Hey All,
I just saw this promotion that Crested Butte is having for free early season skiing (nov 25 to dec 11 I believe). I was wondering if anyone here has taken them up on their offer/skied early in the season at that resort before. The things I would like to know: first and foremost,

1. conditions, how was the snow? was the mountain 100% open?
2. crowds? I imagine it was not crowded?
3. Where did you stay and did you like that location?
4. How did you get to the mountain from the airport and how long did it take?
5. How was the apres` ski, was there enough stuff in town to keep busy at night?

Thanks very much for any opinions you guys might have on the topic. Additionally if anyone has been to CB but not during the early season, perhaps you could comment on how the skiing compares to those near SLC, like Alta, Brighton, Solitude, etc.?

I'm surprised that nobody offered advice. I can't help you on early skiing but they use to do the same for closing week. I stayed off mountain and drove through town to get to the mountain. I flew into Colorado Springs and drove 6 hours to get there. Fly into Gunnison and its, what, less than an hour? As for nightlife, I can't say. I go to skiing with my family in tow and apres ski is TV, card or board games, ski tuning. The only time I was there my wife and I discovered that she was pregnant with our second, explained her vertigo while skiing the North Face. So that would have been in '97. Oh yeah, if you ski the last day, there was a tradition to ski naked so we had to warned our daughter that there would be some public nudity.... there was (not us).