Martha Walton, Gretchen Bunnell, and Ruth Berkshire gather over five albums of snapshots, teasing each other with the ease earned through hundreds of shared miles.
Martha turns 90 in August; Gretchen and Ruth have both hit 80. But though they may have gray hair and grandkids, they’ve skipped the rocking chairs. Between bites of Gretchen’s homemade coffee cake, the tales fly: from harrowing peak ascents and butt-sliding descents to the time “the Pope” crashed their Mardi Gras party. This is the history of the Butte Beauties — four decades of adventure, laughter, and mischief.
Phila Weatherly would be proud. In 1986, Phila — a West Texas beautician generous of sass and womanly of build — decided she’d had enough of the “endorphin-amped” young skiers charging down the steeps. She posted a classified ad inviting women over 40 to meet Tuesdays at the Paradise lift. By some accounts, Mona Palla was the sole skier to join them that first Tuesday, but word spread. As Mary Magge wrote in her intro for the group’s cookbook, “Soon the over-forty gals began to migrate each Tuesday toward the joyful group of carefree ladies who gleefully whooshed down the ski slopes and chatted happily during lunch at Bubba’s.”
By February the group had grown to 22 and adopted the Butte Beauties moniker. Phila laid down the sole rule for the group: no rules. No rosters, dues, by-laws, restrictions, policies, or officers. “We’d served on community boards, raised our children, decorated and redecorated our homes, taught Sunday School, built our businesses, volunteered our time as PTA moms, and raised money for charity,” Phila said a few years later. “It was our empty- nest, coming-out time, and we weren’t crying. We were ready to party.”
The party didn’t end with the ski season. The Butte Beauties organized weekly summer hikes and overnight adventures. Over the years, they biked, rafted, rode horses, and camped (plus excursions to fish, skate, dog sled, kayak, and snowmobile). The Beauties varied widely in fitness and outdoor experience, from former Olympic athletes to ranchwomen to pampered socialites. Martha and several others climbed all of Colorado’s fourteeners and pedaled their bikes across the United States; Ellie Deacon, a Senator’s daughter raised in white-gloved society, was initially daunted by the necessity of pottying without a powder room. The Beauties encouraged each other as each tackled her own challenges. On their weekly outings, the skiers and hikers split into groups — one off to ski the Extremes or climb a peak; another to cruise the groomers or trek a lower path.
Phila spearheaded the fun until she eventually moved back to Texas (where she died last year at age 84), and the Butte Beauties continued to grow steadily. The group topped 120 women in the ‘90s and now tallies 70 dues-paying members (yes, there are now rosters and minimal dues, but still no by-laws). A mix of part-time and year-round residents, the Beauties are diverse in age (50-ish to 95), socioeconomics, profession, and background. They come from almost every state in the country. “We stay away from politics. What we have in common is a deep love for the outdoors and for this valley,” Gretchen says.
Another consistent thread has been humor. These days, Kathy Cannon often spices up the hikes or parties by singing musical ditties she writes for each occasion. “Sometimes they’re a bit naughty,” Gretchen confesses with a smile. The Beauties once skied in their oldest one-piece ski outfits, which added playfulness — and also major delays as they wrestled with their ‘80s jumpsuits when it was time to hit the restroom.
The Beauties exercise their creative muscles through yearly Birthday Bashes, generally involving costumes, songs, poems, or skits — from a chorus line of French maids to first graders offering their take on the adult world. For years the Birthday Bashes were overnight excursions: e.g. to the Irwin Lodge, Waunita Hot Springs, Paonia, or Marble. During the era when the ski area was owned by the Callaways and the Waltons (Martha and her husband Ralph), Birthday Bashes sometimes involved slumber parties at the Paradise Warming House. One winter, three Beauties’ sons surprised the partyers by snowmobiling in, dressed as bookies for the evening’s Las Vegas night.
The staff at the Redstone Inn might still be shaking their heads about a Butte Beauties stay during the group’s early days. According to Mary Magge’s account, “Muffie Bridges, wearing a long, flowing white gown and a garland of white flowers in her hair, provided an evening of hilarious entertainment. She also provided a case of champagne.”
After the Beauties’ exuberance bubbled over into a bit of mooning from the balcony, they were invited NOT to return to Redstone, and they agreed…though secretly deciding that, should they return, they’d use “Leadville Ladies” as their nom de party.
“We hike, but we can also party pretty hard,” Ruth says. For a long time, the annual Birthday Bash was hosted by those women turning 60 that year. Since many Beauties have passed that landmark, any decade birthday now grants eligibility to host the party. “I’m hunting the zeroes,” Martha noted in September. Maren Palmer started the Butte Beauty tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras — after someone gave her a King Cake and she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Since then, Mardi Gras has been an annual theme- costumed affair.
The word “affair,” Mary wrote, sends the Beauties into giggles, remembering “the year Ellie Deacon came to Mardi Gras dressed as ‘Monica You-Know- Who’ wearing a black wig and blue dress complete with stain!” Michael Jackson and Elvis have also made BB Mardi Gras appearances. The Beauties became a regular attraction in Crested Butte’s July 4th parade starting in 1986, when they rode their balloon-festooned float in shorts, ski boots, kneepads, and crazy hats. Martha rolled behind the float on skis with skate wheels attached to each end. The following Fourth, the Beauties maneuvered the parade route on vintage “clip on and tighten with a skate key” roller skates.
The Beauties briefly fielded a Crested Butte softball team, though they were three decades older than most of their rivals. Jean Gaertner, a 1960s double Olympian (volleyball and high jump), pitched the team’s single game, in which they got walloped by the Loaded Ladies and then promptly disbanded and put their hiking boots back on. Some of the Beauties have honed their culinary skills, so the group also created a cookbook. Gretchen, however, warns that a dearth of proofreading makes it less than trustworthy — and canned cream of mushroom soup ranks high among the ingredients. “Hey, we’re busy gals,” Martha says in mock defensiveness.
While Crested Butte boasts plenty of close-knit women’s hiking groups, the Butte Beauties offer something unique — an established gateway into the community for newcomers, many of whom raised children or forged careers elsewhere. Long- time locals welcome new arrivals; elders welcome youngers; experienced adventurers welcome beginners.
“We want them to have what we had,” Gretchen says. “You don’t have to be an ultra-athlete to be a Butte Beauty,” Pam Low adds, after joining the discussion at Gretchen’s kitchen table. Pam and her husband, who enjoy mountain biking and skiing, bought a home in Crested Butte in 2010 and moved here year-round from Tulsa in 2020. After hiking with the Butte Beauties, Pam quickly became more involved. “It was just a bunch of crazy ladies I thought it would be fun to get to know.”
Even in a relatively large group, friendships deepen as women explore beautiful places and stretch personal comfort zones. Years ago, Ellie Deacon described discovering Crested Butte and the Butte Beauties when she was 48, newly retired and terribly depressed. A new friend invited her on a Butte Beauties hike. After a three-month stay in Crested Butte, Ellie headed home to Florida.
“My husband said, ‘You are a different person.’ I found nature, I found friends, I found exercise. Crested Butte renewed me.”
Julia Galloway joined the Butte Beauties after her first husband died, partly to stay active and partly to reassure her children that she was doing okay. She got much more than exercise. “The Beauties gave me a new lease on life,” she told her friends. Martha has her theories on why the Butte Beauties have lasted. “We’ve survived because of our fearless leaders over the years, like Grace Worth, Lucy Hecker, and Gretchen. Also, we do hard things together. We learn from each other. That expands us. I’m willing to try some things I wouldn’t do by myself.”
Gretchen recalls following Arlene Hansborough and Lucy Hecker on the mountain bike trails. “I thought I knew how to ride a bike, until I got behind Arlene and Lucy. They helped me and made sure I didn’t get hurt. Now I know how to ride a bike.”
When Martha hosted a “garage party” at her new condo a year ago, 23 Butte Beauties sat in a circle. Ruth realized she’d shared funny, triumphant, or poignant moments with almost every woman there. “So many loving ladies. We’re just old friends. I don’t know any group this close. Part of it is being outside together.” Age has been slow to daunt the Beauties. Out Rustlers Gulch last year, the hiking Beauties encountered some young traveling nurses who’d proudly trekked far into the alpine valley.
“Those young gals were blown away by these gray-haired ladies way up Rustlers. We have women in their seventies who are as strong as those fit 30-year-olds,” Ruth recalls.
Of course, four decades bring changes. Women who once could deftly change a punctured tire and steer the rough alpine roads are now less eager to drive to remote trailheads. Martha and friends used to lead hikes to mountain summits every summer (Teocalli, Whetstone, Emmons, Handies); approaching 90, Martha opts for the wildflower hikes and leaves the peaks to the younger Beauties. Mary Jane Bridges, a veteran of thousands of trekking miles who’ll turn 95 in August and can no longer hear well, managed a fall walk on Teddy’s Trail with Ruth by her side. Some other former go-getters can no longer hit the trails, but they pay their dues and come to the socials as they’re able. “They’re still tied to this community,” Gretchen says.
Ruth, Gretchen, and Martha want to invite more younger women to join the Butte Beauties. While they know the trails, roads, and peaks, Martha says, “Our knees aren’t what they used to be.” And then there are those Birthday Bashes and Mardi Gras parties. “We need some young people. We’re getting a little worn out.”
Heidi Lange, 52, is one of their new recruits. Drawn partly by Crested Butte’s mountain biking, she moved here in 2019 and befriended neighbor Martha by helping with her garage parties. There, Heidi met other Butte Beauties and accepted the invitation to attend their next Birthday
Bash. “I loved it. I’m telling you, these gals have fun. And it’s intimate. They’re real friends. The conversation quickly moved past small talk. They were very welcoming and genuinely interested in me.”
Heidi is drawn to the Butte Beauties by “connection,” she said, “the ability to build real relationships with women who show up for each other. These are extraordinary women, active and curious. It’s so cool to hang out with people you can learn from.”