Crested Butte Ski Area
As with many other high-altitude North American resorts, beware that base level is high (not just the peaks); the elevation may be good for snow conditions, but sea level-dwelling vacationers will need to acclimatize to the altitude.Base is at 9,375 feet (2,858 m) and the highest lift-served point is at 11,875 feet (3,620 m), giving a vertical drop of 2,775 feet (846 m) to the lowest chairlift at 9,100 feet (2,774 m); or with a hike to the peak, it’s 3,062 feet (933 m.)
Though the resort is now promoting itself as a family destination and offers some quality skiing for beginners, it is best known as host to the U.S. Extreme ski and snowboard championships held on the “steepest lift-served terrain in North America.” It’s not only steep but, thanks to a mainly northerly aspect and high altitude, by mid-season it is usually well covered with the snow it needs to make the rockiest sections skiable. None of this terrain is groomed, much of it involves a hike to get to, and it’s only patrolled at the end of the day. The intention is to make you feel that you’re really out there, and you are: cautiously following tracks is as likely to lead you to a cliff jump as to the easiest route down the forty- degree plus terrain. The ungroomed Extreme Limits terrain covers 448 acres (181 ha) and is covered in detail by a photo-based map-entirely separate from the standard trail map, available in local stores. It provides a useful guide to the area which, compared to the marked trails, has very little signposting.
The rest of the skiing is a mix of easy, well-groomed terrain with beginner-friendly slow-skiing zones clearly marked and enforced, and plenty of flattering intermediate slopes, but there is not really enough terrain suitable to satisfy keen intermediates. The 85 trails total just 8.2 miles (13 km) in length, of which the longest trail is 2.6 miles (4.2 km). Three hundred acres (121 ha or 29 percent) of the ski area are covered by snowmaking facilities.
A new area, Prospect at Mt. Crested Butte, is being developed to provide ski-in, ski-out homes, hotel, and retail space. This will culminate in the expansion of ski facilities on to a second mountain to provide more intermediate terrain. Eleven lifts and 35 trails over 417 acres (169 ha) will be connected by gondola to the main mountain, but no date is yet confirmed for completion.