ChrisC
Well-known member
I know this is old, but thought it might still be interesting to some.
Crested Butte - like most of Southwest CO (Telluride, Silverton, even Aspen) is really having an exceptional year.
We arrived after 18" over the last two days so there were still many fluffy areas to be found. There was excellent coverage with few rocks -- so I guess the magic number for Crested Butte would be a 75" base. Too bad that number has not been reached over many of the last seasons at the Butte. But when it does....take notice.
Just to state an opinion - I think Crested Butte is one of the best expert mountains in the US. It is equal to Whistler, Snowbird, Jackson and Squaw. Tougher than most others. It has really, really technical terrain - The Extreme Limits. It is very easy to cliff out. The terrain does not reveal itself and is difficult to comprehend. Alta is simple to understand comparitively (get on the ridge, traverse and turn off). Most mountain you can look up and see a chute you want to tackle -- not here. This is perhaps one of the few mountains in the US where a guide would be truly helpful --> for in-bounds terrain. Also, I recommend purchasing the Extreme Limits Guide (a few detailed photographs of all the areas) they sell around town.
What I really like about the terrain is that Crested Butte is not a bowl, but faces. Most bowls go into a drainage that is not steep. Crested Butte's terrain is one steep face after another -- with a few knolls in between.
There are 3 key Extreme Limits zones:
1. The North Face -- includes North Face, Glades, Third Bowl, Spellbound. These areas are the most difficult to understand and perhaps most interesting.
2. Headwall -- a very steep wall above the resort. Also can get to the Teo Bowl.
3. Front side -- a series of chutes that spill off the front side to town.
The exposure of these areas range form northeast, north to northwest -- so snow stays quite nice. Try to get a run in each of these areas.
Also, I love the fact these aspects are only served by 2 T-bars. Limits capacity, and serves as an ability screen (saw so many snowboarders falling off -- no side-boarding cutes -- hurrah!)
All this expert terrain is on-top of a nice medium sized mountain that contains decent cruisers and bumps.
Town of Crested Butte. What Telluride was 8-10 years ago -- a little hippy, pretty reasonable, good cheap restaurants, authentic, and fun.
This place rocks!
Crested Butte - like most of Southwest CO (Telluride, Silverton, even Aspen) is really having an exceptional year.
We arrived after 18" over the last two days so there were still many fluffy areas to be found. There was excellent coverage with few rocks -- so I guess the magic number for Crested Butte would be a 75" base. Too bad that number has not been reached over many of the last seasons at the Butte. But when it does....take notice.
Just to state an opinion - I think Crested Butte is one of the best expert mountains in the US. It is equal to Whistler, Snowbird, Jackson and Squaw. Tougher than most others. It has really, really technical terrain - The Extreme Limits. It is very easy to cliff out. The terrain does not reveal itself and is difficult to comprehend. Alta is simple to understand comparitively (get on the ridge, traverse and turn off). Most mountain you can look up and see a chute you want to tackle -- not here. This is perhaps one of the few mountains in the US where a guide would be truly helpful --> for in-bounds terrain. Also, I recommend purchasing the Extreme Limits Guide (a few detailed photographs of all the areas) they sell around town.
What I really like about the terrain is that Crested Butte is not a bowl, but faces. Most bowls go into a drainage that is not steep. Crested Butte's terrain is one steep face after another -- with a few knolls in between.
There are 3 key Extreme Limits zones:
1. The North Face -- includes North Face, Glades, Third Bowl, Spellbound. These areas are the most difficult to understand and perhaps most interesting.
2. Headwall -- a very steep wall above the resort. Also can get to the Teo Bowl.
3. Front side -- a series of chutes that spill off the front side to town.
The exposure of these areas range form northeast, north to northwest -- so snow stays quite nice. Try to get a run in each of these areas.
Also, I love the fact these aspects are only served by 2 T-bars. Limits capacity, and serves as an ability screen (saw so many snowboarders falling off -- no side-boarding cutes -- hurrah!)
All this expert terrain is on-top of a nice medium sized mountain that contains decent cruisers and bumps.
Town of Crested Butte. What Telluride was 8-10 years ago -- a little hippy, pretty reasonable, good cheap restaurants, authentic, and fun.
This place rocks!
