|
|
THE PERSONALITY FACTOR: WHERE ELSE COULD A SKI VACATION BOAST SUCH A COLORFUL CAST OF CHARACTERS?
Crested Butte, CO- You won't have to halt for a stoplight in Crested Butte, but you might have to slow down for a cattle drive. You won't find a drive-through, but you'll discover more excellent restaurants than seem possible for such a small town. You won't collect many megastar autographs, but you'll cross paths (and maybe make friends) with a parade of warm-hearted and memorable characters.
Let's start with your morning cup o' joe, handed to you with a grin and a witticism by Camp 4 Coffee's Al Smith. Crested Butte's eccentric coffee magnate, Al practically percolates with joie de vivre.
Until a decade or so ago, Al was a "cell phone-toting, Mercedes-driving" Silicon Valley wheeler-dealer, raking in the dough but having no fun. He ditched the Mercedes, found his way to Crested Butte and started selling coffee from a cart with a childhood friend.
"I used to get in trouble for spending too much time drinking coffee and talking to my clients; now I get to do it for a living," he said.
In Crested Butte, joy and fun seeped back into Al's life, and got roasted into his coffee beans. With endless energy and ideas, he grew his sideline into a local empire, opening Camp 4 Coffee outposts in Crested Butte South, in downtown Crested Butte, at the ski area base and near the top of the Painter Boy ski lift. A dispenser of caffeine, opinions and cheer (his van reads: "Fresh-roasted beans, gifts and propaganda"), Al has become a well-loved community fixture. Starbucks doesn't stand a chance in the face of his loyal local following.
"Al is part of people's day - not just his coffee, but also his energy," wife Wythina said. "Last winter these visitors from Germany came up every day of their vacation to talk to him. He's like a magnet. People don't leave without a smile."
Just be careful when Al hands you your steaming Americano, lest you spill it trying to read the snippets of humor and wisdom printed on the mug (e.g. "Don't be attached to the plan" and "Some people call this paradise; we just call it Tuesday").
Invigorated by Al's coffee and conversation, you zip on toward the ski lift, where a guy in a [what color?] guest services jacket waits to give you and your companions a free tour of the mountain. Skip Berkshire, now in his sixties, looks tanned and outdoorsy; you'd scarcely guess he's a former LA city boy and Air Force astronautical engineer who helped send spacecraft to nose around Mars.
Retirement in Crested Butte hasn't brought Skip any closer to the rocking chair; he hikes, bikes, plays softball and skis, often with a group of mature outdoors people nicknamed the Gray Hares. He and his ski partner were the oldest duo ever to complete the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, a grueling backcountry ski race to Aspen, when both were 62. Skip also serves as a Crested Butte Town Council member and president of the Crested Butte Nordic Council, along with a host of other volunteer jobs.
"If you like people and the outdoors, Crested Butte is like dying and going to heaven," he said.
Skip delights in his weekly stint as guest services volunteer at the ski resort. With fellow volunteers, he helps people on the slopes, gives mountain tours, leads snowshoe jaunts and occasionally escorts guests on evening sleigh ride dinners. Each day brings a treat, like seeing a guest's delight when a camp robber bird nibbles crumbs from his hand, or watching an older woman celebrate her first excursion on snowshoes. When Skip last winter walked down a slope with an intimidated skier, carrying her equipment along with his, "she was so grateful she might have named her first child after me," he joked.
Skip once did a two-day exchange with the guest services department at a larger ski resort, which he found well equipped but a little "institutional" compared to Crested Butte. "We have real, genuine people who live here and love it; that's where we have the edge," he said. "All over the mountain, people are happy and friendly; it's infectious. If you love a place, you want to share it."
After touring the mountain with Skip, you decide to take an afternoon ski lesson so you can tackle those intriguing Extreme Limits the next day. At the base area, a man with a kind, weathered face and gruff, Swiss-accented voice directs you to the ski school desk. You've just met Hermi Altenfelter, an active 79-year-old ski instructor who "doesn't look a day over 60," according to his fond wife, Betty. She added, "Hermi loves people, and everybody loves Hermi."
Hermi has taught multiple generations of tourists to ski in his three-plus decades as a Crested Butte instructor, earning Colorado Ski Country's lifetime recognition award. A Zurich, Switzerland, native who grew up skiing and instructing in Europe before coming to America, Hermi takes great care with his clients and their ski progress, but he also insists on having fun. For years, he specialized in first-timers. "He loved to get people started; he wanted them to end up being skiers for life," said Charlie Farnan, director of Crested Butte's ski and snowboard school.
Later, as you ski down the Gunsite Pass run, you might notice a sign pointing to "Hermi's Outlook." Hermi's fans put up the sign in honor of the spot overlooking the wilderness where he would often take new skiers and say, "Listen. Do you hear it?"
"Hear what?" they'd reply.
"Exactly - that's what I'm talking about."
In the summers, Hermi and Betty help run their family resort near Clayton, New York, but they count the days until they can return to Crested Butte. Betty, who will also turn 79 this winter, has worked "forever" at the Nordic Inn near the base area. "Hermi and I are old, but we still have a lot of life," she said.
Farnan added, "Hermi's an inspiration to all of us. He's chosen ski instructing as a profession, a way of life, a service. He does it with such passion. And he's a character, one of a kind."
Following Hermi's directions, you find the ski school desk and sign up for a workshop in skiing advanced terrain. Your instructor, you learn, will be veteran Aussie ski instructor Angie Hornbrook.
After instructing in Australia and Europe, Angie came to teach skiing in Crested Butte 20 years ago because it had the altitude, steeps and snowfall she craved. "I'd never even heard of the place; I just saw the statistics in a book," she said.
Angie found the challenge she sought, and she placed third in the first U.S. Extreme Skiing Championships. She has since become the head judge for the International Freeskiing Association, leading the panels of judges in many championship events and writing the judging manual. In Crested Butte, Angie not only instructs skiers, but also teaches other instructors and serves as an examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America.
Outspoken and spirited, Angie moved to Crested Butte for the skiing, but stays because "it's more than a ski resort." The community has allowed her to try on roles that might have been impossible in big cities. For example, she built on her high school acting experience with Crested Butte Mountain Theatre professional directing workshops and now directs a community theater production each summer. She has also been a KBUT radio personality for a decade. Her radio program has morphed from world music to jazz to soul/Motown/R&B to new music, but don't expect to hear the Stones under her watch. "I try to be a little more creative than that," she said. In the summer, Angie works as a mobile DJ, and she directs the annual Vinotok autumn harvest celebration. But by November, she's itching to don her ski instructor's uniform and get back to the slopes.
By the end of your workshop with Angie, you've gained a new friend and new confidence on the steeps. Tomorrow you'll tackle the Extreme Limits on your own.
Back at the condo, you settle onto the sofa with friends and a glass of wine to toast the day's skiing, but instead you find yourself talking about the fascinating characters you've just met. Tomorrow will bring not only a day of adventure on the slopes, but also a chance to debate philosophy over your morning espresso and encounter more people eager to share their love of this place called Crested Butte.
This release was written by yet another Crested Butte character, Sandy Fails, who has written about the Butte in local and national publications for a quarter century. Sandy's newest book, Where the Road Ends: Stories and images from the heart of Crested Butte, will roll off the press in mid October. The 184-page, hard-bound coffee-table book features an unusual combination of interviews, essays and color photographs. Find out more at www.wheretheroadends.com.
back to top
|
Real Estate in the Crested Butte Valley
|
|
| |
