ISSUE 3.6 49 PAGE

WORDS:

TUCKER ANDREWS

CRESTEDBUTTE

L A S T R E S O R T

50PAGE FEBRUARY 2013 snowboard-colorado.com

WORDS:

TUCKER ANDREWS

CRESTEDBUTTE

L A S T R E S O R T

ISSUE 3.6 51 PAGE

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52PAGE FEBRUARY 2013 snowboard-colorado.com

CRESTED BUTTE WAS THE FIRST PLACE I EVER STRAPPED INTO

A SNOWBOARD. ACTUALLY, I CLICKED INTO MY SNOWBOARD.

THIS WAS 1999, WHEN CLICKERS WERE PRETTY RADICAL, OR

AT LEAST THEY WERE FOR ME, ACCOUNTING FOR THE FACT

THAT I RENTED A BOARD AND BOOTS FOR THE FIRST THREE

YEARS I SPENT ON A SNOWBOARD. I WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS

INTO THIS VOYAGE CALLED LIFE AND I CAN REMEMBER THAT

DAY LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.

Now, it took me a while to get the nuts and bolts up in my old

noggin turning, but while I was waiting for that to happen, I

decided I didn't want to write something about Crested Butte

that would give away all the secret places that I've been shown.

And I sure as hell didn't want to piss off all the local ski and

board bums that call Crested Butte home, which is the majority

of the town during the snowy months. During the winter in

Crested Butte, if you don't own a pair of skis or a snowboard

and don't plan on investing in one, well then, you better get

yourself some nice, sharp hockey skates or snow shoes because

that pretty much sums up the outdoor activities for the winter

months. Or you could just turn into a raging alcoholic because

we do have a bunch of good bars, but I don't think your wallet

and liver would appreciate that too much.

So if you're reading this hoping I'l l give you a play-by-play on

what to do if it just so happens to snow three feet the first night

you visit Crested Butte, I'm sorry, amigo, but that's just not going

to happen. What I will let you know is that it doesn't take much

brain power to have a good time at the Butte, if mother nature

decides to work in your favor.

CRESTED BUTTE ONE OF THE LAST GREAT MOUNTAIN TOWNS

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THERE'S ONE FULLY-MAINTAINED ROAD THAT WILL

BRING YOU TO THIS LITTLE CHUNK OF PARADISE

AND THE SAME ONE WILL GET YOU OUT

CRESTED BUTTE

ISSUE 3.6 53 PAGE

GUNNISONNATIONAL FOREST

GUNNISONNATIONAL FOREST

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SILVER

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Cre

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ESTABLISHED: 1961

SUMMIT ELEVATION:12,162'

BASE ELEVATION: 9,375'

VERTICAL DROP: 2,775'

TRAILS: 121

LIFTS: 15

ACRES: 1,547

SNOWMAKING COVERAGE: 297 ACRES

LONGEST TRAIL: 2.6 MILES

TERRAIN PARKS: 2

HALFPIPE: YES

ANNUAL AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 300 INCHES

NIGHT RIDING: NO

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54PAGE FEBRUARY 2013 snowboard-colorado.com

C re s t e d B u t t e i s a re a l s m a l l t ow n t u c ke d i n t o t h e E l k

Mounta in Range . There ' s one fu l l y -ma in ta ined road that

wi l l br ing you to th is l i t t le chunk of paradise and the same

one w i l l get you out . The town surv ives o f f o f the resor t

in the winter. Without the resort br ing ing in second-home

owners and vacat ioners dur ing the ho l idays and weekend

road tr ippers searching for powder, a good major i ty of the

business in town and on the mountain just wouldn't be able

to hold out . So you can ' t hate the kooks that make the l i f t

l ines long and f i l l up sect ions of the resort for a few weeks

out of the winter. In my eyes , you have to thank them just

a l i t t le b i t for keeping the l i f ts runn ing . And yes , Crested

But te has second-home owners and peop le coming in by

the busload dur ing the hol idays , but only a f ract ion of what

you see at resorts l ike Breckenr idge, Vai l and Beaver Creek.

That i s one th ing that I love about Crested Butte and hope

cont inues to remain the same.

Living in Crested Butte puts a lot of things in perspective at

a young age that a lot of people out there wouldn't have a

single clue about. People from Crested Butte thrive on being

in the outdoors . You learn to apprec iate and respect the

mountains and enjoy the simpleness and slow pace of a small

mountain town. You can walk down the street on any given

day and, chances are, you wil l know everyone you pass and

you definitely say hello to them, even if you don't know them.

Crested Butte is home to me, so obviously I 'm going to talk

highly about it . But as far as small resort towns go, it is one of

the most genuine and friendly places I know of.

As far as the resort goes, the Butte has some of the steepest and

rockiest terrain that Colorado has to offer. Only a few hours away

from Telluride, Durango and Silverton, the resort definitely holds

that southwest-Rocky Mountain feeling. The peak of Mt. Crested

Butte looks like something out of the movie How the Grinch Stole

Christmas. It's tall, pointy, jagged and has an almost crooked look

to it when you're heading up the Silver Queen lift. Because Crested

Butte is so rocky, it takes a good amount of snow to get a lot of the

good, steep stuff open. And when I say good stuff, I'm referring to

taking a ride up either the High Lift T-bar or the North Face T-bar.

THE PEAK OF MT. CRESTED BUTTE LOOKS LIKE

SOMETHING OUT OF THE MOVIE "HOW THE GRINCH

STOLE CHRISTMAS"

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ISSUE 3.6 55 PAGE

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56PAGE FEBRUARY 2013 snowboard-colorado.com

If you hop on either of these T-bars, you will be dropped off at the

top of some of the steepest inbound terrain around. If you get off

at the halfway point on the High Lift, you can drop in right down

the gut of the run, which is called Big Chute. The name says it all.

If you take the High Lift all the way to the end of the line, you will

have a bunch of different options, but the big, wide-open bowl

that everyone knows up there is called the Headwall. It's nice and

steep, rocky and has cliffs and chutes all over it. This is the spot on

the mountain where a lot of big mountain competitions take place.

Now, taking up the North Face T-bar will allow you to access a

pretty big portion of the mountain. There are plenty of really good

runs you can take right off the lift, but if you're willing to put in

a little effort and hike from where the lift stops, you can get into

some really fun and technical stuff. This lift grants you access to

the entire backside of the mountain and is also where some past

Northface Masters events have been held.

Throughout all these years and early seasons spent waiting patiently

for the steeps to open up, I've had a good amount of time to explore

the mountain and find all sorts of different ways to snowboard down

it. Just because the High Lift or North Face hasn't opened yet doesn't

mean you're not going to get your kicks. The majority of the mountain

is on the steeper side of the spectrum - plenty of places to haul taters

and fly off rollers. One of the better places on the hill to get into a

nice tuck and generate some speed is called International. The run is

pretty steep in the first place, and with some blind corners and rollers,

it always makes for a perfect run to get the blood pumping.

The amount of side hits , mini-banked slaloms and cat-track

gaps at the Butte is enough to keep any snowboarder happy

for a lifetime. There's a fun run off the Red Lady chairlift called

Bubba's Way, which is one of my favorite l ittle gull ies on the

mountain. This is where I like to gather a bunch of buds and let

loose. It's a really fun single-track-type run with doubles, step-

ups, step-downs and tight turns. Gotta carry enough speed on

the way out though, you don't want to be wasting time scooching

back to the lift.

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ONE OF THE BETTER PLACES ON THE HILL TO GET

INTO A NICE TUCK AND GENERATE SOME SPEED IS

CALLED INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE 3.6 57 PAGE

I could only see someone getting tired of riding Crested Butte if

they weren't looking at the resort in the right way. Snowboarding

at Crested Butte has taught me how to truly and completely go

snowboarding. If you like riding the entire mountain, finding mogul

gaps, going fast and having a damn good time, then you gotta

trust me - you're going to enjoy your time spent at the Butte.

Along with what seems like endless natural terrain, Crested Butte

has been creating a bigger and better park every year. The first

terrain park I can recall in the Butte consisted of a halfpipe with

10-foot-tall walls, a double-barrel rail shaped like the silhouette

of a cartoon whale, two triangle-shaped kickers and a massive

metal wallride at the end of it all. This existed before I even dared

to step foot in the terrain park. Over the past few seasons, the

terrain park has improved greatly. A lot of the man hours put into

making a better park come from a guy named Christian Robertson.

Christian is about as good a dude as they come. Along with being

one of my coaches a bunch of years back, he is the owner of some

gold duct tape that he brought back to Colorado from the Banked

Slalom up at Mt. Baker. He is one hell of a snowboarder and thanks

need to be given to him for kicking ass every year and making the

terrain park better and more enjoyable. Over the past handful of

seasons, he has been looking at the perfectly-made parks around

Colorado and applying his firsthand experience in those parks

to build and shape Crested Butte's terrain parks in his own way.

If you do end up making the trek to Crested Butte at some point in

your life, chances are you're not going to want to go hungry while

you're here. You're also going to want to sit down after a good day

of boarding and have yourself an ice-cold beer. Well that's what I

like to do after a bunch of hours on the hill, so I'll give you a little

info on some of the places at the base area and in town you are

not going to want to skip.

If you're getting up to the mountain early and want to get a quick

breaky burrito or sandwich, the Brown Labrador Pub will be your best

bet. They normally have quick breakfast stuff hot and ready so you

can hop on the lift and enjoy your breakfast on the go. You can pop

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IF YOU'RE GETTING UP TO THE MOUNTAIN EARLY

AND WANT TO GET A QUICK BREAKY BURRITO OR

SANDWICH, THE BROWN LABRADOR PUB WILL BE

YOUR BEST BET

58PAGE FEBRUARY 2013 snowboard-colorado.com

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A COUPLE GOOD-TIMIN' PLACES TO POP INTO ARE EITHER

THE TALK OF THE TOWN OR KOCHIEVERS. CLASSIC BARS

WITH POOL TABLES, DARTS AND A JUKEBOX

back into this spot for lunch, as well, because the Brown Labrador

Pub is also a bakery and the staff is always whipping up fresh

croissants, cookies, calzones and tasty soups.

When the l i f t s turn of f for the day, I l i ke to head over to

The Avalanche. This place is constantly packed to the brim

with good people having a good t ime. The menu is massive,

but some highl ights are the burgers and r ibs . And to wash

it a l l down, they have dr inks with names l ike The Painki l ler

and Avalanche Warning, which always seem to do the trick in

taking the sore bones, aches and pains off your mind. The good

people and warm atmosphere make it a tough place to beat

when looking for a spot to dry out after boarding.

Now if you only had a few beers at the "Avy," hop on the free

local shuttle bus, which is only about 100 footsteps from the

exit of The Avalanche, and head down to town for some more

good t imes. One place that a lways does the tr ick when I 'm

hungry is Teocall i Tomale. It 's a small l itt le burrito/taco shop

located on Elk Avenue. It 's set up l ike most burrito spots, but

because it 's what I grew up on, it 's always going to beat out

the rest.

When the sun tucks itself away for the day, a couple good-timin' places

to pop into are The Talk of the Town and Kochievers. Classic bars with

pool tables, darts and a jukebox. What more do you really need?

No matter what time of year you show up in Crested Butte, you

will have an awesome time. The summer is packed with swimming

holes, cliff jumps, mountain climbs, bike rides, skateboarding and

tons more, and the winter, hopefully, consumed entirely by never-

ending powder. This town that I was extremely lucky to grow up in

has a real sense of heart still, and I honestly couldn't be happier to

be from Crested Butte. It's where my parents and brother and a few

good friends still call home 12 months of the year, and no matter

what, I will always continue to come back.

If you feel like traveling and want to spend some time in a truly classic

Colorado ski town, I'm pretty sure you know exactly where to go.