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

Our days are numbered.  You can feel it in the air.  The warm sunny afternoons we’ve been hording like candy-greedy children at Halloween could be snatched away from us any minute, thrusting us straight into winter. We’re all on alert; any ride from here on out could potentially be the final ride of the season. It adds certain intensity to every outing.  Every ride becomes sacred.

This might be it.

This could be the last time.

Well, fear not fellow fanatics, there is hope for those of us who are starting to experience the early-onset separation anxiety that comes with having to put your bike away for the season. We can prolong the inevitable just a little longer thanks to Hartman Rocks!  Hartman’s will be our refuge. Located just 35 minutes south of Crested Butte and with enough single track trails to keep you occupied for days, Hartman’s is the place to be once the trails in Crested Butte are covered in snow and closed.  It’s true, in Crested Butte we’ve been spoiled all summer with riding our bikes directly to the trail head, but in an effort to prolong the riding season we’ll dutifully, and without complaint, pack up and drive to enjoy Hartman’s dry trails, in the company of sun warmed rocks that radiate heat because we can, because we want to, because we’re just not ready to stop yet …

If you’re looking to extend your mountain biking season just a little longer give us a shout; our guides know the best of the best that Hartman Rocks has to offer and would be stoked to get an extra few days in the saddle!

For those of you who are more than ready to hang up the summer gear and leap directly into winter it’s never to early to start planning your winter vacation to Crested Butte. Check out some of our awesome winter offerings – backcountry skiing, ice climbing, avalanche safety education, hut trips, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, just to name a few.

Ride hard now (while you still can) and think snow!!!

Thanks to Chris Miller for the 3 fantastic photos above.  To see more of Chris’s work visit his website – http://MillerPerspectives.squarespace.com

-Tiff, CBMG Staff

First snow of the year dusting Whetstone Mountain above town

It’s hard to believe, but Summer in the Elk Mountains has definitely passed, and we are now deep in the heart of our favorite season…Fall ! The aspen leaves are currently at their peak of gold, yellow, and orange colors, the days are cool and crisp, and there is snow dusting the high peaks as we write this. Even more brief and fleeting then summer can be at 9,000′, Fall truly is the ‘secret season’ for those of us lucky enough to call Crested Butte home.

‘Gold Coins’ on the ground in Crested Butte…

And, although winter can makes its imminent arrival known at any point from now until Thanksgiving time, most Fall days are characterized by beautiful sunshine, stable clear weather, and perfect-perfect conditions for mountain biking or hiking amidst the golden aspen forests; rock-climbing in the warm sunshine; and mountaineering on Colorado’s high peaks. Town is also a bit quieter, as most of the main summer tourist traffic has gone away, and a much more mellow and laid-back vibe (more so then normal) begins to permeate the local atmosphere, as we all get to breathe a deep sigh of relief and pause to take in our place in the universe before the snow flies and we are thrust into the long, cold, dark, snowy days of winter.

However, until the snow flies for good to signal the start of the 2012/2013 ski season, we are furiously getting out and enjoying what we can of the magic of Fall, and sharing these great experiences with friends, and CBMG guests alike. Ever ride a single track so covered in yellow and gold aspen leaves it’s hard to tell where the trail is? Well, we have plenty of that right now, and the trails are tacky and dry to boot…with wide open vistas of forests of yellow, gold, and orange set amidst a backdrop of snow clad peaks, beautiful enough to make even the most grizzled Fall mountain biker take time away from behind their bars and get off their bike to snap a few pics.

Fall foliage below Ruby Mountain and ‘The Dyke’

For those more inclined to the vertical world, Fall rock-climbing season in the Colorado high country is as good as it gets. Incredible vistas of colors abound when viewed from high on the sides of local crags, and the cooler and crisp air allows for more pleasant climbing temperatures and a ‘grippier feeling rock’ for one’s shoes and hands. Local climbing zones Taylor Canyon, Lake City’s ‘God’s Crag’, and The Black Canyon of the Gunnison are all in perfect climbing condition right now, and as a staff we are stealing away every moment we can get to take advantage of a summer’s fitness of being on the rock for so long, to get out on those long sought after projects we’ve had on the radar all season.

 The tallest cliff in Colorado…The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park’s ‘Painted Wall’.

And, the nice thing about our location on Colorado’s Western Slope, is once the temps get too cold, or the weather too bad for comfortable rock-climbing here…we are a half-day’s drive to the desert climbing mecca outside of Moab, UT, where desert cracks, and towers abound and offer a lifetime of climbing themselves. Come mid-October the Utah Desert and it’s Wingate sandstone cliffs will become many of our’s transient and temporary homes for the Fall climbing season, before we push on farther West at the end of the month for the Annual American Mountain Guides Association Conference and gathering of professional guides, followed by a week of guided multi-pitch climbing in the unique desert climbing venue of Red Rock Canyon, just outside Las Vegas.

The red sandstone walls of Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas, awash in morning alpenglow

However, during all these Fall adventures, we will all have brewing in the backs of our minds, and growing with each fleeting dusting of snow on the peaks, our stoke for the upcoming winter season and all the winter adventures that are awaiting us on the horizon. The main reason we have all chosen to call this place home in the first place….winter, skiing or snowboarding, and the joy of powder filled days in the mountains.

As good as it gets….the Crested Butte Backcountry

So as we pedal our bike through a carpet of aspen leaves on Crested Butte Singletrack, crank up a long and committing Black Canyon multi-pitch climb or desert splitter crack climb, or hike our favorite local mountain peak one last time…..our days will have some fleeting daydreams of: deep powder in the tranquil setting of backcountry skiing, skinning through the same aspen groves that months before were riots of yellow and gold; ice climbing on the frozen blue walls of the Lake City & Ouray ice parks.…..

Students on AIARE Level 2 Course dig snow profiles deep in the Elk Mountains

……and continuing to nurture, develop and foster our own learning, as well as that of our students, in another full season of AIARE Avalanche Education Courses in one of the best venues for learning snow science in the world….the Crested Butte Backcountry….rallying around in our heads as the seasons make their quick and abrubt transition before our eyes.

Bouldering on the banks of the Crystal River under the Fall glow of color

So, get on board and join us for some of these adventures and experience for yourself the beauty and transient magic that is Fall in the West.

—CBMG Staff

Pearl Pass, 12,705ft

As Stage 3 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was getting underway, Jay, Gene and I were sitting at 12,705ft eating our snacks and watching the clouds rolling across the 14,000 foot peaks of the Elk Mountain range.  We were living the good life with the journey we had ahead of us.  Lloyd, of the movie Dumb and Dumber, described our destination best when he said, “A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called Aspen.”  With our belly’s full of goodies we hopped back on our mountain bikes for the 18 miles/4,800ft of descent into Aspen with the goal of watching the finish of Stage 3 live!

Jay flying down Pearl Pass towards Aspen.

 Tom Danielson, taking the Stage 3 win in Aspen. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Stage 2 finish the day before at Mt. Crested Butte.  An exciting head-to-head finish between Tejay Van Garderen (red) and Christian Vanderveld (blue). (Photo by CBMG Guide, Kyle Mattingly)

The day prior to our big ride, Aug 22, we had enjoyed the festivities and watched in-person as the pro racers battled for the uphill finish of Stage 2 at Mt Crested Butte.  Then we prepared to Chase the Race.  The next day, Aug 23,  we grabbed our mountain bikes and peddled our way from Crested Butte, over historic Pearl Pass and down to that little place called Aspen in an effort to Chase the Race!   Once we arrived in Aspen where with met up with CBMG guide, Patrick Erley, who had driven our shuttle vehicle over from Crested Butte to meet us, complete with our clean clothes and flip-flops.  We spent the next couple hours being entertained by the USA Pro Challenge  festivities as we waited for the pro cyclists to come flying into the finish line.  After the exciment of the finish was over we jumped into our CBMG shuttle vehicle and headed back to Crested Butte to seek out our comfy beds that were waiting for us.

Our day ended up being awesome and makes me wonder why anyone would choose to simply be a spectator of the race when they could get out on their own bikes and actually chase it!  Check out some of our images below and get exited to join us for another Chase the Race adventure in 2013!

 Jay turns onto Pearl Pass Road and starts climbing.

 Jay and Gene stop for some veiws of Teocalli Peak (13.208ft).

Veiw of Castle Peak (14,278ft) during our acsent of Pearl Pass.

Another example of the stunning landscape along the ride. 

Jay way above Crested Butte in the distance.

Looking to the summit of Pearl Pass from the Crested Butte side. 

Jay nearing the summit of Pearl Pass with Star Peak (13,521) in the background on the left. 

Pearl Pass summit (12,705ft).

Checking out the summit markers of Pearl Pass. 

Jay and Gene psoing in front of Castle Peak (14,278ft). 

Thanks to Jay and Gene for an incredible day of riding!  The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will wrap up with Stage 7 in Denver, CO on Sunday, Aug 26th.   If you missed out on any of the action this year we encourage you to mark your calendars now for the 2013 USA Pro Cycling Challenge  (dates are still TBD) and if taking it a step beyond just spectating sounds exciting consider this your invitation to to join us for the CBMG’s Chase the Race  (stay tuned for dates) in 2013!

-Evan Ross (CBMG Guide)