Dear Crested Butte,
Okay, you have to promise to keep this on the downlow. Because you know I’m betrothed to Breckenridge, and if she found out, I’d be kicked out of Summit County. But, as much as I love Breck, the truth is my heart yearns for you, Crested Butte.
I’m about as Colorado as it gets. Not bragging, just fact. Born in Boulder, I met my wife at East High School Denver (I’ve been going out with her longer than I’ve had a driver’s license) and started spending a lot of time in Summit County when I was six. One of my earliest memories is carrying rocks to build my grandfather’s house in Breckenridge in 1961, the year they built the ski area — when the population was 500 and Main Street was a dirt road.
I did leave for a lot of years, but I bought a place in Blue River, just outside of Breckenridge, in 2003, which is where I now blissfully live most of the time.
Which is all to say, I feel I have some credibility to expound on what I think is unequivocally the best mountain in Colorado (and, of course, therefore in the U.S.). You, Crested Butte, are a first-ballot Hall of Fame Mountain Town. And there’s not really even a close second.
You have the very best of everything one wants in a mountain community. You’re just the right size. Just far enough to get to that everybody can’t get to you (or, believe me, they would). Great mountain biking, fishing, skiing. Great bike and ski shops, and restaurants. And the vibe is perfect. Not snobbish or elite (hello Aspen), or corporate (hello Vail), and yet not so funky you just don’t have the amenities one craves (hello Leadville). You’re just perfect.
You know we’ve only met a half-dozen times or so, but I have epic memories of every visit.
I’ve loved biking your incredible mountain bike trails like 401 and Strand (where we almost hospitalized a pal who was getting married the next day). And great bike shops like Big Al’s, which was recently sold but was the best bike shop I’ve ever been to. And Big Al was the coolest bike shop owner anywhere. As you know, Big Al is a she who rocks a bike apron, a wrench, and braids and makes it all pretty damn hot, if I may respectfully say.
But like a lot of us now, I hear Big Al is happily retiring in her amazing mountain town. So, I’ll look for her now out on 401.
After I left Colorado for a while, one of my first ski trips back was to see you with my mother and my young daughters. My Swedish mom was a great skier, and my daughters drove her crazy by refusing to heed her advice (slow down!). Because I thought it would put me on the level of my girls, who were relatively new to skiing, I decided to try snowboarding. And since I figured I was such a hot-shit skier, I grabbed a board and rode the Silver Queen lift to the top of the mountain. And then fell every 20 feet the whole way down. But I also learned the key to snowboarding is just sticking with it for two days, and on day three, presto, you’re carving up the mountain and pissing off the skiers.
My favorite trip was a rolling rave wedding party that featured us all in costumes riding around Rainbow Park. And the best part was: your locals didn’t think a thing of it. Just another blissful day with people letting their freak flags fly in CB.
It’s been a while, so I just wanted to let you know. I think about you always. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Until then, please don’t change a thing.
Love,
Your not-so-secret admirer,
Mark McKinnon
Mark McKinnon is a political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer, and is the creator, executive producer, and co-host of Showtime’s political documentary series “The Circus.” Dedicated to bipartisanship, McKinnon co-founded No Labels (nolabels.org), an organization dedicated to bringing political parties together to problem-solve and heal the partisan divide in our country.