Michael and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in the mountains. We decided to take a vacation only a few weeks ago. For some reason, that’s how we like to take our trips. We went to the beach twice last year, so we decided we should start 2012 off right by heading to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains for some snow skiing.
One of my favorite ski areas is Crested Butte. It has a wonderful old ski town feeling, small town with very friendly people. It isn’t crowded and the ski area is quite large. We went at the perfect time. We really could not have planned it better if we had tried. As most people know the mountains have been somewhat lacking in snow this year. I was getting a little worried for our trip when some family friends, who were in Crested Butte the week before, sent some pictures. It looked barren. I was checking the 10 day forecast up to the day we arrived. So, Michael and I left on a Friday, crossing our fingers that the forecast for snow would stick.
Friday=Travel Day
Friday, seemed like a long travel day. Our flight into Gunnison was delayed by about 2 hours. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the Razorbacks were playing in the Cotton Bowl that evening and we were so afraid we were going to be in the air and miss the game. Michael kept saying, if our flight is cancelled we will go to the game and fly to Crested Butte tomorrow. It sounded like a good plan, but I knew the flight wasn’t going to be cancelled. We arrived into Gunnison at about 4:00 local time. We decided not to rent a car, mainly because there is a free town shuttle from the mountain to town that runs every 15 minutes at night. We took the Alpine Express shuttle from the airport to our hotel which was about 40 minutes. The shuttle was nice because we got to relax and look at the wildlife. We saw two bald eagles during this time. We decided to stay at the Elevation Hotel and Spa. It is the only ski in/ski out hotel.
Once we arrived at our hotel, it was check in and get to a place to watch the game. Lucky for us, I had been to Crested Butte before and knew exactly where to watch the game…Avalanche. It is a great bar and grill on the mountain. It was also located right across from our hotel. Perfection! We dropped our bags and headed over. We sat down asked them to turn on our TVs to the game, which they did without question. After sitting a few minute we heard a Go Hogs. Michael and I were both wearing Razorback apparel and so we were spotted by a few other Hog fans. It was perfect. We added a few other Hog fans to our area not long after that and we had our own little watch party in Crested Butte. Our waitress was awesome, she helped us cheer on our team, and kept us supplied with beer. Arkansas won, which was a great way to start off our vacation. Michael and I ordered the pizza at the Avalanche and took the leftovers to our hotel fridge for our lunch the next day.
Saturday
We woke up on Saturday morning to snow. The weather report said 2 inches had already fallen with more to come. We had to go and pick up our ski rentals from the Crested Butte rental located in the Treasury building. We actually did our entire reservation for the hotel, lift tickets, ski rentals, and airport shuttle through the skicb.com website. Upon checking into the hotel we received our lift tickets, and discovered our rentals could be picked up in the Treasury. We were so excited we quickly got ready and went over and picked up our skis. The people there were so nice, and they too were really excited to see snow. We were in and out of the rental place and on the slopes in no time.
The mountain was as good as it could be. Not all of the lifts were opens and definitely not all of the runs. Michael and I went up and down several greens to get our ski legs back under us. It was perfect. It was snowing and the temperature wasn’t too cold. It didn’t take us long to get our legs back under us. It was also College Week while we were there and they had Subaru tent setup with hot chocolate and coffee. While we were in the tent getting some free hot chocolate they told us about free hour long ski lessons. Michael and I decided to sign up for an afternoon slot. We were excited to get some new pointers. As I put it, I am sure over the years I have started some bad habits.
After our hot chocolate break, we decided to hit some more runs before lunch. We took a break for lunch at Butte 66. It is at the base of the mountain. I got some really good chili and Michael got a sandwich. It was a perfect pick me up before our lesson. We met our instructor, Doug, and he was great. Doug asked what we wanted to work on and we said we just wanted some pointers on how to make skiing easier. I have a bad knee, which usually starts to bother me by the end of each ski day, so I really wanted to ensure I wasn’t doing anything to make it worse. Doug really did give us some great pointers for making it easier and more fun. He was really nice and we learned a little about the mountain in the process. After our lesson we hit a few more runs before calling it a day. We were both so tired. We went back to the hotel to shower and relaxed before dinner. I took a nap which was perfect.
Our dinner plans were to go eat in town at Slogar’s. I have eaten there before, but I wanted Michael to enjoy it too. It is a Crested Butte staple. It is located off Elk Ave on 2nd street in an old house. They serve family style fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream corn, and homemade biscuits. It is so good. We needed the extra calories after our day on the slopes. The restaurant was quiet and not very busy. It was the perfect romantic little dinner place for us and the perfect ending to our first real day.
Sunday
We got up early Sunday to find we had gotten 5 inches of snow the day and night before. It was very sunny and we couldn’t wait to hit the slopes for our second ski day. We both wanted some breakfast and coffee. We took a walk over to Camp 4 Coffee in the courtyard. They have a great quick breakfast. They have breakfast sandwiches, burritos, donuts, bagels, etc. Michael got a breakfast sandwich and I went with a donut. The donut was good. After our quick breakfast we hit the slopes. My goal for today was to show Michael as much of the mountain as I could. He really had seen the majority of it, but there was one area I always liked the most. So we skied a little in an area we skied the day before to gather our legs on the new groomed runs and then I took over to Paradise. That’s really the name of the area…fitting.
The Paradise area is majority blue runs. They have a lot of blue runs, some double blues, and maybe one green. I was a little sneaky and got Michael to go down a double blue by telling him it was just a blue. I think he stopped believing me when he looked down. I really feel as I have gotten older those runs have gotten steeper. I still go down them, but standing at the top looking down is always a little crazy. Don’t get me wrong, they are still just as fun as I remember. We skied very hard on this day. We were so very tired that we really didn’t want to even ride the bus down to town.
Sunday evening we decided to try out the restaurant in our hotel. When we arrived we should have taken the empty restaurant as an indication of how good it would be. No one was there and the food was not good. Michael ordered a rice bowl with shrimp and I ordered a noodle bowl with beef. Michael’s rice wasn’t cooked all the way and it was not good. I tried his and then shared mine with him. My meal wasn’t the greatest in the flavor category, but it wasn’t that bad either. For the price, it definitely wasn’t worth going. There are too many good places in Crested Butte to try..skip 9380 Prime in the Elevation hotel for dinner. One thing I will say about the restaurant is the outdoor bar and fire pit is awesome. It was a fun place to sit and relax during the day and night. If you are looking for a fun cocktail ask for a hot chocolate and ask them to put some Smirnoff Marshmallow vodka in it. Sooooo good.
Monday
Monday was our last day to ski. We were tired and sore come Monday morning, so we started out slow. I don’t think we hit the mountain until 10 and we had the idea to take our camera up the mountain with us. I don’t like carrying our backpack and nice camera on the mountain out of fear of falling and hurting it. I forgot my little camera, so we took Monday morning as our photo opportunity moment. We took pictures at the top and even some of us skiing down. It was fun and the weather was perfect. It was sunny and a little warmer.
After picture time we took the camera back to the room and headed back out to the slopes. Since we didn’t have our backpack we went straight to do a blue. I knew if we didn’t hit the hard stuff early by the end of the day my legs were not going to work anymore. Some of our favorite areas were closed this day which was a little disappointing. I am not sure it is was the lack of people or the lack of snow, but we didn’t let that stop our fun. We skied pretty hard, but by about 2:30 my knee couldn’t take it anymore and I went back to the room and left Michael to the slopes. He didn’t stay out much longer, but he had fun. I have to say the week we picked to go was perfect. No crowds, and thankfully we got some fresh powder. I think skiing at the beginning of January will become a new tradition for us and I think I sold Michael on skiing in Crested Butte.
Monday night, we stayed in our room and relaxed. We were exhausted after three busy days of skiing. The Alabama vs LSU was on TV, so we ordered some dinner from the Avalanche and watched the game in bed. Michael got a hamburger and I got the BBQ Pig Sandwich, both were very good. Michael watched the game and I finished reading my second book of our trip.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we decided not to ski but since it was our last day in the mountains we still enjoyed our time. Michael and I took the opportunity to walk around the town of Crested Butte. We checked out several shops. We ended up in a cute pet shop. Since Michael and I have only one dog (child) we had to get her something. We ended up getting Gabby some treats and an antler chew. She loves the antler chew. It was so nice walking around and relaxing. The people in town were helpful and nice. Almost every store had there dogs with them, and I just loved visiting with all the dogs. We got my parents some t-shirts and I got a new sweatshirt while Michael got a new t-shirt. We all ended up with a little something.
After shopping for awhile, we decided to go to Teocalli Tamale for lunch. It was good and quick. It is a fast food type Mexican restaurant. I think you can check out their menu online. It is located in the center of Elk Ave and so it was easy to stop in and eat and then continue on with our shopping. When we were done shopping, we decided to go back to the hotel and sit outside by the fire pit and watch the skiers come down the mountain.
For our last dinner we went off a suggestion we heard the first night from some of our fellow hog fans. Michael and I went to Marchitelli's Gourmet Noodle for some Italian. It is located in town on 3rd street, just off Elk. It is easy to find and very good to eat. I think it was my favorite meal of the trip. I got the special which was Lobster Ravioli and Michael got the Seafood Lasagna. He liked mine better than his but I liked both. We got a great glass of wine and stuffed mushroom appetizer. I can’t go to any Italian place without having Tiramisu. I really should be a food critic of Tiramisu. So, before we left we got the Tiramisu for dessert. It was good, but it wasn’t my favorite ever. I will save you my criticism of why it wasn’t the best, but it was good.
After our long but short time on the mountain, we were sad to see it come and go. I have to say the mountain is still just as wonderful a place to ski as ever. I truly believe it will become a place Michael and I will try and go once a year. The town and the people are fabulous. If you are looking for a great ski vacation location, check out Crested Butte. Since we are located in Arkansas, to find a place we can go skiing and get there fast and affordable and still have a blast there I will take it any day. Now I am looking forward to going next year. Maybe we can convince some friends to come with us. It is always more fun with a group of people.
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