Crested Butte Mountain Resort

We rented our spot for a long weekend. We had 2 bed/​2 bath. It was nice place, convenient walk to slopes. Fortunately this weekend, was the first major powder for the mountain. Loved to shuttle to town. Did not have to move the car. The hike up the mountain to the slopes was tough with ski boots. Fortunately the rental location allowed us to store skiis and boots overnight. YEAH We had view of mountain and fire place. Each bed room had baths and master a Jacuzzi (unfortunately did not work) but that did not dampen the stay.

We took a ski trip to crested butte this winter. I had gotten my girlfriend a five day trip as her Christmas present.
We stayed at the elevation hotel which was absolutely outstanding. They offered free wine after the lifts closed. They had valet parking service for the duration of our stay which was very convenient.
As far as the skiing goes it was wonderful for both of us. There is plenty of terrain for all types of skiers. Plenty of nice little green runs for my girlfriend to cruise on and plenty of steeper more challenging terrain for me to ride. Plenty of good places to eat on the mountain.
As far as the town goes, I’d say this is probably the coolest ski town I have been to. Every single place we ate at was just amazing. The food is just great in This town. It’s impossible to find a bad meal in crested butte. It’s so hard to pick a restaurant for dinner when they are all so good.
I would absolutely recommend crested butte for a ski trip. Absolutely perfect for families who have skiers of all different abilities. We really liked how the mountain was kind of separated in half by easy terrain and more difficult terrain and it was very easy to navigate. If you could time it right and hit this resort on a good snow day you’d be pretty happy I think.

The mountain offers runs for all skill levels! Their signage on the mountain is exceptional, making it difficult to get lost and if that we’re not enough, you can almost always find a guide somewhere to help. We also loved that they had ‘action shot ’ locations around the mountain where they had personnel taking photos. It’s nice as we all know it can be impossible to get photos, so it was a nice feature for those who like to scrapbook! The varying terrain was the absolute best, I am an advanced skier but my significant other was at an expert level. There was something for both of us and it wasn’t crazily segregated either so we could always meet back up easily without having to go to different parts of the mountain. There also was good places you could cut in and out of trees, which is always a blast! We never experienced long lift lines and there were lots of lifts to get you anywhere! The town is lacking a bit, but you can tell it is more of a local ski resort then a super commercialized one, so really cannot complain. We did not experience any so called ‘party kids’ everywhere. In fact we are 24 & 26 and have met VERY few people our age with the exception of those who work the resort. This is the closest ski resort tithe college in Gunnison, of course they would visit here. We’ve met lots of super friendly adults of all ages and families! The staff everywhere we have gone, including in the town, have been very friendly and helpful! They also have great resources for finding activities, events, and recommendations in the are and surrounding areas. We spent 6 days here and loved it, we would definitely make the 5 hr drive from our home in Northern Colorado to visit again! Would bring my family here once I have one.

I love Crested Butte the ski area is fantastic the lines are usually short to get on the lift and the skiing is epic. I use to live in Gunnison and have lots of life long friends who live in Gunnison and Created Butte. There is great partying here especially four of July. I would warn people from Texas if you get rude service it is long time thing that has gone on for reasons I don’t understand most people are great and many of the locals are kind and hospitable. But the so called locals transplants from the east coast come into the town with a tourist resentment like they are better than everyone else. Now I have lived in Texas and they are some of the most kind and generous people I’ve ever been around actually most people from the southeast are just awesome. I have spent time with people who are so called locals and most are from other places like Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. They say people from the south are rude and act as the town is theirs. I quickly pointed out that those people ensure that you have a job and if they don’t come then there is no ski area or local bars.

Extreme snowboarding and skiing. That’s what it’s all about at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. By far the best lift-​accessed extreme terrain in the US. From Teocalli Bowl to the Northface to Phoenix and beyond to Third Bowl, with an average winter snowfall it doesn’t getting any better. The cold smoke powder of January dropping down steeps is what memories are made of.
Located north of Gunnison, the Crested Butte ski area has 11 lifts accesing 121 runs spread over 1,200 acres with a maximum vertical of 2,800 feet.
For more indepedent information about Crested Butte Mountain Resort, check out:

I love this mountain. Not crowded, great mix of trails for all levels, well-​laid out, and well run. Not even a hint of pretentiousness. Adorable town, plenty of dining and lodging options. I wish I could move here.

I am very happy with this resort. I mean, the views, THE VIEWS! Wowza. So even if you’re there to be a snow bunny, as apposed to a powder dog, you got yourself covered.
My first time here I just opted to kind of wander around w/​o a trail map… Started out well, found a few on-​mountain bars (YEAH! The Paradise Warmer something or other had some fabulous bacon bloodys, and a pbr w/​a shot special for ST Patty’s, heck yes), cus why not? Spring skiing is vacation skiing! After riding skiiers left for awhile, I decided to take a detour and see the rest of the mountain.
All was fun and games until I was trying to get back to the base… And that’s my only beef, poor signage for the runs. After talking to a few locals and lifties, they finally guided me back to where I needed to be, but as far as someone not having a map (my bad) I was pretty clueless where the signs said «back to base area», but were still pointing to several different runs, making it sooorrrtttt of complicated to get back. Granted, now after my little exploration, I’ll have a better idea for when I go back, cus heck yeah I will!
I have to dissagree with other reviewers about there not being enough blues, I thought there were plenty. For not having very much base this spring, they did an awesome job with their grooming. Spring slush can be pretty hard to contend with to make even cords, but I didn’t find many blemishes at all! And with or w/​o a good snow they’ve got a great vertical rise to the mountain, and plenty of space for steeps n deeps. Even the green runs had some great character to them!
YAY CB!!!

Why is noone reviewing Crusty Butt? Oh, because it’s off the beaten path, it’s too far from Denver and Colorado Springs to easily do a day trip to, and the locals realize what a gem they have.
I recall once taking an avalanche course and the instructor talking about how steep Crested Butte is and how it probably has some of the steepest in-​bounds stuff in the country. Well, it’s STEEP, and on a powder day that is damn fun! I easily had the best snowboarding weekend ever here, although to be honest it was dumping which helped a lot.
The mountain itself is fairly small with limited actual runs. If you’re a blue or green only skier or rider, you’re going to get bored here over the course of a weekend or longer. If you’re a black and/​or double black kinda guy or gal, there’s some really great stuff here and the trees are a blast as well. And then… there’s the T-​bar, and the hiking capabilities.
Unfortunately, Intrawest recently bought Crested Butte. Let’s hope they don’t over develop it, and Crested Butte is able to keep its non-​resort-​y feel while still being a kick-​ass place to catch some pow.

This review is for crested butte rental and demo ONLY. The mountain resort itself is awesome… although the final pitch is not a green… just sayin’…
anyhooooo…we reserved our lift tickets and ski rentals through CBR&D. Arrived spring break ³⁄₁₇. Evidently they don’t celebrate spring break at CBR&D as they were ill prepared to handle the sheer volume of clientele. It was like a huge surprise to the staff… and was possibly the most absurd experience I’ve ever had service wise… ever.
At least 2 out of 8 lift tickets were wrong, …all of the dates we had to turn in our skis were wrong on print out causing a lot of anxiety, our info in the system was wrong. You went from one line to another to another. From picking up your misprinted lift tickets, to getting the ski boots, to getting ski’s. I understand the logic but the sheer length of lines and lack of staff was insane. All told I think about 2+ hours of my life I’ll never get back. We were also told they were out of helmets and lockers but upon the final leg of our torturous journey there was a wall of helmets available. They fitted the binding wrong on my nieces ski’s causing her to have to go return for a correction. mayhem. Would never go back as long as there is another place to rent from. Everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I love it, I love it, I love it!
This quickly became one of my new favorite mountains. From the town, to the slopes, to the locals, this place was kick ass all around! Not many ski resorts have been able to maintain the old school feel that Crested Butte has, it hasn’t been overdeveloped yet and still has some of the best extreme terrain in the US.
Be warned, this is not a very good beginner mountain, it will chew you up and spit you out, the runs are STEEP… and I happily got my ass kicked by this mountain over and over again. I encountered more locals than tourists, and everyone of them was super friendly and willing to impart some knowledge about a hidden spot or good place to grab a drink. Can’t wait to make it back here sometime, loved this mountain!

I almost want to give this ski resort 5 stars. I’ve been here twice, once at 18 years old with my college ski club, and again at 25. If you want an «off the beaten path» ski resort where you can get away from it all, zero crowds, some of the best deals, with a cool ski town to boot, then you’ll like Crested Butte.
First I’ll talk mountain, then about the village.
Truly out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow covered mountains, no development visible except for the village and a few hotels. Its a beautiful view no matter what part of the mountain you’re on. Lots of aspen trees in between the runs, I’m used to pine trees instead, being from CA, so that was a nice different touch. Its small-​to-​medium in size as Western /​Rocky Mountain ski resorts go. Looks small when you look at the trail map, but there’s enough terrain to keep you occupied for 3 – 4 straight days of skiing. We stayed a week but the terrain was interesting enough that I didn’t mind riding the same run more than once. The runs are interesting due to the mountain terrain. One run resembled a small, green-​level bowl (ever seen a green bowl? I’ve only seen blue or black ones). Several others were like rolling hills, like the slide rides you see at state fairs. And others are extreme terrain, they don’t hold the extreme skiing championships here for nothing. The snow levels are average, it doens’t dump here like it does at resorts in Oregon, CA or Washington. Lots of aspen trees on the mountain make it even more beautiful. The resort feels almost empty. Talk about skiing right onto the chairlift! You have the whole place to yourself. And if you do happen to ride with someone on the chair (that happened perhaps 2 times all day), they are about the friendliest people you could ask for.
The village is cool and quaint. It has enough bars and restaurants to keep things interesting at night, although they were a little too empty and too quiet for my taste. But that just means empty slopes so you can have it all to yourself. Lodging /​ski package deals abound, since hardly anybody goes here. If you go early season in mid to early December, it used to be (maybe stil is?) free skiing. I got there by flying into Denver airport first, then taking a small 25-​seat airplane to the local airport.
I highly recommend this amazing ski resort. I liked it so much from my college ski club trip, me and a friend went again several years later. If you want a smaller, less busy ski resort that still challenges you on the slopes, with a cool ski town to boot, treat yourself to this little gem of a ski mountain.

My entire experience here was wonderful! The people on the mountain and in the town were extremely friendly and very welcoming. Not necessarily the best trails I’ve been on, but this is probably one of my favorite places I’ve been snowboarding. Great coffee shops, bars, local music and restaurants.

I can’t believe this place only has a few reviews. This mountain was quite a charming little resort with all the challenging terrain as a big mountain. Ticket prices were very reasonable and the staff was very helpful. In addition, happy hour at the end of the day was a real happy hour and not one of those discounted ripoff drinks.

There are some bonuses to having a ski bum for a brother. While he was living in CB, I decided to make the drive from MN to check it out. What a lovely mountain. The added bonus was having bro to guide us around.
Now, I can’t say that I liked it as much as a Vail, but, to be honest, I’m a little bit more of a «resort» skier like Vail… but that’s basically because I’m not a super awesome skier like him. But it’s quaint and lovely. I hope to return sooner rather than later.

February 2008, another great trip to Crested Butte. The snow is at historic high levels this year, a 90″ base the other day.
Crested Butte touts having more lift serviced extreme terrain than any other resort. It’s true, but I’m not sure how many visitors really make use of all of it. I rarely do, which leads me to only 4 stars. They are lacking a good variety of intermediate level runs.
The new owners have acknowledged this fact and are trying to add nearby Mount Snodgrass to the Crested Butte Mountain family. They face stiff competition as this has been denied before, even though their plans are scaled back compared to the previous efforts.
Besides that, the new owners have spruced up the place and it does look better. Of course with new investment money, comes a way to recover those dollars and for that they’ve built large new condo buildings with more on the way.
CB has always had minimal lift lines, partly due to its location, far from Denver and day trippers. It’s one of the main reasons I return year after year.
The locals are pretty nice and more friendly to the touristas than many other CO resorts. The T-​shirt vendor stand/​wagon near the slopes has been there for over 10 years. A woman named Angie recently bought it from the guy who ran it all that time. Some of the best quality shirts I’ve ever owned. A great cut, almost a tall fit and durable wash after wash. If you’re buying a tshirt while you’re there, get them there.

Amazing mountain with a great town to boot. This is the place you think of as a «classic» ski town. This is NOT a resort by any means. This is a ski town.
Every person I ran into in Crested Butte were incredibly friendly and always looking out for one another. Even ski patrol were looking out for us as we ventured into some pretty desolate areas.

With names like the Extreme Limits, the North face, Staircase, and the Banana Funnel, this is the epitome of extreme skiing and riding in Colorado, and they have free skiing at certain times of the year. Yes, that’s right, you heard me, FREE, no strings attached, even when there’s good snow. Full disclosure; This was over 10 years ago, so things may have changed, but the unrivaled terrain is still the same.