The Last Great Ski Town

It's 9 P.M. and Craig Andersen is already saying that if we are going to do this interview, we'd better get to it before another drink. Only three other people sit at the bar of the Dogwood and the bartender is making jokes with Craig about being interviewed for boyfriend material.

In "interview pregame", I've already discovered one major commonality (and the most important element for boyfriend material...just kidding), Powder Magazine. I can specifically remember the February 2008 issue that got me, years later, to transfer to Western. Already going to Western, he remembers it too, but in a different light. After 3 years in Gunni as a Rec major, with a three day a week schedule/skiing five days a week, it just made more sense, Andersen decided it was time to be closer to what he moved here for, skiing, and took the 30 minute leap to CB.

Like most students that come to Western, he applied over the phone 3 weeks before the first week of class, got accepted a week later, and moved without ever having been to Colorado.

"I moved here to ski. I knew that the skiing was good, what else did I really need?" Within the first few years in the valley Craig experienced as much self-exploration as he did exploring the back country and started losing the East Coast-ness and the mountain spirit began to cement inside him. Growing up skiing, he'd envisioned making a life for himself in the mountains since he was a kid, but CB was a whole different animal. "The Last Great Ski Town", as Powder claimed.

Talking to other people about other ski towns and doing his own travels, Craig found that everything that he loved about CB, just couldn't be found anywhere else. From his own experiences elsewhere, he couldn't experience the same sense of community as he did here.

"Roots, Rock, Reggae" played perfectly in the background when Craig said, "I moved out here for skiing. Finished college, and never left."

Growing up in North Jersey, he came to appreciate the community feel here, but is the first to admit, small town life.....has it's pros and cons. "Walking down the street you know most people and if you are a real ass, everyone is gonna know and you are gonna get run out. You kinda have an idea of who people are and most people are genuine here, i dig that alot."

"The people are what makes this place for me. Our kinda local, we are CB, not fuck off, but we are who we are, either like our town for what it is or go somewhere else. everyone is really passionate about staying true to themselves or what this town was or is." 

What are some of the Pros and Cons? Everyone knows your business, and that can be a pro or a con depending on how you want to carry yourself and what you want to do. If you are a pretty honest and straight forward person you know it's easy, everyone knows you are a good person that makes life easier. The con would be if you do something shiesty or let someone see a side of you you aren't proud of or didn't want to reveal everyone instantly knows. I think that's a cool thing personally, but its not cool for everyone.

Cons? Dating is a con...for sure. Small town like this, not just everyone knows your business, just the populous, your dating pool/selection. Everyone wants the cool chick that can hang out and ride, but on the same token isn't a total tomboy, not physically attractive, just attractive the way she carries herself...can do more than jeans and a t shirt at times. you want a girl who is comfortable in both realms. Finding a girl who is a balance of both, i mean, they are here, but there's 20 guys chasing every one of them. That's what makes dating suck here.

What about the ratio? It's skewed, but its not that bad. I can go back to jersey and find more attractive women than I can shake a stick at but once they start talking.....the overall quality of girls as far as I'm concerned, there's more here. It all depends on if you are going for quality or quantity.
Other cons? grocery shopping....that's a pain in the ass.

I grew up in the Vail Valley, what would you think if they bought out CB?  The culture the mountain produces isn't what I think of when I think of ski culture, ski culture to me isn't big money and furs and 2nd and 3rd homes, ski culture to me is people out there for the passion of being outdoors and a single lodge at the base of the mountain where you can bring a bag lunch or eat the cafeteria food and you ride the lifts. that's what skiing to me was growing up and what it is in my mind. That just makes it exclusive, skiing is way to cool of a thing to just have for the elite, I want to share it with everyone.

What's a ski bum??? Someone who is passionate enough about skiing that is the primary priority in their life at the expense of other priorities or needs. Someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to be on that mountain, seven days a week if they can, no matter the weather or conditions or what their bank account looks like, their priority is to ski on the mountain and be out there in that culture and enjoying the outdoors, they don't need or they are not doing it to boast at the bar, they are doing it because its their true passion and what they need for their soul. Most people only fantasize of living a lifestyle like this, most people just don't actually make the sacrifice to do it. because it is a sacrifice, whether its your career...you just make sacrifices to live here and money is definitely one of them.

What, if anything, would take you away? At this point a job. Is there a dollar amount? No. It's a job not a financial thing. I want to work in the ski industry because that's what I'm passionate about. I want something I can grow in that isn't a glass ceiling. I can work in a ski shop or restaurant in town, but I'm not going anywhere, that's not a career path for me anyways. I want to be a rep or put on ski industry events, so I can stay involved in what I'm passionate about, but still actually have a career path. I would move for an opportunity. It's not a dollar amount, it's not a job just to make money, it's the direction I want to take my life in.

I want to come back here, I don't want to be stuck here.

The February 2008 edition of Powder didn't bring Andersen here, but what the article said about CB is what kept him. It's not they money, it's obviously not the dating scene. It' s the skiing, it's the people that ski and live here, it's just the way it is. It really is the last great ski town and there isn't any place out there like it.