CBMBA Director Dave Ochs at a Dirt Church trail workday. CBMBA staff and volunteers maintain around 480 miles of trails in the valley and support the US Forest Service in backcountry access, camping, and other issues related to human impact.
I moved to 724 Sopris Avenue on May 2001 — three days before National Trails Day. My roommate, Twig (E Rock Brown), told me about this Trails Day and said the new trail would be visible out my window and connect us all to the Upper Loop from town! I’m still so grateful to Twig, because what happened changed my life. I joined in those Trails Day revelries. I met so many beautiful people. I took part in something I never knew existed. Tony’s Trail was born on June 2, 2001, and in the years since, the Crested Butte Mountain Biking Association (CBMBA) has grown, and I’ve gone from a 13-year board member to its executive director. I’m amazed at all we can accomplish each season with the help of our incredible crews and volunteers.
In 2025, CBMBA will be 42 years old. Created by heyday enthusiasts from up and down the Gunnison Valley, CBMBA has had a presence on the local landscape with a volunteer force and drive like that of Hannibal traversing the Alps via elephant in 218 BCE. CBMBA volunteer trail workdays have been likened to barn raisings, and that ethos and drive founded the Crested Butte Conservation Corps (CBCC) in 2017. The CBCC, a mobile backcountry resource recovery and management crew of professional trail builders and public land stewards, assists agencies and land managers with actual human presence. The corps also helps create sustainable backcountry and quality recreation experiences. We cover a vast network — more than 433 square miles containing more than 480 miles of trails. We are mountain bikers at heart, but we work on all trails. We build trails specifically for mountain bikes, with sustainability and self-maintenance at the forefront, which ends up being desirable for all trail users.
Between dear Mama Nature, that white gold we covet, wind and monsoon weather, and the ever-growing human population and its impact, we always have work to do. We’re on the ground from mid-May until the snow shuts us down, and we do as much as we can each season with as many crew members as we can afford. We cut and remove (with aptly named handsaws) fallen Trees across trails in the wilderness, and we build drainage structures to keep trails from washing out. We build sustainable trail re-routes on motorized and hiking-only trails. CBCC crews also assist the Gunnison Ranger District in monitoring and maintaining the 208 designated campsites surrounding Crested Butte. On average, we clean, monitor, and maintain the sites 1,271 times annually (that’s 211 times each month of the season). On average each year, we work on 62.85 miles of trails, build 359 drainage structures, extinguish eight unattended fires, and properly dispose of 1,475 pounds of trash collected. We cut and remove 319 downed trees on trails and roads, speak with thousands of users, and I won’t even mention how much human poop we pick up — it’s a lot, and don’t get me started on toilet paper. We decommission illegal and user-created routes that damage precious resources and re-route trails when necessary to mitigate erosion and improve user experiences.
We do it alongside our partners and in agreement with our biggest partner, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Gunnison Ranger District.
Each new season brings new challenges for the CBCC, and 2025 will be no exception. With greater impacts on our backyard comes the need for an even greater human presence. In 2024, we created an auxiliary to the CBCC (because we like and wanted more acronyms!) and forged the Backcountry Outreach Crew (BOC) because we needed a specific education and outreach team and more boots on the ground to manage increased backcountry visitation.
The BOC supplements the CBCC crews and focuses on reaching all users to encourage greater stewardship of our forest and public lands. BOC crews educate users about proper use, best parking practices (not on flowers), best access points and experiences, camping and other recreation information. They also hand out PACT kits (which teach you how to poop outdoors), point users to the best spots, and, most importantly, provide a physical presence that helps foster a respectful ethos. BOC crews also provide observations to the CBCC trail crews to more effectively manage and maintain trails and public lands through the busiest times of the year.
They do it all with big smiles and hearty welcomes. This summer, we’ll have a crew of four BOC members, providing presence Fridays through Sundays on the eight busiest weekends of the season at the most popular trailheads, parking areas, and access points.
In September 2024, an edict came from the big dawgs in D.C. that, due to budget shortfalls, a hiring freeze for non-fire seasonal positions would be in place for 2025. At this point in our public lands history, when ‘shared stewardship’ principles are especially needed, the 2025 CBCC is better positioned than ever to work alongside our federal partners and public land managers to help with those budgetary reductions in staffing and other challenges.
For the summer 2025 season, we will increase our CBCC trail care and stewardship crews from six to eight members. Along with the four BOC crew members, we will be a dozen strong at peak times, and you’ll likely encounter one of the crew on your next adventure. Drop a high five and spend a minute chatting with Riley “Wildcard” Gibson, a third-year CBCC crew member; you’ll be grateful you did. Ask Operations Manager Grant Spear (sixth year) what it’s like to be born and raised here, and what it’s like coaching the next generations of skiers (Grant’s winter gig is coaching for the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team).
Our volunteers also keep the wheels spinning. Trail workers and community volunteers who joined us for ‘dirt church’ in 2024 saw the first of the North Valley Trails Project’s brand new trails: the Upper Upper Loop Extension (or Pointed Laccolith Trail) and the totally giggly Teocalli Ridge Extension. On Wednesday Workdays, we built the Rockola Coaster trail in Mt. Crested Butte and did other amazing volunteer work on the Upper Upper Loop, Death Pass, and 403. In 2025, we have new fun to get ‘Riders Off the Road’ and onto trails with the Lake Irwin parallel trail and the connector from Tent City to West Brush Creek. Throughout the summer, we’ll be doing regular Wednesday Workdays where you can join in afternoon revelries, and you won’t believe what those volunteers can do in just a few hours.
You might ask: Why would I work that hard, and what is dirt church? Well, it’s something different for each person, but really, it’s about community. You might be concerned about the sharp tool that some hardened ponytailed CBMBA board member gives your 12-year-old, but that hardened board member is actually a teddy bear and perhaps, quite literally, invented mountain bike suspension systems. Or perhaps you’re in your 15th year working on trails and know exactly what a ‘turnpike’ or ‘raised tread’ is — or an ‘arbor hoe’ or ‘Pulaski.’ If you don’t, join us, and you’ll learn pretty quickly. All that’s to say, the way 30 people on a Wednesday Workday, or 180 people on National Trails Day, can come together and bask in the majesty of our beloved backyard and help provide better recreation experiences is a thing of beauty. That sense of pride only comes from a collaborative human effort.