The first day of spring was yesterday.  This is what the 2nd day of spring looked like in Crested Butte this morning.  Go figure.

Spring doesn't always show up on time at 9,000 feet.

Ahh spring, you gotta love it … and we do!  Truth be told spring is actually a great time of year in Crested Butte.  Temps start rising, snow starts melting and everyone has SPRING FEVER!

Essentially the fence between winter and summer, spring is the only season where you can partake in just about any activity your heart desires.  Want to stick with bc skiing or transition into spring ski mountaineering?  No problem, the big lines you’ve been wistfully longing for all winter are finally yours for the taking thanks to the stable spring snow-pack.  Want to break the bike out of the garage and go for a spin? You betcha, the sweet single track at Hartman Rocks is ready to go.  Craving a paddling fix or a fishing session?  The spring melt-off is working it’s way into the Taylor and Gunnison rivers all the way down to Blue Mesa Reservoir.  Looking to work those atrophied arm muscles with some early season rock climbing?  Well, get after it then cause the sun-warmed rock walls of Taylor Canyon and the Black Canyon are waiting for you.

Earning spring season turns, ski mountaineering-style, in the Crested Butte backcountry.

Early season bike condtioning at Hartman Rocks.

Sun warmed walls of the Black Canyon.

At Crested Butte Mountain Guides we’ve got some awesome camps & clinics lined up for the spring season.  If ski mountaineering is your fancy you can choose from 4 different spring courses; April 2 – 6 and April 8 – 12 in the Chugach Mountains of Valdez, Alaska or April 18 – 21 and April 25 – 28 in our very own backyard, the Elk Mountains of Crested Butte, CO.  A skills intensive ski mountaineering course with CBMG is the very best way to take your skiing to the next level!

Ski mountaineering, Thompson Pass, Chugach Mountain Range, AK.

Ski mountaineering in the Elk Mountains, Crested Butte, CO.

If climbing is more your scene then join CBMG for desert rock climbing this spring.    The infamous towers of the Utah desert are a favorite among CBMG guides and we know the best of the best that Utah has to offer.  If you’re up for a little longer drive join us in Red Rocks, NV for some sweet climbing … and just outside of Las Vegas, who would have thought?!

Doesn't just looking at this make you feel warmer?

With spring comes a whole host of fun and quintessentially Crested Butte events.  It seems this time of year there’s an event just about every weekend!  The Red Lady Ball, which helps raise awareness and money for the on going Save Red Lady Campaign, was this past weekend, Mar 16.  This Sunday, Mar 24, we’re all looking forward to the 38th annual Al Johnson Telemark Race; a fundraiser for everyone’s favorite non-profit, the Crested Butte Avalanche Center. The following weekend, Mar 29, The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse  gets underway as teams battle it out in a ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen. Mar 31 brings the 22nd annual Extreme Free-skiing competition to town.  This is a 4-star qualifier stop on the Subaru Free-skiing Tour.  The resort closes on April 7, which as anyone knows is a party not to be missed.  Last but not least is a new event coming to Crested Butte, the Crested Butte Pole Pedal Paddle (CB3P), Apr 28.  The CB3P is a multi-sport race (ski leg, bike leg, kayak leg) that will span the length of Gunnison Valley, starting in Mt. Crested Butte and finishing in Gunnison.  Wow.

The best part about the events we mentioned above?  Well, in true Crested Butte fashion you can expect to see competitors and spectators alike in full-on costume for 4 of the 6 events (can you guess which ones?).  What can we say, Crested Buttians LOVE their costumes!

CB locals at the Al Johnson Tele Race, one of the many Crested Butte spring events that require costumes.

We hope you’ll join us this spring to partake in all the outdoor recreation fun that Crested Butte has to offer.  If you won’t be joining us for an adventure this spring we’ll look forward to seeing you at any number of the unique Crested Butte events … we’ll be in the ones dressed in tutus ; )

-CBMG Staff

Climbing cold blue ice under beautiful blue winter skies

Colorado is quite the ideal place to be based if you are a climber. First off, there is all types of climbing here in this great Rocky Mountain state. There are thousands of mountains throughout, offering all types of mountaineering and climbing objectives to a worthy summit. Some, suited best for trail running shoes and a light pack, others overnight, wilderness, technical objectives, and everything else in between.

Alpine winter summit climbing on Mt Crested Butte

Beneath all the lofty heights of the state’s great peaks, and for those more interested in technical difficulty over sizeable altitude and mileage, the state is littered with rocky hillsides, outcroppings, gorges, and cliff walls. And almost as varied as the type of climbing is the type of rock to climb on: granite, gneiss, alpine granite, sandstone (Eldo Canyon sandstone; Escalante Canyon wingate; Garden of the Gods soft sandstone; etc….)and more then my limited geology can understand.

Leading ice in the Ouray Ice Park

On par with all this variety is the stellar weather. 300+ days of sunshine a year, and enough climate variation that even in the dead, frozen cold of winter, within a day’s drive you can be climbing sunny warm rock somewhere. With that being said…the most important thing a Colorado climber needs to possess is a love of seasonal changes, and being willing to hunt for your preferred objective and medium. After all, Colorado is known for mountains, and skiing as well as climbing. And where those things reside, generally means a long, cold winter climbing season.

Ski Mountaineering on Mt Crested Butte's 'Guides Ridge' Route

So here in Crested Butte, Colorado, where winter can easily last 8 months a year, to be a climber one must learn to embrace winter climbing. Or, have a very flexible job and put a lot of miles in of windshield time. We prefer the former, and embrace the winter climbing season. One that brings different challenges, but with it more space for reward and more opportunities for the moments of grace and beauty that the mountain environment provides us with.

fresh ice

Alas, it is now Mid-February, and we have every so imperceptibly crested the heart of winter’s darkness. The days are becoming slightly longer, the sun’s angle slightly higher, and the temps slightly (and I mean slightly) warmer. Spring is slowly beginning to take shape on the horizon and plans are beginning to infiltrate our minds of warm, sunny, granite rock or desert sandstone to be climbed.

Winter mixed alpine climbing in Crested Butte, CO

However, we are in no rush to get there, as the one thing that always holds true will no doubt take effect again….change will inevitably come. In the meantime though, we will thoroughly be enjoying the depths of winter, climbing on frozen snowy peaks, watching the sun rise and fall from the sides of a mountain and taking joy in the way it’s light plays differently amongst a landscape coated with the sharpness of rock, ice, and snow, then it does with the softer, subtler colors of the warmer months.

Colorado Ice Climbing

We will continue to seek out freezing pre-dawn starts on snowy, rock strewn ridges, and will relish the joy of going to work and the challenge of sublime and quiet winter ascents of Mt Crested Butte’s ‘Guides Ridge’ Route, and more beyond. We will continue to seek out the frozen blue waterfall ice of the surrounding mountains and in the farmed ice of the Lake City and Ouray Ice Parks. Taking joy in introducing rockclimbers to the somewhat awkward but supremely focusing and enjoyable sport of ice climbing, and the feeling that comes with being half-way up a turquoise or fluorescent blue waterfall, looking down through your crampon frontpoints, and wondering how it can all be so beautiful and inspiring while also all being so intimidating and challenging.

Ski Mountaineering Crested Butte, CO

And of course, when not searching out every nook and cranny of the surrounding mountains for that ultimate, unfound, ephemeral flow of ice to climb, or winter ridge ascent to be had, we’ll be looking for that perfect, and ever-elusive, ‘ultimate powder run’, just out of our back door in the wonderful, Crested Butte Backcountry.

-Cheers, Jayson @ CBMG

The 2012 CBMG Women’s Climbing Clinic was a blast! Strong women and small ratios allowed our group to cover a lot of different skills throughout the days. Day 1 was geared for those new to climbing, but we were able to cover many advanced skills. We started off the day learning how to set a top rope climb, how to rappel, belay, tie-in, and different rock climbing techniques. After climbing all that we could, we covered how to belay a lead climber and how to lead climb (the climber brings the rope up and clips it into bolts or natural protection in the rock). We then set up some mock leading (the climber “leads” while having another rope for back-up protection in case of a fall).Annie Yoder went for the real thing and successfully lead her first sport climb – Congratulations Annie! The day wrapped up with more climbing and learning how to safely “clean” an anchor and rappel back to the ground.

Day 2 was geared more toward understanding rock climbing gear and learning how to safely place gear and build anchors. We spent some time placing gear in the cracks and then put our placements to the test.  One participant commented,  “I understand how they work, but I still don’t see how they could hold all that weight?”.

Well, what better way to test the gear than to put on the harness, clip in to the gear, and bounce with all your might! The picture below is Mary Tubb giving it her all to dislodge a very tiny stopper…and yes…it held.

After removing the mystery surrounding all that climbing gear, we finished up the afternoon with some crack climbing technique and continued practice cleaning gear, cleaning the anchor and rapelling to the ground.

The women’s climbing clinics not only offer a great way to become more confident in climbing, it is also a great way to meet other awesome, adventurous, women! We had a ton of fun, laughed a lot and learned a ton. Crested Butte Mountain Guides will be holding another clinic towards the end of the summer, so keep your eyes peeled for our posters around town! If there are any special requests – such as lead-climbing, multi-pitch, etc., just give the office a shout at 970-349-5430 to put in your request!

-Laura Chase (CBMG Guide)

Back in the beginning of November we brought you a blog post called The Transition; our take on the inevitable, often difficult transition from fall into winter. Well, now it’s time for the flip-side: winter into spring. I’m confident I speak for us all when I say … BRING IT ON!!!

It’s been my observation that we’re far less reluctant when it comes to this particular seasonal transition. Rather than dragging our feet like grumpy children we rush in headfirst like over-eager teenagers amped up on 100% pure joy. Granted, sometimes we can be a bit premature to welcome spring back into our lives.  Let’s be honest, how many times have you found yourself negotiating the slush puddles of your town in flip-flops that should have stayed in the closet another few weeks? You can hardly can blame us though.  After nearly 6 months cooped up in the house, wrapping any exposed skin in layers upon layers of hats, gloves, sweaters and scarves, and day after day cramming our feet into mini-prisons (AKA: ski boots) the sunshine just feels … so … damn … good!

That isn’t to say spring doesn’t bring with it a whole host of inconveniences. Spring is certainly the most bi-polar of all the seasons; warm, pleasant days suddenly interrupted by bone-chilling hail storms always leaves one wondering why we opted to leave the jacket at home.  Instead of shoving our feet into ski boots we get to partake in a month of muck boot fashion as the snow melts creating a virtual mud landscape as far as the eye can see.  And don’t forget about the annual “first sunburn of spring”, because it takes exactly 6 months to forget that sunscreen exists, but only 15 minutes for unprotected skin to turn into lobster meat.  Yet through the aloe-induced haze, the repeated hail peltings, and mud we seem to forgive spring it’s little inconveniences. Why? Because it’s spring (!!!) and spring is fabulous and infectious and thrilling!

From an outdoor enthusiast’s perspective the single most thrilling aspect of spring is the sheer number of possibilities that come along with it. We suddenly go from our season-issued snow sports to a mulit-sport extravaganza! Skiing, biking, rock climbing, hiking – you can do it all in the spring.  It’s the fully loaded, all-you-can-eat-buffet of seasons!

We here at CBMG have been taking advantage of the incredible spring weather and all the outdoor fun that comes with it.  Here’s some eye candy to illustrate what we’ve been up to in the past few weeks …

Spring ski mountaineering!  Our AK Ski Mountaineering Camps are underway, but it’s not too late to sign up for our upcoming CO camps, starting April 19, 2012.  And don’t forget about CBMG’s annual Alpine Skills Clinic June 15 – 17, 2012.

Taylor Canyon has been receiving a healthy dose of daily sunshine making for some sweet early season rock climbing:

The Black Canyon has started seeing some of the first climbers of the season:

The Utah desert is in prime spring climbing condition as well:

We’ve also been rallying our bikes with the recent opening of Hartman Rocks world-class single track.  You know your bike is just begging for it (it’s probably also begging for some tire pressure and a good chain lubing, but you already knew that, right?).

And of course, no spring day would be complete without a little time spent chillin’ on the CBMG benches taking in some rays:

Now if there was only a way to ensure we didn’t have to deal with the obligatory spring snow storm this transition would be truly seamless!  We wish you all a wonderful spring and want to remind you that it’s never too early to start planning your summer vacation to Crested Butte.  Our summer calendar is filling up quickly so contact us to book your trip today!

-Tiff, CBMG Staff