Crested Butte Is Home

Aaron Blunck was born to ski.  His grandfather started the ski school here in Crested Butte, his mom was a longtime instructor, his dad loves to ski, and Aaron had to keep up with his big brother somehow, too.  By 8 he and his brother were skiing on their own, equipped with cheap radios to call home in case they needed to.

Aaron was always into jumps and he pretty quickly started to excel at it, especially in the halfpipe disciplin...

Corey Tibljas spent most of his childhood growing up right here in Crested Butte, as one of the first graduating classes at what was then the new Community School.  It was there, at the school, that he and his friend Ben Somrak decided to make a ski movie and start their company, Two Plank Productions.  Thanks to the help of local film makers Matchstick Productions (see episode 26 Murray Wais), and the local TV station (see episode...

Shamai Buckel grew up in Southern Colorado as well as Santa Fe, New Mexico and went to Western Colorado University after a powder-filled ski trip to Crested Butte convinced her that this was the place to be.  Joe Buckel's journey to the Gunnison valley from Indiana took a little longer, with a short stint in Denver.  But they found each other and eventually moved to California wine country to learn more about wine making.  There, t...

Lucille Lucas grew up in New York City, with parents that were deeply immersed in the art world.  That meant that she was able to meet artists like Salvador Dali and others, and Lucille began practicing her own art at a young age as well.  But a trip across the country proved to her that NYC wasn't her place- the smaller and slower life in the rural West was more her speed.  

She learned how to ski and backcountry ski when few peop...

Craig Hall grew up in the Southeast Colorado town of La Junta, but often visited the Gunnison and Crested Butte area to ski and fish.  After graduating with a forestry degree from Colorado State University, Craig headed to Crested Butte to ski.  He was part of a small group of skiers that were heading out into the backcountry and started to learn the newly re-discovered telemark turn as the best way to access the mountains surround...

Jay Prentiss grew up on the East coast, and like many of the other people I've interviewed, his first visit to the Gunnison Valley was as a freshman at Western Colorado University.  Already an outdoor athlete, he's taken advantage of all the Crested Butte area offers- climbing, kayaking, skiing, mountain biking and more.  One of those passions is mountaineering, which included a trip to North America's highest peak, Denali.  It did...

Jake O Connor grew up in Colorado, enjoying the outdoor lifestyle and building houses as he grew older.  In his final year at CSU in Fort Collins, Jake suffered a spinal cord injury at a jobsite, but mere months later, he returned and earned his construction management degree.  He went on to a successful career, even building a "floating casino" in Kansas City, which we talk about in this episode.  

Eventually he decided to move to...

Stevie Kremer was born in Germany, but moved to Connecticut with her family before she was 1 year old.   Her life on the CT shore, not far from New York City, was typical- golf, tennis, etc, before heading to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. It was while attending CC that she was introduced to Crested Butte and fell in love with the place, as so many of us do.

Once she arrived in Crested Butte after college, she began hiking a...

Kyleena Falzone is originally from Buffalo, New York.  From a young age, she knew she wanted to work in the restaurant business, and that only intensified after a visit with relatives in Sicily, Italy, who owned a restaurant there.  For several years, Kyleena would work in restaurants from Vail to the Hamptons, learning as much as she could about the business, and spending off seasons pursuing her other love- traveling to far-off l...

Derrick Nehrenberg grew up in 30 different places, although most of them were in the Southeast.  After high school, he attended college for a year and sold books in the summer.  He was known to drive a bit fast at his summer job, however, and therefore a judge suggested a stint in the military (and yes, it's as good of a story as it sounds).  So the military it was- for 5 years.

After the military, Derrick went back to college to b...

Jenny Stillo grew up in warm sunny Honduras, playing on the beach and studying in both English and Spanish at the American school.  For college, she ended up at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, which was trying to attract more international students at the time.  Despite the cold weather and cultural shock, Jenny liked the area and stayed after graduation as so many others do, eventually starting a family and working in Cre...

Scott Williams grew up in a number of places, including Reno, Nevada, where he used to ski.  But it was when he was in Southern California during the 1984 summer Olympic games that he was introduced to field hockey, a moment that would change his life.  Scott took to the sport quickly and was able to train with some of the best Americans in the sport.  Field hockey, for those of you who don't know, is perhaps a bit more like soccer...

Alan Bernholtz grew up in sunny Los Angeles, California and unsurprisingly took to surfing.  Certain aspects of the surf scene didn't appeal to him however, so at 18 he packed up moved to Aspen.  But Aspen never felt like the friendly community he was looking for, and a chance visit to Crested Butte convinced Alan to move here.

After a few other jobs, Alan eventually began working for Jean Pavillard and Adventures to the Edge guide...

Arvin Ramgoolam was born in Trinidad and Tobago- I was fairly certain that those islands are just off the coast of Venezuela, but it took a Google search to confirm it.  From there, he emigrated to Miami and yet somehow, he still found his way to Crested Butte (don't worry, it's a good story that you'll hear).

An opportunity to open a coffee shop with his then-girlfriend (now wife) Danica led to Rumors Coffee and Tea House.  Just a...

Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association Executive Director John Norton grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, where he played the "typical" ball sports like football.  At Dartmouth College, he met his future wife, an accomplished and avid skier, so he knew he better learn how if he wanted to stick with her.  Today, it's one of his favorite things to do, but he's also a jack-of-all-trades, enjoying kayaking, fishing, mountain biking and ever...

Andy Sovick grew up in the foothills West of Fort Collins, CO.  He had dreams of becoming a "mountain man" when he was growing up, but instead attended Fort Lewis college in Durango, where he met his wife.  After graduation, he decided to walk back to Fort Collins with skis on his back.  His wife was offered a job at the old Crested Butte Academy, which is when he found (and fell in love with) Crested Butte.

He worked on a number o...

Kent Viles hails from Muncie, Indiana (amazingly, my second guest from there).  He grew up with an ability I've never had- the ability to play musical instruments.  Like many of my guests, Kent had a love of skiing and the outdoors despite being far from mountains in the midwest.  So when it came time to choose a college, he found Western Colorado University and has been in Gunnison ever since.

Kent has been involved with many aspe...

Ian Billick grew up in Kansas, but he was also lucky enough to be exposed to the mountains as well.  While pursuing a degree in math and science, he received some great career advice and that led him to a profession that would help him spend time outside.  And thanks to that, he found Gothic and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), where he is the executive director.

Ian tells a great story about how RMBL started (you'd...

Yon Iacchio grew up on the East Coast like so many other residents of the Gunnison Valley.  After a little bit of time at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Yon stayed and skied and climbed up and down the front range- even putting up a new climbing route in Venezuela.

Recently, Yon and his wife purchased the Tomichi Creek Trading Post in Sargents.  Sargents is located on the West side of Monarch Pass.  One of the great things ...