Good morning,

SkiRacing.com published a Colorado ski resort outlook today that outlines various ski resort’s improvements and upgrades for the upcoming ski season. Crested Butte’s list of changes is impressive. The SkiRacing.com article can be found here.

Read the piece on Crested Butte Mountain Resort below.

Thanks for visiting today,

Channing Boucher
CrestedButteBroker.com

 Crested Butte Mountain Resort Improvements

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has added a new conference center, the major renovation of a slopeside hotel, and the availability of existing meeting space at the Grand Lodge Hotel and Plaza condominiums. CBMR is going from 5,000-square feet of meeting space to more than 25,000-square feet. All of these properties are within proximity to each other and are either owned or managed by CBMR. These additions and renovations are all a part of the $200 million in improvements that are underway at CBMR.

The Mountaineer Conference Center, the region’s newest meeting venue is located in the heart of the base area near shopping, restaurants and the new transit center, where guests can take the free shuttle bus three miles to the authentic western town of Crested Butte. The state-of-the-art Mountaineer Conference Center includes 9,000-square feet of unique and flexible event space, including the 5,000-square foot Grand Ball room and accommodates groups from 20 to 500 with full service catering and audio visual amenities.

The Lodge at Mountaineer Square is CBMR’s newest luxury property featuring spacious hotel and condominium accommodations. The Lodge surrounds the Mountaineer Conference Center, and is located just steps from the ski lifts. Guests can choose from 95 units, ranging from standard king bed hotel rooms to three-bedroom suites. All studio, one, two and three bedroom suites contain fully equipped kitchens, gas fireplaces, high speed wired and wireless internet, washer/dryer, private balconies, underground parking, ski valet, indoor/outdoor heated swimming pool, outdoor hot tub, sauna and fitness room.

In the midst of a $25 million renovation, the slopeside Club Med Crested Butte hotel was recently purchased by Sun Vest Communities USA, and renamed the Elevation Hotel. The renovations will transform the facility into a four-star ski-in, ski-out, year-round luxury hotel. There will be 263 rooms and suites, 10,000-square feet of meeting and event space, an 11,000-square foot spa, fitness center and swimming pool. The slopeside Atmosphere Restaurant and Bar, Elevation Station retail ski & snowboard shop, an executive business center with shipping services, ski valet and storage, valet parking, video arcade room for kids, and guest laundry services all complement this pet friendly property.

Good day,

My friend at Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Real Estate company published some interesting data this past week about our real estate market for land and residential properties. Our 2007 2nd Quarter sales volume topped $80 MM for residential and land transactions. This is incredible considering our real estate market was less than $20 MM in 2004, $236 MM in 2005 and $200 MM in 2006. We are on track this year to match last year’s sales volume.

In the face of a softening national real estate market and fallout from mortgage lending fiasco, Crested Butte remains insulated. We continue to realize strong investment in our real estate even though our property prices have risen to historic highs. Average sales prices are up and the sales volume remains steady.

Feel free to download the following graphs. The data utilized in these presentations was compiled from the Gunnison County Association of Realtors MLS system as well as CBMR and Eagle Resort developer-only sales figures (non-MLS) for the Lodge at Mountaineer, Wildhorse at Prospect and the West Wall Lodge.

2007 Quarterly Sales Volume (PDF)

2007 Quarterly Sales Volume and Average Residential Price (PDF)

Thanks for visiting today,

Channing Boucher
Visit CrestedButteBroker.com

Good day,

The Denver Post article below outlines the newest addition to the growing Crested Butte Academy/IMG sports and acadmic program. Since the partnership between the Academy and IMG was announced earlier this year, the profile of Crested Butte has risen to all new heights. Student athletes from all over North America are converging on Crested Butte to attend the Academy, train and compete with some of the finest coaching on the planet.

Visit Crested Butte Academy web site

Channing Boucher

Ex-U.S. coach Keene to head snowboarding, free-ride at the Butte 

Crested Butte Academy added some Olympic name recognition to its up-and-coming winter sports program last week, appointing former U.S. snowboarding halfpipe head coach Bud Keene as its director of snowboarding and free-ride skiing.

Keene, who coached in the 2006 Olympics, is the most decorated coach in the history of the sport. He was named international snowboard coach of the year by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in 2003 and 2006. He was also named the national coach of the year in 2006 by both the USSA and the U.S. Olympic Committee and was recently inducted into the MMSC Olympians Hall of Fame along with Billy Kidd of Steamboat Springs.

Crested Butte Academy is a fully accredited college preparatory school combined with world-class training camp/academy programs in alpine skiing, free-ride skiing, snowboarding and high-altitude running.

"Crested Butte Academy is poised to become the best freestyle training facility for snowboarding and free-ride skiing in the world," Keene said.