Crested Butte Is Home

Turner Petersen is one of those few lucky souls who actually grew up right here in Crested Butte. While other guests on the podcast can say the same, Turner is the first guest that graduated from the Crested Butte Community School- just last year. (Prior to the late 90's, Crested Butte kids had to go to Gunnison for high school).

Now going to college in Utah, Turner talks about growing up in Crested Butte, and what it means to him now that he is no longer here. While many of Turner's peers needed to leave Crested Butte to realize what a special place it is, Turner almost always had the same love for skiing, and by extension Crested Butte, that his parents have.

He also started backcountry skiing at a relatively early age- in fact he had to wait several years before he was allowed to take his avalanche course by the local guiding company. What do his parents, peers, and mentors think when someone that age wakes up at 3 in the morning just to ski a local peak, such as Whetstone Mountain's "M face"? Listen to find out...

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Crested Butte is Home podcast.

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Learn More:

Turner Petersen Instagram

Real Estate:

Crested Butte Real Estate Agent

Like many locals, Ben Morello grew up skiing in the East coast- in this case, the Poconos of Pennsylvania. He started teaching skiing as a teenager- something he's continued to do for the past 25 years here in Crested Butte. He also picked up telemark skiing, the freeheel form of skiing that may not be as popular as it once was, but still has diehard fans, including Ben. In fact, Ben won the 2008 US Telemark Freeskiing Championships.

Ben's life still revolves around skiing in the summer, just in a different way. Come summertime, he builds lifts throughout the western states, most commonly in Colorado. He's also worked in New Zealand and Canada. If you've ever wondered how lifts are built and take you to all those amazing places on the mountain, you'll want to tune in for this one. And let's not forget, Crested Butte is due for some new lifts, so what does a guy who's seen a lot of ski lift layouts think Crested Butte should do with their lifts?

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Crested Butte is Home podcast!

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Real Estate:

Crested Butte Real Estate Agent

Sean Crossen grew up on the East Coast as a ski racer. After graduating from Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont, Sean made his way to Gunnison to attend Western State College (as it was then known). Sean quit racing, but continued to ski and entered some of the first US Extreme Skiing Championships in the early 90's. By the early 2000's, Sean became an early pioneer of skiing Colorado's "Fourteeners", the 54 peaks that stand over 14,000' tall.

Sean used his art degree and had an art studio for a short time, though the majority of his income these days comes from painting houses. Recently, he built his own house in the Larkspur neighborhood- and we talk about that process in the interview.

The bulk of this interview, however, revolves around an avalanche accident that took place on February 3rd, 2017 outside Gothic, CO. This was a close call, and Sean discusses the events leading up to the avalanche, what he remembers while he was caught in the avalanche, and the subsequent rescue that took place. Even if you aren't a backcountry skier, there are lessons to be learned about first aid, search and rescue, and more. A special thanks to Sean for recounting his story in such detail.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Crested Butte is Home podcast!

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Learn More:

Gunnison Country Times Article on Building Costs

CO Avalanche Info Center Report on Accident

Real Estate:

Crested Butte Real Estate Agent

Ali Fuchs grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where she was lucky enough to have a friend who regularly visited Crested Butte with family. Those early trips gave Ali an early appreciation of Crested Butte, and after college and a few years chasing a career in California, she came home to Crested Butte. Ali spent the next few years learning how to mountain bike while working in typical ski town jobs, like painting houses and working in restaurant kitchens. As the years passed, she dreamed of opening her own bike shop and eventually did- Big Al's Bicycle Heaven, now located on Elk Avenue in downtown Crested Butte.

In the early days, she would barely be open during the winters, but today she stays open thanks to fat bikes. Fat bikes have caught on in the past few years, and today many visitors come to Crested Butte and spend a day trying them- or they come here specifically to fat bike, which was the case for many visitors during last week's Fat Bike World Championships. In this episode, Ali and I spoke at length about what it's like to fat bike, what kind of gear to use, and where fat biking is allowed these days.

If you've always wondered why her shop is called "Big Al's", you'll have to wait until the end of the episode, however.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the Crested Butte is Home podcast.

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Learn More:

Big Al's Bicycle Heaven

Fat Biking Trail Map App

Real Estate:

Crested Butte Real Estate Agent

The year was 1993, and the movie was "Soul Sessions and Epic Impressions". Thus began the career of Murray Wais and his business partner Steve Winter and their fledgling company, Matchstick Productions (MSP). Every year since then, the Crested Butte based film company wows crowds across North America and beyond, and has grown into one of the most popular action sports film producers in the world.

Crested Butte is often shown prominently in their films- from a then unknown Seth Morrison jumping all of the Edge in their first film, to Crested Butte native and two time Olympian Aaron Blunck more recently. From my own personal perspective, it isn't a stretch for me to say that Matchstick movies and their movies constitutes one of the reasons why I moved to Crested Butte in 1996.

In this episode, Murray and I discuss a wide variety of subjects:

• How he got into the ski film business.
• The athletes he has worked with over the years.
• How the ski film industry has changed.
• Why MSP stayed in Crested Butte, rather than relocating to a larger city which may have made travel and production logistics easier for the company.
• How MSP finds the athletes and the music for their movies.

I hope you enjoy this special episode of the Crested Butte is Home podcast.

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Learn More:

Matchstick Productions has two websites. On the ski side, visit:

skimovie.com

Focusing more on the commercial side:

mspfilms.com

Over twenty five years ago, Pat O'Neill got the call he was hoping for and began his career as a teacher in Crested Butte. Over that time, he's been able to watch the school grow from the small location where the town offices are now located, to the much larger K-12 school on the edge of town. Not only has the school grown, it's also become one of the highest rated schools in Colorado, public or private. We discuss the reasons for that success, as well as some of his favorite books from his English classes.

When he isn't teaching, Pat can often be found skiing, and training for races such as the Al Johnson and Elk Mountain Grand Traverse. The Al Johnson is an annual uphill-downhill telemark race on Crested Butte's North Face, and Pat has won the event on multiple occasions. The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse is an even bigger event, drawing competitors from around the world to ski the 40 miles from Crested Butte to Aspen. Pat pioneered the course, has competed every year (finishing all but one time), and won the event as well. Not bad for a full-time teacher!

Please subscribe to Crested Butte is Home on your favorite podcast player and leave a review- and thanks for listening!

Learn More:

If you would like to donate to Pat's fundraising campaign for Six Points, the GoFundMe site is here.

If you're thinking about entering the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse someday, visit their website.

Finally, if you would like to know more about the Crested Butte Community School, their website can be found here: https://cbcs.gunnisonschools.net/

Like many other Crested Buttians, Ben Eaton is an East coast transplant, originally from the small ski town of Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Ben grew up ski racing before attending St. Lawrence University in upstate New York to study art. After college, he found his way to Vail, both to coach ski racing and to further his knowledge of working with metal, aka blacksmithing. One thing led to another and he found himself in Crested Butte, and working as a full-time Blacksmith making decorative door handles, fireplaces, etc, as well as his own artwork.

Later, while spending time in Europe while his wife pursued her degree, he began paragliding. (Paragliding is flying through the air with a parachute-like canopy. Parasailing is what you might see when someone is getting towed behind a boat. Hang gliding uses a larger wing with framework. And finally, speed flying is using a much smaller wing at higher speeds generally at lower flying altitudes). On any given day when the wind is right, you may very well see Ben or one of his flying friends soaring high above the mountain (there is a take-off near the top of the Monument ski run).

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ben about "hand forged custom ironwork" and paragliding as much as I enjoyed the interview! Please subscribe on your favorite podcast player and leave a review!

If you would like to learn more about Ben Eaton, his art, and his business Get Bent Blacksmithing, visit his website here: https://getbentllc.com/

To learn more about Crested Butte paragliding and other "air sports" like hang gliding, visit the Crested Butte Soaring Society's Facebook page, or maybe even attend one of their meetings: https://www.facebook.com/flycrestedbutte/

Carrie Jo Chernoff Hicks has a great story to tell, and I'm so glad she was able to join me for this episode. Originally from Maryland, Carrie Jo grew up loving karate, but then she didn't... Instead of giving it up, she stuck with it, however, eventually earning a black belt. That experience taught her many life lessons that stayed with her, even today.

Once Carrie Jo moved to the Crested Butte area, she took up outdoor sports like so many of us have. In Mountain Biking, she took on the Montezuma's Revenge race- a 24 hour stage race that no one ever finished. Competing in the Crested Butte Extreme Skiing championships (now more commonly known as "Big Mountain"), she and her husband did so well they were able to make the down payment on their home.

Today, Carrie Jo has taken all of those experiences and used them to help her clients at her Crossfit gym, Synergy Athlete. As I listened to Carrie Jo, it struck me that she is a great motivator thanks to her life experiences and how she can relate those to goal setting. Finally, we discuss community, and a terrific non-profit that she supports.

For more information about Synergy Athlete, Crossfit, and Carrie Jo Chernoff Hicks, visit the website: Synergy Athlete.

Or the Facebook Page: Synergy Athlete on Facebook

If you would like to learn more about the Crested Butte fund, or donate to it, visit their website: Crested Butte Fund

PS- Sorry for the rough audio on both the intro and the "Crested Butte Real Estate Minute". The interview is fine, however. I was on vacation and did not have my microphone with me, so I did the best I could with what I had :)

Krista Powers moved from Vermont to Crested Butte in the late 90's- but that doesn't mean she forgot her Vermont roots. Those roots include maple syrup production starting back with "Grandpa Archie" back in 1959. Recently, Krista has taken that small business to new levels with her company Vermont Sticky, that can be found in many local establishments throughout the Gunnison Valley. During a Grand Traverse Ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen, Krista also started to think about making energy gels and energy powdered drinks with maple syrup. She talks about those products and even lets us in on a product that she hasn't quite released yet.

Another interesting topic that we discussed was her involvement with ICELab- a program for small businesses and start-ups that I think is a really great amenity for budding entrepreneurs in the Gunnison valley. She recently completed the program by making a pitch at "Trout tank", more or less a local version of the TV show Shark Tank.

Vermont Sticky products would be a great gift during this holiday season- check out the website below to buy directly or find local retailers:

Vermont Sticky

Interested in learning more about ICELab? Visit their website to learn more about their Incubator and Accelerator programs, Gunnison office space, and more:

Gunnison ICELab

Andy Eflin was born in Crested Butte the same year the ski area started- 1961. His dad, Dick Eflin, started the resort, along with Fred Rice. Class sizes were just a bit smaller back then- Andy had only one other kid his age and eventually he attended school in Gunnison, as kids did through the 1990's. After time in Durango and Steamboat, Andy returned and opened Eflin sports which he ran along with his father. Eflin Sports was eventually purchased and renamed Peak Sports- a Vail-owned business. Quite literally, Andy was able to share his thoughts on Crested Butte transitioning from a "mom and pop" ski area to the publicly owned large corporation that is is today under the new Vail ownership. Today, Andy can often be found at the Jorgensen Ice Rink in Gunnison, where he works for the city's parks and recreation department.

If you'd like to contact Andy or learn more about Gunnison Parks and Recreation programs, go here:

Jorgensen Ice Rink and Events Center