A short trip to
Crested Butte
Last week we took the beautiful drive to Crested Butte check out the town and the mountain. To get there, we headed over Monarch, a wintery, white knuckle mountain pass with some of the best views in the state. The whole trip is rugged, scenic, and extremely rural, most of it on 2 lane county highways.
Crested Butte is nestled in the Elk Mountain Range, and it consists of two sections, historic downtown and the resort area. They’re only about 10 minutes apart, and the town runs shuttles back and forth all day. The peak of the resort sits at around 12k, which isn’t as high as some other ski slopes in Colorado, but what it lacks in elevation, it makes up for in STEEP. Think “heart in your throat”, “clammy palms”, “who did I think I was coming up here”. The T-bar can take you to quite a bit of extreme terrain, as well as a lot of fun double blacks and tree glades, while the lower parts of the mountain have plenty of fast blue and black tracks.
If you have the ability to travel mid-week or off-peak, Crested Butte is a relatively affordable place to stay. We snagged a room on the mountain at the Elevation Resort for only $140 a night (compared to some of the other ski towns in Colorado….which we won’t name here….this is a steal). It was literally ski in/out, super clean, and dog friendly (with a tequila bar downstairs….you can’t ask for much more!)
The views of the mountain are beautiful, and the resort area has the basics: good coffee shop, burger place, and gear shops.
Downtown Crested Butte is full of historic buildings, lots of little shops and restaurants. There are only so many meals in a day, but on this trip we hit:
-Izakaya Cabin: Amazing sushi, creative cocktails, and a fun atmosphere
-The Breadery: A sourdough, natural fermentation and natural wine mecca. Literally the first thing on the menu is “Bread Chunk”. Heaven? Maybe.
-Butte Bagels: More carbs. Alllll the carbs. Tiny little spot off Elk Ave (main street in town), with great bagels and breakfast sandwiches. Not many tables, so take it to go.
-Gas Cafe: This was the highlight of our trip. A griddle and fryer in a gas station. No, I’m not kidding. Picture greasy (in the perfect way) breakfast sandwiches on english muffins. Do you want to add a fried hash brown on there or a smashed sausage patty? Why yes, yes I do. You might want to order two before hitting the slopes.
One last thing to remember about Crested Butte…..it can get COLD. Like, -20 degrees cold. Bundle up, bring your hand warmers, put a jacket on that pup, and enjoy the fresh mountain air.
Got any questions or recommendations for the next time we head back to Crested Butte? Hit us up on Instagram @adventureallianceco , we’d love to hear from you!