A colorful history of boom and bust coal mining; a long ranching tradition with many family ranches still operating today; glorious mountain terrain that boasts world-class wildflowers in the summer; and a ski mountain with chutes, cliffs, glades and bowls that feel euro in their boundaries and views, Crested Butte is truly a holiday destination for all seasons. Having established itself as a sort of outsider cool, rough and ready, eat-my-powder kind of ski town, CB (as the locals call it) is reckoning with its own growth trajectory and how to keep the town affordable and funky while making way for newcomers.
The one thing everyone who comes here has in common is a love for the outdoors, and opportunities to get out in it abound. Winter offers not only the varied terrain of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, but also a robust system of Nordic trails: CBNordic.org, and a warming yurt that offers brunch and moonlight dinner offerings throughout the winter season. Summer opens a playground for fly fishermen, backpackers, day hikers, horse packing, and for the wild at heart, skinny dipping spots off the beaten path. In addition to the incredible diversity of activities outside, there is an abundance of wellness hot spots to stretch, restore, and explore.
Jess Taylor, founder of Native Nectar Botanicals, has been in Crested Butte for almost a decade, opening her brick-and-mortar shop and spa in 2020. The spa offers not only massages and facials but also infrared sauna, acupuncture, and sound baths.
In addition, Taylor has partnered with certified psychedelic facilitator and microdose coach Sylvia Salcedo at Well Dosed Wellness to provide women (they do see men, but the offerings are tailored more specifically to women) therapies that help with anxiety relief and foster emotional healing.
There are two yoga studios in this little town, CB Power Yoga and Thrive Yoga Studio. The former has more fast-paced, music-accompanied, sweaty work-it-out style vinyasa classes, while the latter offers more traditional style Iyengar, Yin, and Kaiute classes. If you want to dig deeper into yoga and local breathwork, yoga instructor Alexandra Wood is offering winter/summer retreats that get you on the mat every day, but also out on the ski mountain or up hiking in the hills.
For the end of an active day, there is no better way to recover than a sauna and cold plunge. Norra Dalen Nordic Sauna will come to you. A mobile unit equipped with a rockin Kuuma fireplace, this baby gets hot. Weekend rentals year round, cold plunge pool included!
If you feel dehydrated or the altitude gets to you, The Fountain has two locations, one in town and one on the mountain, for IV treatments in style. A cozy chaise lounge with tea and an IV menu that reads like cocktails in reverse: rehydrate, altitude adjustment, age-defying, immune booster.
Herbs, elixirs, oxymels, tinctures, incense, and other groovy sundry items can be found at Rooted Apothecary, as well as a very cute shop dog named Sadie.
Play hard, restore, play hard again is the name of the game in this sweet Alpine Hamlet.
No lack of options to feel your best and take in the beauty—just don’t tell them I sent you.
NativeNectarBotanicals.com
CBPowerYoga.com
ThriveYogaCB.com
NorraDalen.com
TheFountainCB.com
Rooted-Apothecary.com