I am thinking of buying a small place in Crested Butte, Co.
Can anyone give advice on the area? I know that the skiing and boarding is great, but I am curious about cycling, trail running and mountain biking in the summer.
Are there any tri clubs in the area?
The trail running and mountain biking are world-class in CB. Can’t specifically answer the road cycling question but you could get out. But why bother when you’ve got such amazing MTB terrain?
Good point. Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.
all i can add is that when i visited in June, i was instantly smitten with the place. seems you could find plenty of epic, high altitude road rides up the passes, or long valley rides, back towards gunnison. if you can run on the trails for MTB’ing, then there should be ample trail run options as well.
Buying a place there? In the words (roughly) of Ferris Bueller “If you have the means, i highly suggest getting one”
My Aunt lives there. We’ve been in the summer a few times and it is great. Lots of biking, hiking, etc. I really love the place since it has such a chill feel and there is enough of a town to have lots of great eating options without being an overdeveloped ski town. Don’t know about Tri’s in CB since there is not a lot of water, but there are definitely great people to train with on the bike and the run.
My family had a summer home there when I was a child. The Taylor Resevoir in Gunnison may be your only open water source that’s nearby and it’s full of snow melt at high altitude. Prepare yourself for cold water swimming or reserve that training for lower altitude.
As others have mentioned, mountain biking is excellent, but you could road bike to Aspen in the summer (~ 60 miles, IIRC). One last point to remember in any mountainous area is that you will generally be running or riding either up or down, with little flat land in between. That being said, I’d go for it if I were you.
Love CB! As far as road riding, there’s really just one road in and out. It has good shoulders and is a nice ride down towards Gunny. You can also go up towards Cottonwood pass to get in some additional climbing. Check out the route from the USAPro Cycling Challenge this summer. They went on these roads.
I know there used to be an Xterra there but not sure if that happens anymore. If you are into backcountry skiing there is an epic race that goes from CB up and over to Aspen.
As far as I know there isn’t a pool to swim in. I’ve done OW swimming in the middle of the summer at one of the lakes in CB and it was freezing. Doable, but very cold, even with a wetsuit. CB is great for trail running and mt biking, not so much for swimming.
If I could buy a mountain home anywhere in Colorado, it would be CB.
We were just there this summer. It was my first summer experience there, previously had visited once in the winter. It was very cool. I enjoyed it more in the summer. Outdoors paradise, other than the lack of routes for road riding.
As the previous poster said, one road in, one road out, and then either left or right out of Gunnison. If you don’t mind the same routes everyday… You wouldn’t find me on the road out there. Too many trails to travel in various directions.
Everything you mentioned (trails, mtb, skiing) are awesome. Essentially there are 2 road rides you can do, and while beautiful scenery- do the same route 3 days in a row and even the best ride in the world gets boring. BTW- CB to Aspen over Kebbler Pass is best on a MTB or maybe a cross bike, the “road ride” is the long 120 mile route thru Gunnison/ over Independence Pass. Go there for the skiing and mountain biking… leave the tri bike and swim goggles at home.
The most AWESOMEST place in Colorado.
Trail running and mountain biking, well, it’s just heaven. Road riding is limited to Hwy 135 down the center of the valley all the way to Gunny. That’s about it. It is a good shoulder but weekends in the summer could potentially get dicey. That said the town is sooooo far away from everything that not many people are there (perfect) so it’s not all that bad. BC skiing is to do die for. Endless powder play fields. Irwin (west of town) can get over 800 inches of fluff a year. If you’ve got a sled you can access some really great stashes, that said you are a triathlete…earn yo’ turns. You can open water swim in meridian lake (http://g.co/maps/acgq9). It’s a bit of a hike but TOTALLY worth it. There’s MTB riding to last you an eternity. Keep exploring. Same for running, just mind the fact that the valley floor is 9000 feet.
Trail 401
