Nordic Ski-Dine at Crested Butte
Bonfire Ski-Snowshoe Dinner offers taste of Crested Butte
A four-star, four-course, four-bonfire cross-country ski/snowshoe-and-dine meal event on March 17, 2007, will support the Gunnison/Crested Butte Junior Nordic Ski Team.
This news just in from the Crested Butte (Colorado) Nordic Center:
Progressive Bonfire Dinner Will Offer Taste of Crested Butte, Colorado
A four-star, four-course, four-fire meal on skis or snowshoes offered.
Now I don’t know if you’ve ever skied Crested Butte, or the Crested Butte/Gunnison region, but the place is high up. Town elevation approaches 9,000 feet.
Nordic skiing at 9,000 feet is an oxygenized challenge. Indeed, I once tried to learn skate-skiing there, and nearly lost my lungs.
But, the another thing about Crested Butte is this: the town holds more outstanding restaurants per square mile than just about anywhere you can think of.
So, this idea of a progressive dinner seems like a good idea: you’re rewarded for losing your lungs by filling your belly.
Here’s how the Crested Butte Nordic Council’s Progressive Bonfire Dinner works:
- Beginning at 5 p.m. on March 17, 2007, diners will be greeted at the first fire at the Town Ranch trailhead. There, they enjoy a cup of hot wine or cocoa to sip while sitting on straw bales.
- Skiers and snowshoers then leisurely (go slow to conserve O2) follow a path of luminaries along four kilometers of local Nordic trails within the historic mining town
- Along the way, appetizers, soup, entrée and dessert courses of fabulous Italian fare at separate bonfires.
Added to the satisfaction of all this high-elevation skiing and dining, of good food, warm drinks and camaraderie, is the knowledge that proceeds support the Gunnison/Crested Butte Junior Nordic Ski Team.
Me—I’d opt for the snowshoes to save my legs, lungs and energy for consuming all that good food.
Reservations are required, with seatings beginning at 5 p.m. and concluding at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $30 for adults and $15 for children under age 12.
For reservations, call the Crested Butte Nordic Center at 970-349-1707.
