With so much hype over the Yellowstone “Skiapalooza” Thanksgiving Camp, I figured a story about one of the “other” Thanksgiving camps might be of interest.
Since I'm not really among the nation's elite level of Nordic skiers, I just couldn't justify making a long trip from my home in Los Alamos, NM, all the way up to West Yellowstone. It may only be two states away, but that is some serious geography (and in this case, topography…) to cover.
. It snows so much around there that people almost have to, just to get around. The culture and tradition of it is deeply rooted in the area's history, and it has only grown with time. The Nordic Center is a community owned and operated affair that is seemingly supported by everyone. In addition, Gunnison is home to the Western State College Mountaineers division I ski team, with Wisconsin native, Jesse Crandall at the helm as head Nordic coach.</p>
<p>Another great aspect to Crested Butte's Nordic camp is that there is a pretty solid guarantee of snow. With several different areas at various elevations, the CB folks can potentially be xc skiing for 8 months out of the year — no exaggeration. This year was one of those years where they've had snow since mid-September (see Jesse Crandall's previous reports on FasterSkier.com), but lately (early-mid November) it's been warm and dry, so they didn't have quite as much of their usual stuff around town open for skiing. Even with that, they provided campers with a world-class alternative trail with world-class scenery on what would be considered great snow anywhere else.</p>
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Crested Butte Thanksgiving Camp
FasterSkier
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