Lady lift, but it’s hidden away and not exactly easy to find. On-mountain food is pricey, but not atrociously so.

Lodging

Resort visitors will likely stay in one of two places: Mount Crested Butte, which is directly adjacent to the resort with all accommodations a short distance from it, or the town of Crested Butte, which is a 10-minute drive or bus ride from the mountain (the resort-provided shuttle runs every 15 minutes, and it can get really packed during peak times). Mount Crested Butte offers more modern accommodations, with amenities like hot tubs at most condo or hotel complexes. Accommodations in downtown Crested Butte are slightly more no-frills, but they generally feel more rustic and charming.

Apres-ski

Crested Butte is more of a “real” town than a “touristy ski” town, which means it’s a bit more low-key than one might expect. Enjoyable bars and restaurants can be found downtown, but they really only exist along one strip. A few venues host live music on weekends.

The aprés experience in Mount Crested Butte is chiefly concentrated at the Crested Butte resort base village. The bars here have solid happy hour specials and are perfect for knocking back a few beers after a tough day on the slopes, but they die down as the evening progresses.

Verdict

For experts, it’s truly hard to beat Crested Butte thanks to its vast array of extreme terrain. But for less experienced skiers, the mountain just doesn’t offer enough to match its Colorado competitors. That being said, Crested Butte does offer one significant advantage: a reasonable asking price. Tickets cost about 20-25% less than those at many Front Range mountains, meaning that while the resort isn’t perfect, guests of all abilities may find Crested Butte a compelling economical choice.